“Boobs, boobs, boobs! I love boobies! Save the boo-bies!” Though these sayings might be mistaken for awful lyrics of a horrible rap song, they all are actual slogans that numerous men have come up with to educate about breast cancer.

For Missouri Western, our men of the Black Student Union have added “Boys In Bras” to the list of common “pro-breast” slogans, and the booby slogan is definitely living up to its name.

Throughout every Wednesday and many other days during the month of October, the men of BSU will be sporting bras everywhere: at their meetings, during class, at the food court and even at events. BSU Presi-dent Louis Erby said it’s the “wow” factor that they get from students, which makes it all worthwhile.

“A lot of the things that

BSU does is just us sitting around just talking, being sil-ly and throwing around ran-dom ideas,” Erby said. “We like to go for the shock fac-tor, too, ‘Like whoa, what are they doing’ and make people more interested and asking why. It was a random idea.”

Not only did BSU succeed in numerous people asking questions since the breast cancer awareness campaign started last fall, but the or-ganization has also received interests from many other or-ganizations, including West-ern Activities Council, who will be hosting an event with BSU on Oct. 23, where all of WAC males will be joining the men in BSU in wearing their bust holders.

“The first day we knew it was going to be something that was going to be annual,” Erby said about the response the organization received last year from the campus.

“We had to keep doing it. The response the first day was ridiculous. It’s only go-

ing to only get bigger and bigger.”

Erby also revealed that this campaign hits very close to home for him, which was

why he was very adamant in continuing the campaign.

NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PA I DPERMIT NO. 32St. JOSEPH, MO

Vol 95 | Issue 30 griffonnews.com October 11, 2012

Griffon News gives its opinion on the Convocation speaker.

Page 7

Former basketball player Jessica Koch talks about playing overseas.

Page 10

Student rapper chases his dreams while maintaining his academics.

Page 3

1. Here is just one of the many Homecoming signs made by an organization on campus. Several are placed all around Downs Drive. 2. David Voigt and Ryan Mittelstadt complete the human wheel barrel race at the “Jump In” obstacle course.3. Mittelstadt gets ready to make another goal at the obstacle course.4. DeAndre Diamond and Louis Erby compete in the three-legged race.

1 2

3

4

Dreams come true

For further Homecoming coverage, see pages 4 and 5 and page 10 for a preview of the Homecoming football game.Photos by Evan Roberts and Tevin Harris

One hundred students were given free tickets to see “J.B.” Oct. 4-7 due to the Student Government Asso-ciation funding the Student Rush Ticket Program.

During the SGA meet-ing on Sept. 24 the Senate passed a notice of action to fund the Student Rush Ticket Pro-gram. The pro-gram, which is in its second year, provides tick-ets for the first 25 stu-dents per-performance at no cost. For the first main stage play of the season, J.B., all 25 tickets were used for each of the four shows.

Although the program was supported by the majority of SGA, Senators Travis Hart and Sterling Fichter opposed the program; however, both senators approved a mea-sure to give SGA $3,500 for tailgating at football games.

“I felt that the Student Rush Ticket proposal was not a good idea for the Student Government Association to somewhat subsidize these tickets for students,” Hart said. “I felt that the $3,450 for the proposal is far too much money for Student Senate to allocate for these tickets.”

Fichter also said that the program should not be fund-

ed by SGA because the sen-ate needed to “curtail lots of big spending measures.”

Tee Quillin, professor of theater and cinema, said that many other colleges have a Student Rush Ticket Program and the student government has always been a part of

funding ticket programs for students.

“It could be taken as a sub-sidy but I think that’s actually missing the larger point

which is that we attempt to go

to other areas on campus and admin-

istration and other places like that to receive funding,” Quillin said.

While Quillin helped cre-ate the Student Rush Ticket proposal, he understands the concern Hart and Fichter have with funding the pro-gram.

“I agree that the SGA shouldn’t be subsidizing the theater program but my caveat to that is 25 student-priced tickets per-production is does not even remotely come close to paying for a production,” Quillin said. “So it’s not even coming close to paying for all of the production, but it does im-pact the bottom line when we don’t have that income.”

Katelyn Canon | Staff Writerkcanon@missouriwestern.edu

Student Rush tickets debated, passed by SGA

(Above) Some of the male members of BSU flash their bras for a pose by their “Bras In Bras” poster. (Below) BSU Vice President Tobias Pointer does his homework while wearing his underwire, double-strapped bra.

Eboni Lacey | Editor-in-Chief

SEE SGA PAGE 2

SEE BRAS PAGE 2

Eboni Lacey | Editor-in-Chiefelacey@missouriwestern.edu

Rockin’ bras for a good cause

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

stories@thegriffonnews.com• Counterfeiting 2p.m.,Friday,Sept.28,PopplewellHall• Stealing 4:30p.m.,Monday,Oct.1,BakerFitnessCenter• Stealing 8p.m.,Tuesday,Oct.2,DownsDrive

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

CAMPUS INFORMATION

�N�E�W�S� �N�O�T�E�S

Eggs and Issues Kansas City

Oct. 5

Western’s Alumni Asso-ciation hosted Eggs and Is-sues Oct. 5 at The Cafe at Briarcliff Vilage in Kansas City to bring together area alumni. Associate professor of Economics Nader Varga spoke about the European economy and its impact on the United States. To view photos by Drew Brown, go to http://lamp1.missouri-western.edu/news/?p=610.

Greek Village Ribbon Cutting

Oct. 13

The ribbon-cutting cer-emony for the Greek Village will take place Saturday, Oct. 13, at 4 p.m. at Juda Hall.

Invisible wounds of war, focus of nursing

conferenceOct. 15

The Omicron Nu Chap-ter of Sigma Theta Tau In-ternational Nursing Honor Society is co-sponsoring an upcoming event called “Join-ing Forces: Partners in Care.” The event will take place at Fulkerson Center Monday Oct. 15 and is also sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Attorney General candidate to visit

WesternOct. 15

The Student Government Association and the College Republicans are co-sponsor-ing a town hall forum with Attorney General candidate Ed Martin. Students, faculty and the public are invited to this free event. Refreshments will be served. It will be held in Kemper Hall at 4 p.m.

CAMPUS CRIME REPORTS

Thursday,Oct.11• VisualArtsDayat8a.m.• 30thAnnualAlumniAwards

Banquetat5p.m.• “TheLaughFloor”Comedy

showbeginsat6p.m.,DonnellRawlingscomesonat8p.m.

• “ChooseYourVote”at7:30p.m.

Friday,Oct.12• “Griff-Tazmic”dancecontest,

pep-rallyandbonfireat7:30p.m.• GuestPianoRecitalat7:30p.m.

Saturday,Oct.13• HomecomingParadeat9:30a.m.• “Arts,BeatsandTreats”at10:30

a.m.• GriffonFootballvsMissouri

Southernat1:30p.m.• GriffonVolleyballvsCentral

Oklahoma7p.m.

