Grapes of WrathPhoto by Phil Jarrett

A January ice and snow storm Friday welcomed students back with a touch of winter wonder. Despite less than tropical temperatures, many students braved the cold to enjoy the beauty.

IndexTruman State University

Kirksville, Mo., 63501

INSIDE this issue

Copyright © 2006 Index www.trumanindex.com Volume 97, Issue 16

See Other Voices Page 5 See News Page 3 See TruLife Page 13

THIS WEEK weatherFriday

Mostly cloudy

High 50 Low 42

Sunday

Showers

High 46Low 34

Saturday

Showers

High 48Low 42

Thursday, January 26, 2006

The University’s student-produced newspaper

www.trumanindex.com

Makeover Madness

Columnist Prajwal Sharma laments the potentialeffects of “Home Edition.”

Move-in Day

Science division faculty move into Magruder Hall during winter break.

Good and Funky

Couple runs store, helps needy after rising above diffi cult life situations.

Art Smart

Diversity shines at University Art

Gallery show

See TruLife Page 9

Kirksville, Mo. 63501

NTSB resolves cause of crash

Attorney general files charge against Scott

Players enter pleas

Mayor’s address sets goals for cityGrace MattieStaff Reporter

Mayor Martha Rowe delivered the State of the City address at 8 a.m. Friday at City Hall for the fi rst time in two years.

“It was a very nice crowd,” Rowe said. “I was pleased with it.”

Former Mayor Debbie Mas-ten did not give the State of the City address in 2005, citing se-curity reasons.

In her address, Rowe not only refl ected on the accomplishments of fi scal year 2005, but she also gave citizens a peek at what the council wishes to accomplish in 2006 with its $23 million budget.

The goals set for 2005 were eco-nomic development, continuing ef-fi ciency in government, completing projects and fi scal improvement, and the city accomplished several items in each area, according to the offi cial transcript of the address as submitted by City Clerk Vickie Brumbaugh.

In addition to bringing in chain retailers Home Depot, Walgreens and Ruby Tuesday, the city opened the new four-lane section of High-way 63, brought 100 new jobs to the community and brought 65 jobs through other commitments, accord-ing to the transcript.

Projects the council completed include new sidewalks on Bal-timore and New streets, a sewer line extension in the Industrial Park and fi nished roads, accord-ing to the transcript.

Last January, the city hired Steve Bell as full-time recreation director and John Buckwalter as director of Public Works, which resulted in cutting three full-time employees, according to the tran-script. Kirksville voters renewed the city’s transportation sales tax. The Rotary Centennial Amphithe-ater was completed, and Spur Pond will be restored for recreational fi shing. Once again the city re-ceived a Distinguished Budget Pre-sentation Award and a Certifi cate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.

The city’s fi scal improvements include the $2.5 million in water revenue bonds that voters affi rmed, inventories of all city-owned equip-ment and meeting the established 20 percent general fund reserve.

Yet there is always more that needs to be done, and Rowe pointed out four goals for 2006, according to the transcript.

The council seeks to continue economic development efforts with partner Kirksville Regional Econom-ic Development, Inc., to promote job creation and business expansion in Kirksville.

The 2006 budget also includes $8.1 million in capital, and capital improvements will include police cars, street equipment, a heater for the outdoor pool, road relocation and apron work at the airport, water plant improvements and the 2006 street program, according to the transcript.

Ron Gaber, chairman of the Ha-

Nathan BeckerAssistant News Editor

The Missouri Attorney Gener-al’s Offi ce has again fi led a charge of driving while intoxicated against former Kirksville City Councilman Richard Scott.

The offi ce fi led the charge Jan. 19, more than two months after Mark Williams, Adair County prosecuting attorney, dropped the DWI charge against Scott because of a confl ict of interest in the case, said John Fougere, press secretary for the Attorney General’s Offi ce.

Fougere said the trial is set to take place at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 22. Although it is tentatively sched-uled to take place in Adair County, the trial might be moved to a dif-ferent court because the offi ce expects Scott to request a change of venue because he did so previ-ously, Fougere said.

If convicted, Scott could face up to six months in jail and a maxi-mum fi ne of $500, Fougere said.

When the trial occurs, the At-torney General’s Offi ce will act

as prosecutor in the case, Fougere said.

“This happens from time to time, ... when a local prosecuting attorney takes him or herself out of a case due to a confl ict of interest,” Fougere said. “Then, many times, we’ll be asked to step in as a special prosecutor in the case.”

Fougere said he didn’t know if the Attorney General’s Offi ce had any reason to drop the charge.

“I can’t get into a situation where I’m trying to speculate what’s going to happen,” he said. “ ... You know, we’ll just see where it takes us.”

Police pulled Scott over after he was seen driving erratically, the Index reported last February. He was not arrested, however. Wil-liams fi led the initial DWI charge in March but dropped it in November, the day the trial was supposed to oc-cur in Shelby County. The trial had been moved from Adair County be-cause of a granted change of venue request.

Scott declined comment. Scott’s attorney, Jay Benson, could not be reached at his offi ce for comment.

Joshua Kilcrease Darnell Williams

Two student athletes plead not guilty to felony assault charges

Alison Bowen and Conor Nicholl

Managing Editor and Sports Editor

Two University football play-ers charged with felony assault last month plead not guilty Monday at the Adair County Circuit Court.

Sophomore Joshua D. Kilcrease, 21, and junior Darnell B. Williams, 21, are accused of striking Wooden Nickel employee Theodore Tarrant with Kilcrease’s car and assaulting both Tarrant and Wooden Nickel owner Dan Vogt.

The defendants will appear in court next at 10 a.m. March 6 when the attorneys and judge will decide on a date for the trial to begin.

Presiding Judge Russell Steele

2005, issue of The Joplin Globe.The victims had various inju-

ries, including a split over one eye and head contusions, according to The Globe. All three sought treat-ment at a nearby hospital, and one victim required two CT scans, ac-cording to The Globe.

When their case was under investigation, Race and Bean both were allowed to play for the Gorillas.

They pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor offenses Dec. 20, ac-cording to The Globe. A phone call left Wednesday afternoon for Chuck Broyles, Pittsburg State athletic di-rector and football head coach, was unreturned as of press time.

Prosecuting Attorney Mark Williams was unavailable for comment.

-Amy Deis contributed to this report.

Sara DeGoniaNews Editor

One year, three months and fi ve days after American Connection fl ight 5966 crashed, a multitude of questions fi nally have answers.

The National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday that several pilot errors, including improper cockpit conduct and in-appropriate instrument monitor-ing, caused fl ight 5966 to crash at about 7:45 p.m. Oct. 19, 2004, just four miles southwest of the Kirksville Regional Airport.

The crash killed the two-man crew and 11 of 13 passengers on board, leaving only two survi-vors: Wendy Bonham and John Krogh, both of Utah.

Krogh said the NTSB’s ruling was not a surprising conclusion to the investigation.

“Well, I’m not surprised at it,” Krogh said. “I kind of had some impressions like that. ... I’m not surprised at what they concluded.”

After watching the video of the NTSB meeting Tuesday with col-league and fellow survivor Bon-ham, Krogh said he felt sympathetic toward Capt. Kim Sasse and co-pi-lot Jonathan Palmer’s loved ones.

“I feel sorry for the pilots’ families,” he said. “I’m sure it was a real blow to them to have the fi nger pointed at them in terms of responsibility, but I guess it’s human nature to make mistakes. Unfortunately, their mistakes were multiplied.”

Krogh said he harbors no re-sentment toward the pilots.

“I don’t blame them,” he said. “I have no animosity toward them at all.”

Keith Holloway, public af-fairs offi cer for the NTSB, said the casual demeanor and fatigue of the pilots contributed to their degraded performance.

“It was not professional,” Holloway said. “The manner, the topic of conversation that was going on: The conversa-tion was in violation of sterile cockpit procedures. After about 10,000 feet, any conversations in the cockpit should not deviate from anything that has to do with fl ying the aircraft.”

The cockpit voice recordings, released by the NTSB on March 18, 2005, revealed an inappropri-ate attitude displayed by Sasse, 48, and Palmer, 29.

See CRASH, Page 7

Design by Lindsay Koski/Index

Continued economic development efforts – Continue to promote job creation and business expansions. Continued effi ciency in government – Analyze costs compared to benefi ts of new programs. Update accounting software to allow for online payments.Protecting city-owned assets – Long-range plans for maintenance and upkeep of water, wastewater, parks, airport, public buildings and other capital assets.Building partnerships – Maintain, strengthen and create partnerships, which will be mutually benefi cial to both the groups and the community.

Kirksville’s Goals for 2006.

.

.

.

zel Creek Concerned Citizens Com-mittee, said one item was left off Rowe’s list. Gaber said Rowe failed to mention what the council plans to do with the petition the HCCCC sub-mitted to it Nov. 21, 2005.

“Why would you not list protect-ing your water supply as one of your goals?” Gaber said.

Gaber said he does not understand why the petition was not enough.

“There hasn’t been an issue in the past year that has had as many citizens speak out or more covered by the media, and they still didn’t say anything about it,” Gaber said.

“That’s disappointing.”Gaber said he sent an e-mail to all

council members, as well as to City Manager Mari Macomber, express-ing his disappointment. But Gaber said he does not want hard feelings between him and the council.

“It’s not a matter of working against them,” Gaber said. “It’s a matter of working with them.”

Rowe said the address did not mention the petition because it has since gone to the watershed commis-sion that will make suggestions to the council later in the year.

See CITY, Page 7

said the beginning trial date will depend on his and the attorneys’ schedules.

