2A
NEWS
August 30, 2013 Vol. 89, No. 1
OPINIONS
3&4A
SPORTS
1&2B
FEATURES
3B
CAMPUS LIFE
4B
online at thelink.harding.edu
Does HU need campus police?
Impact welcomes freshmen to campus
Public Safety plans for future, updates security measures by Alexis Hosticka news editor
GRANT SCHOL | THE BISON Freshman Daniel Reese strikes a pose in the middle of a group of freshmen and energy group leaders during Impact activities the weekend before school began. This year, the theme for Impact was “Out of This World.” More than 900 freshmen and transfers and 150 returning students participated in Impact activities.
McLarty shares goals for HU, quirks of personality FAVORITES Movie: “It’s a Wonderful Life” Musical artist: Alison Krauss Food: Dry ribs Place to visit: My parents’ house in Cookeville, Tenn. Sonic drink:Cherry Limeade Building on campus: The Administration building
by Lyndsey Ruble Nuckols editor-in-chief
Q: How can the student body help with your goals for the presidency?
Q: Talk about the transition between you and Dr. David Burks. A: I have the greatest of respect for Dr. Burks, and I have the greatest of respect for what he did here. My agenda is not to turn things upside down here. There will be a high amount of continuity, but I am not Dr. Burks. I don’t know that there is a conscious strategy other than I am very respectful of him, and I want him to be honored and I want people to know that about me.
A: I think probably the biggest thing is just to be open. I love walking down the sidewalk, talking to students, and I love finding out from their perspective what’s working and what’s not. … Having a steady input from students is what I really need. I hope students will just walk up to me and start talking to me, just engage me in conversation. So, don’t be intimidated by the title, come in and talk to the man.
Want to read more about President McLarty? Check out the next few issues of the Bison for more of the Q&A.
After making several security improvements around campus in the last year, Harding’s Public Safety is now investigating the possibility of having police on campus. Currently, the university employs 10 armed security guards and will install another during this school year. As a result of this new armed security guard, Director of Public Safety Craig Russell said Harding will be very close to having two armed guards on duty every shift. There are, however, no police on campus. The opportunity for Harding to employ police officers on campus is due to legislation that passed in the spring and went into effect on Aug. 16. The legislation merely permits private universities to have their own police forces. The administration has not come to any conclusions regarding this possibility. According to Russell, one of the key differences if Harding were to make use of this opportunity would be the training. “Police academy training is 12 to 13 weeks long, and access to that would be an enormous benefit to our department,” Russell said. However, according to
Russell, there is no rush to implement anything new just yet. The cost of adding a police force to campus has not yet been determined, and according to Russell, they are still some time away from being able to present an official proposition to Harding president Bruce McLarty. Over the past year, Harding has made several updates in its security and safety measures, including new and updated security cameras and additional crosswalks and stop signs. “With the new brick crosswalks and stop signs, one thing of concern to us was keeping foot traffic safe,” Russell said. “We had lots of people involved in that discussion because we have to coordinate it with the city because they are city streets.” In the last year, Public Safety has put security cameras in all of the new buildings as well as replacing outdated cameras in the GAC and Harding Academy. “Technology has just changed,” Russell said. “The HD cameras didn’t exist or were too expensive when we first began using security cameras. Now the cost has come down as well as the cameras becoming a lot better, a lot higher quality.”
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BISON FOOTBALL After last season’s brush with victory, a look at preseason stats and predictions. SPORTS, 1B
PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW
HARDING BY THE NUMBERS
FRESHMEN, NEED HELP?
Get to know a few of the big names on campus.
A graphic to explain campus numbers and student demographics.
Your complete guide to freshman year.
FEATURES, 3B
NEWS, 2A
CAMPUS LIFE, 4B