Tuesday,Oct.16• StudentWellnessFairatnoon• GriffonVolleyballvsNebraska-

Kearneyat7p.m.• “SeaMonsters”PlanetariumShow

at7p.m.

NEWS October 11, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 2

FREAKY FASTDELIVERY!

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

FRESH.FAST.TASTY.

“One of my aunts had passed a few years ago, so this hits here for me,” Erby said while pointing to his heart right above his black, satin underwire brassiere.

Before her passing, Erby’s family spent a lot of time go-ing to many breast cancer awareness events such as walks and other fundrais-ers. Due to his knowledge of breast cancer, he found a foundation that he was very interested in; The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Founda-tion, a program started by a young woman who prom-ised her dying sister that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. As numerous cam-paigns and organizations are

developing to further breast cancer education, BSU hopes to educate as many people on campus as possible about the disease.

“Just walking around campus you see nothing about breast cancer aware-ness,” Tobias Pointer, BSU vice president said. “I don’t think Missouri Western does enough. The point of an or-ganization is to put on great programs. I would like to see [other campuses and organi-zations] jump on board be-cause it’s a great cause.”

BSU committee chair of community service Chiquita Keebler feels that there are many things about breast cancer that students don’t know about, which is why they may not feel that the disease could affect them di-rectly.

“I feel like a lot of people

don’t know that men can get it,” Keebler said. “They are perfectly aware that wom-en can. It needs to be more known that men can get it. People need to be more edu-cated on it.”

Keebler feels that this way is definitely a good way to

educate people since it is something people have nev-er seen before.

“The fact that you see men walking around with bras on and the reaction they are get-ting around campus brings more attention to it,” Keebler said. “Even with me being a part of the organization, when I first saw them in the bras I was like ‘Why do you have a bra like that for?’. I know other people on cam-pus are reacting the same way.”

During the month of Octo-ber, students can give money to BSU in honor of breast cancer awareness, as all pro-ceeds will go to The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Founda-tion. For more information about the foundation visit http://ww5.komen.org/AboutUs/AboutUs.html.

During the SGA meeting, Sen. Mary Beth Rosenauer spoke out in favor of the ticket program.

“We don’t pay to get into football games and to theater people this is their football game,” Rosenauer said. “So you have to look at it from a student stand-point not just a theater peo-ple standpoint.”

Student Gov. Brain Shewell, also supports the Student Rush Ticket Pro-gram because of the posi-tive response from the stu-dent body.

BRAS: CONTINUED FROM FRONTSGA:

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

BSU hosts breast cancer awareness campaignTheater professor gives opinion

BSU President Louis Erby jokes around with his friends while sporting his silky bra. Eboni Lacey | Editor-in-Chief

Follow these steps for early breast cancer detection:

1. Annual screening mammography starting at age 40 or 50. Breast cancer experts don’t agree upon what age women need to begin getting mammograms. Ask your doctor.

2. Women in high-risk categories should have screening mammograms every year and typically start at an earlier age. MRI or ultrasound screening can also be given in addition to mammograms.

3. Have your breasts examined by a health care provider at least once every three years after age 20, and every year after age 40. Clinical breast exams can complement mammograms.

*Courtesy of webmd.com

FEATURESOctober 11, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 3

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Missouri Western AlumCHARLOTTE SOLLARS, GRI

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RENT?

When you hit a low point in life, the easiest thing to do is give up. Struggles in life helps strengthen your char-acter and Missouri Western student Louis Erby had to learn that firsthand.

Erby is an aspiring rapper with a vision of getting a re-cord deal from anyone who is willing to take a chance on him.

Even with big dreams of becoming a hip-hop artist, Erby says that his priorities still haven’t change, includ-ing his schoolwork and del-egating skills for Black Stu-dent Union.

“My first focus has been on school,” Erby said. “It’s school over everything right now because before music, I have to make sure that ev-erything is good in the class-room as well as my presiden-cy with BSU.”

Being prepared for the fu-ture is one of the reasons that Erby puts his schoolwork and BSU presidency first be-fore anything.

Erby understands that in order to make it in the popu-

lar business of hip-hop, his focus and knowledge will be one of his backbones in mu-sic.

After the summer of 2009, Erby was struck by reality when he hit a rock bottom after a good deal of success from his previous mix tape “Pre-Game.”

He released the mix tape that summer and started do-ing many shows off of the mix tape. A second mix tape from Erby was well antici-pated, but lack of money and resources put a damper in his plans.

“Ever since the drop of that mix tape, life has hit me in the face,” Erby said. “I had a nice little run off of Pre-Game, but my money situa-tion got bad and I ended up not having the money to pay for studio time to record a new mix tape.”

Pre-Game was recorded at a friend’s home in which Erby stated that he spent a great deal of his time at. When his friend moved out, Erby had to find another place to make music, putting a hold on his aspiring music career.

With the odds against him,

Erby did not fold. He took on the struggle and continued to write and focus on school until he was back on his feet again.

“When I couldn’t record, all I did was write,” Erby said. “Some nights I stayed up and just continued to think of new ideas. The time off helped me build up more and more lyrics for my next mix tape.”

Erby hooked up with West-ern student Nick Niemeier and has started recording his new mix tape “Late Night Flights.”

Niemeier is now the DJ for Erby and has allowed him to use his studio to get his mu-sic career back on track.

Over the period of time that Niemeier has worked with Erby, he has noticed the style and passion that Erby displays each time he steps in the booth.

“I think that he is a great artist,” Niemeier said. “His lyrics are very real. He de-scribes everything that he goes through in his personal life and it makes his music compelling to listen to.”

Niemeier also said Erby is a man of good character

and everything he does, he does with great pride. He makes sure that everything he starts, he finishes it.

Daniel Cole, a drummer for Warner Bros. Artist XV and Western’s drumline, has also been working with Erby since their freshman year here at Western. Cole and Erby made a couple of tracks in Cole’s studio and the two

have been close since.“I feel that Louis is a good

artist,” Cole said. “He has the right passion and drive for it. He is also very determined. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it to the next level.”

As for Erby, he plans to premiere his Late Night Flights mix tape late in the fall. Erby stated that friends

have sent him different beats to help make this mix tape better than the last.

“I’m going to treat this one more like an album,” Erby said. “I got some new beats and the fall is my time. It should be dropping around Halloween and Thanksgiv-ing for sure, so MCs should be afraid and music junkies should be thankful.”

(Above) Louis Erby is a business management major at Missouri Western. While he is the president of Black Student Union, he has also created a mix tape titled “Pre-Game” that is already re-leased, and he is currently working on his new mix tape titled “Late Night Flights.” *Submitted photos

Rapper fights his way to top Albert Shelby | Features Editorashelby1@missouriwestern.edu

In a world of music with, at times, depressing overtones and lyrics, one band, led by a Missouri Western student, is trying to make a difference.

Reagan Barnett, who is currently majoring in music technology, decided to team up with four other friends to make a Christian alternative band named “Hello Day-break.”

