Maybe we're weird. Maybe we're different. Maybe we just don't get it.
But we don't do what we do here at The Chart for the sake of being critiqued as professionals. It sucks, because most people whose critiques we're talking about have probably already shut off just having heard us say that much.
I was thinking about writing a farewell column, but I feel that it would be wrong to do so, especially in light of the dire situation between the Faculty Senate and the President's Council. No one cares except for a few friends and family, and I love you guys, but I have a job to do.
As president of the student government, I feel that from time to time I should give updates on what your senators have been working very hard to accomplish. As part of my campaign pledge I promised to work towards better record keeping by establishing institutional memory.
What are my final thoughts as I prepare to graduate? Wait … what? I'm graduating? Whoa. OK, now that I have given it a moment to sink in, I will cut to the chase; I am not too sure what to say here. I just know that I was asked to write a column about graduating college, so here I am, attempting to do just that.
Nathan Carter makes an impression. The day I met Nathan, he was front-row, left-side of my newswriting class. He was in an army fatigue jacket and had a crazy look in his eye. Immediately after class, he told me he wanted to work for The Chart.
I remember the first time I met Nathan Carter. I had just walked into the Chart office for the first time in a long while, and I was sitting at a computer waiting for former Chart adviser T.R. Hanrahan to show me how to use our design software.
I don't remember the first things I said to Nathan Carter when he showed up in The Chart office, but he does. As an editor I was known to, somewhat arrogantly, tell incoming staff members "You may stay," should they say anything deemed valuable enough, or amusing enough to be kept around.
If you've been in the Communication Department at all over the last five years, you've undoubtedly had some sort of run-in with Nathan Carter. Maybe you talked comic books. Maybe he creeped you out with one of those weird things he says. Maybe he was in your group for a project.
Moving sucks. You see I have lived at home since this past week and as excited as I was to finally be moving out on my own, I dreaded the packing, loading, carrying and unpacking that makes that sweet freedom possible. It was like everything that I had ever lost and looked days for suddenly decided to show up.
My dad sent me a Facebook message this week. For most people, that probably isn't a big deal, I guess. Heck, most people probably don't even have their dads on Facebook. My dad only contacts me through Facebook. Before that, he never reached out to me at all.
The most rebellious thing I ever did was to become a stay-at-home mom. It went against every cell of my being. I was going to graduate from high school, then travel, and maybe someday if some guy was lucky enough I would marry him and we would travel together.
With Bart Tatum's "resignation" this week, Southern is left without a football coach. The University has not named any preliminary candidates, but based on some rumors, rumblings, and what I think the team could use, I'm prepared to unveil my top five candidates for the next Head Coach of the Lions football team.
Everyday the damage from the tornado scattered around Joplin reminds everybody of the event that struck our town. This event was marked with the bodies of friends, family, neighbors and loved ones, which has me asking if we really need a six-month memorial.
"Breaking Dawn part 1," the fourth installment of the "Twilight Saga," was released at midnight last night to sold out crowds everywhere. As a movie theatre employee who has worked all but one of the "Twilight Saga" midnight releases, I absolutely dread the releases of these movies.
Throughout high school, junior college and now here at Missouri Southern I have encountered some pretty mega awesome teacher's, and some well let's just say I have no idea how they became a teacher. I went to a big high school in St. Louis where my graduation class was pushing 650 students, so there were tons of students at my school.
Who knew that faculty members at a public institution could be eligible for and receive tenure and the affair could remain clandestine, even to the recipient. Of course, tenure has had its opposing viewpoints, but that doesn't mean that those receiving tenure aren't able to be at least notified when they have been awarded it.
I would like to take the time to say thank you for taking the time out of your schedule and reading The Chart newspaper and second for reading this particular column. I'm going to warn you from the start that these series columns, or perhaps column, if they decide to cancel it do to offensive material is nothing but comedy and strictly opinion based.
I reserved making judgments regarding The Chart until several issues were published with new leadership in place. However, this semester's issues confirm that The Chart has lost credibility as an independent news source. Although The Chart's previous adviser, TR Hanrahan, garnered awards and peer recognition, as did the Chart reporters he advised, he was fired by the administration.
One thing a student can't go without is a car. A car is a very important item for a college student or most any adult. The problem is, not everyone has the money to buy a brand new car. Buying a used car is like buying anything used, you don't have any idea what kind of deal your getting most of the time.
