September 16, 1993 by The Wichitan and Wai Kun

Photo Poll: Political awareness amon g stude nts today

MSU must decide hclween scholarships for spor ts or nol

-----=-:--_nm Wichitan

Volun or 72, Numb er 2

Midwestern Stale University

September 16, 1993

Campus dance turns violent

BYKathry n Self,

Ed itor, and Ji1lie Nanny, Manllgi nJed itor

Midw es tern State l) ni,•c rsi ty Police and Unive rsity offici a ls arc inves tiga ting a series of dist urbances which began st appro ximat ely l! :50 p.m. Sept. II invol ving MSU s tuden ts and a Jorge numb er of non . sludcn ts, some of which ore suspected loca l ga ng

rnembcrs.

Alph a frat ernity , the

~oup may not have been

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direct ly res ponsi ble for lhc comm otion of th e

"This is not what MSU is about," Farrell said. "No longer will any type of event that would create an atmosphere where this can go on will be pennitted on campus. We are a community of scholars."

c,·cnin g A_lph a

Phi Alph a pres id ent a nd advi ser

were unva il a bJe comment.

for

"The dance began a l 9 P-m. a nd about 30 people

were inside on the dance Alth ough th ere were n oo r ," Phillip Bird ine,

gun shots and numer ous ~ca n of studen ts, sa id figh ts, only minor injuri es Ab out 10:30 pm . have bee n report ed lo scufflin g took place inside University offici als. th e Cl a rk Stud e nt Dr Howa rd Farrell, Ce nu,r, not actu al fights." \'ice presid ent for studen t After the fi rst wa rning at admin i s tr a ti ve w as and i ss u e d \·en e id sa ces, rvi se approximau,J y 10:35 p.m. 1hough th e dance was by Birdine to the gues ts, spons ored by Alpha Phi he termin a ted th e dance

I was usherin g people out of the building," Birdin e said. "Durin g th a t time, studen ts sta rted runnin g in my direct io n sayin g

at approxima tely 10:45 p.m. beca use th e pushin g nnd ye lling conlinued. "Peo pl e gra dually sta rt ed leavi ng (CSC) and

th ore was a fight." "Dy the time I got in there (the Ba llroom ), the be e n had portie • separo!A?d by the gu ests," Birdine said. "Prob lem s starte d happe ning outsid e (CSC ) in th e a rea or Memorial Hal l when fi ghts began to erupt ," Farre ll said . "Birdine report ed eight to wer e fi g hts nin e huppc ning at the so me police MSU and He time. tried to brea k ( the fights)." Bird i ne estim ated be tween 160 and 180 people had ga thered ot that point. As soon a s Birdin e and MSU police di spersed

Third Millennium

one fight, anoth er would start, eoid Fa rrell . Durin g the fights , on uniden tified male put his elbow throug h a broken piece of gl oss on the north side of th e CSC, cuttin g his ha nd. H.G. Evans , MSU police chief said th e male did not break the glass, thoug h. He th e n ran before officia ls could reach him. s itu a tion The height ened when severa l shots were heard , Birdine said. "Two small calibe r shots we re fired in th e oir," Farrell soid. •A short

/see page 3

rease

VP expects inc ild bu Group tries to --- ---/---aw in Fall enrollment s es en ar -, r-- --- ---

(CPS) ·· Conce rned thsl the mount ing national debt1 envi ronme ntal degrad ation and inner-city strife will dcvasta!A? their lives in the next centur y unless drastic change s are made, a group of "twentysomcthing" leader s arc organizing on college campuses this fall to increa se the political savvy and clout of young voters . "The messa ge ie th at our genera tion's future is being sold out unless young Ameri can s become energized and more involved in the politica l process , we'll have no one to blame but ourselves," said J onatha n Karl, cofounder of the New Yorkbased Third Millennium. The non-pa rtisan group has received a "treme ndous response" since its opening salvos were sounded in mid.Ju ly wilh the distrib ution ofa declaration that calls for

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solutions to great ills in American society and _ politics, Karl said. Third

Millennium receive s about 100 inquiries a day from intcrcs!A?d people

ond in its first two weeks 300 people from 44 sla tes and three Canad ian provi nces paid $9 to become members, he said. Now Third Millennium wi ll focus much of its energi es on motiva ting 20- to 29-yearolds into politico! acti on, pa rtly by reaching college studen ts with its message, Karl said. He'll be speaki ng at several campuses this fa ll, including hos ting 1994 congre ssional candid ate deba tes and encouraging higher voter turnou t a mong young people, who typically vote at a low rate. David Stevens, o University of Kansas sophomore who is arranging Karl 's visit and help ing organize a chapter, soid that the Third l\lillcnnium's message speaks directly to college

/s ee page 3 I .