“We have been together as a band for a total of three and a half years at this point,” Barnett said. “But we tell ev-eryone we have been togeth-er for a year and a half. We kind of re-evaluated our situ-ation; that’s when we started recording our first CD and we started digging into the concept of really performing well and being good enter-tainers.”

Recently, Barnett said Hel-lo Daybreak just released its first full-length album titled “Sing Dance Shout” on Aug. 14.

They are looking into sev-eral other ways to release their new album to fans and the public; right now, though, it is pretty limited unless you have heard of them.

“You can go to our Face-book page,” Barnett said.

“We are mailing it out to fans; we are not on iTunes yet, but that is in our near future, hopefully within the next couple of months.”

Fellow bandmate and bassist for the band Ryan Crisman was pretty excited

about yet another future milestone for the band.

“Touring is something that we are trying to work to-wards,” Crisman said.

The band member’s ages span over a three-year age gap.

Crisman and drummer Walker Brown are only 16; rhythm guitarist and key-

boardist, Eric Seevers, is 17; vocalist Sam Eliott is 18; and Barnett is 19. With the age gap crossing the critical bridge of adulthood at 18, it gives the band members more time to plan for their future as a whole.

“We have thought about this a lot, about the band and the future and where we are going with it, and we de-cided that with how spread out our ages are, by the time Walker and I are getting ready to go to college, we would like to be looking into something more permanent for the band, and that’s the

goal we set --- two years,” Crisman said.

Friend of the band and Hello Daybreak concert at-tendee Nick Sybouts thinks that calling the band “just alternative” is too much of a limit to put on their style of playing.

“[They are] more alterna-tive, but they don’t really stick with one style,” Syb-outs said. “They have a pret-ty broad spectrum of styles; they try and branch out from just one specific style.”

Along with his activity in the band and college, Barnett has a lot of responsibilities to try and juggle around.

“It’s pretty difficult,” Bar-nett said. “I am busier than most band members; I have a job and I am interning at my church to be a worship leader.

“Mainly, the way I balance it, is the band gets weekends, the job gets week nights and the church gets Wednesdays and Sundays.”

Barnett is pretty clear on the band’s messages and goals.

“Our main purpose as a band, and we talk about this quite a bit, is to show that there is hope; that there is a light.”

Andy Garrison | Staff Writer jgarrison3@missouriwestern.edu

Christian band has high hopes

The Christian rock band “Hello Daybreak” just recently its first full-length album titled “Sing Dance Shout” on Aug. 14. (L-R) Sam Elliot, Missouri Western student Reagan Barnett, Ryan Crisman, a friend of the band, Walker Brown and Eric Seevers pose before a show. *Submitted photo

“Hello Daybreak” plays a song at Club-D-Mask-Us. (L-R) Eric Seevers plays guitar, Reagan Barnett sings and plays guitar, Ryan Crisman plays guitar, Walker Brown plays the drums and Sam Elliot sings and plays guitar. *Submitted photo

Music technology student finds time, leads ‘Hello Daybreak’

Andrew Setter and Chad Hammontree | Staff Illustrator and Graphics Editor

HOMECOMING HOMECOMINGOctober 11, 2012 October 11, 2012

The Griffon NewsThe Griffon NewsPage 5Page 4

H O M E C O M I N G : A L E A P o u t o f R E A L I T Y

Meet The Royal CourtMeet The Royal Court

A Frisbee ThrowdownA Frisbee Throwdown

Rawlings coming to townWalking through the doors

to MWSU Fieldhouse at 8 p.m. on Thursday Oct. 11 will be none other than comedian Donnell Rawlings. This show is brought to you by the SGA and WAC which is free to students with student ID and $10 for the public.

Jacob Scott, president of SGA said that a quality co-median coming to Western is something they have been doing Homecoming for sev-eral years now.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to celebrate Western and their Homecoming,” Scott said. “It gives students an opportunity to do something on a Thursday night and it’s a lot of fun to go out and lis-ten to a comedian. Typically the comedian’s really get in-volved with the crowd. If you love comedy then come out and support.”

Most people know of Raw-lings from his days on Chap-pelle’s Show where he played Ashy Larry and later hosted. On that show his frank, to the point and hard-truth vulgari-ties increased his popularity.

However, some may not know that he was in the U.S.

Air Force before that, sta-tioned in South Korea, where he adopted a portion of the language.

Rawlings has also appeared as a guest star in Spiderman two and on “The Wire” as Damien Lavelle Price a.k.a. “Day Day.”

Rawlings is not the stan-dard type comedian.

According to several websites, Rawlings was re-moved/fired from a morning radio show on New York’s Power 105 back in 2007. Rawlings told a joke about a “cheap Jewish black guy” around the same time as the Don Imus controversy on “nappy-headed hoes.” Imus was referring to the women members of the Rutgers bas-ketball team.

The little mishap at Power 105 hasn’t seemed to dampen Rawlings’ success in the least.

Rawlings released a stand-up special DVD in 2010 called “From Ashy to Classy.” He has also had several other T.V. appearances, two of which recently are MTV 2’s, Hollywood Squares and Guy Code.

As mentioned, his comedy can be seen as a bit crude, ra-cial or vulgar. This is exactly why the show at Western on

Thursday comes with a parental advisory.

“Kids can attend with parental super-vision. The cost is still the same price as an adult ticket. It’s strongly advised only for adults only though,” Scott said.

Some may worry that the material he uses might be a bit much for Western. Others are taking a more enthusiastic adult-like approach on what could be sen-sitive topics.

“You have to expect that going into a com-edy show,” sociology and athletic coaching major, Ben Jackson said. “Stand-up comics, that’s what they are known for. It can get a little rough at times but, that’s all part of their jokes. It’s all comedy in the end.”

As an added bonus, kick-ing off the show at 6 p.m. is an extra little treat called the “WAC Laugh Floor” that people are encouraged to at-tend.

“I hope everyone comes out because it’s going to be a real-ly good time,” Tony Dough-erty, vice chair of WAC said,

“Come to the show at 6 p.m. and support your fellow stu-dent’s in the ‘Laugh Floor’. The show before will be dif-ferent organizations putting on short comedy skits. It will be really cool.”

Dougherty said these skits should get people in the right frame of mind and prepared for the laughs Rawlings will bring.

Comedian Donnell Rawlings has ap-peared on “Comedy Central Presents” and “Chappelle’s Show.” He will be performing at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11, in Looney Complex.

*Courtesy of donnellrawlings.com

Students ‘Jump In’ to HomecomingStudent Life Director Isaiah

Collier estimated the partici-pants of the Homecoming activi-ty “Jump In” at 60 students, with close to another 90 in the bleach-ers cheering on their favorite team, fraternity or sorority.

Jump In began at 6 p.m. on Oct. 8 at Spratt Stadium with seven relay-type games set for members of sororities, fraterni-ties, and teams made from dorm halls competing against the clock.

