Oct. 26, 2016

Oct. 26, 2016 | Midwestern State University | thewichitan.com | Your Campus. Your News. | Vol. 81 No. 9

H O M E C OM I NG PHOTOS BY BRIDGET REILLY AND MAKAYLA BURNHAM | THE WICHITAN

Emily Richburg, art junior, and Makenzie Anderson, nursing junior, and other Mustang Manics perform during the Lip Sync competition in the Akin Auditorium. | Leonardo Gonzalez, mass communication sophomore, performs with Chi Omega and Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Lip Sync in Akin Auditorium Oct. 24. His group placed in the top three and will advance to finals Thursday at the Bonfire.

• Homecoming Dance | 8:30 p.m. | Legacy Hall Multipurpose Room • Bonfire T-shirt Exchange ends | 5 p.m. | Office of Student Development & Orientation CSC 194 • Torchlight Parade | 9 p.m. | Comanche Trail by Daniel building • Homecoming Bonfire | 9:15 p.m. | Nocono Trail South parking lot • Mustangs Madness | 10 p.m. | D.L. Ligon Coliseum • Golden Grads Alumni Brunch | 10:30 a.m. | CSC Kiowa Exstudent Dining room

Three groups to perform at Bonfire STEPHEN GOMEZ REPORTER

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packed auditorium. Five judges. Fourteen organizations. Nine teams, with only three moving on to the finals. Our theme for the competition: bring your game face. Hosted by the Office of Student Development and Orientation. With only six minutes each to win it. This is the Lip Sync competition.

“We wanted to promote school spirit,” Mario Ramirez, assistant director student development and orientation, said, “so we wanted our student organizations to be thinking like that.”

When the doors opened on Monday night at 7:30 p.m starting off the Homecoming week, a flood of excited students, faculty

members and parents entered Akin auditorium. In less than 30 minutes, the auditorium’s seats were all taken, around 420 people sitting down, and dozens more in the aisles. Ramirez warned that seating at the event was first-come, firstserved. Ushers denied dozens more to the overcrowded auditurim to remain in compliance with fire regulation’s.

“I like the school spirit here,” Auten Lange, history junior, said, “It’s my first year here, I came from UNT and their school spirit is weak compared to MSU’s.”

Starting off the event was Kappa Sigma and Sigma Kappa, setting the fast pace for the rest of the night.

Then came Black Student Union, Chi Omega/Sigma Alpha Epsilon, which came in first place at the

competition. The returning champions, Caribbean Student Organization came in second. Gamma Phi Beta and Tau Kappa Epsilon, then Alpha Phi/Sigma Nu/Kappa Alpha Order, followed by the Maniacs.

Ending the night with the cheerleaders coming in third place.

“It’s a new way to meet people,” Marc Zographos, marketing junior, said, “It’s a fun experience and a tradition to me, plus I’m terrible at building boats.”

Competitors had 10 minutes before the competition to rehearse.

The rules: no throwing, dropping of people, items, glitter on people during performances. Music played, during the performance, should not have excessive profanity in them, due to children in the audience. The Lip Sync competi-

tion is made up of dancing, acting, lip-synching. It’s got a little bit of everything.

“I’ve been to Lip Sync the past few years, it looked like fun,” Makenzie Anderson, nursing junior, said, “It’s my favorite, it’s so care free and I like to dance.”

Winners of the Lip Sync will compete for the final places in front of the campus on Thursday, Oct. 27 during the pep rally at 9:15 p.m.

First place will receive an award of $500 plus the traveling trophy. Second place will receive an award of $300 and an award plaque. Third place will receive an award of $200 and an award plaque.

“Most don’t do it for the money,” Ramirez said, “They do it for the traveling trophy and bragging rights.”