“I have about a six-month back-log on my docket,” he said.

Misti Hollenbeck is the associ-ate defense attorney at Campbell Law Firm, which represents the athletes. She said the attorneys will use the next two months to gather evidence. After this, they will have a better idea of how long the trial might be.

Some citizens of the Kirksville community have responded to the alleged assault, including a column in the Kirksville Daily Express on Monday by sports columnist Jason Hunsicker. In the column, Hunsicker called for football head coach Shannon Currier, Athletic Director Jerry Wollmering and President Barbara Dixon to sus-pend both players.

Hunsicker used examples from other similar incidents, including

those at Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia, in which stu-dent athletes were suspended after criminal charges were pressed dur-ing the athletic season.

The two athletes have not been offi cially suspended. Aaron Rasset, assistant football coach and defen-sive coordinator, said this situation is different because the alleged as-sault did not occur during the ath-letic season.

“If it was not in the off-season, we would have to do something, and we would do something,” he said. “But the examples about Miz-zou and SEMO weren’t comparing apples to apples.”

Rasset said that the football staff would have taken some type of ac-tion if the incident had occurred during the football season.

“If you suspended them now, then what are you suspending them from?” Rasset said. “If there

was an upcoming game, then they would not be going on the trip.”

Wollmering reiterated Rasset’s sentiments.

“Since this has occurred, they haven’t practiced in one practice and haven’t played in one game,” Wollmering said. “We are closely monitoring the situation. Right now, they haven’t violated the code of conduct policy.”

Wollmering said the University needs more information before the athletic department can reach a de-cision.

Wollmering also referenced a similar situation that occurred last summer concerning two Pittsburg State University football players. Running back Germaine Race, 20, was charged with one count of bat-tery, and fellow running back Jus-tin R. Bean, 21, was charged with two counts in connection to a dis-turbance outside a local bar June 28, 2005, according to the Dec. 21,

Defensive Stand

Bulldogs defeat No. 18 Northwest Missouri

60-56 last night

See Sports Page 15

INSIDE FRONT Thursday, January 26, 20062

NEWS In Brief

Justin W. Peterson has withdrawn from the City Council race because of an illness in the family, City Clerk Vickie Brumbaugh said. Because he withdrew before the certifi ca-tion date, his name will not appear on the ballot in April.

Council candidate withdraws from race

Courtney Robbins/IndexSgt. Chad Whittom stands in front of an ambulance after a car hit a woman last September on campus. A proposed tax increase could benefi t Adair ambulances.

DPS Reports

Freshman Brian Hawkins was issued a Mis-souri Uniform Complaint and Summons for minor in possession of intoxicants.

1/17

Student Senate In Brief

Report of theft from Missouri Hall cafeteria.1/20

Freshmen Brittany Cummings, Ellen Weber, Andrew Madras, Jonathan Cobb, Danielle Larson and Colleen Rafferty and Sophomores Megan Smith and Amanda Boyle were issued Missouri Uniform Com-plaint and Summons for minor in posses-sion of intoxicants.

1/20

Senior Jason Belsher was arrested on an outstanding warrant.

1/21

Sophomore Joseph Stauber was issued a Missouri Uniform Complaint and Summons for minor in possession of intoxicants.

1/22

Freshmen Natalie Martin, Lauren Burkhardt, Blaine Ulmer and Nicole Horton were issued a Missouri Uniform Complaint and Summons for minor in possession of intoxicants.

1/21

Report of property damage at Pershing Natatorium.

1/23

• Senate approved a motion for $50 to engrave a plaque honoring Lynn Rose, assistant professor of history, 2005 Educator of the Year.

• Senate approved a motion for $200 for publicity mate-rials for the 2006 Educator of the Year award.

• Senate approved a motion for $499 for a new printer/scanner/copier/fax machine.

• Senate approved a motion for $1,630 for expenses related to Storm the Capitol.

• Senate approved a motion by external affairs chair-woman sophomore Mindy Maness requiring all executive committee members and voting senators to participate in Storm the Capitol.

• Senate passed a resolution endorsing Senate’s vision document “Truman Tomorrow: Arête.” Senate ap-proved motions for $750 to print the document and for $250 to publicize the document.

• Senate passed a resolution formally acknowledging the University’s disassociation with the former Student Association of Missouri.

The City Council passed Monday the motion to place the proposed parks and recreation sales tax on the ballot. Citizens will vote on the issue, which proposes a sales tax increase from 7.475 percent to 7.725 percent, April 4.

Council allows tax increase onto ballot

Julie WilliamsStaff Reporter

A Truman student was one of the fi rst to respond to a disturbance involv-ing a gun Friday.

Erin Poettker, a senior justice sys-tems major who interns at the Adair County Sheriff’s Department, said she was participating in a ride-along Friday with Deputy Rick Torres. They received a call about a domestic distur-bance from Novinger, a town 10 miles west of Kirksville. When they arrived at the scene, however, they discovered the suspect had a gun.

Poettker said that once they reached the street where the call came from, a woman came up to them and said her brother had pointed a gun at her and told her he was going to kill her.

“It was my third day on the intern-ship, so I was kind of worried at that point,” she said.

Poettker said she and Torres were the fi rst responders, but they waited un-

til two or three other deputies and the sheriff arrived on the scene before tak-ing any action.

“[Torres] left me in the car and said, ‘If you need to get out of here, here’s the keys,’” Poettker said.

She said she noticed the sheriff was wearing a bullet-proof vest and that another deputy had a shotgun. Poettker said she could not see the house be-cause it was down a driveway and in a wooded area but expected to hear shots as she waited. Fortunately, she said, they never came. About fi ve minutes later, she said, the deputies and sheriff brought the man back in handcuffs, put him in the back seat of the car, took him to jail, interviewed him and then put him in a cell.

Leonard Clark, Adair County sher-iff, said the suspect, Alvin Shepard, surrendered as he and his deputies ap-proached the house. Shepard is still in custody on a $50,000 cash-only bond. He has been charged with two counts of felonious restraint, one count of un-

lawful use of a weapon and one count of domestic assault in the third degree.

Poettker said she did panic during the chain of events but also considers herself lucky to have gotten to see what really goes on in this line of work.

“This is what I want to do for a liv-ing, and experiencing this was like, ‘Wow, this is what really happens in real life,’” she said.

Matt Eichor, director of justice sys-tems, said experiencing events such as this one sometimes occurs during a student’s internship.

“It’s not what I’ll call a regular oc-currence, but that’s really just part of the activities that a student might be part of,” Eichor said.

He said Poettker never was in any danger, and students from this division usually don’t experience this type of occurrence. But Eichor said this is not the fi rst time he remembers an intern having an experience like Poettker’s.

Clark also said he remembers in-terns who have seen similar events in

the past, and he thinks it probably was exciting for Poettker to witness.

“Every day is not like that,” he said. He said student interns wear bul-

let-proof vests as a precaution. Poettker said wearing a vest is a policy the de-partment follows, but she wasn’t wear-ing one Friday because they initially were unaware weapons were involved.

“She’s here to learn and observe,” Clark said. “We have to be very safety conscious with her also.”

Poettker said although her third day as an intern was pretty exciting, every day is different. She said so far the job has varied from serving papers and responding to an accident to sitting in on drug court and doing ride-alongs. She also said she shadows a variety of people at the sheriff’s department rather than spending time with just one person.

Eichor said justice systems interns also can be involved in probation, pa-role and corrections, and they intern at both State and Federal agencies.

Student experiences firearm disturbance

Michael R. Lavender, 35, of Kirksville, was sentenced to three years in the Missouri Department of Corrrections after pleading guilty to making a false bomb report. He called in a bomb threat to the Kirksville Wal-Mart on March 22, 2005. The store had to be evacuated and closed temporarily, accord-ing to an Adair County Prosecuting Attorney press release.

Man who made bomb threat sentenced

Cuts spur sales tax proposalThree-eighth-cent tax could benefi t ambulance district

Kyle HillStaff Reporter

Truman students will con-tribute to Adair County ambu-lance services if a three-eighth-cent sales tax passes after the April 4 election.

The Adair County Ambu-lance Board decided Jan. 19 to submit a sales tax increase to county voters. If passed, the tax will replace the current property tax.

Ambulance district admin-istrator Don Crosby said the tax is needed because of cuts in Medicare funding, which funds two-thirds of the dis-trict’s budget.

“We’re operating on a shoestring,” Crosby said.

He said he anticipates a loss

of $70,000 when the fi nal year of Medicare cuts take effect. So far, two administrative po-sitions were cut to compensate for budget losses.

“We squeezed by last year because we didn’t buy new ambulances,” he said.

Crosby said each ambu-lance in the fl eet has driven at least 130,000 miles.

He said shifting to a sales tax, a method of fundraising authorized by the Missouri General Assembly, would re-quire more people to pay.

“In some ways, the sales tax is fairer,” Crosby said. “A retired person living on a fi xed salary, their property tax appre-ciates while they don’t spend much on sales tax.”

Sophomore Mark Kirtland, Student Senate president, said he saw this measure as another effort aimed at making Truman students pay for county servic-es such as ambulance service.

“Property taxes are his-torically low in this county because they’ve continually passed those costs onto stu-dents,” Kirtland said.

He said Senate will begin a campaign to register 50 stu-dents to vote in Adair County for the April election.

Crosby said the upcoming ballot, which includes a parks tax initiative, should appear at-tractive to Truman voters.

“The ambulance tax adds value to the community,” he said. “If we don’t pass it, we have to make cuts. It’d be

basic life support instead of advanced [support and] fewer paramedics available for the next emergency.”

