Muleskinner Vol. 13 Issue 15 4-11-19

Vol. 113, Issue 15 • April 11, 2019

Best to be inaugurated April 18

See Inside PAGE 5

Fashion Business Association hosts recycling fashion show PAGE 6

Photo by Jason Brown / Managing Editor President Roger Best, right, and his wife Robin enjoy lunch with students Tuesday at Ellis Dining Hall.

Garrett Fuller Senior Writer

It’s not every day the university gets a new president.

President Roger Best will be installed as the university’s 16th president at 1 p.m.

Thursday, April 18, in the Multipurpose Building. Best replaced Charles Ambrose Aug. 1 after Ambrose took a job as CEO for KnowledgeWorks in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Best served as interim president before the Board of Governors unanimously appoint-

ed him as president Nov. 2, 2018.

Shari Bax, chair of the inauguration planning committee and vice provost for Student Engagement and Experience, said a reception will be held immediately after the installation ceremony in the Elliott Student Union Ballroom. Bax said the installation ceremony and reception will be open to the campus community and will be livestreamed.

In addition to the installation ceremony and reception, Bax said Best is scheduled to throw the first pitch at the baseball game

against Northwest Missouri State April 19.

She said a second reception is also planned at the Missouri Innovation Campus in Lee’s Summit in May. Bax said she is working with a variety of faculty and staff from across campus to plan the installation ceremony and the reception that follows.

Bax said the theme of the installation ceremony and reception is milestones because of the university’s upcoming sesquicentennial in 2021.

INAUGURATION, continued on Page 2

Social work professor engages international students in Poland PAGE 7

UCM students build their professional music careers

2

NEWS

April 11-24

Students raise awareness about hunger Madison Preston

“I hope that the students who were active in this understand that they could do the Oxfam Hunger Banquet or something like it when they get out of school.”

While some feasted on a three-course meal, others were left wanting more after eating meager rations of rice.

Communication professor Wendy Geiger’s social influence class hosted the annual Oxfam Hunger Banquet Tuesday, April 2, in conjunction with Politics and Social Justice Week, organized by Students for Political Action.

Geiger said Oxfam is a nonprofit organization that raises awareness about world hunger and helps people learn how to provide for themselves.

The banquet is an opportunity for students and community members to experience a proportional representation of food distribution around the world.

“This is a chance for people to have an experiential kind of dinner where they get to see what it’s like to have a microcosm of what the world actually eats,” Geiger said.

At the event, 70 participants drew cards, each labeled with a name, the country in which the person is from and their income, which indicates their class.

Participants who drew someone from first class were seated at tables and were served a three-course meal.

Others drew people from the middle class. They sat at separate tables without

servers and were treated to a buffet of rice, beans and water.

Those who drew people from the lower class were seated on the floor where they were served a small ration of rice and water. Geiger’s class was split into five groups—hosting, banquet education, fundraising and two publicity groups—and worked together to coordinate the event.

Joel Bettis, a member of the hosting group, said the class wanted to find a way to illustrate the unequal distribution of food in the world through a real-life example.

“We wanted to show people that people are eating way less and there’s enough food to go around, but we’re cut off by certain factors like poverty, literacy, all of the different things that influence if you have the resources to eat like some people can,” Bettis said.

The fundraising group worked with Sodexo to collect dining hall swipes.

“We basically went to the dining halls and sat outside them and collected swipes from each student that we could and each swipe gave $2.50 to the Johnson County Food Center,” Hayden Presley said.

The team also collected donations and items to be raffled off from businesses in the Warrensburg community.

Geiger said she hopes this event opens the eyes of her students and others in attendance about the distribution of food. She

said she hopes they realize that it also happens here in the United States.

“I hope that the students who were active in this understand that they could do the Oxfam Hunger Banquet or something like it when they get out of school,” Geiger said.

Bettis said organizing this event taught him a lot about project management and how to work as a team.

“It definitely showed me how to put on an event like this—project management especially. We were split into different groups, but we were working on a bigger project that all had to have coordinating pieces,” Bettis said. “We had a social media team and we had to tell them every update we’re doing. Fundraising had to keep

INAUGURATION, continued from Page 1 “It is a major event (inaugurating Best,) or milestone, in the university’s history leading to 150th milestones,” Bax said.

Bax said the upcoming inauguration will be similar to previous inaugurations, as most are based on traditions in higher education.

“Academia is strongly embedded in tradition,” Bax said. “I think you will see some similar aspects to this one as there have been in previous inaugurations.”

Bax hopes the campus community participates in the installation. Classes have been canceled 12:30 to 4 p.m. April 18 to allow everyone to visit the installation and

reception.

“We don’t install new presidents frequently,” Bax said. “For most of our students, this will be the first time they have ever seen a presidential inauguration.”

John Collier, president of the Board of Governors, said he is excited for the inauguration, pointing to Best’s experience.