STUDENT POLITICAL DEBATE

• Legacy Hall Ribboncutting & Open house | 1:30 p.m. | Legacy Hall Multipurpose Room • Homecoming Parade | 4 p.m. | Begins at Soccer field parking lot • Fish Fry | 5-7 p.m. | Sikes Lake Center • MSU Cardboard Boat Race | 6 p.m. | Sikes Lake • Friday Night Live Concert: Walknin’ Johnny | 7 p.m. | WFMA Priddy Pavilion • Homecoming Brunch and Award Ceremony | 10 a.m. | Comanche Suits • Tailgate Party & Competiton | 5:30 p.m. | Memorial Stadium west parking lot • Minority Alumni Mixer | 9 p.m. | Legacy Hall Multipurpose Room • Candlelight Prayer Service | 10 p.m. | Catholic Campus Center

Come watch the student debate between Marco Torres and Manny Hoffmann H Moderated by KFDX Anchor Deron Molen Wednesday, Nov. 2 H 7 p.m. H Dillard College of Business Administration H Room 101

2 | Oct. 26, 2016 |

STAF F E D I T O R I A L

Cafeteria lacks both quality and quantity OUR VIEW: While some parts of the new cafeteria have improved, as a whole it has not.

The quality of the cafeteria has declined since last year, and we believe this needs to change. There are days where they don’t have cups or forks, and there are days when there is no milk for cereal. The sales are up from last year overall, but the sales percentage for Mesquite Dining stayed at 53 percent.

Sometimes when students walk into the cafeteria, they will get their food, and then try to get a drink, but find that there are no cups left. Other times, students will go to get a fork to eat with, but find that there are no forks. Another problem students have run into is the dish belt being off during cafeteria times, which leads to a back up of dirty dishes. That doesn’t make our cafeteria look great.

Kristi Schulte, director of housing and residence life, said this is because there will sometimes be more students in the cafeteria than usual, making it hard for staff to manage the stock of utensils. She also said a way to fix this is by politely asking a staff member if he could find some cups or forks.

This belief of poor cafeteria quality seems to be popular among other students as well. We ran a Twitter poll asking students what they thought of the quality of the cafeteria. Of the 31 responses, 39 percent said poor, 32 percent said okay, 23 percent said good, and only 6 percent said great. Our solution is to have more people on staff to help manage the stock. That way everyone can stay focused on the jobs they do, and the cafeteria remains stocked.

Overall, the quality of the cafeteria is low this year.

Staff struggles with stock, and the cafeteria looks dirty with unclean tables and a belt that’s never on. If these things don’t change, lower sales could result.

wichitan

the

Vol. 81 | No. 9

Midwestern State University Fain Fine Arts Bldg., Room B103 3410 Taft Blvd. Box 14 Wichita Falls, Texas 76308 (940) 397-4704 • wichitan@mwsu.edu thewichitan.com • @wichitanonline

I am old; get over it I am a 24-year old college student.

It feels good to say it. I’m old which is funny because I don’t feel old. Yet I have begun to hear it from my peers more and more. “Happy birthday!

How old are you?” “Ugh I’m 21. I’m old.” If you’re old then I’m old. Geez what have I done with my life.

Savannah After high school graduation, I took Rangel a year off. I moved to Dallas, partied every night, and worked a part-time job. Not wanting to be stuck in retail forever, I decided to get serious. It wasn’t until I turned 21 that I began pursuing my associates. Like many other students, I attended community college and transferred to MSU last Aug. At community college, I never really felt much different than anyone else. Every class was filled with a mix of young and old. Stay-at-home moms continuing their education, high school students in duel credit courses, and people like me. People who didn’t know if college was for them. People who took forever deciding which path was right for them.

There are students older than me, but traditionally college is a younger persons game. You graduate high school, go to college, graduate, and hopefully get a job. For many that’s exactly how life goes. Other people my age already have their Bachelor’s. They are in grad school. Other people are starting families. Life isn’t the same for anyone. That’s what I always try to remember. It is not a race or a competition. The important thing is whether I am proud of what I am doing.

Of course there are times I feel like I fell behind.

I should be done already. Panic ensues. It gets worse when I hear my younger peers say it. They’re old and further ahead. What is wrong with me?