Currently, Kirksville’s tax rate is 7.475 percent. If the am-bulance tax and one-quarter-cent park tax both pass, the rate will increase to 8.1 percent.

Crosby said this would be a minimal change com-pared to what would happen if the tax does not pass. He said a bidding war for para-medics has caused a short-age of applicants.

“It used to be, ‘I needed to

hire three, so I hired the fi rst three applicants,’” Crosby said. “In November, I found out one of my paramedics was retiring in December. I just hired the replacement yesterday. The last two I thought I nailed down, they were hired elsewhere.”

Information about the tax has been slow to come to vot-ers. Kirksville City Manager Mari Macomber said she had not seen a press release.

“I read it was going to be eliminated,” Macomber said. “Shift and eliminate is going two different ways.”

3IndexThursday, January 26, 2006

Also 2,3, and 4 bedroom houses for rent.Some openings available now.

Call: 660-665-1101 (leave a message)or 660-626-6668

Department shifts halls

Police charge two local teens for firing air rifles

Adam Kabins/IndexJohn Gering, assistant professor of biology, and junior Chrystal Detweiler converse in the newly renovated section of Magruder Hall on Wednesday afternoon.

Jones RentalsNow Leasing for 2006-2007 School Year

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Dart Tournaments coming soon!Entertainment 6 to 9 p.m.

Friday Inferno Party! Drink Specials at nightHappy Hour: 4 to 6 p.m. and 12 to 1 a.m.

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Too Talls Two: The InfernoWelcome Back Students

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Science division spends winter break moving into the Magruder Hall addition

Alan ReiningerAssistant News Editor

Professors in the science division prob-ably didn’t expect to spend winter break moving boxes.

Scott Ellis, dean of science, said the campus planner and the architect made the decision that the building was ready for oc-cupancy early in December 2005.

Roger Festa, professor of chemistry, said he and other science faculty members began moving into the Magruder Hall addi-tion Dec. 12 and continued to work through the majority of the winter break.

Festa said he was annoyed by the deci-sion to move in during winter break.

“The decision was ill-advised and mean-spirited,” Festa said.

Festa said the other faculty members were not fazed by the decision. Others were angry about it, such as those who already had made travel arrangements for the break and had to rearrange their plans at the last minute, including airplane tickets.

“It cost a lot of people money, and it caused a lot of emotional upheaval in their lives,” Festa said.

He said the move caused no major problems among the science faculty, and everyone has successfully relocated.

“We did it because we are profession-als,” Festa said. “We can take it.”

Festa said the move interrupted his plans for the winter break, including his corre-spondence and professional work, writing

Sadye Scott-HainchekAssistant Head Copy Editor

Police charged two Kirksville teenag-ers with a misdemeanor after their air rifl es might have set a car on fi re Sunday.

Scottwell C. Calloway, 18, and Cyle C. Kelly, 17, allegedly were shooting at aerosol cans near an empty car at 4:40 p.m. Sunday, according to the police report.

Because the two teenagers were charged with the discharging of air rifl es in the city limits, a court will set the fi ne, Sgt. Steve

dition still need completion, including checking for water leakage, mechanical soundness issues, some furniture for lab-oratories, cracks in the concrete fl ooring and fi xing the old elevator. He said the noise from the ventilation system is inter-rupting lectures.

“The airfl ow problem right now is No. 1 on my list of problems to be solved,” Ellis said. “It’s making it very diffi cult to teach in our lecture rooms.”

He said satisfaction would be closer to 100 percent once the airfl ow problem in the classrooms has been fi xed.

The computer network system has not been fully set up yet, Ellis said. He said the company is working on fi xing the bugs in

the system, specifi cally in Magruder Hall’s four high-technology classrooms. He said that despite the late start, the company has been working hard during the last two to three weeks to fi nish the majority of the work before classes started.

“They had to wait for all the construc-tion details to be done,” he said. “That wasn’t deemed done until the fall semester was ending.”

Ellis said that in addition to the comput-er network, the furniture companies had to wait until after the construction companies had fi nished before moving in furniture for the classrooms and laboratories.

Agriculture was added to the science division during the University restructuring

that occurred in the mid-1980s, but this is the fi rst time that all four disciplines have been housed in the same building, Ellis said.

Senior K.C. Rowe, a biology and psy-chology double major, said she is glad to have her science classes in Magruder this semester. She said she had her lecture for Or-ganic Chemistry I in Barnett Hall last fall.

“Our classroom in Barnett had leaky tiles, so we had trash cans around the room collecting the water,” she said.

She said she is looking forward to the completion of the cyber café in Magruder Hall. She said she is impressed by the new additions.

“It’s like a shopping mall of learning,” she said.

letters of recommendation and planning for the spring semester. With the moving pro-cess, he said he worked 10 to 14 hours a day to catch up. However, he also said he did not have to pack, move and reset up a laboratory as several of his colleagues did.

“We were to not plan on being away except for a few days around Dec. 25,” he said.

He said the science division attempted to work with faculty schedules during break.

“You don’t want someone packing for you, and you especially don’t want some-one packing our equipment and glassware in the teaching labs and your research labs,” Ellis said. “That’s something you have to do yourself. In the grand scheme of things, we are 90 percent delighted.”

Ellis said the construction process is nearly complete.

“We’ve moved into everything we are going to move into,” Ellis said. “We’re us-ing everything we have planned to use, ex-cept for the planetarium.”

Ellis said funding for the unfi nished planetarium probably would come from the capital campaign process.

Ellis said the Physical Plant assisted the science division with moving into the Magruder Hall addition.

“The heroes of the move were the Physi-cal Plant,” he said. “Several faculty mem-bers who rose to the occasion in physics and agriculture helped to move the stuff over.”

Plumbing, electrical and carpentry work was performed during the move-in process, he said. Offi ces were supplied with used furniture from previous years and had to be set up while the Physical Plant installed shelves, Ellis said.

Ellis said various parts of the new ad-

Farnsworth of the Kirksville Police Depart-ment said. He also said the case probably will not proceed much further.

“I don’t think much is going to hap-pen just because the victim doesn’t want to pursue anything,” he said.

Although the car caught on fi re, Farn-sworth said he could not confi rm the cause. Both he and Battalion Chief Randy Single-ton of the Kirksville Fire Department said the cause of the fi re is still under investigation.

Singleton, however, said the car didn’t contain anything fl ammable.

“We know there was nothing in the vehicle that should’ve caught the vehicle on fi re,” he said. “There wasn’t a battery in the vehicle that I’m aware of or any-thing like that, like an electrical shorter or anything.”

Singleton said the fi re was extinguished about three minutes after the fi re department arrived, and the car remains where it was last Sunday. It was one among many at Fred’s Wrecker, a towing service located at 1602 N. Walnut St., Farnsworth said.

An employee of Fred’s Wrecker fi rst no-

ticed the fl ames. Kirksville resident Ronald Vandyke, who lives across the street from Fred’s, said he called the shop owner, Fred Scott, after seeing the burning car.

“I just happened to glance out the win-dow and see it,” Vandyke said. “I thought the main shop was on fi re. ... There was a big old ball of smoke and fl ames.”

Scott said he called the fi re department after receiving Vandyke’s phone call at his home and went to the scene himself. He said he did not own the car, a Dodge being used for parts.

“It was a neighbor’s car here, stay-ing at the same residence that mine’s at,” he said.

The owner’s name did not appear in the police report, Farnsworth said.

Police also are investigating the connection between this incident and a possibly related case, Farnsworth said. A man informed police Monday that he was shot in the back with what he thought was an air rifl e while walking west on Filmore Street on Saturday night, Farnsworth said.

It is generally accepted in our society that no one should stand above the law, but one of the key tenets of the American legal system is to consider the accused innocent until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

Truman’s football program has come un-der fi re recently after team members Joshua Kilcrease and Darnell Williams allegedly attacked two Kirksville residents outside the Wooden Nickel last month. On Monday, both players plead not guilty to the felony assault charges against them (See story, Page 1), and head football coach Shannon Currier has said he does not plan to take any formal disciplinary actions against them until the court hands down its ruling.

But in Monday’s issue of the Kirksville Daily Express, sports columnist Jason Hun-sicker explicitly called for the suspension of both players and described the Currier’s stance of “inaction” as both “disgusting” and “embarrassing.” Given the gravity of the charges, we think this is an easy and undoubtedly reasonable standpoint to take. Overall outrage in the Kirksville com-munity is not unwarranted – if convicted, both Kilcrease and Williams could face a minimum of 10 years in prison for the alleged assaults. And we agree that, if found guilty, the players should be punished to the fullest extent under the law and, if neces-sary, within the University system.

However, despite the criticism and gen-eral community indignation, we think it is tremendously important to remember that, at least at this point, both men remain innocent in the eyes of the law.

Kilcrease and Williams are not sched-uled to go to trial until March 6, and with

judicial proceedings still in the early stages, there might be evidence of which the general community still is unaware. Both players plead not guilty Monday, which indicates this could be the case.

Another concern is the effect this scan-dal could have on the relationship between the University and members of the greater Kirksville community. We understand that the allegations against Kilcrease

and Williams are extremely serious, but we hope that Kirksville residents will look beyond this incident and not characterize all Truman athletes unfavorably. Athletes provide a great service to

our city by completing service projects and promoting a sense of school and commu-nity togetherness.

Even if the charges are deemed legiti-mate during the players’ trial, we stand by Currier’s decision to support his players until the court gives its fi nal ruling. A large part of being the coach of any athletic team is promoting team unity and cohesiveness, namely when times are diffi cult.