“Tonight we have seven ob-stacle courses, the first is hula-hoop, we have a ball throw, some Frisbees, bean bag tossing, and some balloons going on,” Homecoming Committee Chair Ashley Stegal said. “It’s a little bit of everything.”

Another event Stegal forgot to mention was the lemon race, which is actually carrying a whiffle ball in a spoon through a walking course. The evening’s strong wind made this and other events difficult.

There was a combination obstacle course that included the human wheel barrel, three-legged race and other types of difficult physical activities all combined and timed.

The ball throw was actually a ball of paper. Participants tried to roll up sheets of paper and throw them into baskets at dif-ferent distances.

“Those were supposed to be paper planes,” Collier said. “But, with the wind it would be too difficult.”

The hula-hoops were used in a

non-traditional way. Each team formed a circle and joined hands. The hula-hoop was maneuvered up the arm and each member’s body was passed through with-out letting go of each other’s hands. Students can check out the video coverage event on thegriffonnews.com.

“The most difficult thing was popping the balloon or tossing the paper into the basket be-cause of the wind,” participant senior Kim Robinson said. Sev-eral students found sitting on a balloon only to be a cushion and popped their balloon only when others assisted.

Robinson’s team was one of the first finished. One of her teammates, freshman Janie Smith said some of the events were tough.

“The beanbag toss was dif-ficult because it was really far away,” Smith said.

However, student Shelby Brat-ton’s team had no problem with the hula-hoop race.

“I thought it was easy, but the most difficult was the paper toss because of the wind,” Bratton said.

All during the events the bleachers would often ring out with cheers and chants from so-rority and fraternity sisters and brothers as each team competed by working together and using their skills to solve problems and complete the courses.

To view highlights of the event go to this link. http://www.you-tube.com/watch?v=nberBoTqdp8&feature=plcp

Ellis Cross | News Editorelliscross@yahoo.com

It ’s a JungleIt’s a Jungle

Max is on the Caribbean

Max is on the Caribbean

Brian Ramsay | Staff Writerbramsay@missouriwestern.edu

Griffons To The RescueGriffons To The Rescue

A Three-Legged Race

A Three-Legged Race

CAPTIONS: “A Frisbee Throwdown”- Homecoming participants played numerous games during the “Jump In” event held on Monday, Oct. 8. “A Three-legged Race”- Javier Paz and Tom Parker compete at the “Jump In” obstacle course going through the “three legged race.”“Max is on a Caribbean”- The Phi Sigs Homecoming sign was themed as “Griffons of the Carribbean” this year. “It’s a Jungle”- The National Pan-Hellenic Council used a theme from the Disney clas-sic “The Jungle Book” for this year’s Homecoming poster. “Griffons to the Rescue”- The Homecoming Committee hosted a blood drive on Tues-day, Oct. 9 to persuade students to donate for a good cause. The drive was held in Blum and lasted over five hours.

Photos by Evan Roberts and Tevin Harris | Photo Editor and Asst. Photo Editor

VOTE ONLINE FOR YOUR HOMECOMING CANDIDATE:

www.missouriwestern.edu/homecoming/elections.asp

LAST DAY TO VOTE IS THURSDAY!

Western to host “Griff-Tazmic” pep rally, dance off

For Homecoming, the “Griff-Tazmic” Pep Rally and barbecue will start at 5:30 p.m. at Spratt Sta-dium. T-shirts with the theme on it will be sold for $10 at all the Homecoming events.

SGA Homecoming Co-Chair, Ashley Stegall said, “We all voted and changed the theme a few times but eventually chose the Disney theme because it’s something everyone can relate to and participate in.”

The events at the pep rally include a dance off be-tween the different organizations, speeches by the team captains and the winner of the Homecoming King and Queen will be announced.

Erin Teel, Homecoming Co-Chair, said, “The most important thing about the pep rally is bring-ing out every students school spirit and also caus-ing all the organizations to interact and communi-cate within each other.”

“I think the pep rally really shows pride and sup-port in the football boys and just the whole univer-sity in general,” Stegall said.

Nathaniel Conant | Staff Writernconant@missouriwestern.edu

Tevin Harris | Asst. Photo Editor

DeAndre Diamond shoots to score points at “Jump In” as Tobias Pointer and D’Gimy Candio and a WAC event monitor look on and root for him to win.

FEATURES October 11, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 6

Missouri Western theater and cinema student Josh Comninellis has turned what began as a scriptwriting class assignment in the spring of 2011 into a working short film, “Skip Distance.”

Skip Distance, a suspense drama, was shot last August and is in the post-produc-tion process. A late-winter or early-spring release is what all people involved in the production process are hop-ing for.

According to Comninellis, the plot is centered around the family ties of a child whose mother has recently died. The setting of the film is of a diner and a radio sta-tion call booth.

“The theme of Skip Distance is children’s accep-tance of family and about accepting family mem-

bers for who they are,” Comninellis said. “My pas-sion for redemption influ-enced me to write this short film.”

The main character James Carmichael, (Western stu-dent Kiefer Helsel) is left with an absentee father (Mark Pennington) with whom Carmichael has no relation-ship with, and a stepfather named Walter (Western stu-dent Andy Tyhurst) with whom Carmichael has an unsettling relationship with.

Comninellis not only wrote the screenplay, but co-direct-ed with his wife Brittany, who is also a student of the theater.

Western alumna Mallory Edson was the creative pro-ducer, and professional cin-ematographer and Western adjunct professor Jason Cantu did the filming.

Once the script was fin-ished, it was then sent to

“Kickstarter,” an arts fund-raising platform website that reviews the work of artists and rates the work as being viable.

Once the work has been approved by Kickstarter, the artist must set a mon-etary goal to reach in about a month to raise funds for project completion. For Skip Distance, they made their limit $3,600. The catch with Kickstarter is all or noth-ing—if the artist doesn’t reach the intended goal, no money will be distributed.

The art or in this case, film, is then placed on the Kickstarter platform so that community members, fam-ily members, friends, busi-ness owners, and public can donate money to help in the production of the project.

The crew was able to raise $3,700 in one month.

Edson said many of the crew’s family members from around the country donated money on the Kickstarter platform to help with costs of the film, and they are still accepting donations for post-production costs.

Many Western alumni, current students, faculty, St. Joseph business owners, community members, and Cantu contributed to the production. Comninellis is also thankful for the univer-sity allowing them to use its film equipment as it helped the process and cut a lot of the costs for the production.

“It was a community effort,” Comninellis said.

The film, which took

months of preparation, was shot in less than 24 hours and they filmed it on just two separate nights.

Western alumna Erin Williams did wardrobe and make-up, and Western stu-dent Robin Ussher designed the sets and did prop arrangement. Props came from local stores as well as some Kansas City area shops.

Local businesses The Spot Café and Hazels Gourmet Coffee and Tea Co. also con-tributed to the film’s produc-tion. Hazels Coffee contrib-uted chairs for the set.