“I think it’s a great time for the university and for the community,” Collier said.

“Sixteenth president in the history of the university and a very qualified and respected new president. He’s uniquely qualified, proven track record, come up through the ranks at UCM. He’s respected both on the

campus, in the state of Missouri and in the region on his abilities and it’s just a great opportunity for the university and the campus.”

Best said he is thankful for the support from the campus community, including the inauguration planning committee.

“I am so appreciative of all of the positive sentiment that individuals have expressed about my serving as president,” Best said. “That is incredibly meaningful to me. And it’s overwhelming in many ways, it’s certainly humbling in many ways and reinforces what an honor it is to serve as president for this institution.”

For the Muleskinner

-Wendy Geiger

everyone updated with who was supporting the event while we were talking about it, so I would say team coordination and project management.”

Presley said he enjoyed putting on an event that had a cause beyond the class.

“Putting on this event meant a lot to me because it had a direct impact on our community since every donation is going to the Johnson County Food Center here in town and being able to work with them was special,” Presley said.

The food center, which is a nonprofit organization, serves over 1,000 people in and around Johnson County each month and runs on donations from local businesses and Harvesters, among others.

They also receive some commodities from the government.

A donation of $100 will be made to Oxfam America. The food center will receive 160 food items, a nearly $1,300 check from Sodexo and an additional $260 from cash donations.

“I’m just really proud of the students,” Geiger said. “They took the project seriously and worked really hard in doing this.”

For more information, check out @Oxfam_UCM on Instagram, Oxfam UCM on Facebook, the Johnson County Food Center and Oxfam at www.oxfamamerica.org.

Best said he originally started as an assistant professor in fall 1995 before being promoted to associate professor five years later. He was appointed chair of the department of economics and finance, moving up the ranks to assistant dean and then dean of the Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies. In fall 2017, Ambrose appointed Best as senior vice president of Finance and Administration, later serving as chief operating officer and executive vice president. Best served as the chair for Ambrose’s inauguration planning committee in 2010.

NEWS 3 Mock Interview Week opens UCM is going to the dogs The Muleskinner

opportunities for students Danielle Friedmeyer For the Muleskinner

Employers and students recently connected and networked during Employer Mock Interview Week event sponsored by the Career Services Center.

The event took place April 1-5 in the Ward Edwards Building. Joni Porter, operations coordinator for the Career Services Center, said 40 employers interviewed 354 students during the event.

Chelsea Wehmeyer, a senior child and family development major, said this was her first time participating in the event. She interviewed with Survival Adult Abuse Center Inc. and said her favorite part about the event was learning about the many experiences that the employer had gotten by

working for the organization.

“I also enjoyed having the opportunity to perform the skills I have learned through my Career Readiness Course,” Wehmeyer said.

The students enrolled in the Career Readiness Course participated in the event as part of a class assignment.

Kaylor Lanagan, a senior in communication studies major, interviewed with Morgan Hunter Corporate Search.

“My favorite part was the feedback at the end on how I could do better,” Lanagan said. “It was helpful to have someone point them out to me personally.”

What Porter enjoyed about holding the event for students was bringing the employers to campus and connecting them with the students.

Erin Wides Features Editor

Furry friends with wagging tails will be finding their way to the Elliott Student Union Mall in support of THRIVE. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, students can pet, play with and love on dogs during the event organized by the student-led group Innovative Public Relations.

This group worked with the Union Cinema as its client for the semester and another groupd worked with the Mule Post to help promote the organizations.

Amanda Ferrin, senior public relations student, said the client typically has a goal in mind.

“For the cinema, they wanted to bring more people to watch movies,” Ferrin said.

The IPR group then had to decide what

movies they could create unique events for to get students out and draw attention to the cinema.

Ferrin said they chose “A Dog’s Way Home” because a lot of people like dogs.

The group is encouraging students to make a donation but it is not mandatory in order to interact with the dogs.

Donations will go toward THRIVE, a two-year on-campus program that helps “prepare students with disabilities to transition to independent living and find employment that fits their individual goals and abilities,” according to THRIVE website.

Ferrin said donors will get one ticket for the movie and get entered in a drawing for Central Cash prizes, which can be used anywhere on campus.

Drawing winners will be announced before the 7 p.m. show for “A Dog’s Way DOGS, continued on Page 11

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4

NEWS

April 11-24

Tuition and fees to increase fall 2019 Garrett Fuller Senior Writer

Net State Appropriation ($)

2016: $55,677,472

2015: $55,021,303

2017: $53,770,433

2018, 2019: $52,708,206

40,000,000

20,000,000

0 2015

$8,000

Tuition (30 credit hours + fees)

The UCM Board of Governors approved a tuition and fee increase to take effect fall 2019.

The 5% increase was approved March 15 at the Board of Governors meeting.