Nothing. I made my decision. If I could go back, I wish I would’ve taken my studies more seriously. But I would never trade those memories of youthful ignorance and carefree nights of staying up until 6am. The thought of it now is exhausting. Seriously how did I ever do that?

Savannah is a major classification

What’s the big deal of Homecoming

I

t’s no secret that Homecoming is a big deal. Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni to a campus, usually accompanied by a large sporting event - in our case, football - and hosting activities for both students and alumni.

But when someone says “HomeBrendan coming,” what’s the first thing that Wynne comes to mind?

Most people might say they immediately see visions of an electric football game, the celebration of students and alumni, or the crowd roaring to life during the crowning of Homecoming royalty.

But I don’t buy it.

See, when someone says “Homecoming,” what comes to mind is everything that’s going to happen afterward - every bad decision, strange drink, and atthe-time dreamboat that’ll never contact you again.

When someone says “Homecoming,” what comes to mind is that strange, vomit-like taste in your mouth that sets in around 9 a.m. Though, you’re not entirely

sure where the drunken sickness ends and the hangover starts.

But, of course, when someone says “Homecoming,” I can’t help but think of the various guys and gals nominated for royalty.

I don’t see the point of giving a handful of individuals some titles that serve no purpose. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing tradition, I just don’t see any point in what looks to be little more than a big “yay me” for the Greeks.

I’m not saying this because I have some vendetta against Homecoming or the Greeks. I say this because Homecoming has become little more than a giant drinking game - a social grudge match between potential princesses and an excuse to be a complete idiot.

Homecoming can be fun and exciting, but it’s far too easy to find yourself in an incredibly embarrassing, or even dangerous, situation. Of course, college students will be college students. And social media and the police reports never forget.

Brendan Wynne is a mass communication freshman.

EDITOR: Kara McIntyre

Copyright ©2016.

DESIGN EDITOR: Justin Marquart

The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association and the Associated Collegiate Press. The Wichitan reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication.

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Izziel Latour, Bridget Reilly, Jeanette Perry, Dewey Cooper, Makayla Burnham ISSUE STAFF: Stephen Gomez, Savannah Rangel, Brendan Wynne, Caleb Sneath, Jeromy Stacy, Dewey Cooper, Jeanette Perry, Garrett Hutchinson ADVISER: Bradley Wilson

Opinions expressed in The Wichitan do not necessarily reflect those of the students, staff, faculty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwestern State University.

The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before intended publication. Letters should be brief (250 words or fewer) and without abusive language or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a email address, telephone number and address.

| Oct. 26, 2016 | 3

PHOTOS BY GARRETT HUTCHINSON | THE WICHITAN

David Aragon, mass comunication sophomore, gets hit by Taylor Kelley, business management junior, and rolls over onto his head playing bubble soccer | Brandy Villanana, kinesiology junior, races Taylor Robinson, excersice physiology sophomore, in the Zorb Ball Race.

Around 100 people indulge in bubble soccer madness GARRETT HUTCHINSON REPORTER

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ubble soccer brought lots of chatter to campus this semester.

One Hundred people participated in the bubble soccer event Oct. 25, which was hosted on the turf fields, by the University Programming Board from 1 – 6 p.m.

Each year, UPB puts on activities for students to come out and have fun while promoting physical activity and student interaction.

Bubble soccer was first brought to this campus three years ago and has been a hit ever since.

“It usually happens on the quad but this year we wanted to have it on the turf fields because it doesn’t hurt as bad when you fall down,” Arriaga said.

Bubble soccer takes traditional soccer to the next level.

Adding an inflatable bubble that surrounds the player, offers protection from high speed collisions, and allows you to hit your opponent or bounce off the ground without risk of

serious bodily injury.

Two students engaged in acrobatic flips on the field to get away from their opponents.

However, bubble soccer was not the only activity you would of found on the turf fields yesterday.

In addition to bubble soccer. You could enjoy bongo ball or race your rival in zorb ball racing.

