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Dean
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Emerson Capps, professor of education, has added a new title to his resume. Capps has been named the new MSU dean of graduate studies. The search committee, which consisted of faculty members, graduate students and MSU staff chose Capps out of a group of eight in-house potentials. “The search lasted almost all of last semester,” committee member Magaly Rincon-Zachary said. “Once we established our opinions about each of the applicants, we submitted them to Dr. (Jesse) Rogers, who made the final decision.” Rogers, university president, said Friederike Wiedemann, vice president of academic affairs, made a couple of suggestions and recommendations to him, and he made the final decision based on her choices. Rincon-Zachary said the committee suggested Capps for the position because of his dedication to the university. “We chose him because of his record, and because he has been associated with the university for more than 30 years,” she said. “He knows the ins and outs of MSU.” Capps will be the first dean of graduate studies since the early 1980s. The position was re-enacted because the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) suggested that someone lead the booming graduate program when they accredited MSU last February. Capps has experience as a dean, as he served as dean of education several years ago. “It’s a good role for him to play because his experience is essential so that he is not overwhelmed,” Wiedemann said. “He knows what is essential to be successful as a dean.” Capps is sure that he can handle his new job, and he is enthusiastic about the things that will be done to improve the graduate program. “My first goal in this position will be to get to know the people currently on the graduate council and try to understand their point of view,” he said. “We will work together to find the needs of the graduate student program.” Currently, 703 students make up the graduate studies program, with 572 of those as master’s candidates and 103 working on post-baccalaureate work. "It will be a lot of work teaching and being responsible for these students, but I believe that eventually I will be able to get an administrative assistant to help me out," Capps said. Rogers said Capps will have his hands full in his new role. “He will be responsible for getting the graduate program functioning,” he said. “There are several graduate policies that need to be re-evaluated, and Capps will head up that responsibility.” Other things that need to be created are a new graduate studies handbook and catalog, along with new course guidelines. Wiedemann said Capps will be responsible for designing his position and the office he will lead. “Although there are guidelines for the position of dean, he will be allowed to fashion it the way that he feels will be better for the students,” she said. “He is fully aware of where things can be improved, and the exciting thing is that he is willing to work to make things better.” Capps will serve as the coordinator and facilitator of the graduate council. “We will work to promote the graduate programs,” he said. “If we run across anything that needs fixing, we will help improve them.” “We are looking forward to Capps getting the graduate program organized,” Rogers said. “We have all hopes that he will be successful.” Capps asked to be permitted to continue teaching his spring courses, and the administration will allow him to do so. “He’s dedicated to teaching and to the students,” Rogers said.
The definition of “recruitment” according to Webster is the process of getting new members to join an organization. According to Greeks, it is their “lifeblood.” Without recruitment, the organization eventually dies. Last week fraternities on the MSU campus held traditional formal recruitment, but disappointing numbers of potential members left fraternity men wondering what went wrong. Brett Lee, director of Student Development, said the total number of men handed an invitation to join a fraternity was only about 20, which is considerably low. He attributes the low numbers to a lack of good public relations from the individual fraternities and their governing body, the inter-fraternity council (IFC). “There were no flyers, no announcements made, although they were given plenty of opportunities to do so,” Lee said. Lee also believes, that while the fraternities may want to improve recruitment; he feels that they do not want to put forth the effort to make it happen. “They are complacent with the status quo. They still think we live in an era where people are wanting to join organizations without explaining what they do and what they stand for,” Lee said. Lee also thinks many of the fraternities have forgotten the techniques of good recruiting. “They have forgotten the art of making friends first, and then talking about their fraternity second,” he said. Lee also sees a problem with men only recruiting for their organizations and not for the entire Greek community at MSU. “Recruitment is not about hoarding members for your own organization, it’s about getting members in the seats to see what Greek life is all about,” he said. With so many problems, Lee and fraternity members are looking for several solutions to improve recruitment. Lee said a consultant has been hired to review the recruitment program, as well as the whole fraternal system, to see how to improve and tailor it to this campus. Also a representative from a fraternity on campus will be sent to a “recruitment boot camp,” where they will learn new techniques and ideas for the process of formal recruitment. Lee said he hopes to see an increase of at least 10 percent