Tuition is increasing by $12 for on-campus undergraduate students and $15 for on-campus graduate students, according to a news release. Full-time flat student fees are also increasing approximately 1.3%.

Bill Hawley, vice president of finance and operations, said the state changed the Higher Education Student Funding Act’s formula, which is determined by two factors: the change in consumer price index and how state appropriations to universities have changed over the past two years.

Hawley said there was a 1.9% increase in CPI and state appropriations dropped approximately $3 million since 2016, resulting in the increase.

Hawley said the university books the full increase, but the university typically waives a portion for flexibility.

“The booked basically means ‘OK, the state says we can charge X amount of dollars per credit hour potentially,’” Hawley said. “But, we will typically waive a portion of it. The reason we book the full amount is because it’s a cumulative thing over years and it just gives us flexibility in the future should we need to do something.”

Hawley said the board approved the maximum rate of $7,735.15 for 30 credit hours for in-state undergrad students but waived $2.60 per credit hour from the rate.

Hawley said the university can reinstate the waiver amount in certain cases, such as additional appropriation withholdings from the state. He said there are no plans to reinstate the booked rate at this time.

“We could have, because our booked rates gave us more of a ceiling, gone higher than even what we did, but we backed it down so the overall impact was a 5% inTUITION, continued on Page 5

NET STATE APPROPRIATION

60,000,000

2016

2017

Fiscal Year

2018

2019

TUITION 2015: $6,423.50

2016: $6,474.70

2017: $6,474.70

2018: $6,659.65

2016

2017

2018

2019: $6,720.10

$6,000

$4,000

$2,000

0 2015

Fiscal Year

2019

NEWS

The Muleskinner

5

Fashion Business Association hosts recycling fashion show Katie Younts

For the Muleskinner The Fashion Business Association will be hosting the Recycle Restyle Revamp Fashion Show in association with Earth Week events on Tuesday, April 23, in the Lower Courts of the Student Recreation Center.

The event is open to the public to come and watch as models show off their different styles and ways they create wearable art.

Melissa Abner, program coordinator for the Fashion Merchandising Program, said the theme originated from an event started 10 years ago called Haute Trash.

The event was rebranded last year into the Recycling Fashion Show to make all local designs instead of paying an outside organization for the fashions.

“When funding started getting weird a couple years ago, we wanted to carry it on,” Abner said. “Students from the fashion promotions class took it on to where they produce the fashion show and do everything for it.”

The show is similar to Haute Trash, but Abner said she wanted to get more people involved because not everyone could make fashion out of trash. So, different

categories for the show were created for the Recycle Restyle Revamp Fashion Show.

The recycle section involves taking something that normally would be thrown away and made into wearable art.

“There’s always something made out of Walmart trash bags,” Abner said. “We have shoes made out of plastic bags and even a dress made out of old records.”

The restyle section was created for people who are not familiar with designing. People take used clothing and change it into a trendy look.

Finally, the revamp section involves taking an old clothing item and turning it into a clothing item that’s newer.

“All of these categories were open to anyone willing to participate,” Abner said. “We’re even trying to get some preschools to make artwork for the table decorations.”

The Fashion Business Association is also be partnering with the Salvation Army to help promote their business while also giving the club members the opportunity to style four different outfits for the restyle portion of the show.

Mabrey Wathen, president FBA, is in charge of getting garments from the Salvation Army to use in

TUITION, continued from Page 4 crease,” Hawley said.

Hawley said tuition and fees increased primarily because of a decrease in state appropriations and an increase in operational costs, such as software licenses, faculty promotions and an increase in Missouri State Employees Retirement System, a retirement plan for university employees.

“We’re running pretty lean,” Hawley said. “There’s not a lot out there to reduce without it really starting to impact the quality of instruction and everything here.”

the show.

“This year, FBA will be entering a few looks in the show, and some of our members will be modeling looks as well,” said Wathen, a junior fashion merchandising major. “I will also be submitting my own garment for judging during the recycle portion of the show.”

Quinn Ahrens, a senior fashion merchandising major and FBA member, will be modeling his own recycled creation and has been involved with the production of the show in prior years.

“The purpose of this fashion show is to bring creative and stylish people together from around the community and to show that old discarded things can still be used to make some incredible garments,” Ahrens said.

“The show is similar to Haute Trash”

-Melissa Abner

Abner said the recycle portion of the fashion show is about bringing awareness to the everyday things people throw away and being mindful of the trash a person’s lifestyle creates.

President Roger Best said state appropriations were similar to that of 2003.

“Our funding today is the same level we had in 2003, not accounting for any inflation,” Best said. “If you look at what inflation has done over time, we should be getting about 40% more from the state than we’re actually getting.”

Despite the increase in tuition and fees, Hawley said the University Foundation is looking to assist students.