The Spot Café donat-ed their diner as the main location for the set, which Comninellis said was the

perfect location he had in mind for the screenplay.

Tyhurst also felt that The Spot Café and Western’s Black Box Theater were the perfect locations for the movie filming because the atmosphere matched Comninellis’ vision of the movie set diner perfectly.

“The owners of The Spot Café were great, they were very nice, and they even fed the entire crew,” Tyhurst said. “Everybody that I have met in this community has been a great supporter of the arts. It’s been a great experi-ence.”

The movie poster and sto-ryboards are being designed and created by Western art student Truman Vasko.

While the film is still in the editing process, Comninellis and the film’s crew are plan-ning a late-January or early-spring release of the film.

After the premiere, there will be a film festival tour around the Midwest. Everybody involved in the production is hopeful of a possible nationwide tour.

Comninellis is not locked in as to what he will do for a future career, but he knows it definitely involves the film industry and writing. He might continue to write screenplays, or maybe write a book, as he enjoys creative writing.

“I have a passion for tell-ing stories.”

Filmmaker goes the distanceTheater student to premiere first short film Michelle Cordonnier | Staff Writermcordonnier1@missouriwestern.edu

Theater and cinema student Andy Tyhurst (above) acts as Walter, the stepfather, in “Skip Distance.” *Submitted photo

Students Kiefer Helsel (left) and Andy Tyhurst (middle) rehearse a scene from Josh Comninellis’ short film “Skip Distance” as cinematographer and instructor Jason Cantu (on right) controls the camera. *Submitted photo

ThursdayOCTOBER 11THE LAUGHFLOOR - 6PM ADULT CONTENT

FRIDAYOCTOBER 12GRIFF-TAZMICSPRATT STADIUM5:30PM BBQ,

SATURDAYOCTOBER 13PARADE - 9:30 AMFOOTBALL GAME - 1:30PMRIBBON CUTTING - 4PM

OPINIONSOctober 11, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 7

CAMPUS VOICE

What did you think of Convocation?

Check out the full responses at GriffonNews.com

Travis KendallFreshman

“I was on the top row and couldn’t hear

anything.”

Tanner MartineFreshman

“I attended and thought it was

terrible.”

Joshua Jones Freshman

“I did not attend. I was at home asleep.”

“I thought it was cool to be in the same room

as someone who has talked to presidents.”

Jake ProffitSophomore

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 thegriffonnews@gmail.com. Copy and advertising must be received by noon Friday, the week prior to publication.

Guidelines for letters to the editor:• All letters to the editor must be typed and double spaced. Letters must be no longer

than 350-400 words and guest columns no longer than 500 words. Letters and columns will be edited for style.

• All letters must include signature and identity verification information, such as phone number. The Griffon News reserves the right to edit all letters for length and Associated Press style.

• The Griffon News will not withhold names under any circumstances. Anonymously submitted letters will not be published.

• Views expressed on the opinion pages are not necessarily those of The Griffon News staff or Missouri Western State University.

Managing EditorGraphics EditorStaff Illustrator

News EditorPhoto Editor

Assistant Photo EditorSports Editor

Assistant Sports EditorFeatures Editor

Opinions & Online EditorMultimedia Editor

Design ArtistDesign Artist

Design ArtistAd ManagerCopy Editor

Faculty Advisor

Eboni LaceyEditor-in-Chief

Blair Stalder Chad HammontreeAndrew SetterEllis CrossEvan Roberts Tevin Harris Kyle InmanChristian MengelAlbert Shelby Matthew HuntBrian DuskeyLauren DillonHanna Greenwell Andy InmanKyler PenlandShelley RussellBob Bergland

The Griffon News Staff

Griffon News wants YOU to speak up

Each year, the Missouri Western Foundation wel-comes a guest speaker to speak about critical issues that our nation and world are facing today.

The only downturn to the speakers that the foundation chooses is the fact that many of the speakers are for one political party or the other. This year’s Convocation on Critical Issues was supposed to be over energy.

T. Boone Pickens spoke on energy and its relation to both the presidential can-didates. Pickens even went on to discuss how he has met with President Obama and how he doesn’t have an energy plan. As a speak-er who comes to address a large crowd of students, they should try to stay neutral.

We have seen it in the last few years when Western brought yet another politi-

cal figure, Newt Gingrich, former Republican president candidate. It’s time the foun-dation takes a step back and considers changing the con-vocation topic from “Criti-cal Issues” to “Motivational Issues.”

Some of the many inspira-tional speakers that speak on college and university cam-puses throughout the U.S. include Anderson Cooper from CNN; Michelle Agui-lar, season 6 winner from the Biggest Loser; and Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour, America’s first black female combat pi-lot.

The difference between the individuals that we listed and the ones that Western selected each year is entirely different. The topic of the speech doesn’t move away from the subject and wan-der from energy to bashing the president of the United

States.Selecting a speaker who

has had an impact would be beneficial. Students could feel a connection from one of the three individuals that we listed above: Cooper for com-

ing out about being gay and making it to the top, Agui-lar for taking a challenge to change her life and Armour for becoming the first black combat pilot.

The difference is clear,

and many students can re-late to one of those three. If the foundation would like to see the numbers increase in years to come, they should consider changing the topic for next year’s convocation.

Which one is he ‘Pickens’?ENERGY OR POLITICS:

We are asking our viewers what they would like to see from the Griffon News in the paper each week.

In the past couple of weeks the staff has been receiving comments from viewers just like you, and we are deliv-ering. We are now connect-ing to more social media networks. Each week the

Griffon News produces a newspaper that features four sections including news, fea-tures, opinions and sports.

We cover many events, individuals and sporting events, but we know there is much more to cover. If you are part of an organization, academic department, or team send us information on a story that you think might be interesting for the whole student body.

The opinions page is al-ways open to students, facul-ty, and administrations opin-ions on topics that deal with issues of politics, student life, campus, or other topics that are close to student’s interest. We ask if you plan to do a let-ter to the editor that you see the guidelines for approval. First, make sure you are at 350 to 400 words, and sec-ond you must include your name.

The Griffon News is a growing news media for Western, and its main focus is to find stories that matter most to students. The staff receives numerous emails from individuals asking us to cover their event for a story, and though we are not able to cover each and every event, we will continue to ask for your input.

We have provided this col-umn on the Griffon News

website under the opinion tab. If you would like to leave a comment at the bot-tom of the page for ideas and updates for online media coverage, or improvements to the paper please feel free to do so. If you would like to see improvements to the Facebook, or Twitter account please contact the online editor at mhunt8@missouri-western.edu.

Griffon News Staff thegriffonnews@gmail.com

Proverbs 30, Vs. 11-1411 There is a generation

that curseth their father and doth not bless their mother.

12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.

14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.

You’re supposed to real-ize you’re getting old when you sound like your parents. If that is true, I’m in trouble, because sometimes when I speak I hear my grandfather.