for fall recruitment. Jason Biggs, graduate assistant and IFC advisor, is optimistic that formal recruitment will improve drastically by the fall, if some simple plans are implemented. “They really need to work on teamwork. If they work together, the output will be better than if they try and work alone,” Biggs said. Biggs also said he is working on forming a committee consisting of men from each chapter who are interested in improving recruitment and raising the number of interested participants in the actual process. Both Biggs and Lee agree improvements should and can be made, but it’s up to the students to make it happen. Matt Jackson, vice president of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity, agrees this spring recruitment process was “really bad.” He attributes the low numbers to a lack of communication to potential members and not informing them about what fraternity life is really all about. “We have gotten really lax, both the individual chapters and IFC, and we all need to work harder to improve things,” he said. “Nobody will admit that they are happy with their numbers, everyone wants more people, but their actions are not showing that because they are not out their actively recruiting.” Lee believes things will begin to improve when the chapters start focusing year-round on recruitment, instead of just for one week. He does think the fraternities do have a good concept of brotherhood and what their organizations stand for. They just have a hard time relating that information to potential members. “It’s like the old saying goes, ‘from the outside looking in you can’t understand it, and from the inside looking out you can’t explain it.” Lee believes members of the fraternities must get past that in order for their chapters to survive on campus. “If you’re not getting busy living, you are getting busy dying,” Lee said, quoting Hollywood. “So if you are not recruiting, you are going to die as an organization.”
Iraq__________________________________continued
from Main popular. If our allies are arguing with us and our economy is weakening all these things will make the average American very unhappy.” Lindemann said it appears that war is imminent. “Considering all the buildup we’ve done and all the money we’ve already spent sending people over there I doubt we will not have some engagement of some kind,” he said. Michael Flavin, associate professor of political science, predicted a war would not have only a limited effect on the economy providing it does not spill over into other countries in the region. “It might raise the price of oil and restrict export of oil from those countries,” he said. Flavin said he is against war at this time. “However, it’s possible Saddam could spread his terror beyond his border or use weapons of mass destruction if he has them.” Kindig said he does not think the U.S. is under any immediate threat from Saddam. “I’d rather not go to war. I’d rather find a solution other than military solution,” he said. “The problem is if Saddam does have weapons of mass destruction he could use them for blackmail in the Middle East and against our friends and allies.” The Iraqi regime could threaten Middle Eastern governments if they do not follow the Iraqi line. “They could threaten Israel in terms of the Palestinian question. They could threaten us in the West with oil.” Kindig said he does not believe the United States would go to war solely for oil. “We do not have any particular interest in oil,” he said. “That’s all nonsense that we want Iraq’s oil.”
History_______________________________continued
from Main “It’s important for students to be taught by people from all various backgrounds. Simply to see a person of a different background as an influence has an effect on students,” Wiedemann said. This month, black history will be remembered on campus in many different aspects. Weidemann and the deans of the different colleges decided to try and plan at least one program per college commemorating black history month. Programs include a panel discussion covering black employment trends held by the College of Business Administration on Feb. 18. The West College of Education is contributing by adding a “Diversity” button on its website, with its first topic focusing on the contributions of African Americans in education. Each faculty member will contribute and include links to relevant information that may be used in classrooms. The College of Fine Arts will air and interviews with Angus Thompson discussing the black church and the civil rights movement, and Dover who will discuss Thurgood Marshall and his times. Getting it all started on Feb. 3 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Akin Auditorium will be the College of Heath and Sciences and Human Services, who will host guest speaker Michael Ward, academic dean and associate professor, at Jewish Hospital College of Nursing and Allied Heath in St. Louis. His topic of discussion will be “Practical considerations for recruiting and retaining a minority student: the educator’s guide.” Wiedemann believes these programs are important for all students and faculty to attend. “There is a history we have to deal with, and a future for which we have to prepare. We are for our students who will live in that future.” In the meantime, the search will continue to bring more African American professors to MSU, but the celebration of a history that concerns both a race and a nation will go on. For more information on the discussion with Ward, call 397-4597.
Calling
All Volunteers “Fidel”
comes to Wichita Falls A
Born Leader? Faculty
Forum Calling
All Actors! What
Do You Know? Oh,
Deer! High
School Art Competition
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