“The Foundation is trying to ramp up the fundraising in order to provide more assis-

Photo courtesy of Fashion Business Association Participants will create outfits similar to this using recycled materials.

tance,” Hawley said.

Hawley noted in a news release that scholarship funding has increased by 62% over the last decade, increasing 27% since 2016 alone.

John Collier, president of the board, works to keep increases low.

“The Board of Governors always takes any type of fee increase, whether that be tuition increase or in fees increase, seriously and has to weigh a lot of options,” Collier said in a phone interview. “One of our goals is to always try to attempt to hold

tuition steady. We’ve been successful over the last number of years at holding tuition and increases as low as possible.”

Collier said the increases were necessary to maintain quality of education, despite the decrease in funding from the state.

“We try to take a look at it from the incoming student’s perspective, as well as current student’s perspective and the family’s perspective,” Collier said. “Also, part of our obligation is to maintain quality programming and facilities.”

6

FEATURES

April 11-24

Social work professor engages international students in Poland Jason Brown Managing Editor

Earlier this year, the social work department at UCM began its participation in the Erasmus + program in which they host an international professor and sentone of their own abroad to teach students within the program. In February, UCM hosted Marzanna Pogorzelska from Opole University in Opole, Poland. Pogorzelska guest lectured in the social work department about social justice in Poland. In March, Marlys Peck traveled to Opole to work with students in the Erasmus + program. Peck has taught at UCM for four years and is the director of the social work department’s bachelor’s program.

Jason Brown: How much time did you get to spend in Poland?

Photo courtesy of Marlys Peck

Marlys Peck: I was gone March 11. And I came back. I believe I got back on the 21st, whatever the Thursday was the travel day. So I left on the 11th and came back on the 21st. OK, and that was a travel day, and I had nine days there.

In addition to teaching Erasmus+ students, Marlys Peck also taught classes with Polish students from Opole University.

JB: Were you working with only Polish students or international students?

MP: It was because they had varying levels of English. Of course, when I first started, not thinking, I wasn’t necessarily using proper English, like I would use a slang word. And they look and then I would look over. I would ask them a question and I think they were looking for translations. Then I caught on. I started asking does everyone understand what I mean by the word, and the first word that I caught on to was humility. Do we all have the same understanding of what humility means? So when I talk about cultural humility. And so then we started picking out some of the words to make sure. What do we mean by that? Aboriginal, they weren’t familiar with that word. There were a few things like that. So the language and then hearing the differences in how problems

MP: I had five different classes that I taught to five different groups of people.

And four of the five classes were Erasmus + students. And so that meant they were from all different countries. And then I had one class that was strictly Polish students at the university.

JB: What were some things that were different there?

MP: Well, it was very interesting, the very first day I went, the university had a holiday. It was scheduled to be on Tuesday and I was to teach on Wednesday. Well, between the time that I arranged to go on all of this, they moved the day off from Tuesday to Wednesday. So my very first class,

we weren’t sure if anyone would even show up because the entire university was shut down. And you know, every single student showed up. And then I did a lecture a few days later, and six students out of that class showed up to a second lecture. And so I thought that was kind of neat, that they didn’t even have to be there. And yet, they all showed up for that.

I did a project or a group activity, a class activity that I do with my students in the social work program. It’s where we look at social problems. So there were three topics that I did, one was on preserving oral histories, one was on social problems. Then another one was on cultural humility. During the social problems, we were talking about how you identify them. So we were talking about social problems that they have, that they would identify and social problems that the United States has, that we identify and the very interesting thing is they had envy on their list of social problems.

They had the very common ones that we have like alcoholism, homelessness, drug

use, abuse and child abuse, then they added envy. So I asked them what they meant by that and they said that there’s sort of an attitude in Poland, that if you’re successful, then I shouldn’t encourage you. I need to tell you, well, you know, it won’t last or you just got lucky there. So there’s this sort of pessimism that they said, is pervasive. And so they think that’s a problem.

Because it’s just been long standing, where you can’t really be celebrated. You have to be put back to where you should be.

JB: Is there any indication of when that attitude began?

MP: They just said, it’s always been there. These were traditional-age college students. I thought that was interesting that they felt there’s a lot of the other things that were very similar, unemployment, a lot of the same issues that we have, but then they threw envy in there. That was fascinating.

JB: Is it difficult to reach an entire class when they are from vastly different cultures?

PECK, continued on Page 7

FEATURES

The Muleskinner

7

UCM students build their music career Kaitlin Brothers News Editor

Isaac Barkley, music technician major, and Vernon Percy Howard III, digital media production major, have started a music career together here at UCM. They have produced multiple pop/hip hop songs that can be found on iTunes/ Apple Music and Spotify under the artist name “IKE & VP3.”

Through UCM, Barkley was able to get a high-profile internship at a studio called Reach Records in Atlanta, Georgia. He said by having the connections he made through the internship, it could help their music career in the future.