Zorb ball racing was a hit for many students as well. Zorb balls are oversized balls that you place your entire body into and use your arms and legs to move forward. The goal is to race down the track and back before your opponent to win the race.

“It was great,” Brandy Villasana, kinesiology junior, said, after racing her friend Taylor Robinson in the zorb balls.

“It was really fun,” Taylor Robinson, exercise physiology sophomore, said.

These activities are part of the homecoming budget and generally are available during homecoming week each year.

“We usually try to do this every year but not every semester because we don’t want it to get old,” Arriaga said.

Taylor Kelley, business management junior, runs into David Aragon, mass communication sophomore, at the bubble soccer event on the free play fields Oct. 25.

Kip Fulbeck to follow RJ Mitte in Artist-Lecture Series CALEB SNEATH REPORTER

K

ip Fulbeck, swimmer, artist, teacher, and mixed-race identity advocate, will be the next speaker in the Artist Lecture Series on Nov. 11.

“I like his work. I think it’s interesting,” Britnee Burleson, respiratory care sophomore, said.

Fulbeck won the award for athlete of the year in 1988 and creates art such as poetry and stories. He has also been a movie director, directing a total of 12 films such as Lilo and Me, which Fulbeck released in 2003. Much of Fulbeck’s works ad-

dress the topic of individuals who are of a mixed race, much like Fulbeck himself who is of mixed English and Cantonese heritage.

Students hope for Fulbeck to address a variety of topics.

“I would hope he talks about how important it is to not judge people on what racial background they come from,” Jacob Vance, undecided freshman, said.

Burleson also said she hopes Fulbeck will address the topic of mixed race acceptance, but she also said,“I hope he elaborates more on his artwork, his inspirations, and ways to promote your own artwork”

Xhori Duncan, nursing sophomore, said she felt Fulbeck was about as exciting as RJ Mitte, the most recent speaker in the Artist Lecture Series who managed to bring in a crowd of 200, a sentiment also professed by Burleson and Vance.

“They both seem like very capable speakers to inspire something to those who come watch them,” Vance said.

The event will be held at 7 p.m. in Akin Auditorium. Members of the general public must pay $20 per ticket to attend, but students and staff can attend for free with their campus ID. Additionally, Fulbeck will be in the Juanita Harvey Art Gallery from 3-5 p.m. for an opening reception.

4 | Oct. 26, 2016 |

122

registered

59

high school students

57

MWSU students

6 others

TWITTER: FROM STAR

PHOTO BY DEWEY COOPER

University Social Media Coordinator A.J. Lopez gives a presentation on Snapchat on Social Media Day, Oct. 24.

Students, others learn to engage with social media JEROMY STACY REPORTER

M

aking money with Twitter; how to create personal filters on Snapchat; social media’s application in the business world; the struggles of college life. These were some of the many topics of conversation at Social Media Day. The aim of Social Media Day was to teach students new, ways to use their social media accounts as well as attract potential new students to the mass communication department.

Bradley Wilson, assistant professor of mass communication, said, “It all started because we wanted to do a recruitment activity. We wanted to do something that was specialized to our department to get the high school students in here to see what we have to offer.”

The Department of Mass Communication was not the only one sponsoring the event.

“I wanted it to be an interdepartmental cooperation. It couldn’t just be mass comm,” Wilson said.

Along with mass communication, the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management and Office of Public Information and Marketing helped sponsor the event.

“It became a university event,” Wilson said.

The morning focused on introducing students to better ways to use social media, while the afternoon was spent teaching students how social media is evolving the business world.

“Hopefully they’ll associate mass comm with learning and having fun,” Wilson said

Wilson sta students to lo tive.

“I wanted them to consumers, but as pr He stressed the fa accounts will play a the future.

“How can you ‘m that’s your brand,” W ey on Twitter by bu start applying for job and go, ‘he’s valuabl Time invested is im according to Wilson.