Students disagree with ideology By Kathryn Self

EdiJor

Third Millennium, a movement trying to eweep across the country, want., all college age student., to become more politically aware and COnlciowo about their government. But, are college student., really in need of a political awa keni ng? "I think th ere is a Jlenduium effect," Howard Farrell, vice Preaident for studen t a nd ad minist rative services, sc1id. "(Social awa renci:is) hatt swi ngs. There waR a •wing in Lhe 1960• with lhe Vietnam Wo r. StudentB were really in,,.l)Jved an d intcnHe."

Derek Andre ws, president or Un iversity Democ rats, said his group has about 40 members. "l think etuden ts feel a sense hopele ssness," Andrews said. "No matter what they do, iL is business as usual in Wa•hi ngton." University Democrnls, work s with pol(~i~•~~~ ~;; ; ~ lection , Andre ws ,mid, loc,il Democrat the the only age gr_oup to organi?.a Lions in the city increa se in vo ting was a nd county on electi ons. th e 18 to ,10 year-old also sprm~or evcnL<J They group, " Taylor , Pugh and to raise aware ness on Scott ,c;aid. "More young campus." ~coplc und e~ the o~c of Farrell said he :JO are identified --:1th th ought studen t politica l orga n1znt1o ns awareness of guvcnu n enL (an activisL" group)~!:.~~. is cJrnngin~. tluiRc over th e ugc o ,1 . Tamara Taylor , Studen t Government secretary, Shann on Pugh, Studen t Gover nment prcsidcn~ a nd Li nda Wilson Scott, Studen t _ Government vice presid ent disagreed with the idea that college studen lB today arc not

''The last few yenrs studen ts have hnd more concerns, wheth er they be environmental concern s or happe nings in places around the world including Bos ni a a nd Ethiopia," Farrell soid. "I think the pendulum is swinging hack now to a concem of govern a nce on a global level." "JusLbecaus e studentti aren't out protes ling wi th si1:,,ns, it doesn' t mea n they aren't acti ve," 'l'uylor, Pugh and Scott said. "Today's

/see page 3

By John Granth am

Reporter Un offici a lly, 5,840 studen ts ha ve enroll ed for th e Fall 1993 semes ter, J esse Rogers, vice pr esid e nt for academic a ffairs, said. "We pion to increa se our enroll ment 2 percen t thi s semes ter over the 1992 fall semes ter, " Roger s soid . "We arc very pleased with this incre ase becau se the tre nd for the colleg e popul ation ia shifti ng toward s junior colleges of senio r in stead colleges." Altho ugh some students hav e alread y starte d to withd raw,th c numbe rs are expected to increase due to the rcgistro tion of radiol ogical technology scienc e students. MSU is one of only six univer sities that has seen an increa se in enroll ment, Rogers soid. In fact, the Unive rsity of has Texa s North decrea sed by 2 percent. MSU opera tes on o decli ning studen t bosc the fo rces which Un ive rsity to recrui t outeide its region . Rogers eaid fundin g for un ive r si t ies ore bas ed upon offici al enrollmen t figures. "Stau, fund ing is fun druncn tally budge ted by credit hour produ ction by s tud e nts," Roger s said. "Othe r major costs such as buildi ngs, the upk eep of grou nds a nd utiliti es don't chan ge wit h t he incr ease of enrollm en t. MSU ca n grow wi thout much or a n increa se of cost which allows the ability to offer better s a laries an d

cducationaJ assista nce." MSU Police Chi ef H.G . E,·ans said the numb er of autom obile regis tratio n decal s issued to MSU studen ts thi s semes ter has almos t reached 5,100, which is a differe nce of less thon 500 autom obile decals issued for the entire Fall 1992 semes !A?r. Evans said by the end of the semes ter more thon 500 autom obile r e gi s tratio n decal s shoul d be issued to stude nts who r egiste r additio nal vehicl es . Housi ng Direct or Ted Rcdlaczyk said the residence halls are about 91 percen t occupied, which is typica l for the fall semes ter. "Ther e were 32 nosho ws and about 15 students have alread y left ca mpus ," Rcdl aczyk said. "Betw een th e four residence halls, 550 slu• dents arc hou•ed ." "This y ea r we have seen an increa se of uppcrcJe ssmen in the resi• dence halls and fe wer freshm en ," Rcdl a czyk sai d. "Ther e is on increase in th e numbe r of underc lass men who are violat ing th e hous ing policy by not living on ca mpus. They a re bei ng tracked down. Ea ch case will be hundl od individually, but we are makin g sure t hat everyone has adequ ate housin g." l\lore stude nts a r e ca mpus liv in g on its of beca u se con ve ni ence, a fforda bili ty and the lac k of housin g in the comm unity with lhe oxpan sioo of S heppa rd Air Force Duse, Redl aczyk soid.