VP said by performing in Kansas City, he was found by a band called New Black City, and has been touring many different states and cities since last year.

VP said their goal is to be so successful in their career that music would be their full-time job.

“The end goal is to not have to have a job,” he said. “We want to be rock stars.”

PECK, continued from Page 6 were described for different cultural habits was very interesting to hear from the different countries.

JB: How do those students view issues that we see as problematic? Like alcoholism or homelessness.

Peck said she had her students do a ranking activity where they would pick three social issues and rank them in priority.

They were put in groups where they had to discuss the issues and reach a unanimous decision of how they would prioritize those issues. The deliberations allowed the students to talk about their values to gain a better understanding of each other and the issues that exist in other cultures.

MP: They had a lot of the same discussions of, if we had no alcoholism, we’d have less child abuse, then we’d have less

homelessness, and so there were a lot of those connections that they’re the same world over.

JB: How did you prepare to teach in a different culture?

MP: I stuck with topics that I know, with classes and activities that I was very familiar with and comfortable from having taught. I just really tried to think, I’ll present what we do and then ask and talk.

So that’s what I did and a lot of times, we didn’t stick with what I had planned. We veered off because we got into other areas of, “OK, well, how is this different?” And I let them ask questions.

We talked about stereotypes and things like that.

JB: Did you spend the whole time teaching?

MP: A big part, of it that I was surprised at, is that they also want you to learn the culture. A wonderful part of this grant was that I got to go to Warsaw for two days.

I had a four-hour tour. It turned out to be a private tour because no one else signed up that day. So I had a man that took me around Poland and showed me all of the highlights, told me a lot of the history and I really got a feel for that area.

Then back in Opole, they have so much history there. I went to mass on Sunday and I think the foundation of that church was laid in 1214.

The biggest difference, of course, was no ice. They don’t have ice in drinks. To ask for ice cubes is totally weird. “Why do you want ice?” And they think that we’re so strange because we have ice.

JB: Did you have any breakthrough moments with the students you were working with?

MP: I think the more we taught, the more we realized that we had a lot more in common than we didn’t have in common.

I think especially when we were talking about cultural humility, I tried to explain and of course, I like to use humor a lot. I explained how Missouri is considered flyover country and some of the differences here and then that sort of, I think, opened them up to then talk more freely about what they thought of the United States about their own country because they could see that it was going to be just an honest, open conversation and not a lecture.

I think we did kind of get into the whole, this isn’t about competence, it’s about me trying to understand you and, hopefully, you understanding my small piece of the United States like I’m trying to understand your small piece of Poland.

8 OPINION

April 11-24

Emo fans rejoice — American Football is back and as poignant as ever

Louie Sharp

For the Muleskinner The first thing that stood out to me about American Football’s third self-titled LP, “LP3” was the album’s cover — gone is the famous house in Urbana, Illinois, that was featured so prominently on the covers of their first two LPs, replaced instead with a hazy shot of a lake at sunset. This change is reflective of the direction American Football has moved on this record. The songs here are still Midwest-emo through and through, but the band has doubled down on the post-rock influences that tinged their phenomenal ‘99 debut. This leads to the songs on this record feeling somewhat intangible, as if masked in a thick bank of fog. Sloppier songwriting could have made these songs feel amorphous and unmemorable, but that’s not the case here. It’s easy to get lost in the grooves of “LP3,” but it’s almost universally rewarding to do so as well.

The production on this record is immaculate, bordering on sterile. This cleanness is essential on the first leg of the record,

where it maximizes the nebulous, ethereal feeling of the first few cuts. The songwriting dips slightly in quality after the halfway point of the record, though. Never bad enough to be unbearable, but not entirely good enough to reward listeners for navigating them either.

When the tracklist for this record was released a few months ago, I was incredibly curious about the inclusion of several female guest vocalists peppered through the album. On their first LP, frontman Mike Kinsella’s vocals are carried heavily by the record’s incredible instrumentals. He certainly didn’t harm the quality of the songs with his performance, but the juxtaposition of including such talented singers as Hayley Williams of Paramore, or Rachel Goswell of Slowdive, would be unimaginable.

Twenty years of performing in other bands has really allowed Kinsella to come into his own as a singer though, and it leads to some amazing interplay between his soft, youthful voice and that of his guests.

The alternating lines between Kinsella and Williams on “Uncomfortably Numb” particularly stand out, and tie with the transition between the choir at the end of “Heir Apparent” and the trumpet that brings in “Doom In Full Gloom” as my favorite moments on the record.

“LP3” doesn’t do everything perfectly, but it does enough things so well and so differently from previous American Football efforts that it manages to rival the genius of their first LP — especially following the release of their disappointing second album in 2016. That was a sentence I never thought I would say.

8/10 - This release should be on every emo fan’s radar.

