Feb. 17, 2010

VEGGIE TALES: Dining Services attempts to liven up options for meal plan users with herbivorous tendencies

npage 3

Wednesday n February 17, 2010

thewichitan

your university n your voice

Regents vote to raise tuition, fees for Fall ’11 Chris Collins Managing Editor

The Board of Regents discussed raising tuition, imposing a credit card service fee for tuition payments, renovating Clark Student Center and other buildings, and almost doubling the Intercollegiate Athletics Fee at its meeting last Thursday. The outcome: overall tuition and fees will be increased in the fall by 3.95 percent, about $180 more per student who takes 15 credit hours. This does not include the increase of the Athletic Fee, which will almost double next semester. A credit card service fee of 2.75 percent and an Academic Support Service Fee will add another $4 per semester credit hour. The energy surcharge is also being raised by $1.50 per credit hour, from $6.50 to $8. MSU President Jesse Rogers said

these decisions were made in the lengthening shadow stretching over university decision-makers: $1.75 million in school funds have to be returned to the state of Texas by the end of 2011. The nationwide recession has finally hit MSU hard, Rogers said. “There are some things we had wanted to get done that we didn’t even mention here,” he said. “We just said, ‘we cannot do that.’” “This is nothing near as devastating as what is happening to schools outside the state of Texas,” he said. “The recession has been late in coming to higher education in Texas, and I hope we’re one of the first states to pull out.” Rogers said most of the money sent back to Austin will be funds used to pay personnel and provide fringe benefits. “I froze all hiring yesterday because people are asking me to make decisions about positions we’ve filled and positions we need filled,” he said. “This is

See REGENTS on page 6

cost&effect

What the price increase means for students’ wallets

Based on 15 semester hours, in-state tuition

What: n University designated tuition n Energy surcharge n ACademic support services fee n Intercollegiate Athletics Fee

Spring 2010 n $1,404.00 n $97.50 n N/A n $60.00

Fall 2010 n $1,448. 25 n $120.00 n $60.00 n $108.00

change n $44.25 or 3.15% n $22.50 or 23% n $60.00 n $48.00 or 80%

n Total tuition and fees (including state-mandated tuition)

n $3,173.00

n $3,347.75

n $174.75 or *5.5%

Bottom Line

Do you pay with plastic?

Students who choose to pay their Fall 2010 tuition and fees with a credit card will be charged a service fee of 2.75% of their total bill. That translates into an extra $92.06 added onto in-state students enrolling for 15 credit hours. *The rate of change does not break the “MSU Promise” to refrain from raising tuition and fees by more than 5 percent in a one-year period because the Athletics Fee was initiated by a student-body vote and therefore doesn’t factor in. The official change, minus the Athletics Fee, is just under 4 percent

Student charged in fatal crash MSU senior faces up to 10 years in prison for intoxication manslaughter Brittany Norman Editor in Chief

Choosing to drink and drive can be a potentially deadly error in judgment. If a recent study is correct, more than 2 million college students are guilty of it, despite being warned of the consequences. Allegedly, that worst-case scenario became a tragic reality for senior nursing major William “Hunter” Deas early last Wednesday. According to police, 22-year-old Deas was driving south on Fairway at about 2 a.m. when he crashed his Isuzu Rodeo into the back of a Time Warner cable truck. Kevin Becker, a 38-year-old father of three was in the elevated bucket of the truck performing routine maintenance, according to Time Warner representatives. The impact of the collision caused Becker to be ejected from the bucket. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police suspected alcohol was involved. Deas was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter. Becker, a longtime Wichita Falls resident, is survived by his wife of 15 years, Brandy, and their three children:

See ACCIDENT on page 6

ATMs smashed, forcibly relocated but left full of cash Chris Collins Managing Editor

Two ATMs in Clark Student Center were damaged early Friday morning, MSU Police Chief Michael Hagy said. One belonging to First American was smashed with some blunt object. Another owned by the Teacher’s Credit Union was removed from its anchor and found in a nearby hallway. No money was taken from either machine. Hagy said there are no suspects because the ATMs’ cameras only function during a transaction. “Anybody can basically walk up to it and do what they want,” he said. The crime, charged as destruction of property, was committed somewhere in between the hours of 2 and 5:30 a.m. Hagy said one of the machines sounded an alarm to the parent company, but the agent couldn’t get into Clark to investigate – the doors were all locked. “No one called us, but it’s a learning process,” he said. The university isn’t liable to repay the banks for the machines, since they are the banks responsibility to maintain. Currently there are eight cameras in Clark, Hagy said. They are working to install more specifically where the ATM are kept.

Another snowstorm hit campus Thursday, leading to an early closure and a late start the following morning. (Photo by Brittany Norman)

Snowpocalypse

Campus closes early due to dusting of the white stuff nSee page 4

Presidents Day more than just a bank holiday Debora Teixeira For the Wichitan

Presidents Day has become just one more holiday on U.S. calendars marked by department store sales and great deals at the local car lot. To most Americans, the honorees, Presidents Washington and Lincoln, are but vague memories from history classes. 
 Americans give little thought of past presidents but even less of the office itself. According to MSU history and political science professors, the office has undergone many changes since the Constitution was ratified in 1787. According to the professors, as the nation grows so do citizens’ expectations for the most

powerful job in America.
Americans, they said, look to the president to steer the nation successfully. 
 “It is easier to look at one person than at 535 congressmen or nine Supreme Court justices,” said Dr. Steve Garrison, chair of political science. 
 The image of the president has changed over the years. Eloquence and physical characteristics play an important role in a president’s success. President William H. Taft was the last president to sport facial hair. John F. Kennedy captured the presidency because of the way he performed in a series of televised debates against his Republican opponent, Richard M. Nixon. Republicans claim President Barack H.

Obama was elected due to media overexposure on sites like YouTube and Facebook.
 The major shift in the role of the president began during WWII. 
“The president’s task has become impossible for me or any other man,” said President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1937. “The president needs help.” 
Those became famous words. 
 The Constitution describes the president’s two roles, the chief executive of the federal government and the Commander in Chief of the armed forces. He or she, then, controls the troops, enforces laws, develops policies, represents the nation internationally, appoints federal officials, and also approves or vetoes acts of

See PRESIDENTS on page 6