He said, “You can’ to build that brand o people aren’t just go They’re going to loo that, the month bef get a feel for the bran

FROM GHOSTS TO LEA THE NEW WORLD OF S

A J Lopez nator, spoke purpose.

“The thing we w more you can do with eos to one another a up,” Lopez said.

He showed stude their own Geofilters Lopez said, “We ways to advertise w stories across platfor There is no social to Lopez.

“It’s a more perso different media entir and Instagram are off

OPTIMIZING YOUR YO

65% 59% 58% 54% use Facebook on a regular basis

use Instagram on a regular basis

use Snapchat on a regular basis

use YouTube on a regular basis

Mitzi Lew communicat ence, and you Lewis gave the stu keep a target audien thumbnails, titles, de

| Oct. 26, 2016 | 5

PHOTO BY DEWEY COOPER

Associate professor Mitzi Lewis discusses YouTube with more than 100 attendees, mostly high school and college students. In addition to discussing how to build YouTube channels that people will watch, Lewis, and conference assistant Garrett Hutchinson, gave out candy to students who answered students correctly.

RT TO FINISH IN 140 CHARACTERS

arted off the event by challenging ook at Twitter from a new perspec-

o get exposed to Twitter not just as roducers,” he said. act that the way students use their role in landing jobs they want in

make money’ on Twitter? Well, Wilson said. “You can make monuilding your brand, so when you bs people will look at your brand le to us.’” mportant when building a brand, . ’t just do that overnight. You have over a long period of time because oing to look at yesterday’s tweets. ok at yesterday’s, the week before fore that, the year before that, to nd.”

ADERS: SNAPCHAT

III, the MSU social media coordiabout giving Snapchat a broader

want them to know is how much h Snapchat than just sending vidand trying to get your snap streak

ents, step by step, how to create for Snapchat. wanted them to know there are with Geofilters. Geofilters can tell rms.” l media like Snapchat, according

onal way to follow people. It’s a rely than what Facebook, Twitter, ffering,” he said.

OUTUBE CHANNEL

wis, associate professor of mass tion, said, “It’s all about the audiu’ve got to have good content.” udents tips on how to attract and nce. She showed them ways to use escriptions and tags to help brand

their channel, to help people find their videos and to keep viewers interested.

“When you are doing all of this, you’re thinking about your audience,” she said.

Viewers won’t subscribe if the channel doesn’t give them something they want, according to Lewis.

She said, “It’s got to have some benefit for them.

Otherwise, they are not going to watch. Maybe that’s entertainment. Maybe that’s learning how to do something.

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR JOURNALISTS: HOW TO UTILIZE IT, AND WHY IT MATTERS

Orlando Flores, Jr., Times Record News digital contact producer, and Chris Collins, Times Record News investigative reporter, gave the students an inside perspective on how social media is changing news paper media.

Flores said, “The big thing was that social media— whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, any of that— is a big driver on traffic, and how our stuff is going to be seen by people more than it’s ever been, and it’s only growing.”

He said that of all social media, Facebook links bring in the most page views to the Times Record News website.

“Chris, my colleague, was more so focused on what you as a reporter would need to do for Twitter,” Flores said.

Collins stressed the importance of finding a way to advertise on Twitter in a way that is different than what other people are doing.

PHOTO BY BRIDGET REILLY

Faith Bradford from Hirschi High School asks a question during Social Media Day. More than 60 students from six area high schools attended the event.

FROM THE PARTICIPAN TS Bradley Wilson, mass communication assistant professor | “I had to think about Youtube in a way I hadn’t thought about YouTube before, and that’s the point.”

Jacob Bachert, Burkburnett High School student | “It really sparked my interest in mass communication.”

Saul Alarcon, Hirschi High School senior, yearbook editor | “I really liked the students and how they talked about the bigger picture.”

Skylar Baker, Hirschi High School senior, yearbook editor | “When the students came and talked to us, it made me feel a lot better about coming here, because I was really nervous and kind of scared because I didn’t know what to look for.”