OPINION

The Muleskinner

9

“Widows:” More than a crime movie Ryan Sheehan For the Muleskinner

Sometimes filmmakers try to use a safe, or at least commercial, film genre to tell a story with a deeper meaning. Take for instance the Netflix film “Triple Frontier.”

It’s about a group of ex-special forces operatives who, motivated by their personal debts, to steal a cash fortune from a drug lord. On one hand, it has a good action adventure setup. On the other, it also sneaks in some commentary on how the government treats veterans.

In that regard, last year’s “Widows” is a similar movie.

Part crime movie, part drama, “Widows” follows a group of ordinary wives who are only connected to each other by their husbands, a crew of professional thieves. But after their latest job goes bad, the crew is killed in a shootout with the police. Now with their husbands gone, and a massive debt owed to a crime boss their husbands had stolen from, the widows decide to provide for themselves, by conducting a robbery of their own.

Directed and co-written by acclaimed filmmaker Steve McQueen. The cast in-

cludes Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Rodriguez, Daniel Kaluuya, and a bunch of other talented actors, who all seem to shine in their roles, even if they’re only brief cameos.

“Widows” tries to be so much more with its story. It features subject matter covering gender roles, race and the dirty world of politics, all set on the gritty streets of Chicago.

“Widows” embraces its setting, making Chicago into another character. With skilled cinematography and world building, you see all sides of the city. The poor neighborhoods with heavy violence. The carefree, rich neighborhoods that are seemingly in another world, despite both being only a short car drive away, which is clearly shown in one of the best scenes of the film. By also showing the city government, it makes a thoughtful point on politics. The two villains of the film are both up for a local election. And the movie almost makes you choose which one you would end up voting for, who is the lesser evil, because one of them does end up winning.

Part of “Widows” world building comes from the characters. This movie is an ensemble, with dozens of different people.

But each is memorable in their own way.

“Widows” does a good job of balancing its characters and keeping the plot from getting confusing. It’s a film that trusts its audience. Not everything is explained in the beginning. There are things that might feel confusing like, for example, why are we spending so much time with this character?

In the end, it does come together, making this movie work.

But these aspects of drama and social justice can almost conflict with the crime story. Sometimes it feels like “Widows” is two different movies. However, that could be intentional. There’s a lot of contrast in this movie’s story. It compares the widows’ normal lives with the world of crime. So it could be on purpose that these elements of drama and crime don’t feel the same.

Another issue, which is also an intentional choice, is the tone. This film takes itself very seriously. It is addressing sensitive subject matter, but it’s constantly a drama. Unlike most crimes movies, you don’t get the sense of enjoyment watching “Widows.”

Let me explain myself. While many crime dramas are gritty, brutal and filled with a lot of cussing, there is still a sense of

enjoyment to them. “Goodfellas” and “The Departed” are gritty movies, but they can also be fun to watch during certain parts.

Even a movie like “American Gangster,” which despite having several dramatic scenes, doesn’t feel like a straightforward drama. “Widows” is a drama throughout, to the point that the movie can almost feel like a drag. So, if you’re looking for a heist or crime movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, then you probably won’t enjoy “Widows” that much.

So considering its serious tone and contrasting elements, “Widows” is a really good movie. While it does miss the mark sometimes, it does work overall. It’s a well-made film and is definitely worth being watched and analyzed.

It’s a film full of substance. It took a safe genre, in this case, the heist/crime movie, and used it to explore some hard-hitting themes. The main focus stays on its characters, who are well-defined and some are given very satisfying arcs, aided by skilled acting and direction.

9/10 P.S. “Widows” is an adaption of an English TV series of the same name.

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10 SPORTS Mules score 38 runs in series with Lions Two of the highest scoring games of Mules baseball’s (22-11, 14-7 MIAA) season came over the weekend in a threegame series with Missouri Southern State in Joplin.

The first game of the series resulted in a 4-2 win for the Mules but in no way alluded to the 67 runs the teams combined to score over the next two matchups. Game two saw the Mules take command early leading 9-0 after the top of the third inning.

After the Mules quick outburst, the Lions went to work scoring three or more runs in four of the seven remaining innings to win 17-16.

The rubber match of the series was tightly contested through the first four innings.

The Mules allowed a grand slam in the first inning but were able to claw back into the game with runs in the first three frames.

Leading 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth, the Lions hit their second grand slam of the day and added five more runs to lead 13-3.

The Mules whittled into the lead immediately in the fifth inning with four runs.

They also added one in the seventh and two in the eighth. The Lions added three more runs before the Mules came up to bat in the ninth inning trailing, 16-10.

Second baseman Michael Sinks went deep on the first pitch he saw to make the score 16-11. Three singles scored another run and set up centerfielder Mason Janvrin for a three-run home run to bring the Mules within one run at 16-15. A double and walk brought Sinks up for his second at bat of the inning. He drew a 3-0 count and took the green light pitch deep to give the Mules an 18-16 lead.