You're probably already aware that the St. Louis Cardinals won their 11th World Series title in team history a week ago today. I am concerned, however, that there are folks out there who may have forgotten how the Cards got there. I thought it might be nice to remind our readers, Redbird lovers and haters alike, of the wild ride the National League's most successful franchise took in the 2011 World Series.
Any successful businessman will tell you the importance of advertising and marketing. For any business to survive, it is essential that people are aware of the product or service it has to offer. We have become so accustomed to advertising that we have learned to filter it out.
Up until recently, I regarded men and women as different but equal. I consider us basically the same in theory except for men are hardwired to think of boobs and football and women are more hardwired to think of other's feelings and shopping. However, after a recent discussion with my husband I finally had the epiphany: ‘Men and women are not alike at all.
I consider myself to be very tech savvy and up to date on technology, but lately I have been wondering if this is making me lazy, which made me think, is technology making people lazy? I am sure I am not the only person on campus who believes technology has its consequences, which I think is making people even lazier than people were decades ago.
I always knew that tailgating was kind of a big deal. I didn't realize how big it was until I experienced it firsthand. While I'm not a huge Arkansas Razorback fan, my friend and I thought it would be fun to go down to the game this past weekend, see our friend and have a grand old time.
I considered writing a column about my wedding vows this week, but I was interrupted by a throw pillow flying by my face. I wanted to talk about the writing process and how it felt to pour my heart out onto a piece of paper (and by "piece of paper," I mean "keyboard and monitor").
Fall is by far my favorite season. I love the colors, crisp air and of course the food that accompanies this time of year. Unfortunately, fall also means it's flu season, so I decided to be one step ahead of the game and get my flu shot.
Last week may have been the most exciting, emotional, phenomenal week of my college career here at Missouri Southern. What started as a joke among friends actually became reality. I jokingly said to my friends, "Hey, I should run for homecoming king.
High school sophomores can generally be found playing sports or video games, but at 16 I was more interested in politics and world events than most. Although I couldn't yet vote, I was enthralled by the complexity of the 2008 presidential debate and wanted to get more involved.
Let's face it; chances are if you drive a really nice car then you probably meet one of two criteria. You are either not a college student or you are a college student with a set of exceptionally generous parents. Those of us who were not blessed with the latter must make do with our own shaky methods of transportation.
After entering the building, I was stopped by two security officers, to whom I showed my press pass. They told me I had two options, pointing to an isolated set of elevators behind me, leading to "upstairs." The officers also told me I could go straight, again only hinting with "downstairs.
Take in a deep breath, then blow it all out as quickly as you can. Sounds easy enough, right? This is a task required of the cystic fibrosis patients on the 13th floor of Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, when performing a routine pulmonary function test.
I was sitting in my office at Skidmore College in upstate N.Y., three hours north of the city just a week or so after the semester started. At least 2/3 to 3/4 of the enrollment was from the city. I had a small TV and turned it on in my office shortly after receiving an e-mail that a plane had hit the tower.
If you haven't seen the front page of this week's issue of The Chart, you missed the Spotlight feature on former men's basketball player Skyler Bowlin. If you didn't see Bowlin play the last four years, you missed one of the best athletic careers in the history of Missouri Southern.
The city of Joplin has been abuzz for the past week due to controversy over a 9/11 memorial concert which was slated to bring country music star Travis Tritt to Joplin. Slated for Landreth Park, Tritt, along with two local bands, was booked to play a free show dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept.
Reflecting this past Sunday on the 10-year anniversary of the largest attack on the continental United States brought me back to where I was ten years ago. I had just gotten back to "homeroom" in Mr. Shirley's fifth grade class. I was 10 years old at the time.
Sept. 11, 2001, was a day that shocked and saddened so many across the country and the world. My youngest son and I watched the TV in disbelief as a second plane plowed into the World Trade Center in New York; it was immediately apparent this was no accident.
In the words of the immortal Blink-182, "What's my age again?" I chose to quote the band's lyrics because today signifies the death of my childhood. Late this evening, Blink-182 will finally step off the stage at the Sandstone Amphitheater, and my childhood will leave with them.