It happened just the other day. I said “This country is going to hell in a hand basket!” I then knew I had truly obtained grandparent-hood. When my grandfather said those words, he was concerned about President

Nixon having erased several minutes of a tape recording from the oval office. If only the whoas of Watergate were the level of problems we face today.

Today’s problems are much greater and I shutter to think of the absolute fit my grandfather would have to-day if he were still here.

I began to think about gen-erations of change. I found out what may be wrong with my generation while viewing the video “America’s Godly Heritage” by David Barton, produced by WallBuilders, Texas. The problems this country faces today, Barton says, can in some cases be traced to public education received since my generation started school.

I started school in 1965 in a small rural Missouri town. The stage for great changes in public education began in 1962-63 and were well es-tablished when I began those impressionable years.

The Supreme Court of the United States in 1962-63 de-cided that there could no lon-ger be prayer in school at all. In 1963 they forbid reading or teaching from the Bible.

It is hard for anyone my age or younger to imagine a Bible lesson or referenced Bi-ble reading in school. It just wasn’t done. We were born too late to even miss it in our normal day at school. The Bi-ble used to be referenced and lessons were taught from those Holy pages until the Supreme Court rulings.

At the time of those rul-ings, according to Barton’s Video, 97 percent of Ameri-cans were self proclaimed Christians. All of the other religions and non religious persons made up 3 percent of the population. With-out precedent the Supreme Court with its majority vote ruled in favor of the 3 per-cent.

I can remember the Ten Commandments hanging in

the hall of my grade school and high school, but those too were removed by the court in 1980. The court’s rul-ing read something like this. If a child is exposed to the Ten Commandments day af-ter day they may read them and some of them may begin to obey them. So, they were removed. In the aforemen-tioned video, Barton shares some statistics showing the results of the court’s actions.

Unwed teenage pregnancy is up 400 percent since 1963. That is 15 to 19 year old girls and these statistics are adjusted for population in-creases in the U.S.

Divorce rates before 1963 had been declining for de-cades but since that time they are up 117 percent. The United States is number one in divorces today.

Single female-parent households with no spouse present are up 300 percent since 1962. That is more than double the population

growth factor.Unmarried couples living

together has increased ten-fold. That’s 1,000 percent. Without a moral compass for five decades, the last two generations stumble now on little things like the defini-tion of marriage.

Since religion has been barred from our public schools the SAT test scores which were stable for de-cades before 1962 have plum-meted year after year.

The U.S. is number one in violent crime today. Since 1962 it has increased by 470 percent, which more than quadruples the population growth rate factor of our na-tion.

Barton leaves you in his video with a quote from George Washington:

“The propitious smiles of heaven can never be ex-pected on a nation that disre-gards the eternal rules of or-der and right which heaven itself has ordained.”

Child of the 60sNew generation losing its morals

WITH ELLIS CROSSNews Editor | Ellis Cross | elliscross@yahoo.com

Chad Hammontree | Graphics Editor

Well . . . .

. . . . maybe the power outage was ahint that I should stay on topic instead

of ranting about politics.

OPINIONSOctober 11, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 8

Missouri Western a dry campusonly on a technicality

Missouri Western should stay adry campus

Katelyn Canon | Staff Writerkcanon@missouriwestern.edu

That being, of age stu-dents cannot drink on cam-pus. With the new policy, buildings that alcohol can be served in have been ex-panded, but Missouri West-ern has yet to allow students over the age of 21 to partake in drinking on campus.

College stu-dents drink. While it may be convenient to overlook this, a college that al-lows drinking could actually provide its students with a learning opportunity.

Some may not think that higher education and alco-hol are even closely related, but college is a time where learning occurs both in and outside the classroom.

If Western was to serve alcohol to students 21 and older then it would be in a controlled atmosphere where they could learn to drink responsibly instead of binge drinking behind the administration’s back.

Also, if alcohol were served on campus there would be less of a stigma at-tached to drinking.

Since the policy includes Spratt Stadium serious con-sideration should be given

to selling al-cohol at major sporting events held during the weekend.

This would be the best way to allow students to drink with-out allowing alcohol during the school week. Presently, stu-dents still drink

at games, but they carry in their alcohol in water bot-tles or mixed into fountain drinks. Western students are not the first students the skirt policies, but having to conceal drinking at games only proves there is a stigma attached to alcohol.

College students should be encouraged to partake in responsible drinking, and Western should set that precedence for the student body.

Matt Hunt | Opinions Editormhunt8@missouriwestern.edu

Missouri Western should stay a dry campus.

Those who think that Western should consider be-coming a wet campus need to check the facts and see how difficult it would be to make the cam-pus wet.

There are many factors to consider if Western would like to become a wet campus. The first is that stu-dents who are 21 and up need to be separated a placed in a different dor-mitory. The second is that students should pay more to go to Western, considering the insurance for making the residents halls wet will cost a fortune. Then the final factor is that those causing distur-bance or destroying prop-erty from being intoxicated will be suspended.

Those are just three of the ideas that Western would have in mind if considering making the residence halls and parking lots wet.

The only problem is that students would not obey these laws. We can’t hide the fact that students do drink on campus, and behind closed doors.

However, making it legal would put not only the stu-

dents endanger, but others as well. Students can drink on campus, then leave and get into trouble or something worst happen. It would be the students fault, and not the uni-versity’s.

The current Western policy to allow alco-hol on campus for business purposes is beneficial for the future of our university. Stu-dents have earned the title of “party animals” for a reason. The policy stands for the University, and students are not customers they are pro-ducers of this institution.

It’s a privilege at Western to earn a quality education, and that should include these mediocre requests by students.

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www.THEGRIFFONNEWS.comwww.THEGRIFFONNEWS.com

SPORTSOctober 11, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 9

MWSUBash

FRIDAY, OCT. 12TH10:00PM-1:30AM

$7 Cover featuringDJ Soundninja w/ MC Tres

Christian Mengel | Asst. Sports Editorcmengel@missouriwestern.edu

The Griffons came back from Tahlequah, Okla., with a 45-31 victory over the Northeastern State River-Hawks, improving their re-cord to 6-0 -- the best start of a season since 1981.

It was a tough day for the Griffons defensively, with 31 points being the most the team has allowed so far this season, and it wasn’t against a worthy team; the RiverHawks have yet to win a game. Just a week before they played the Griffons, the RiverHawks were getting plastered up in Maryville, losing to the Bearcats 66-6; a team whom the Griffons will meet up with in the last

game of the regular season.Michael Hill continued to

play like a machine, pound-ing out another 195 yards to add onto the outstanding numbers he has already put up this season. He is aver-aging 179 rushing yards a game and is currently sitting at 1,075 yards on the season (the only Division II player over the 1,000 yard mark).

Coach Jerry Partridge knows he has a great run-ning back, but he also be-lieves that Hill’s so-called “weakness” isn’t as weak as people think.