Jonathan Sprinkle came in for the save opportunity and struck out two Lions batters to secure his fifth save of the season.

Sprinkle was named MIAA Pitcher of the Week for his work against the Lions.

Sinks hit three home runs and became the first Mule to do so since 2007. He went 4-6 with seven RBIs and earned MIAA Hitter of the Week.

Shortstop Alex Madera went 4-6 for his

April 11-24

Sports Updates

15th multi-hit game of the season. Janvrin and right fielder Erik Webb each knocked in three RBIs. Janvrin has reached base in 33 straight games with Webb right behind him with 32.

The Mules announced Monday they scheduled a midweek home game against Arkansas Tech (25-13, 17-7 GAC) Tuesday at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.

Both teams got on the board in the first inning with the Mules scoring two on a triple from right fielder Erik Webb.

With the Mules leading 3-2 in the fifth, Webb hit a two-run home run to make the lead 5-2. The Mules added four runs over the final four innings and cruised to a 9-3 victory.

The Mules are scheduled to host Lindenwood (19-6, 13-8 MIAA) in a three-game home series this weekend at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field. The series is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m Friday. Game two’s first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday.

The series finale is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Outdoor track and field wraps up weekend UCM outdoor track and field remained busy over the weekend as the team sent athletes to two different events. The throwers competed at the Central Methodist Invite in Fayette, Missouri, while the rest of the team attended the SBU Bearcat Invitational in Boliver, Missouri.

The Jennies team of Jyl Stewart, Grace Wormek, Destiney Nash and Kacey Kohlhof took first in the 4x100 meter relay with a time of 48.11 seconds.

Chris Donald was the top finisher in the hurdles finishing in 14.88 seconds.

Jesse Miller took the crown in the high jump with a leap of 6-08 3/4 for NCAA Provisional Qualifying Mark. Trey Miller finished in third after clearing 6-06 3/4.

The Jennies took first and second in the pole vault. Cassie Jennings took first clearing 11-07 3/4 and Callie Ruffener was right behind her with the same score but took

second due to the number of attempts.

Ashlan Burton took first in both the shot put and discus throws.

In the shot put, the Mules dominated, taking first, second and third place. Dalton Lewallen took first (56-10.00), Nathan Cummings finished the event in second (56-06.75), and John Berry rounded out the top three (49-10.00).

Click here to see the full results from the CMU and SBU Bearcat Invitationals.

Jennies take 10th at Central Region Preview Jennies golf wrapped up its regular season at the Central Region Preview Tuesday at Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield, Missouri.

In a field of 20 teams, the Jennies finished tied with three teams for 10th place. After finishing the first round in ninth place, the Jennies struggled to improve their day one performance in the second round and shot eight strokes higher, finishing with 648 and 72-over par.

Freshman Molly Saporito was the Jennies top-finisher in 32nd place. She carded 160 over both rounds and was 16-over par. Junior Madison Grisham and freshman Rosie Klausner tied for 40th place, shooting 162 and 18-over par.

Junior Olivia Sobaski rounded out the Jennies scoring tied in 49th carding 164, 20-over par.

Dallas Baptist won the team title by 20 strokes over second place and shot the two best rounds of the tournament as a team with 296 on day one and 293 on day two.

Northeastern State’s Ebba Moberg and Dallas Baptist’s Evelyn Arguelles tied for the individual championship with scores of 145, one-over par. Arguelles shot the best individual round of the tournament with 69 strokes, three-under par.

The Jennies are scheduled to begin their postseason and road to nationals at the MIAA Championship. The three-day event is scheduled to run April 22-24 at Firekeeper Golf Course in Mayetta, Kansas.

Jennies split midweek series Following two walk-off wins against Emporia State Saturday, Jennies softball (22-12, 8-3 MIAA) traveled to Pittsburg State (19-22, 7-9 MIAA) for a midweek two-game series Tuesday in Pittsburg, Kansas.

The Jennies fell behind early in the first game after the Gorillas plated three runs on a double and single. Runs in the second and third inning got the Jennies within one run followed by a two-run home run off the bat of first baseman Hailey Crabtree in the fifth inning to put the Jennies ahead 4-3.

The Gorillas responded in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run homer of their own to retake the lead 5-4. Mackenzie McAtee tied it up in the sixth inning with a solo home run. The ninth inning saw the Gorillas smash a walk-off home run to take game one 6-5.

In game two, the Jennies trailed in the fifth inning 2-1 before a five-run burst propelled them to a 6-2 lead. Crabtree got the scoring started with her second homer of the day, a three-run shot.

Back-to-back doubles from second baseman Taylor Dames and catcher Brie Murray scored two more runs.

Gentry Wishard went the full seven innings in the 6-2 win, allowing just two earned runs and six hits.