Jenna Black, Hirschi High School junior | “I learned a whole bunch more about social media that I didn’t already know.

I’m excited to get to use more of that stuff.”

Zac Reed, Burkburnett High School sophomore | “I learned quite a bit about how to use social media in your favor to help your business or your yearbook.”

Kayrah Lee, Burkburnett High School junior | “I want to go to Tech personally. I’ve looked at MSU, but now that I’ve seen it and talked to students, it’s definitely going to be a choice for me.”

BUILDING A BETTER COMMUNITY

Ann Arnold-Ogden, community marketing director with Chamber of Commerce, discussed social media outside of business and news.

“Social media is being used more broadly by, not just companies but, also city government as a way to get information out about events, to show visitors what we love about our community, or as a way to attract businesses to come to our community,” ArnoldOgden said.

She passed out her business cards and encouraged students to bring her new ideas on how to advertise with social media.

“More and more companies are needing these skills that young people already know how to do,” she said, “It’s not just a way to share selfies and amazing vacation photos anymore.”

PHOTO BY BRIDGET REILLY

Megan Piehler, mass communication senior (right) along with Nizhoni Terronez, mass communication junior, Avery Whaite, mass communication junior, Kara McIntyre, mass communication junior, discuss the mass communication program with high school students around Wichita Falls on being mass communication students.

6 | Oct. 26, 2016 |

Students giggle and gasp at watch party as candidates bicker and answer questions DEWEY COOPER REPORTER

M

ore than 75 faculty and students sat quietly — with a few various giggles and deep breaths — in Sunwatcher clubhouse watching the third and final presidential debate on Oct. 19.

From the minute the two candidates hit the national limelight this past summer, there has been a lot of discussion about whether the debates have been the candidates just bickering rather than answering questions.

“This debate was more informative, but the bickering gets on a lot of people’s nerves, because this is serious,” DJ Myers, psychology junior, said. “A lot of people take it as a joke and I don’t think they understand what is at stake here.”

Gabrielle Browning, special education sophomore, falls in the middle, saying both candidates bicker and provide information.

“This [debate] has been more informative than what I was expecting, but there was more bickering than what there needed to be,” Browning said. “They needed to focus on issues rather than what Trump did in 1987 that’s irrelevant to what’s happening right now.”

Others found that last night’s debate was better than its predecessors.

“The first two were not informative at all,” Marina Ramos, criminal justice sophomore, said. “I thank [the de-

PHOTO BY IZZIEL LATOUR | THE WICHITAN

More than 75 people attended the Presidential Debate Watch Party in Sunwatcher Club House. bate moderator] for making it more about the issues.”

During the debate Chris Wallace, the debate moderator, asked Hillary Clinton about WikiLeaks, a few of the attendees disagreed on whether it was professional.

Myers said, “He did it because he wanted to see how she would react.”

Myers also noted that it was ethical for Wallace to mention WikiLeaks Ramos disagrees.

“It shouldn’t be around scandals, it should be around issues,” Ramos said. “It shouldn’t be about throwing shade at the other opponent.”

One of the more hotly debated issues surrounding this election season has been the the proposal of Donald Trump’s wall on the border

of the United States and Mexico.

During the debate many students laughed at Trump’s wall remarks, but students tend to think that most aren’t supportive.

“A lot of people take Trump as a joke,” Myers said.

“If Hillary said that people wouldn’t have reacted the same way.”

Both Browning and Ramos agree with Myers that people take Trump as a joke both adding that no one takes him seriously.

While most do agree that a wall is far-fetched, some think border patrol should be enhanced.

“I don’t agree that we need a wall, but we do need stronger border control,” Myers said.

Browning agrees with My-

ers taking a stronger stance on immigration.

“If we keep letting immigrants in, then it will go too far and they will take away the opportunities that we need,” Myers said.

Ramos disagrees with both.

“I don’t think we should have closed borders,” Ramos said. “My dad was an immigrant, I think the borders should be open. [Immigrants] will be able to help our country grow.”