“He broke a 70-yard run and outran a safety,” Par-tridge said. “That’s the one thing people are kind of get-ting a little worried about, especially at the next level, is

his speed. Either their safety is a 4.8 [40-yard dash] guy, or Michael is pretty fast. Be-cause he beat him.”

Reggie Jordan is still vir-tually unstoppable from getting in the end zone, and found his way in twice against the RiverHawks. He may only have 12 catches on the season, but half of them have been for touchdowns. Jordan and Hill are currently tied at six for the team high of non-throwing touchdowns.

The opponents the Grif-fons have faced so far have a combined record of 8-28. Af-ter the Griffons play the 4-2 Missouri Southern Lions, the remaining four teams will have a combined record of 22-2.

Travis Partridge runs in for a touchdown against Central Oklahoma. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor

High-scoring game ends in win for Griffons

Missouri Western failed to score in their loss to Wash-burn on Oct. 5, but rebound-ed nicely in their overtime win against Emporia State on Oct. 7.

Washburn – 2Missouri Western – 0

Women’s soccer came out slow in the first half com-pared to Washburn. Nine minutes into the game, the Lady Blues put themselves on the board 1-0 over the Griffons. The ladies would mainly stay on defense for the remainder of the first half.

The second half wasn’t much of an improvement. Both teams’ offenses gained a little momentum, but little was produced until late in the game. In the 85th minute, Washburn added to their lead, making it 2-0 to finish out regulation.

Goalkeeper Kelly Voigts had seven saves on the night.

Western had three of its four shots on goal, while Wash-burn put nine of its 18 on goal.

“[Friday night] was a little bit of a struggle, to say the least,” coach Chad Edwards said. “I think it was a combi-nation of not being ready to go, but also having to find ourselves with new players playing at new positions, as well.”

Missouri Western – 2Emporia State – 1

The Griffons were ready to go against the Emporia State Hornets on Sunday. Abby Widrig put in a goal early off of a pass from senior Ashlyn Castillo, helping Western gain an early 1-0 lead over the Hornets. Prior to half-time, Emporia tied it up in the 37th minute with a goal of their own.The second half was a de-

fensive battle, with neither team gaining an edge over the other. As regulation end-ed, the score remained 1-1, sending the game into over-

time. Only 30 seconds into overtime, Widrig slammed a stunner from 40 yards out, ending the game at 2-1 in favor of Western. That goal was No. 11 of Widrig’s career at Western, tying her with Audrey Henderson for most career goals.

“Abby dribbled about 10 yards forward and just kicked the ball,” Edwards said. “I wouldn’t call it a pass and I wouldn’t call it a

shot. It was literally in the air for about 10 seconds. It took a couple seconds until the referee signaled it, but we’ll take them any way we can get them.”

Western had five of their nine shots on goal. Voigts racked up six saves for the day. The overtime win over Emporia boosted the Grif-fons to 2-5 in MIAA play and 4-7 on the season.

Soccer falls flat at Washburn, rebounds in OT at Emporia

Goalkeeper Kelly Voigts saves the ball against Central Okla-homa at a recent home game. The Griffons fell to them 1-0. The Griffons are now 4-7 in the MIAA.

Jason Brown | Photo Contributor

Christian Mengel | Asst. Sports Editorcmengel@missouriwestern.edu

After a hard fought loss to Harding University, Mis-souri Western won out the next three games in the Washburn Crossover Tour-nament, improving to 12-8 on the season.

Western lost to Harding in 3 games (25-22, 25-23, 25-21), but beat Southern Nazarine three games to one (25-19, 17-25, 25-14, 25-18), beat Southeastern Oklahoma three games to two (25-17, 25-10, 27-29, 18-25, 18-16) and beat East Central three games to two (25-18, 22-25, 14-25, 27-25, 15-9).

Junior Stephanie Hattey jumped up a spot in the re-cord books after the tourna-ment. After dropping 118 as-sists in just four games, she now sits in third place of the all-time assists list for West-ern, passing Jodi Weatherly. She currently has 2,299 as-sists in her career.

Other good news for the Griffons came in the last game of the tournament when Melissa Cairns found playing time again after be-ing sidelined due to a torn labrum in her hip. She ex-ploded with 16 kills and 24

digs in her first game back.The last two games both

ended in five sets, the first full game of the season for the Griffons. Coach Cory Frederick was surprised to have it pushed that long.

“I looked over at [assistant coach] Marian and asked ‘Have we even played any five game matches this sea-son?’” Frederick said. “So yes, we were a little con-cerned and didn’t know what to expect because we’ve had some issues with leadership at putting teams away this year. This confer-ence is so tight that we’ll see more of those games as the season goes on.”

Although the Griffons have a 9-3 record in tourna-ment play, they will need to be at their best for the re-mainder of the regular sea-son if they want to continue their future in the MIAA tournament. Currently, they have a 3-4 record in MIAA play.

Amanda Boender led the team in kills over the week-end with 46 total kills. Not far behind her was freshman Jessie Thorup with 41 and Hattey with 32.

Coach Marian Carbin talks to the team during its match against Southwest Baptist. Tevin Harris | Asst. Photo Editor

Volleyball triumphs in Washburn Crossover

Mika Cummins | Staff Writermikacummins1@missouriwestern.edu

SPORTSOctober 11, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 10

No. 4 Western football will put its 6-0 record on the line against 4-2 Missouri South-ern in the Homecoming game at 1:30 p.m. on Satur-day, Oct. 13, at Spratt Sta-dium.

“Homecoming is a special time and it’s a great event for any universities campus life, but I don’t think we treat it any differently,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “Our crowd is always pretty good any-ways.”

The Griffon defense will take on the task of stopping quarterback Kellen Cox and the triple option offense. The

5-foot-10-inch 160-pound former wide receiver ranks third in the MIAA in rushing at 94.3 yards per-game with eight touchdowns.

“He’s the key guy, the cog,” coach Partridge said. “They will try to run the ball with him. We have to stop him and obviously we have to stop all phases of the triple option.”

Cox numbers through the air are much less flattering than on the ground. He’s completed only 20-for-44 passes with eight intercep-tions and two touchdowns. Defensive end David Bass expects to deal with a heavy dose of Southern’s running game.

“The triple option is usual-

ly a difficult offense to play,” Bass said, “but with the se-niors and experience that we’ve got, I think we’ll be able to handle it.”

W e s t e r n has been very good defen-sively all sea-son ranking No. 2 in the MIAA and No. 14 in the country al-lowing 16.7 points per-game, but Bass believes there’s room for improvement.

“We aren’t where we want to be,” Bass said. “The entire

defense messed up on some assignments and responsibil-ities last week. As long as we

stick together and trust one another then we are going to be good.”

One of S o u t h e r n ’ s strengths is their ability to stop the run, how-ever, Grif-fons running back Michael Hill is no or-dinary run-

ner as he leads the nation in rushing. Quarterback Travis Partridge also has the abil-ity to gain big yards on the

ground.“I’m sure running the ball

is going to be very difficult,” coach Partridge said. “They have given up some pass-ing yards, and we are going to have to take advantage of that.”