The message that Currier would send by suspending his players, especially during the off-season, most likely would appear to the rest of his team as a formal condemnation without consideration of the players’ actual guilt or innocence. The modus operandi of many other athletic pro-grams that automatically dismiss a player accused of a crime from his or her team is too harsh. Instead of making his decision based on the court of public opinion, Cur-rier did the right thing not to acquiesce.

Courts of law exist for a reason.

4 EditorialThursday, January 26, 2006

www.trumanindex.com

Index

OUR VIEWTruville Perrin Carrell/cartoonist

Letters to the Editor

Letters policy

Editorial policy

The Index welcomes letters to the editor from the University community. Letters to the editor are due by noon the Monday before publication and become property of the Index. Submissions are subject to editing, must contain a well-developed theme and can-not exceed 300 words except at the discretion of the editorial board.

All letters to the editor MUST be typed, double-spaced, signed and include a phone number for verifi cation.

Letters to the editor also may be submitted by e-mail at index@truman.edu or on our Web site at www.trumanindex.com. Include the words “letter to the editor” in the subject line of the e-mail. No individual may submit more than one letter a week.

The Index is published Thursdays during the school year by students at Truman State University, Kirksville, MO 63501. The production offi ces are located in the Student Union Building. We can be reached by phone at 660-785-4449. Content of the Index is the responsibility of the Index staff.

The editor in chief consults with the staff and adviser but ultimately is responsible for all decisions. Opinions of Index columnists are not necessarily representative of the opinions of the staff or the newspaper. Our View editorials represent the view of the Index through a majority vote of the Editorial Board, consisting of the editor in chief, managing editor, news editor and opinions editor. The Index reserves the right to edit submitted material because of space limitations, repetitive subject matter, libelous content or any other reason the editor in chief deems appropriate. Submitted material includes advertisements and letters to the editor.

First copies are free. Additional copies are 25 cents.

IndexSTAFF

Accused players should be judged by the legal system

Serving the University community since 1909

Students, residents should petition police for greater accountability

During the past few years, there are problems with our police department that are of great concern to many citizens and me. We have a problem keeping offi cers. We hear it is because of pay. In my opinion this is not the total reason.

I feel it is time for our city manager and Council to investigate the departments or have it investigated by a fi rm or person that has no affi liation with the departments or employees. When we fi le a formal com-plaint against an officer, who investigates it? It is done in the department by one of his co-workers. Is this proper procedure? Could this not lead to a big cover-up or, in my terms, a sweep-under-the-rug approach to the problems? Is it not time for our city manager and Council to take a deep look into the department and see if it is time for a restructuring of the department?

When we hired a new chief of police, I was so in hope things would change. But it seems we have gone back to the old ways. Citizens, you do have the right to report problems with the different departments and their employees to the city manager and the City Council, and they should investigate it. Many times they do not know what is hap-pening in the departments or the complaints we have because they do not hear from the citizens.

I feel it is time for Kirksville to have an advisory committee formed to check into these complaints on our city government and its many different departments. This is the only way things can be improved or changed. Please notify a council member and the city manager when you have a complaint or problem.

Dana McDowellKirksville Resident

Alumna should have reserved judgment on accused players

This letter is in response to one submit-ted by fellow alum Danielle Gant [Jan. 19 issue of the Index]. As a former member of the Bulldog football team, I too am disturbed by recent transgressions involv-ing individuals who I have played with in the past. Although I have graduated and moved on, I try to maintain connections with other Bulldogs past and present, as well as coaches. Through these connections, I have heard several accounts of what took place that night, and I have determined that because I was not present, nor in the same state, I cannot pass judgment against or defend actions taken by Josh Kilcrease and Darnell Williams.

What concerns me most is Ms. Gant’s comments about these two individuals and the football team. If Ms. Gant was a witness to the events that took place that night, I would fi nd her arguments more compelling and valid. However, she does not mention being a witness, so I must assume that she, like everyone else in the City of Kirksville, was not there either to see the altercation take place. It is understandable to jump to conclusions in a matter such as this one. However, Ms. Gant, I ask that you do not pass judgment and keep your assumptions to yourself until all the facts are known about that night, and I will do the same. Whether or not Ms. Gant cares to admit or will accept the fact that this situation is more complicated than she believes it to be, then perhaps it is in the best interest of the University, town and individuals involved to uncover the facts of this case before passing judgments.

Furthermore, Ms. Gant gives Coach Currier suggestions on managing his team

better as well as throwing out blanket ac-cusations against football players in general. In her argument, Ms. Gant mentions that football players are known to be vandals and destructive in the community yet fails to give any examples. Because she does not cite one incident or have any information to substantiate her argument, it is nothing more than a blanket accusation making her letter trite and picky without reason.

Having been a bartender and manager at Patterson’s, I have witnessed many people, students, athletes and local residents act in ways unfi t for public while drunk and sober. I have seen close friends suffer consequenc-es of their actions that have been similar to the one involving Josh and Darnell, and yet people have not read about it in the Index or Daily Express.

It is too common in Kirksville that people get drunk and make mistakes, hurt-ing themselves and others in the process. Because Josh and Darnell play football, I believe a lot of added attention has been placed on them. If they are found guilty by a jury of their peers, then they should be punished. However, it is my greatest hope that this whole experience will serve as a reminder to the community that students and local residents alike, not just football players, are capable of doing stupid things while sober or intoxicated. If the two were not football players would Ms. Gant had made the same comments or even reach the same conclusions? It is obvious she does not care much for Truman football players, but that is no excuse to pass judgment on other individuals without being properly informed.

Greg KlipschAlumnus

Dixon’s cuts are coming because of decisions of former president

As a local taxpayer, I will, gladly, ally my voice to that of TSU senior J. Jones and NMSU alumna E. Hoppis in their moving pleas [Jan. 19 issue of the Index] for TSU President Barbara Dixon to “reconsider” her memo detailing such things as the complete severance wickedly altogether of the Child Development Center on supposed “econ-omy” necessity grounds. Such programs, along with the genuinely high reputation of the old NMSU and TSU nursing ones, give this community institution any lingering, real local esteem because such graduates as they produce and caring nurture they pro-vide, remind us, we “locals,” of the original give back to real commonweal priorities “mission” of the NMSU foundation of this place in founders’ teacher training but liberal arts intended foundation.

I also think, too, Jones and Hoppis are justifi ed in being a bit personally rude in suggesting Dixon look, in his former suggestion, do “personal her economies” such as ending the wholly needless free house she is given, “lobbying,” after all, these 2006 days, can be done by e-mail and air to Jefferson City, and very little Kirksville entertainment is thus venue requisite up here, surely in original but now valueless “perk” such as this house she frivolously burdens us with!

Yet, frankly, it is a bit chauvinisti-cally rich, for both complainants to fault all Dixon’s cuts or to openly mourn for a restaging of the Magruder predecessor regime presidentially, whose vast construc-tion site projects and absurdly over-Ph.D., ultra-conservative, white, male hirings got NMSU/TSU into this mess in the fi rst place! Nor as, Index your editorials have suggested, to ignore that by voting cuts Republican, lots of voters and alumni have

brought on this squeeze pruning excesses in self-wound infl iction. So I do support Dixon in her athletes’ cuts and do so providing she does not give Garry Gordon or the silly Hoffman, Lecaque administrator clique even more incompetents’ power. Her noble attempt, too, to at last shrink the real costs you students suffer and we taxpayers, in the over-male, arrogant, unaccountable division heads non-teacher structures deserves our endorsement.

It is the same ex-President Jack Magrud-er your two correspondents bizarrely pine for who let vast construction, athletes and division heads’ powers all grow to expendi-ture excess that now, rightly, Dixon knows, warrioress, she’s got to hydra-slash to make “ends meet,” even if she should rethink the vitality of the social programs, madam!

Larry IlesKirksville Resident

Alumnus responds to his defense of Kirksville resident’s letters

I thought about writing a long, drawn-out letter detailing my reasons for defending Mr. Iles’ right to criticize our government and how defending free speech is not the same as condoning certain points of view. However, it really isn’t worth the time. Therefore, I’ll sum up my thoughts on this issue rather succinctly: Do I think that Mr. Iles’ letters are, to put it mildly, extreme? Yes. Do I agree with the things he says? No. However, as Mr. Essex pointed out in his last letter, we are at a time of war, which I wholeheartedly believe makes free speech more important than ever, government criti-cisms included.

Mr. Essex: While Mr. Iles’ sentiments can be considered anti-American, your de-sire to inhibit the expression of ideas is con-sidered by many to be just as anti-American. My original response was to your quid pro quo response to the publication of Mr. Iles’ frequent letters. Had you exercised your First Amendment rights more effectively by making a level-headed argument defending your position (whatever that may be) rather than stating that you withheld funds because of a series of letters that contained ideas not in line with your personal opinions, I might not have called your actions shameful. I am certain your opinions are worthy of respect, but when they are packaged in an angry, hastily written letter such as yours, these opinions become very diffi cult to take seri-ously – it would be like serving fi let mignon in a Happy Meal box.

Mr. Essex, I am well aware of “what the hell” I am defending, and it’s not Mr. Iles. I am defending freedom of speech for you and Mr. Iles alike, and for that, I have no regrets.

Bob EllAlumnus

Instead of CDC cuts, Dixon should consider cutting Index funds

I think President Dixon should also look at cutting the funds spent printing the Index. The Index does not represent quality journalism in my opinion. Misspelled words and selective reporting should not be accept-able from a “quality” institution of higher learning. It should always be open-minded and impartial to truly teach the principles of our democracy.

