northwest missourian
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011 | V87 | N13
nwmissourinews.com
Student takes work training over seas BEN LAWSON Features Editor
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LORI FRAKENFIELD | NW MISSOURIAN
Kansas City protestors occupy peacefully ROB WILSON
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Since September 2011, a small encampment of approximately 30 protestors have made their home a vigil of defiance in Kansas City against a political system they contend has ignored them. Driving up through Penn Valley Park on an unseasonably warm, late November afternoon, the encampment adjacent to the Federal Reserve is already a beehive of activity. A makeshift camp cleaning initiative is underway. Others busy themselves making signs containing various political catch phrases, and still others pay a visit to the kitchen tent to prepare food. No matter what you happen to think of the goals of the organization, what is abundantly clear is that the group that calls itself Occupy Kansas City is a thriving, if challenged, community. The Occupy movement had its humble beginnings in Canada in June, as the brain child of the Canadian anti-consumerist group Adbusters. The organization registered a domain name and began to organize peaceful protests in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, which continue to this day. The growing debt crisis in North America and Europe caused the movement to spread to almost every corner of the globe. Kansas City has a metropolitan population of around 6 million and is home to several major construction and technology corporations. With many Kansas City firms significantly scaling back their operations and unemployment numbers nearing nine percent, the conditions were right for the Occupy movement to find a home in KC. Most of the local Kansas City media has been standoffish with the group. With Occupy groups in various other cities grabbing almost constant headlines, Occupy Kansas City has been unique in its lack of dramatic storylines filled with confrontations with law
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Members of the Northwest community recently returned from Birmingham City University in the United Kingdom to teach about Student Employment Programs. The group was invited to BCU after delegates from BCU visited Northwest in April to learn about the Student Employment Program. BCU does not have a Student Employment Program, like many schools in the UK, said Paula McLain, Northwest’s coordinator of student employment. “We wanted to share with them why student employment is valuable to Northwest and why it makes a difference to students,” McLain said. “To students there’s a financial, experience and an engagement benefit. There are just so many to students and also to the institutions, staff, faculty and departments. We have a better relationship with the students because of it.” McLain and Mary Throener, Northwest’s vice president of human resources and organizational Effectiveness, taught about implementing the programs at BCU. Rick Tomey, associate professor of chemistry, shared his experiences working with student employees, and Kirk Skoglund, the 2011 student employee of the year, traveled to share his experience as a student employee. Tomey and Skoglund served on a panel in April to discuss student employment with BCU delegates. They were asked to travel to Birmingham City after the delegates heard what they had to say about their experiences with student employment. “Being a student employee has given me essential skills as far as communication, problem solving and interpersonal skills,” Skoglund said. “It has also really helped increase my confidence as far as what I do and how I interact with people.” Skoglund works in Textbook Services, as a tutor in the Talent Development Center, a Student Ambassador, SOAR leader and Peer Adviser. The group traveled to the United Kingdom on Nov. 12. Skoglund stayed a week longer than the other three to help BCU develop a mentoring program. He discussed Northwest programs like the Talent Development Center, Residential Life, Student Ambassadors and Peer Advisors. BCU plans to begin their Student Employment Initiative in Jan. 2012. They have more than 24,000 students and hope to have 1,000 student employees by Jan. 2015. Northwest has 7,000 students and 1,000 student employees.
DESIGN | WENDY WHELAN
Forensics team, new coach push forward toward success DALTON VITT Chief Reporter
ERIC BAINES | NW MISSOURIAN
Forensics team members Mike Brown and Carl Stafford go through dramatic practice excercises. Stafford took first in Dramatic and Prose Interpretations at UCM.
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The Northwest forensics team has enjoyed a lot of recent success, thanks, in part, to a new approach from first-year coach Brian Swafford. The team has had several individual event champions so far this year, including sophomore Samantha Stone, who took first in Prose Interpretation in a tournament at Kansas State University. “It was a very competitive tournament that their alumni have,” Swafford said. “She kind of got the ball rolling for us.” The very next weekend, the team traveled to Metropolitan Community College-Longview in Lee’s Summit, where senior team president Carl Stafford took first in Poetry Interpretation. The following weekend, Stafford took first in Dramatic Interpretation and Prose Interpretation in a tournament at the University of Central Missouri. “Carl is our leader not only in title, but also in competitive success,” Swafford said. Last year, Stafford was crowned a national champion in Programmed @TheMissourian
Oral Interpretation. Stafford knows that becoming a national champion is a difficult task, but still believes he has a great chance to repeat. Outside of winning another national championship, Stafford also has another outstanding goal in mind. “I’m on my way to trying to claim the title as the greatest forensic competitor in the history of the school,” Stafford said. “If I can keep it up, I can get there.” This weekend will be the last tournament of the semester, where the team will travel to the University of Nebraska-Kearney. The second semester will kick off with a tournament held by Concordia University in Seward, Neb. Swafford has his goals set for this season, and they include finishing in the top three in the state, as well as top 10 in the nation. “Ultimately, I want to have state championships every year,” Swafford said. “But you try to set realistic expectations when you’re the new guy implementing new things.” Swafford brought a new attitude to the forensics program when he arrived from Boise State University. As successful as the team has Northwest Missourian
“I’m on my way to trying to claim the title as the greateast forensic competitor in the history of the school.” Carl Stafford been recently, Swafford says they are still in the process of instituting his new ideas and policies. The team was able to withstand the changes, and Stafford likes the way things have been done so far. “It takes a lot to get used to a new coach in any program,” Stafford said. “I like his passion for winning, as well as how much he loves the art of forensics in general.” One of the biggest keys in Swafford’s style is how hard he needs his team to work. “My belief is that talented kids are going to do well, but in competitive forensics, everybody is talented,” Swafford said. “So the way to have success is to outwork everybody else.”