"Senior year, don't care." That was pretty much the motto for my entire graduating class. While my friends, and I maintained above average GPA's, participated in extra-curricular activities, and took advanced placement and dual credit classes, there was this overwhelming sense of estrangement.
"Those bastards did it again!" I said to my buddy, Specialist Rob Robinson, when we heard the news of two airplanes flying into the World Trade Center. We both recalled the first attempt in 1993 by Islamic terrorists who parked a Ryder truck filled with fertilizer in front of one of the buildings and killed seven people.
It grew quiet on the cloudy, humid night in Kansas City. People began to whisper and others began to shout. The lights grew dim as the black curtain waved back and forth in the wind. The rain paused for a moment as if time stood still.
In the 10 years since, it's been hard to fathom the events of 9/11. Even more, the scope of that day's events reach further than any of us could have imagined. While it's painful to dredge up the memories of those lost and injured that day, it's almost equally painful to look at the ways that day has changed our lives.
My grandpa is what you would call a ‘good ol' boy.' A member of Ducks Unlimited, he hunted, fished, cooked what he killed and had fun doing it. And he swore. A lot. Dr. Keith Larimore is a very accomplished man. Although if you ever introduced him that way, he'd tell you, "If you gotta put ‘Dr.
May 22, a normal, lazy Sunday, no more remarkable than any other. I was reading a magazine and watching TV, thoroughly enjoying myself until my phone started going crazy. I sighed and reached for it. I hadn't even reached the phone when the lights flashed.
It's interesting the way tragedy can bring people together. When we left for the summer in early May, the campus seemed to be in turmoil. For whatever reason, every piece of news that seemed to come out of the University leaned more and more to the negative as the weeks went on.
More than 30 students, many with signs, marching single file from Webster Hall to the campus Oval to show their solidarity with T.R. Hanrahan.
A man who has been fired.
This semester marks the end of The Chart careers of some major contributors.
One of my most cherished principles as a college adviser has been that this paper belongs to the students who run it.
So, the majority of this column will be the senior equivalent to an Oscar speech; a long list of thank yous that, if you're not among the thankees, won't be of much interest to you.
Goodbye cruel school.
I tried to stay ahead of it as long as I could, but my future has finally caught up with me.
Leaving Southern not as difficult as I thought
The school I was so proud of growing up is not the same place it once was.
Bad boy image still big work in progress
They said it was impossible, that I would never pull it off, that it couldn't be done.
They were right.
T.R. Hanrahan has been fired.
It's only a couple of times a year that students can make important decisions in an official capacity.
Dismissal of Chart adviser Hanrahan draws fire from readers
After learning news of my advisor, teacher, and good friend T.R. Hanrahan being let go of his duties, I have never been more upset and embarrassed of where my degree has came from.
-Philip Dowden
Never before have I been so irked by our arrogant, redneck leaders.
My parents cleaned out a closet a couple weeks ago that hadn't been explored in years, and they found some really interesting items.
I hate clichés.
What if people got excited about this university?
We saw signs this week for a Joplin Homeless Vigil to be held in front of McCormick Hall on Wednesday night.
Only three people showed up.
One need look no further than South Middle School for an example of how Missouri Southern's International Mission affects and enriches the local community.
Immediately following Spring Semester and before Summer School is a two week period known as Intersession, where students can take courses for credit that may not be available any other time of year.
It's one thing to hear a fallacy and another to hear a bald-faced lie.
Indeed, Speck said "it is especially gratifying that the HLC team recognized all of the progress on shared governance," in a release issued by the University.
It is clear to us, however, that a great disconnect remains.
One need look no further than the recent faculty survey for proof.
Clint Eastwood liked to shoot from the hip.
A lot of people seem to do that at our school, too.
Clint Eastwood also knew how to smoke a mean cigar.
For right now, that's still OK.
This year has been one of growth—emotionally, mentally and socially. I have come to terms with many demons of my youth. I have also learned not to expect the same out of others that I give to them. All of this has made my self-image skyrocket over the months.
Missouri Southern has a Student Senate. It may have been little-known outside registered student organizations in the past; however, this is quickly changing. I am absolutely confident when I say that this has been our most successful Student Senate in our history.
It's been three years since an accrediting team from the Higher Learning Commission visited Missouri Southern.
If Karen Pletz is looking for a job, this University can probably help her out.
My little sister is tougher than me. Way.
is a member of the 