According to the Oct. 19 forecast by The New York Times Hillary Clinton has 92 percent chance of winning the presidential election.

Student’s did not seemed surprised.

“She seems to care more, it’s because a lot of people see Trump as a joke, actor

and entertainer,” Myers said.

“Hillary has experience and she has been there.”

Browning falls more in the middle “She says the right things in the right way, and her policies sound nice,” Browning said. “Trump has good policies, but he needs to express them in ways that aren’t taken as a joke.”

At the end of the debate Steve Hilton, associate professor of art, took a straw poll to see who ‘won’ the debate.

The majority of responses were in favor of Clinton.

Myers, Browning and Ramos all agreed with the results of the poll with Ramos adding, “Hillary won, but I am happy to say Trump actually answered questions.”

H HOST: Steve Hilton, faculty resident in Legacy Hall H OPENING REMARKS: Kyle Keel, political science, and Bradley Wilson, mass communication

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| Oct. 26, 2016 | 7

Federal government opens FAFSA early JEORMY STACEY REPORTER

S

tudents who depend on federal aid to help pay for college know the Free Application for Federal Student Aid became available on Oct 1. The federal government requires students to use their tax information from 2015 to fill out their FAFSA for the 2017-18 school year.

Michelle Wells, associate director of financial aid, explained why the federal government made these changes and addresses some concerns about issues that may come with the change.

WHY DID FAFSA OPEN EARLY? The goal is to award earlier.

Wells explained that the financial aid office has always aimed to begin sending award notifications by April 1, but now they hope to start by Feb. 1.

“The main purpose of this time line change is to make award information, to new students specifically, available sooner,” Wells said.

She said the feds realized many parents don’t file their taxes until April 15. This

means new students can’t complete their FAFSA until that date and they won’t receive award notification until May. “Giving these award notifications to beginning freshman in May was putting them at a big disadvantage with trying to make all these decisions about ‘what can I get from school A’ and ‘what can I get from school B’ by August,” she said.

WHAT IF A STUDENT’S CURRENT FINANCIAL STATUS NO LONGER REFLECTS THE INFORMATION GIVEN ON THEIR 2015 FAFSA? Wells explained that the federal government will not request 2016 tax information and is requiring 2015 tax for the 2017-18 FAFSA, but the federal government has given the financial aid office permission to make adjustments.

She said, “The feds grant us professional judgement, and one of our tools in that is what we call special circumstance.”

Wells went on to say that special circumstance can be based on situations similar to the following: • A change in jobs where the student is

making less money now than they did in 2015.

• A student’s parents/providers recently lost their jobs or have a a different source of income.

• A change in dependency status.

• A change in the number of people living in the household now or within the next school year.

She also said some information on the 2017-18 FAFSA will be based on current status.

“The only thing that goes back to prior-prior year is the tax information.

People who live in your household, current marital status, age, and everything still drives whether you are a dependent student or an independent student,” she said.

She explained that students who need changes based on special circumstance do not need to make changes on their FAFSA. “In general, students just go back to their school and say ‘hey, this is what has happened,’” Wells said, “We make adjustments all year long.”

PHOTO CONTRIBUTION BYFAFSA.ED.GOV

Visit the FAFSA website for more information at https://fafsa.ed.gov/

MSU & MORE How do you stay involved?

Is that free food in the Quad?

Where is everybody going?

What should we do tonight?

AVAILABLE ON THE APPLE APP STORE AND ON GOOGLE PLAY. MSU & MORE IS YOUR GATEWAY TO BEING INVOLVED. “What’s going on now?” Get the details about events happening around campus.

All events and activities in one place: Mustangs Roundup, Stampede Week, Engagement Week, iLEAD, weCONNECT, UPB, athletics and MORE! Easily searchable student handbook.

Campus map, with a compass to point you to class.

8 | Oct. 26, 2016 |

Madison Davis, criminal justice freshman, speaks with girls from the Pink Tigers soccer team.