The Jennies remain busy on the road this week with back-to-back two-game series Thursday and Friday against the southernmost teams in the MIAA. The first doubleheader is against Central Oklahoma (31-3, 13-1 MIAA). First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday with game two to follow immediately at Broncho Softball Field in Edmond, Oklahoma.

The Jennies will travel to Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Friday for a series with Northeastern State (20-19, 8-6 MIAA).

First pitch for the doubleheader is scheduled for noon with game two following at Riverhawks Park.

11 CENTRAL SCOOP

This Week 11

THURS.

Union Cinema Movie: “A Dogs Way Home” 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m. | Union Cinema Nav Night sponsored by the Navigators 8 p.m. | Alumni Memorial Chapel

Union Cinema Movie: “A Dogs Way Home” 4:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m. | Union Cinema

12 FRI.

Mules baseball vs. Lindenwood 6 p.m. | Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field Open Archery 8 p.m. | SRWC MAD: 90’s Trivia 8 p.m. | Union 236

13 SAT.

14 SUN.

Mules baseball vs. Lindenwood 1 p.m. | Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field Union Cinema Movie: “A Dogs Way Home” 4:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m. | Union Cinema

Mules baseball vs. Lindenwood Noon | Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field

16

Dinner & Worship: BSU 6 p.m. | 302 S. College St.

17

DIG Worship: Christian Campus House 7:30 p.m. | 211 S. Maguire St.

TUE.

WED.

DOGS, continued from Page 3 Home” Thursday, according to the press release.

“I like the Union Cinema because it’s a small theater, an intimate experience,” Ferrin said. “The seats are really nice and

I like it way more than the regular theater (in town).”

Students looking for alternative showtimes can attend showings of “A Dog’s Way Home” at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday.

April 11-24

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03-28-2019

CENTRAL SCOOP 12

The Muleskinner

Difficulty Level:

Sudoku Next Week 04-11-2019 President Roger Difficulty Best Inauguration Level: 1 p.m. | Multipurpose Building

18

THURS.

19 FRI.

22

MON.

23 TUE.

24 WED.

Mules baseball vs. Northwest Puzzle

by HangMissouri Chen and 2 p.m. | Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field

Sudoku 2

Ideas & Issues: Diversi-Tea 11 a.m. | Union Atrium

Curtis Cooper

MAD: Egg Hunt Sudoku is 8 p.m. | Union Mall

Puzzle by Hang Chen and Curtis

9 1 6

8

4 8 1 4 9 7 4 6 7 8 9 8 3 4 3 7 1 2 9 1

a number-placement puzzle that consists of 9x9 squares. The objective is to fill Nav Night sponsored the Navigators each blank by square so that each row, each 8 p.m. | Alumni Memorial Chapel column, and each of the nine 3x3 blocks contain the numbers from 1 to 9 one time each.

Track and Field: UCM Outdoor Mule Relays Walton Stadium/Kennedy Field Mules baseball vs. Northwest Missouri 2 p.m. | Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field

SOLUTION FROM MARCH 28 - APRIL 10

Diversity Education: A Global Look - Role & Status of Women 3 p.m. | Union 236 Leadership Reception 4 p.m. | Union 240 Dinner & Sudoku Worship: BSU solution: 6 p.m. | 302 S. College St.

7 8 2 9 APRIL1 3 6 4 5

4 1 3 5 6 2 7 8 9

9 1 2 3 5 6 8 6 9 5 7 3 4 2 5 4 8 6 7 1 9 7 3 1 2 4 8 6 8 5 4 9 2 3 7 4 6 7 8 9 5 1 The next issue is coming 2 8 3 5 1 9 4 3to7 a 9newsstand 1 6 2 5 near you!

1 2 6 4 8 7 3

DIG Worship: Christian Campus House 7:30 p.m. | 211 S. Maguire St.

25

Don’t forget!

(Our last print issue of the semester!)

2018-2019 Muleskinner Staff Jason Brown Kaitlin Brothers Erin Wides

Managing Editor News Editor Features Editor

Brent Young

Design Editor

Garrett Fuller

Senior Writer

Anaiyeh Smith

Social Media Coordinator

Chris Moore Cody Clemmons Matt Bird-Meyer

Business Manager Advertising Manager Faculty Adviser

Sudoku is a number-placement p consists 9x9AND squares. objec

BY HANGof CHEN CURTIS The COOPER each blank square so that each row column, and each of the nine 3x3 bl time each.

Difficulty:

Sudoku solution:

8 7 5 3 1 2 9 6 4

2 6 4 9 5 7 1 8 3

1 3 9 4 8 6 7 2 5

7 5 2 1 6 3 4 9 8

4 9 1 5 7 8 6 3 2

3 8 6 2 9 4 5 7 1

6 4 7 8 3 5 2 1 9

9 2 3 6 4 1 8 5 7

5 1 8 7 2 9 3 4 6

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