THE
NORTHWEST MISSOURIAN nwmissourinews.com
Thursday | November 13, 2014
V90 | N12
Lack of advanced Spanish electives trouble seniors SHANE STEELEY
Chief Reporter | @shane_steeley
for him. He runs hard. “Where I don’t think he’s getting enough credit is he’s a dynamic punt returner. In my opinion, they’re going to go as their run game goes. And that’s probably all of us. I think it’s a high of 30-something and a chance of snow. I think we really got to be focused on trying to limit him. It’s going to be hard to stop him.” Senior linebacker DJ Gnader did not take kindly to Moore wanting to accomplish his record while he is roaming the defensive side of the ball.
With the spring semester quickly approaching, some Northwest students are left questioning if they will graduate on time. Spanish students are concerned about what they will do in order to graduate, thanks to new changes in the modern language department. The lack of an upper level Spanish elective is causing frustration for those who are in the Spanish department. Spanish minor Kirsten Hudgens has no clue what to do if an upperlevel Spanish elective is not offered, and she is seeing how it is affecting her upper-level classmates as well. “We are just struggling to find another elective in spring, and we are graduating so we need this offered this same year,” Hudgens said. “I have two options because transferring is not an option for me. My two options are either wait until the fall or the summer when there is a class offered, or I can completely drop the minor, which would negate all the money I have spent on the classes I have taken. That would basically waste two years of Spanish classes.” According to Spanish professor Jose Perez, paperwork for a new Spanish elective was put in but due to the lack of funds the course will not be offered next semester. “We talked about it with the head of the department. I had a draft of the syllabus, so people would know what the class would be about,,” Perez said. “After that, it was not approved. I think now the Spanish department is in a bit of a transition, because two of the faculty members aren’t here anymore and there are two new faculty. I think that transition made it harder for everything to be how it should be”. Department Chair Michael Hobbs responded via email regarding why the class will not be offered.
SEE FOOTBALL | A5
SEE SPANISH | A5
BRIA CREEDEN | NW MISSOURIAN
Title In Sight
Senior running back Robert Burton III rushes in for his ninth touchdown of the season against Emporia State Saturday, Nov. 8. No. 7 Northwest went on to win, 42-14.
TYLER BROWN Sports Editor | @tyman4_
For the 13th year in a row, No. 7 Northwest (9-1) will play in the Fall Classic at Arrowhead Stadium. However, this time, the home of the Chiefs welcomes a new opponent in Washburn (4-6). After going 9-3 against Pittsburg State in the first 12 years of the Fall Classic, the Bearcats will face a lesser
opponent who is not their archrival. Head Coach Adam Dorrel said he believes his team is still focused on the game, as a win would give Northwest a 20-1 MIAA record throughout the past two years and a second consecutive conference title. “I think it has a different feel,” Dorrel said. “I think with a new opponent maybe has added a little more excitement. It’s new for us playing them there and vice versa. And then I think the fact that you have a chance to win a conference championship has obviously sent it through the roof. It’s going to be a great atmosphere.”
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No. 7 Bearcats aim to shut down Washburn running
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The Washburn scouting report is clear: stop senior running back Vershon Moore. The standout ball carrier averages 90 yards rushing per game, but has averaged 149 the past three games against Central Oklahoma, Emporia State and Northeastern. “Now that I’ve seen him on film, you could argue their running back might be the best. He’s certainly the best in our league,” Dorrel said. “He could be the best … He’s already publicly said he’s 125 yards away from setting the all-time school rushing record, and he wants to accomplish that Saturday. We have a lot of respect
Threat raises security at fall concert
CHRIS ROUSH
News Editor | @ChrisRoush30
KELSEY SCHRIVER Contributing Reporter | @TheMissourian
Students spent hours in the car, traveling distances far and wide to attend the 2014 Fall Concert which featured a student band, ‘The Beacons,’ opening for alternative rock band ‘We The Kings.’ The start of the evening suffered an unexpected turn of events. At approximately 4 p.m., University Police was made aware of a threat made on the patrons of the event via Yik Yak. An email was sent to all students just before 6 p.m. after the initial threat, stating the increase for security at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts. The majority of the patrons at the door who had arrived early in hopes of better seating were not University students and relied on the friendliness of students to receive the information. With the help of students who contacted University Police about the threat, action was taken by University Police and other local law enforcement. Even though Yik Yak is an anonymous social media app, Police Chief Clarence Green has taken action to find out who is responsible for the threat. “We are doing that now, we are investigating, we served a search warrant to Yik Yak Monday night in reference of receiving information from Yik Yak,” Green said. “We’ll go from there once we receive more information from them.” University Police does not monitor social media at this time, but re-
I was a little disappointed in how the situation was handled; we never had a representative of SAC personally apologize to us ... they didn’t attempt to see if the band would come back out and instantly turned us down. Keslie Wright Northwest Senior
ceives tips from the public. “We don’t have the staff to do that all,” Green said. “So everything we receive is reported by some member of our community.” Upon hearing news of the threat, members of security and police teams implemented an emergency action plan. Green explained the precautions to patrons waiting for the doors to open. “We swept the facility, tried to determine if we needed to launch an investigation and tried to see who made this threat to see if we could resolve it before hand,” Green said. Senior Keslie Wright and freshman Beverly Peterson were the winners of two VIP tickets for the event. These tickets entitled them to a meetand-greet with both bands, food before the show and first dibs at seats before the doors opened. After news of the threat reached the Performing Arts Center and the Student Activities Council crew, the arrangements were promptly cancelled. “I was incredibly excited about getting the opportunity to meet We The Kings,” Wright said. “I was a little
disappointed in how the situation was handled; we never had a representative of SAC personally apologize to us and when we stayed behind to see if we could meet them afterward, they didn’t attempt to see if the band would come back out and instantly turned us down.” Wright and Peterson were not the only students who experienced difficulties with the concert. Every individual was scanned by metal detectors and bags were checked upon entering the building. Even after the additional security protocols at the door, concert-goers did not see an increase in wait times at the door. “I understand they were interested in safety, but there weren’t that many VIP members, we could have easily been checked by police before meeting the band,” Wright said. While some were upset with the thorough screening, senior Kaela Fritts and senior Morgan Hunter were very happy for the increase in security. “I noticed campus police and other highway patrol cars outside and they all did a pretty good job of screening people as they came in,” Hunter said. Once the doors were open and patrons made it to their seats, the anticipation began to build. SAC had held a Battle of the Bands contest and for one lucky student band, it was their chance to open for a major show. The Beacons is comprised of Michael White, his twin brother, Bryan White, and John Cerrone. Even though the event started with a security threat, University Police were able to calm everyone down and allowed patrons to leave the event smiling.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION I SHAWNA KINGSTON | NW MISSOURIAN
Yik Yak was the source of a threat made to the patrons of Saturday’s fall concert.
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