Opposing receivers have been torching the Lions’ pass defense all season as they are giving up 244 yards per-game while only gaining an average of 77 yards them-selves.

Travis Partridge is going to stick to the game plan, but is more than willing to make the necessary adjustments and burn the Lions through the air.

“Every week we go in with a game plan and we try to

establish the run first,” Par-tridge said. “We just kind of take what the defensive is giving us, so if they’re giv-ing us yards through the air then that’s what we’re going to do.”

Every game is huge in foot-ball, but it’s hard not to look forward to next week when the Griffons travel to Pitts-burg, Kan., to face the No. 1 ranked and reigning national champion Pittsburg State.

Bass isn’t looking forward as he knows that Southern will prove to be a formidable opponent.

“No, never,” Bass said. “This is my senior year. Ev-ery week is crucial to me, so I can leave on a good note and have fun while I’m doing it.”

Western to take on Southern for HomecomingKyle Inman | Sports Editorkinman@missouriwestern.edu

HOMECOMING GAME

MISSOURI SOUTHERNOCT. 13, 1:30 P.M.SPRATT STADIUM

Only five games into his rookie season, former Mis-souri Western kicker Greg Zuerlein has already proven to be one of the most danger-ous weapons in the NFL.

Zuerlein is a perfect 13-for-13 field goals for the season, including breaking a Rams franchise record 58-yard kick in week four, and then broke his own record a quarter later by nailing one from 60 yards. Zuerlein is 5-of-5 from be-yond 50 yards this season and last year at Western, he hit a perfect 9-for-9 from over 50. He hasn’t missed a field goal from over 50 yards since playing for Nebraska-

Omaha in 2009.For his display of leg

strength in week four, Zuer-lein was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week as he became the only player in NFL history to make a 50- and 60-yard field goal in the same game. In the week before that, his 56-yard make at Soldier Field in Chicago is the longest field goal ever made in the historical sta-dium. In short, Zuerlein’s NFL ca- reer has been com-

pletely perfect up to this

point.

More than 27 million peo-ple are playing fantasy foot-ball this season in the United States, and the ones who have Zuerlein are winning. In the first week of the sea-son, Zuerlein was only start-ed by 6 percent of all owners and in week five, was in 89 percent of all starting line-ups. His 13 field goals on the year ties him for the league lead and he ranks No. 7 in points scored in the NFL this season. The only reason why he isn’t first on that list is be-cause the Rams aren’t scor-ing as many touchdowns as the other teams limiting Zu-erlein’s extra point attempts.

“I’m not at all sur-prised,” Western quar-terback and former teammate Travis Par-

tridge said. “We expected it, honestly. We kind of laughed at people who didn’t, be-cause we saw it all season last year.”

It’s hard for an NFL kicker to draw enough attention to garner a nickname, but Zuer-lein has several as the nation has taken notice of his ex-tremely powerful leg. West-ern takes credit for the origi-nal, Greg “The Leg”; Rams nation calls him “Young

G.Z.,” like the platinum sell-ing rapper Young Jeezy; and Bill Simmons, also known as “The Sports Guy” on ESPN, has named him “Legatron,” a play-on the leader of the Decepticons in “Transform-ers.”

Zuerlein’s success has prompted some high praise from running back and pe-rennial team-leader Steven Jackson when he said that

Zuerlein is the team’s most valuable player this season. Coach Jeff Fisher has confi-dence in Zuerlein any time that the offense crosses mid-field.

Not-so-coincidentally the Rams are off to their best start in recent memory at 3-2.

Kyle Inman | Sports Editorkinman@missouriwestern.edu

(Above) Greg Zuerlein kicks a field goal for the St. Louis Rams. *Courtsey of ESPN.com(Right) Zuerlein was a nominee for NFL’s Rookie of the Week in Week 4. *Courtesy of NFL.com

Jessica Koch, arguably the greatest female athlete to ev-ery play for Missouri West-ern, is going to the pros.

Koch will start her rookie season for Haskovo 2012 in Haskovo, Bulgaria, a team belonging to the Bulgarian National Basketball League.

Making a career out of playing a sport professional-ly is one of the most difficult things for a person to accom-plish in a lifetime. It’s hard enough making it in football or baseball, sports that have huge rosters and big drafts and multiple leagues. Bas-ketball is a little more lim-ited. A typical team will have about 12-15 players, and for the league in Bulgarian NBL there are only seven teams.

Koch was just waiting for an opportunity like this to come up. Her only chance at playing at the next level was in the hands of her agent. Af-ter a summer of waiting, she got the call of a lifetime.

“When I got the call that they were interested, it was a very numbing feeling and a million things went through my head,” Koch said. “I still wake up every day and am amazed that I’m doing this for a living. It’s truly a bless-

ing and I’m not sure I’ll ever really grasp it.”

She is one of three Ameri-cans on the team, and the only one to come from the Division II level.

After her historic collegiate career, it was only a matter of time before somebody out there realized that they could use her talent.

Koch found her way in the record books in pretty much every major category; with 1,776 total points, she is the all-time leading scorer at Western; she has made more free throws and grabbed more steals than any other player; she is the second all time in three-pointers made, rebounds and assists; and

third on the all time list for most blocks.

Despite being the face of the sport at a school for four years, it will take time to ad-just to the European style of play. Unlike in America where players rely on size and power to be good, Eu-ropean players tend to be much more quick and crafty

according to Koch.Style of play is just one of

the changes she will need to adapt to. Obviously com-munication is important in every sport, and communi-cation can be difficult when there is a language barrier. Bulgarian isn’t exactly a common second language for Americans. Luckily for

Koch, she says she has some teammates who speak very good English, and two fel-low Americans to help her out. Unfortunately, the coach is not bilingual. Koch relies on a translator when the coach has something to say. If you know basketball, you know coaches always have something to say.

After playing the same game with the same rules, she will have to learn a set of new ones. Her mentality will have to change when it comes to timeouts. In Bul-garia, only the coach can

call them. When a player is trapped, no one can call timeouts.

Koch has been a team lead-er for everyone she has ever played for. By being smart, tough and dedicated she has always been recognized as the best player on the court. She will be working just as hard as always to continue playing at the professional level.

To keep up with Koch’s experiences in Bulgaria, read her blog “Bulgaria Bound” at www.jessicakoch24.blogspot.com/.

Christian Mengel | Asst. Sports Editorcmengel@missouriwestern.edu

Zuerlein flawless through Week 5

“I still wake up every day and am amazed that I’m doing this for a living. It’s truly a blessing and I’m not sure I’ll ever really grasp it.”-Jessica Koch

Former athlete plays pro in Bulgaria

(Left) Jessica Koch is all-time leading scorer for Missouri Western Women’s Basketball with 1,776 points.(Above) Koch (far left) poses with her new team, Haskovo 2012, in Haskovo, Bulgaria. *Submitted photos

Jason Brown | Photo Contributor