There is no reason to distribute the Index to the community at taxpayer expense. It is a Truman publication for Truman students, not a community paper.

Vance MyersKirksville Resident

Editor in Chief Whitney McFerron

Managing EditorAlison Bowen

Opinions EditorJustin Weinrich

News EditorSara DeGonia

Assistant News EditorsNathan BeckerAlan Reininger

Sports Editor Conor Nicholl

Assistant Sports EditorJoseph Barker

Features EditorErin Clark

Assistant Features Editor

Alicia Collins

Photo EditorChris Waller

Assistant Photo EditorLisette Metz Grulke

Head Copy EditorAmy Deis

Assistant Head Copy Editor

Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Business ManagerCollections AgentShaun Moynihan

Design EditorLindsay Koski

Online EditorChris Tharp

Circulation ManagerCari Twaddle

Advertising ManagerChristina Carter

Convergence ManagerKaren Schwartztrauber

Design StaffBethany Aurand

Ben DansbyStephen EmlundMarissa Sharkey

Copy EditorsDaniel Glossenger

Amanda KnoxSam MurpheyAndrew SealNick Wilsey

Advertising Staff Megan Barry

Lindsay McReynoldsPrajwal Sharma

News Staff ReportersKyle Hill

Grace MattieErin MitchellJulie Williams

Features Staff ReportersSara James

Lauren MillerLoretta Palmer

Jessie Wolz

Sports Staff ReportersTyler Madsen

John ScognamiglioJosh SissonJohn Weeks

PhotographersNick Corich

Adam KabinsLisa Margetis

Courtney RobbinsChris Tharp

Kelsey Vaughn

DistributionGreg BellvilleJason Clow

AdviserSteve Stepanek

IndexJan. 24 Results

as of midnight Tuesday

Web pollShould student athletes accused of crimes be suspended from their respective teams?

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION: vote online atwww.trumanindex.com

Almost a month into 2006, how are your New Year’s resolutions progressing?

Yes. The subsequent investigation could drag down an entire team.

49% (101)

“”

Instead of making his decision based

on the court of public opinion, Currier did

the right thing not to acquiesce.

No. Defendants are innocent until proven guilty.

51% (102)

l The pulled quote on Page 8 of the Jan. 19 issue of the Index was incorrectly attributed to Kirksville Mayor Martha Rowe. Councilman Ralph Cupelli was the speaker.

Index corrections

5Other VoicesThursday, January 26, 2006

Around the Quad

Clement Warrsophomore

This week’s question:“Are you sticking

with your New Year’s resolution?”

Chris Petersonjunior

Megan Arnsjunior

Deana Judahsenior

“I actually didn’t make one.”

“I didn’t form a New Year’s resolution, but I have a set of ongoing goals. For the second week of school, I would say, ‘so far, so good.’”

“I am. I have an exercise plan now.”

“Well, to be honest, I didn’t make a New Year’s resolution in general, but this school year I’m paying attention to my health.”

Wartime reporting debate is complex

Chris Matthews

“

”

Knowing their lives are in danger,

journalists basically have two options: to go

it alone or to embed themselves with certain

factions of the U.S military.

Decisions about new hall lack foresight

Journalism is dangerous work, espe-cially during wartime.

Charged with the imperative task of gathering and disseminating the most objective information about the U.S. occupation of Iraq, report-ers in the fi eld struggle every day to survive. Knowing their lives are in danger, journalists basically have two options: to go it alone or to embed themselves with certain factions of the U.S. military.

The buzzword “embedded” has sparked much debate concerning the ac-curacy of stories coming from Iraq. Em-bedded journalists are constantly with the U.S. military, relying on military personnel for protection and informa-tion. On one hand, reporters can experi-ence and report the activities of the war with relative safety. On the other hand, reporters are allied so closely with U.S. forces that the objectivity of the news is potentially compromised. After all, how could you ever write a negative word about those to whom you entrust your life on a daily basis?

I will not attempt to settle the debate, even if doing so were possible. I will say that it is absolutely necessary for reporters to obtain and share objec-tive information about the single-most important government function – war. If a free press is ever needed as a check on government power, it is during wartime.

Perhaps a look at a few recent developments and statistics concerning journalists in Iraq will help contextual-ize the debate. According to the Com-mittee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), since full-scale combat began in Iraq in March 2003, 60 journalists have been killed on duty, an additional 23 media support workers have been killed and 36 journalists have been abducted.

Jill Carroll of The Christian Science Monitor, the center of much media attention lately, is included in this abduction statistic. Carroll, a freelance reporter who was not embedded with the military, was abducted Jan. 7 and held for political ransom. On Jan. 17, her captors said the United States had three days to free all Iraqi women prisoners in U.S. military custody. As stated in the lyrics on the latest Scott McClellan record, “The United States does not negotiate with terrorists.” As of this writing, nothing more has been heard about Carroll’s condition.

A more fortunate female journal-ist in Iraq, Jackie Spinner, was almost captured outside Abu Ghraib prison in June 2004. However, the U.S. Marines accompanying Spinner thwarted the attempt. Her book “Tell Them I Didn’t Cry,” which describes her experience

Even barring actual substantial questions

about constitutional law, the proceedings could

be at the very least used to educate Americans

about the role of the Court.

Alito episode speaks volumes about sorry state of hearings

Did anyone watch the Alito confi rma-tion hearings two weeks ago?

I know the answer is probably “no.” With confi rmation looking like a sure thing almost from the beginning, one of my friends noted, “It would be like watching a race you already know the winner of.” Admittedly, I only watched it because I don’t have cable at home and so I was left to choose between the hear-ings and “Reading Rainbow.”

The confi rmation hearings to decide who will be on the Supreme Court are probably one of the most important exercises in the U.S. government. To prepare, nominees undergo a grueling series of practice hearings known as “murderboards.” This name belies just how seriously these hearings are taken by the participants – after all, a lifetime appointment is at stake. The Supreme Court is an equal partner in the govern-ing of the United States – remember the triangle diagram from high school government class? According to the landmark Supreme Court decision Mar-bury v. Madison, “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial depart-ment to say what the law is.”

The Court interprets the Constitu-tion and makes key decisions in terms of citizens’ rights. These decisions have led to integrated schools, and the Court also has determined it is protected speech to undertake such actions as burning a fl ag. The gravity of the decisions the Court hands down and the implications of those

decisions make it important that we ap-point quality people to the court. And I am not talking about party affi liation (although who wants any crazy radical legislating from the bench?), I simply am talking about making sure the most qualifi ed, knowledgeable people get on the bench.

But instead of deciding the qualifi ca-tions of nominees in the chambers of the Senate, how the nominees will rule on a narrow range of issues quickly is decided in the court of public opinion. It is absolutely disgusting to me just how farcical these hearings have become. The hearings are dominated by grandstanding politicians apologizing for the behavior of the other party or justifying their own outlandish behavior. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) had this to say during his allot-ted time for questioning Alito:

“So it’s apparent you’re going into this because you love your country. You want to serve it. And anybody who knows you knows that. And I know

you.” What a waste of time. Questions like, “If you were a tree, what type of tree would you be?” and, “What is your favorite color?” would be more appro-priate. Even barring actual substantial questions about constitutional law, the proceedings could be at the very least used to educate Americans about the role of the Court.

These hearings are a resource that isn’t being used properly by anyone. Not by the nominee, whose main job is to play a cat-and-mouse game, effi ciently ducking hardball questions from the Senators. Not by the senators who use their time to give ideological sermons from the bench and most defi nitely not by the public which for the most part doesn’t watch. But in a crowd like this, who can blame them?

Rachael Spavone is a senior political science

major from Springfi eld, Ill.

Makeover show could have an adverse effect on younger viewers

reporting in Iraq for the Washington Post, is set to be released Feb. 1.

This sword is double-edged, however. The U.S. military also captures journal-ists in Iraq. On Sunday, the U.S. military fi nally freed Samir Mohammed Noor, a Reuters journalist who was detained for nearly eight months without any charge of a crime.

According to Reuters, “Noor was the third journalist working for Reuters to be freed from military custody after two oth-ers were released a week ago. At least two journalists for other international media organizations are still being held.”

Noor was taken from his Tal Afar home and sent to Abu Ghraib prison. The U.S. government never said Noor had commit-ted a crime nor relayed any evidence that would cause them to speculate he had.

In an article for the CPJ, Ann Cooper said, “Open-ended and unsubstantiated detentions of journalists in Iraq have un-dermined the ability of the press to report on the confl ict. [CPJ] has documented seven cases in 2005 alone in which reporters, photographers and camera operators were detained by U.S. forces for prolonged periods without charge or the disclosure of any supporting evidence.”

These statistics and selected stories about the dangers of being a wartime journalist illustrate the complexity of the debate concerning embedded reporters. As a democratic public, we have a strong need for journalists to convey an accurate, objective portrait of our government’s war. But at what cost?

Chris Matthews is a juniorcommunication major

from St. Joseph, Mo.

”Rachael Spavone

“

Let’s talk about the Residence Life offi ce for a minute.

Expected to house and feed a couple hundred college-age students (and all that that implies), they do a pretty good job. Generally speaking. Lately, though, Residence Life seems to have lost its edge. They’ve goofed this new dorm thing, and they goofed hard in three different ways.

