The student voice of Midwestern State University
The Wichitan page 7 Bad Kanye!
page 9 Rainy victory
VMA awards full of drama, including West’s infamous jerk move against Taylor Swift.
MSU football team tramples Northeastern State 52-3 despite gloomy weather.
WEDNESDAY September 16, 2009
Fastest pencil in the west Chris Collins Managing Editor
Caricature artist Adam Pate has the fastest gun in the West. Or, rather, the fastest pencil. Clocking in at one caricature drawing per minute, Pate’s finely tuned hand truly is the one of the fastest in the world. He showcased his full-tilt trade at MSU Monday morning. Only a few minutes after setting up in the Clark Student Center, Pate had a line of students waiting to be drawn. He would eventually draw about 150 students. A bead of sweat rolls down his face as his hand races across the paper. A timer, set for one minute, ticked steadily behind Pate as he adds the finishing touches to a drawing. “You can time me – I’m one of the fastest in the world!” the sign behind Pate reads. Photo illustration by Brittany Norman
Vaccinations, hygiene are key for coping with H1N1 threat Brittany Norman Editor in Chief
H1N1, or swine flu, hasn’t had any reported cases at MSU yet, but the name of the game is still prevention. Dr. Keith Williamson, the MSU campus physician, said that MSU has been preparing for the possibility of pandemic flu for awhile now. “We initiated planning for flu pandemics several years ago when everyone was worried about the H5N1 ‘avian’ flu,” Williamson said. “The plans were dusted off for the swine flu last spring.” The viruses are not the same, but many prevention methods work for both. “We found that the flu we prepared
for was different from the flu we got; that is, avian flu was not very contagious but was severe, while swine flu is extremely contagious and about as serious as the familiar seasonal flu,” Williamson said. “We adapted the plans. We currently have weekly meetings of campus leadership to update on flu and flu planning. We have invited all concerned areas to the meeting, including housing, food services, athletics, and human resources.” The hand sanitizer available around campus is a sign of the efforts being made to protect students and other members of the university community. “We have invested lots of resources in making hand gel sanitizers available almost everywhere you
look on campus,” he said. “We have recommended sick students go home to their parents if possible, and have placed information around campus on self care and care for others for those who cannot go home.” Other universities have created quarantine areas for infected students to check themselves into until they’re fever-free and feeling better. “The housing situation is too tight on Midwestern to designate quarantine housing without significant disruption,” Williamson said. “If flu comes to the campus, Midwestern will respond as a community with staff, students, and faculty working together.” The regular flu vaccine will be See H1N1 page 5
He finishes the drawing with ten seconds to spare. He hands it to the student like a gift. She laughs – it’s the usual response to having your caricature drawn. Pate, a professional caricature See Caricature page 4
Flunking out? Never fear! Dual enrollment is here!
Chris Collins Managing Editor
Attention MSU students trying to maintain athletic or academic eligibility: if you’re failing a class, it might not be too late to save yourself. There’s hope in dual enrollment, the practice of attending MSU and another university simultaneously. MSU students who drop or are dropped from a class, even after the fourth day of a semester, are allowed to attend another institution as long as it is still allowing students to enroll, said April Taack, assistant to the registrar. This is even allowed mid-way through a semester. “It is correct that a student could get into a course and find
out that it didn’t count toward their degree, or it turns out to be too hard for them,” Taack said. “They could go to another institution and pick a course up.” Students who need to stay eligible for a sport, club, scholarship, or financial aid are the ones who take the most advantage of little-known opportunity, she said. “A lot of times they can’t fit it into their schedule,” Taack said. “Let’s say a class is being offered but it’s not at the right time, so they may go to another school with it. Or maybe they get their audit back and they realize, ‘Oh my goodness, there’s another class that I need.’ So they go online and pick up the course.” See Dual page 4
Mechanical engineering program earns accreditation Once the McCoy School of Engineering responded to the formal letter, they reThe McCoy School of En- ceived accreditation. gineering has a new certi“This is important for four fication to go with the new reasons,” Stewart said. “Acbuilding. creditation helps students The mechanical engineer- and parents choose quality ing program has officially college programs. It enables earned certification from the employers to recruit graduAccrediting Board for En- ates they know are well-pregineering and Technology pared. (ABET), Dr. Betty Stewart, “It’s used by registration, Dean of the College of Sci- licensing and certification ence and Mathematics boards to screen applicaThe accreditation comes tions,” she said. “And it gives at the end of a yearlong pro- colleges and universities a cess consisting of multiple structured mechanism to assteps, including self-study by sess, evaluate and improve the department, a visit from the quality of their program.” the ABET team, and then the The accreditation will apply receipt of a formal letter from to the students who graduatthe board. ed from the mechanical enBrittany Norman Editor In Chief
gineering program last year as well. “ABET accreditation is an assurance that a college or university program meets the quality standards established by the profession for which it prepares its students,” Stewart said. Achieving accreditation was a difficult and important process for the program. “I’m very proud of our faculty for their hard work,” Stewart said. Students in the McCoy School of Engineering work on projects in their new facilities. The program recently gained accreditation. (photo by Julia Raymond)