PHOTO BY JEANETTE PERRY | THE WICHITAN

Davis exemplifies core values on and off of the field JEANETTE PERRY REPORTER

I

t’s a typical crisp, Saturday morning on the soccer fields. The 10-year-old team arrives in uniforms that are slightly big and begin passing the ball. With large bows and cheesy grins, they’re ready for the game.

Soccer has always been an outlet for Madison Davis, criminal justice freshman, and helped her as a person to grow and set goals.

“The sport has been an outlet to me and it’s been a way for me to grow as an individual,” Davis, who has been playing soccer since she was four, said. “Later, as you develop with soccer, everybody’s on the same page and they want to win so it’s good to build a relationship with people who have the same goals as you.”

Along with her time playing with the women’s team, she works and helps to coach a team of nine and 10-year-olds.

The Pink Tigers team has had the benefit of Davis’s time and knowledge for the last two years. Gabe Vasquez, Pink Tigers head coach, describes Davis’s involvement as an inspiration to the girls.

Vasquez said, “I like to give these young girls the ability to learn what it looks like to see hard work. It’s an inspiration to see what

they can look up to and toward so a very positive role model.”

Karen Vasquez, also Pink Tigers head coach, agreed.

“It’s really great to have her, in the sense that she’s a lot younger, she’s an actual player, and I think somewhat among her peers since we have nine and 10-year-olds,” Vasquez said.

“She has a great influence on them and you can see how they look up to her, even my youngest daughter that plays said today that she dreamed about coach Madi playing and that’s why she scored as many points as she made today.”

Davis has helped take the Pink Tigers soccer team from a losing team to a winning one.

Last year they lost all but one game, and this year they have only lost one game. Her knowledge of the game has helped both of the Pink Tigers’ coaches to learn the game and turn around the team.

Vasquez [Gabe] said, “She has set the team perfectly as it is. She is the one who came up with our defense, how to play our players and she put them in their most optimal position for us to win.”

The parents of the Pink Tigers have seen how much of an influence Davis has had on the team in teaching them the sport, and en-

couraging them to grow as individuals.

Dianna Borrego, parent, said, “Tremendous influence self-esteem wise, skill wise, and just all around.”

The other parents on the team share Borrego’s thoughts.

Anna Garcia, parent, said, “She’s very positive. She knows the sport very well and not only that, she is so good with the girls.”

Davis has learned many things since she started with the women’s soccer this year, and playing at the university has given her a different perspective when she coaches.

“It’s kind of helped me to divide that line of competitiveness and having fun because the max competitive level I’ve ever been to is right here,” Davis said. “This has taught me patience, how to draw that line between being competitive but I’m not going to sit there and run them the whole practice you know what I mean?”

Kim Williams, parent, loves that no matter how busy Davis is, she takes the time to help the Pink Tigers.

“I love that no matter how busy she is with work, school and soccer, that if she can make it to our practices and games in between her own stuff, she’s there no matter what,” Williams said. “She doesn’t get paid any money.

She’s here just for the girls and the girls love it and when we get opportunities like last night, we went to her game and we watched her play and the girls just cheered so loud when she came onto the field and it was great.”

It means a lot to Davis to be able to mentor to the next generation of soccer players and perhaps play soccer at the collegiate level. She relates to these girls as she grew up playing on the same fields.

“I have grown up on those same fields, so it means a lot to me because I’ve been in that position and I know exactly what they are going through,” Davis said. “If I can be that somebody that they look up to and say, ‘hey, I want to be like Madi’, and they set goals for themselves because of that, then I feel like I have accomplished something.

Damian Clarke, women’s soccer coach, said Davis is a great person models the team’s core beliefs.

“Madi’s obviously a fantastic person when it comes to her selflessness, she’s exemplary for what we stand for at the end of the day,” Clarke said. “ Discipline, courage, sacrifice, and passion are the core values of who we are and she’s just one of those kids who models every one of those values and that’s who we are and what we do.”