First, Residence Life decided the new, unnamed dorm would be limited to upperclassmen. I’ll be honest with you: One thing that strongly attracted me to Truman was the egalitarian lack of distinctions. If I wanted these sorts of housing policies, I would’ve ap-plied to a lot more Ivy League schools than I did. Unlike a lot of universi-ties, Truman allows freshmen to bring cars to campus. Most profs know your name and aren’t above sacrifi cing 15 minutes of their day to help you understand something you don’t. A lot of the Greeks aren’t “too cool” to be seen partying with non-Greeks, which is another very important thing you don’t see too often at other schools. We don’t have an honors program to differentiate the mental elite from the rest of us. And, up until now, we let anyone live wherever they wanted. Sure, Centennial Hall is more or less the de facto upperclassmen hall, but that was by mutual choice, and there were still plenty of freshmen roam-ing the halls. By closing the doors of

Dorm X to anyone without a couple semesters of credit, we lose a piece of that social equality.

Residence Life also is charging a two grand premium to live in Dorm Brand New. It’s no secret that living on campus is – even by the most conservative estimates – at least a thousand dollars more expensive than living off campus. It’s true that living on campus isn’t all bad, especially if you’re on scholarship. Waking up and walking to class inside of fi ve minutes, not cooking, the lack of bills – depending on your situation, the benefi ts are sometimes worth a little more money. Except that housing scholarships won’t cover the new dorm (you’d have to pony up the two zero zero zero difference yourself), further separating campus into pseudo-haves and have-nots.

Let’s say the egalitarian thing doesn’t bother you, and I’ll assume the spendy price tag really doesn’t strike

you as unfair. The way Residence Life chose to announce all this information should. It was all sent out in a densely worded e-mail, just before winter break. Most of Kirksville’s off-campus housing for 2006-2007 was already closed up. There just aren’t many op-tions for those that planned on living in the new dorm.

Although this seems awfully sneaky and convenient and weasely, I can’t believe it was deliberate. I have no doubt that the people at Residence Life are every bit as helpful and well-meaning as most every other employ-ee at Truman. This whole hullabaloo does, however, seem to show pretty pathetic forethought for a school that tells its students “excellence is no accident.”

Josh Fenton is a seniorcommunication major

from Troutdale, Ore.

Josh Fenton

Lately, though, Residence Life

seems to have lost its edge. They’ve goofed this new

dorm thing, and they goofed hard in three

different ways.”

“

Prajwal Sharma

“

”

It’s time we stopped looking at the

smaller picture – a picture that stealthily

prompts us to embrace the world of unrealistic

expectations and magic wands.

I watched “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” for the second time yesterday. And it disgusted me more than the one I watched the fi rst time.

The fi rst time I watched it, my friend Mandy tearfully exclaimed, “This show makes me cry all the time.”

I waited. Was she going to say something

along the lines of how the show made her cry because she was jealous that random people got picked to have beautiful houses?

No answer. If Mandy got more emotional as

we watched the show yesterday, I sat there – angry, bitter and every bit vocal about the wrong message the show sent to people everywhere.

“What has he done to deserve this?” I said. “At least participants in ‘Sur-vivor’ compete for the prize, but this man has done nothing.”

“He’s looking after his dead sister’s children,” Mandy responded, certain that it was a good enough reason for his dump of a house to be converted into a mansion complete with a mini-castle.

“Like I wouldn’t look after my dead sister’s children,” I screamed.

“I would feel sorry for them if you did, and I am never, never watching this show with you again,” she let me know.

Fine, Mandy and I might never watch the show together again, but, heck, I still have a column to write.

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edi-tion” has been a much-watched show for some time now. And it’s also the

one show that has made more people cry than I care to count.

“It makes you realize that a miracle is possible,” people say. “It reaffirms your faith in humanity.”

OK, maybe building the house of a random single dad is enough to make people bawl, but I refuse to give in.

First, just what do the children whose house is being given an extreme makeover learn from this? Second, what do other kids watching the show learn from it?

That the world is a nice place – full of lovely good Samaritans – to live in? That no matter how poor you are, you just might be lucky and have a crew come give your house a make-over? That maybe hard work is not so important after all? That you might be ABC’s chosen one – so what if you have been poor all your life and done nothing about it?

Given how much the show focuses on the trials and tribulations young kids living in ugly houses face, I am concerned that it reaches and touches more kids and teenagers than we as-sume it does.

And what a cute fairy-tale message of fl uffy bedrooms and mini-castles it gives.

Wow! Maybe you don’t need money to have a great house after all. If you look after your dead sister’s kids, you easily could be a potential candidate. Rent a part of the gorgeous mansion out, and you could live luxu-riously for the rest of your life.

Reality shows always have re-ceived a lot of brunt from all quarters, but “Extreme Makeover: Home Edi-tion” interestingly has gotten a lot of praise for being a reality show with a difference.

It’s time we realize just how harm-ful the show could be and just what wrong messages it disseminates to its viewers. It’s time we stopped looking at the smaller picture – a picture that stealthily prompts us to embrace the world of unrealistic expectations and magic wands.

Prajwal Sharma is a junior communication major from Gangtok, Sikkim.

6Thursday, January 26, 2006 Community

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Erin MitchellStaff Reporter

Moviegoers wondering about the absence of “Brokeback Mountain” at the Downtown Cinema 8 no longer need to wonder.

Despite the rumors that the fi lm had been banned from Kirksville, Jim Fitzpat-rick, owner of Cinema 8, said the fi lm will be released Feb. 3.

“We don’t ban anything,” Fitzpatrick said. “We try to get our hands on every-thing we can. I keep hearing people say that Kirksville won’t play it because they don’t like gays, but we brought ‘Rent’ into town.”

“Brokeback Mountain” is about two men who work as ranch hands in the early 1960s, fall in love with each other and struggle with their feelings for the next 20 years while trying to live separate, normal lives with wives and children.

Ashley Stearns, a member of the fi eld publicity team at Focus Features, said the fi lm is a platform release that opened in the country’s largest cities fi rst.

Controversial fl ick will hit Downtown Cinema 8 soon

Buffet to feed late-night crowd

Chris Waller/IndexThe Manhattan Buffet, located on the Square, will offer a breakfast buffet between 12 and 4 a.m. Owner Phil Biston said he expects the restaurant’s late hours to draw a younger crowd.

Grace MattieStaff Reporter

Move over, Pancake City, be-cause soon students can walk downtown to get their late-night pancake fi x.

Manhattan Buffet will open March 1 next to TP’s Office, a bar, on the Square, and will serve a breakfast buffet between 12 and 4 a.m., owner Phil Biston said.

“I think that’s the type of food people want at that time, especially when they’re out,” Biston said.

Biston, who rents out apart-ments in Kirksville through Heritage House Realty, said he decided to buy the building that was formerly Manhattan Restau-rant when he bought the apart-ments above the building.

“I was always hoping to buy a restaurant,” said Biston, who has not had any previous experience in the food business.

Biston said the former own-ers sold the building in 1999

when they retired after 57 years of service. He said he bought the building through his realty com-pany last July. Biston said prog-ress is so far so good.

Biston said he expects a younger crowd because of the business’ late hours.

“I just don’t think anyone over 40 is up past midnight,” Biston said.

The buffet will feature pan-cakes, biscuits and gravy, eggs and hash browns for $7 per per-son, including a drink and tax. Tips will not be necessary either because it is a buffet, he said.

TP’s Offi ce owner T.P. Faller said he does not think Manhat-tan Buffet will cut into Pancake City’s business.

“Pancake City already has its own established crowd,” Faller said.

Yet Faller said he thinks the restaurant will be a success, and he said he supports Biston in his business goals. He said he has known Biston for about fi ve years,

since he met him at Gardner-Col-lier Jewelry.

“He’s a stand-up, straight guy,” Faller said. “He’s just a good guy.”

Faller said he also thinks the restaurant will benefi t his bar.

“Anything you open in the Square benefi ts everyone one way or another,” Faller said.

Biston also said he thinks the restaurant will be successful be-cause of the targeted crowd.

“I’ve been hearing that it’ll do pretty well, talking to college students,” Biston said.

Biston said, however, that at the same time, he was skeptical to open the restaurant with all of the other restaurants coming to town, including Ruby Tuesday, Red Rooster and Hog Wild BBQ.

Biston said he named his new restaurant Manhattan Buf-fet to honor the name of the res-taurant as it was before, Man-hattan Restaurant. Because it is a familiar name, he would not think of changing it, he said.

In terms of the idea of the restaurant, Biston said it was purely original.

“It was just one of those things that I thought up myself, and I have done all the work my-self,” Biston said.

Biston said he will be hir-ing for at least the next couple of weeks, as many people have

already expressed an interest in employment there.

“I’m just looking for people who are energetic and will work those late hours,” Biston said. “It will be a fun place to work.”

Biston said he has lived in Kirksville since 1989, and he is excited to contribute more to the city.

“I think it will be good for Kirksville because it’s right in town, and that way people don’t have to drive when they shouldn’t be,” Biston said.

At the restaurant’s Web site, www.manhattanbuffet.com, po-tential customers can suggest menu items and also see pictures of its progress, Biston said.

“There are certain kinds of movies that

will do business in some towns

more than others.”

Jim FitzpatrickOwner of Downtown

Cinema 8

“Certain fi lms succeed through word of mouth,” Stearns said.

She said “Brokeback Mountain” is similar to the movie “Million Dollar Baby” in that a fi lm company slowly will release more and more cop-ies as word of mouth spreads and the desire to see the fi lm increases. As a result of the competition in the market, the movie would have been more likely to fail if Focus Features had released too many copies too soon, Stearns said.

Fitzpatrick said that gener-ally Kirksville will not get a movie until about 2,200 copies have been released. “Brokeback Mountain” originally only re-leased fi ve copies. This number of releases has increased slowly, and currently about 1,196 copies are out.

He said it can cost the fi lm company anywhere from $2,100 to $2,800 just to make a copy of the fi lm. If the fi lm company does not think it will generate

enough revenue, it will not be released here, Fitzpatrick said.

If a movie is not released when it fi rst comes out, it usually would be available in video stores soon after, and the theater

ceases playing them af-ter that, Fitzpatrick said. However, fi lms that are nominated for awards usually will play in the-aters for a longer period of time before they are released on video, and Kirksville is more likely to receive a copy, he said.

Fitzpatrick said he works with B&B, a book-ing agency that works with the fi lm compa-nies to bring movies to Kirksville and other sur-rounding areas.

Movie listings can de-pend on the population and demographics of the town. Stearns said many factors de-termine where a fi lm is released.

“That is just the way the industry

works,” Fitzpatrick said. “There are cer-tain kinds of movies that will do business in some towns more than others.”

Fitzpatrick said a group of students came to the theater one day to complain that Cinema 8 didn’t show enough mov-ies with black actors in them. After the complaint, Fitzpatrick said he spoke to B&B in an effort to bring more diverse fi lms to town. When the movies came to town, they did not generate much busi-ness and confi rmed the fi lm company’s decision not to show certain fi lms in the town because of demographics.

The only category of fi lms that Cin-ema 8 does not show is NC-17 movies, Fitzpatrick said. When the pornography industry started using the X rating, the fi lm industry introduced the NC-17 rat-ing to differentiate between mainstream movies and pornography. However, when the fi rst NC-17 movie was released, it was mildly pornographic, and the theater stopped showing any fi lm that fell in this category, Fitzpatrick said.

“I have been in this business for over 25 years, and I have come to fi nd that the mov-

ies the critics like are generally not mov-ies that the public likes,” Fitzpatrick said, “Some of these movies are real sleepers.”

Some Truman students who saw “Broke-back Mountain” in other cities, however, seemed to concur with the critics.

“I thought that it was a truly amazing fi lm,” sophomore Meg Terranova said. “By the end of the movie, it seemed irrelevant whether or not the characters were gay be-cause all you felt was their heartbreak.”

Fitzpatrick said movies with con-troversial subjects such as “Brokeback Mountain” receive more attention be-cause the fi lm industry is trying to make that type of movie more acceptable in the public’s eye.

“Brokeback Mountain” also won four Golden Globe awards.

“Limited release movies just don’t draw very big business unless they get acclaim from the Academy or the Gold-en Globes,” Fitzpatrick said. “We use this whole Golden Globes and Acad-emy Awards to try to get some of these movies that don’t do any business to get some business.”

7IndexThursday, January 26, 2006

Get Involved! Through the CSI

Auditions for Truman LiveJanuary 31

Baldwin Auditorium. Sign up in the SAB office.

Student Representative at Large Application(to become part of the SAB selection process)Due February 3, 4:30 p.m.

SAB Membership ApplicationsDue February 7, 5 p.m.

Vagina MonologuesFebruary 10 and 11, 7 p.m., Baldwin Auditorium

2006 Homecoming Committee ApplicationsDue February 15, 4 p.m.

FACT (First-year Activities Coordinating Team) ApplicationsDue February 23, 5 p.m.

Professional Conduct SeminarFebruary 23, SUB Spanish RoomSign up in the CSI

Truman College Bowl Regional TournamentFebruary 24, 25 at Kansas State University

All applications may be picked up in the Center for Student Involvement in the lower level of the SUB; x4222

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TIMELINE: CORPORATE AIRLINES – FLIGHT 5966

Julie Williams Staff Reporter

Truman students concerned about the cost of college tuition in Missouri have been given a chance to act.

Students from the University of Missouri-Kansas City are forming a group that will not only pressure legislators to pay attention to students but also get students active in issues that affect them, such as affordable tuition. Adam Jung and Jared Wight, with about 10 other students from UMKC, are organizing the Missouri Students United group.

“We’re not offi cially launching until a month from now,” Jung said.

He said they got the ball rolling at the be-ginning of this week by sending out e-mails with information about the group to students at 13 different colleges in Missouri.

Jung said Missouri Students United will be a statewide organization controlled by stu-

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Design by Marissa Sharkey/Index

Continued from Page 1 The two discussed the impor-

tance of having fun while on the job. Sasse expressed frustration with col-leagues who lacked this opinion:

“Too many of these [expletive] take themselves way too serious, in this job. I hate it, I’ve fl own with them and it sucks: a month of [ex-pletive] agony.”

The NTSB ruled that although the weather conditions were not ideal, weather was not the cause of the accident.

“In this case, it could have been landed without any problem had the pilots done what they should have been doing,” Holloway said.

Holloway said the NTSB made several recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration based on information found during

the investigation. He said the NTSB suggested the FAA reemphasize the importance of a sterile, or profes-sional, cockpit and amend the fl ight crew hours-of-service regulations.

Laura Brown, a spokesperson for the FAA, said the FAA has 90 days to respond to the NTSB’s recommendations.

The FAA released a statement in response to the NTSB’s recommen-dations, in which it replied specifi -cally to the suggestion that would guarantee pilots avoid fatigue.

“Ensuring that all pilots re-ceive adequate rest is key to main-taining a safe aviation system,” the statement said.

Regions Air, formerly Corporate Airlines, was the carrier for fl ight 5966. Regions Air president Doug Caldwell said he is aware the NTSB

has made several recommendations to the industry.

“Obviously we’ve incorpo-rated what we’ve learned from the Kirksville accident into our train-ing,” he said.

Caldwell also said he thinks Congress appropriated funds to the Regional Airport to purchase an In-strument Landing System but that development is in progress.

The ILS, which the Regional Airport did not have in October 2004, is not regulated by the FAA, but was reported by the Index in October 2004, as an upgraded land-ing system that increases safety and allows pilots to land under more se-vere weather conditions.

Caldwell said Regions Air also complied with the FAA regulation enacted March 29, 2005 to equip

aircrafts with an enhanced ground proximity warning system, which fl ight 5966 lacked. The NTSB con-cluded that the enhanced GPWS would have provided the pilots with an alert in suffi cient time to avoid collision with the trees.

Holloway said the NTSB’s fi nal draft of the report will be the con-clusion to its involvement in the investigation.

Krogh said all the families in-volved in the crash have lawyers helping them determine a settle-ment, but he said the litigation re-sulting from the fl ight 5966 crash probably will not change drastically as a result of the NTSB’s report.

Caldwell said he was un-able to discuss any litigation or any other aspects related to the NTSB investigation.

CRASHI Inappropriate pilots’ conduct, lack of attention, fatigue deemed causes of October plane crash that killed 13 people, injured two

Continued from Page 1“We are waiting, and that will take some

time,” Rowe said.Clayton Dillavou, chairman of the Wa-

tershed Management Commission, said he understands why Rowe didn’t mention the petition.

“It’s diffi cult to make decisions with such a change in the council,” Dillavou said. “In April there will be a full council, and it will be much more stable.”

Dillavou said the commission will have its second meeting at 5:30 tonight.

“It’s going to take at least two or three months to make any progress,” Dillavou said. “We have to get to know each other fi rst.”

Rowe said that after refl ecting on the ad-dress, she would not have changed anything.

“I’m so glad I fi nished it,” Rowe said of the address that took the city staff weeks to prepare.

Rowe said she made only minor revisions to the document she read to the city.

“I just make it my own,” Rowe said. “I have to make it comfortable for me.”

CITY I Rowe delivers

Photo released by NTSBAfter close inspection the NTSB determined this accident dis-play unit of fl ight 5966 had been functioning correctly at the time of the crash.

College coalition sprouts across statedents from many different colleges. He said they already have received support from 20 to 30 students at each campus and an even more overwhelming number of students at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

“That’s actually quite a lot of people,” Jung said.

Walter Stokely, a freshman at Truman, said he responded to Jung and Wight’s e-mail. He said, however, that he has yet to take further action.

“I think that education as a priority at the state and federal level is nowhere as high as it should be,” Stokely said.

Stokely said he thinks college tuition around the country is too high, and it would be great if Missouri could lead the way in making college more affordable.

“If there is a united coalition of students from across the state, it’s going to be a lot harder for state legislators not to pay atten-tion to us,” he said.

Jung said a meet-and-greet with Missouri legislators is scheduled for Feb. 1 at Jefferson City, and they also are working on an event called Wall of Debt. Jung said the group will send 20,000 brick-shaped postcards to students and ask them to sign and write the amount of debt they will have when they graduate on the cards. The postcards will be used to build a wall, both on college cam-puses and at the Missouri state capitol, and legislators will be challenged to tear the wall down after signing a pledge to work to meet the students’ needs.

Jung said they have been working on this group since last spring, and the group’s fo-cus has been narrowed to the issue of college tuition and democratizing institutions around the state. He also said the group is open to students with conservative, liberal and mod-erate political views.

“We were able to get a lot of students active and involved in a lot of issues,”

Jung said of their work last spring.Jung said they are interested in provid-

ing students with free legal aid, tutoring and healthcare.

Before last February, Truman was in-volved in another organization that focused on issues involving higher education: Stu-dent Association of Missouri was a state-wide group formed by Truman students.

“We were more or less an organiza-tion that lobbied on behalf of statewide higher education issues,” said junior An-gela Crawford, former acting-president of SAM. “I think an organization like that is benefi cial to all public universi-ties in the state.”

SAM dissolved last February. Craw-ford said that after former president Jesse Holcomb resigned, Missouri Western State College was the only full-member school left, and very few students were willing to work on SAM.

Index Thursday, January 26, 20068

Apparel, trophies remain in surplus

Kyle Hill/IndexCirculation assistant Leslie Motter browses T-shirts Wednesday in the Cen-ter for Student Involvement offi ce. Motter said she looks forward to wearing her new shirt Friday. Many reduced Homecoming items remain in the offi ce.

Letter writers address quality of military care

SAB Student Body Representative

for

Selections

Applications Available in CSI or SAB office

NOW!

Applications due Friday, Feb. 3 all those who apply will be notified on Monday, Feb. 6

Must be available Feb 9-10 for selection process

660-785-4319Classifi eds

Ind

ex

For Sale

For Sale: Antique furniture, glassware, dishes, jewelry, kitchenware, beautiful artificial flower arrangements. Hope to see you at the Millard Village Flea Market. Five miles south of Kirksville on Highway 63.

Announcement: DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” Mark 8:36. College Bible Study. 5:30 p.m. Sundays at 803 S. Fifth St. Call 665-7609 for more information.

Announcement: Miss your mom and your laundry service? Try Dirty Things Drop Off Service. Dirty Things Laundry Lounge. 105 E. Filmore St. (Behind Patty’s Bookstore).

Announcement: Kirksville Dharma. Buddhist interest, discussion and meditation group. Meet people. Find peace. Connect with spirituality. All de-nominations welcome. 8 p.m. Sundays at 501 S. Halliburton. Contact Marc Rice at mrice@truman.edu for more information.

Fundraiser: $600 Group Fundraiser Bonus. Four hours of your group’s time PLUS our free (yes, free) fundraising programs EQUALS $1,000 to $3,000 in earnings for your group. Call TODAY for up to $600 in bonuses when you schedule your fundraiser with Campus-

Fundraiser. Contact CampusFundraiser at 888-923-3238 or visit www.campus-fundraiser.com for more information.

Employment: The Index is now hiring for the spring 2006 semester. Please contact the Index at 785-4449 for an application, or stop by the Index of-fice in the lower level of the Student Union Building.

Employment: Envoy Division of Maritz Marketing Research. 2815 N. Balti-more St., Kirksville, Mo. 63501. Paid training. Pleasant smoke-free working environment. Part-time work. No selling involved. Scripted customer satisfaction surveys. Part-time employees eligible for paid time off. $7 per hour. Requires: Typing/computer skills, verbatim read-ing, able to follow directions, average command of English language. Inter-viewing Wednesdays at Job Service. 1 to 4 p.m./MACC Campus. Or, to sched-ule an interview, call 626-1500.

Employment: Need extra income? Work your own hours. 25-year-old health and nutrition company. Send personal information to P.O Box 741, Kirksville, MO 63501.

Spring Break: Spring Break 2006 with Student Travel Services to Ja-maica, Mexico, Bahamas and Florida. Are you connected? Sell trips, earn cash and travel free! Call for group discounts. Info/reservations 800-648-4849 or www.ststravel.com for more information.

Announcement

Fundraiser

Interested in placing a classifi ed advertisement in the Index? Call 785-4319 for more information.

Employment

Spring Break

Kyle Hill Staff Reporter

Barbara Clark, secretary of institutional research and budget, said she normally or-ders Homecoming apparel when the preor-der form fl oats around the President’s offi ce.

But Clark said she was in the Center for Student Involvement offi ce Tuesday buying an Oxford gray-colored hoodie for her sister-in-law, a University alumna.

“She was in town for Christmas, and she was at the bookstore when she heard that Homecoming apparel was on sale,” Clark said.

As of yesterday, several boxes of Homecoming sweatshirts, hoodies and T-shirts sit in the CSI, awaiting buyers at reduced prices.

It’s a sight that CSI program adviser Amy Currier would like to get rid of.

“We’re not sure if [slow sweatshirt sales] are due to cost or the warm weather,” Currier said.

At the beginning of the semester, the CSI reduced prices on its remaining Homecom-ing apparel by $10, with both short-sleeve and long-sleeve T-shirts going for $5 each.

Currier said the markdowns came at the same time last year.

“Once our budget is recouped from our preorders and sales that week, that’s usually the time we lower prices,” Currier said. “We need to make it back up for the offi ce to run the rest of the year.”

Currier said apparel sales are not a fund-

Erin MitchellStaff Reporter

Congress might be hearing from Truman students soon after tonight’s informative pre-sentation on how to support troops.

Residence Life and Stonewall Group, a political gay rights organization, are co-spon-soring Letters for Lives at 8 p.m. tonight in the SUB Alumni Room.

Sophomore Sam Hodge, president of the Stonewall Group, said many people do not know how to go about writing to their senators.

Letters for Lives will provide envelopes, paper and statistics from major newspapers from very liberal to very conservative, as well as a generic format for a guideline to actually write the letter.

Hodge said that after its presentation

about AIDS awareness last semester, the group wanted to put on another po-litical presentation that would empower people to voice their opinion directly to their legislators.

“We need to do something because there really is a crisis in our military and our armed services that has been addressed by main-stream media, but it is not the focus of it,” Hodge said. “I want to make it the focus of our presentation.”

Because it’s a Congressional election year, Hodge said, students who send letters might receive responses, and representatives are more likely to act on their constituents’ desires in hopes of re-election.

Subjects discussed will focus on military issues like proper healthcare for veterans and armor and supplies for troops, Hodge said.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is

low on funding and does not have enough facilities while the ones that exist are aging.

“These are the people who fought in WWII, Vietnam and people who have been fi ghting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they are getting poor treatment,” Hodge said. “These people sacrifi ced for our country, and I think the least we can do as individuals is write a letter that may cause some sort of change that can save lives in the future and increase the quality of life for veterans.”

Not all troops have access to armor around the clock, and it is a problem that has largely been ignored, Hodge said.

A number of student speakers will talk about their experiences of having friends or family that have served or are serving in Iraq, Hodge said. One of the speakers is Chris Copley, a sophomore student adviser in Centennial Hall.

“It is a good way to let people know that there are still people over there, and that they are in dire need of armor and supplies,” Copley said.

Copley, whose father was killed in Iraq, said he will explain the importance of sup-porting people who are serving in Iraq and the family members who are left behind.

“This stuff affects every family,” Hodge said. “Maybe if you don’t know anyone right now who is in Iraq, [and] we don’t have any end in sight, [you] most likely will know someone who is there eventually.”

Hodge said his cousin is in Iraq and has been there for three months with no indica-tion of when he will return home.

“At Christmas it was really sad,” Hodge said. “My grandfather was leading off our prayer right before dinner, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place because it is really scary

to have someone you love dearly in some place so unsafe.”

Freshman Kevin Andert, president of Col-lege Democrats, said several of the group’s members will attend Letters for Lives.

“We are supporting it to show that though we do not support the war, we do support the troops overseas and care about their safety,” Andert said.

Andert also said College Democrats will be involved in a fundraiser later in the semes-ter for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The fundraiser will raise money to buy calling cards for troops who are overseas.

“I think it is important for everyone to take a stand and support our troops and do everything we can,” Hodge said. “This issue as we consider it is nonpartisan. It doesn’t matter whether you support the war in Iraq or you don’t—you should support the troops.”

raiser for the CSI, and any surplus made goes into activities sponsored by the offi ce, such as college bowl intramurals.

The Homecoming committee spent about $17,000 on apparel for the weeklong event, averaging a $10 profi t on each item, accord-ing to public records. The year before, more than $26,000 was spent on apparel. At least $8,000, including most of the T-shirts, were sold before and during Homecoming week.

“Competing organizations have incen-tives to buy shirts during Homecoming,” Currier said.

Organizations competing in Homecom-ing also noticed some changes in trophies.

Senior Laura Keck, co-chairwoman of the awards committee, said cost-cutting mea-sures resulted in new awards for second- and third-place teams.

“We started giving plaques instead of tro-phies for second and third place,” Keck said. “We priced frames at 10 to 15 different plac-es, and we got them for under $2 apiece.”

Some prizes remain unclaimed three months later. Keck said her committee has dropped notices in organization mailboxes reminding them to pick up their prizes.

A third-place plaque for Alpha Kappa Lambda’s fl oat remained in the CSI’s work-room Tuesday. Freshman Paul Russo, AKL’s Homecoming chair, said his members sim-ply forgot to pick it up.

Fourteen leftover fi rst-place trophies also sit in the CSI, including all fi ve from sand volleyball, which the committee canceled because of the weather. Keck said the com-

mittee has to order fi ve fi rst-place trophies for each event.

Keck said those trophies will be reused.“We’ll just have [the Homecoming em-

blem and year] replaced,” Keck said. “[The trophy maker] only charges us for replacing those two parts.”

Currier said planning for next October’s Homecoming is underway. Earlier this week, representatives from Offi ce of Advancement, CSI, Multicultural Affairs Offi ce and Publi-cations met to fi nalize job descriptions and coordinate the interview process.

Applications are available in the CSI and are due Feb. 15 at 4 p.m. Currier said inter-views will be Feb. 21 to 22.

“We’re shooting to hold our meetings ear-lier,” Currier said. “We hope to start March 6, before midterm break.”

Keck said the outgoing chairpersons will meet with or write letters to their replace-ments to give them suggestions.

“Just get everything done as early as pos-sible,” Keck said.

Currier said she hopes the remaining sur-plus from this year’s Homecoming sells soon because storage space will be limited when renovations to the Student Union Building begin in March.

She said apparel quantities for next year will be reduced by at least 30 percent.

“We are hoping we change people’s ideas to, ‘You need to buy apparel soon, or else it’ll be gone,’” Currier said. “We’re hoping we don’t have to deal with it after Homecoming.”