NEWS

Fund established in Memory of Breast Cancer Victim
Ignacio Cruz | For The Wichitan

The annual celebration of Respiratory Care Week, Oct. 24-30, will hold special significance to the program this year with October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Tenaia Dawson, a 23-year-old respiratory care graduate, died Aug. 11 after losing a five-year battle with breast cancer. Dawson was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 18, but still managed to carry an ambitious goal to finish school and maintain a positive outlook on life.
In honor of Dawson’s courage and spirit, faculty, staff and students in the MSU respiratory care program will be seeking donations to help set up the annual Tenaia Lynn Dawson Scholarship Award.
Ann Medford, program chair for the department of respiratory care, said she had approached Dawson about starting a scholarship in her name, long before her death. Dawson responded with a huge smile, saying she would be honored and overjoyed to have a scholarship in her name.
“She was full of life. You would never know she was sick. She was loved by all her classmates and faculty,” Medford said. “It seemed like when things got harder and harder, she got tougher and tougher. She was a huge inspiration to anybody who knew her, she is greatly missed.”
But setting up a scholarship has not been easy, according to Medford. First, a minimum amount of $10,000 must be raised to establish the scholarship. So far about $1,800 has been collected.
The $10,000 will be utilized to prolong the life of the award, while the interest from the funds raised will go toward the scholarship money that is awarded. Medford said the idea is to set up the scholarship and keep it going for as long as possible, that way Tenaia’s name and spirit will forever be remembered and honored.
Anne Oppermarn, MSU director of donor services and special projects, said the goal is to raise money within two years, but the money should start accumulating in a year if things go as planned.
One of Dawson’s proudest moments was when she received her bachelor’s of science in respiratory care last spring.
“She was one of the most driven, motivated, and determined. She had a great spirit,” said Randy Case, MSU adjunct clinical faculty.
Dawson was born and raised in Wichita Falls and graduated from Hirschi Math and Science High School in three years. During the course of her studies at MSU, she managed to earn the respect and hearts of the student and faculty members with whom she associated with on a daily basis. Dawson not only strived to succeed for herself, but also wanted the successes and encouragement to extend to her fellow classmates.
Holly Maxwell, a 2004 respiratory care graduate, can recall the times she spent with Dawson. Because of her great situational skills, Maxwell said Dawson was always the first person she and other students turned to when facing difficult situations with patients. Dawson also had a great devotion to working with her children, that it inspired Maxwell to name one of her recently born twin girls Tenaia Renee after her former schoolmate.
Don Wallace, 23, has had a friendship with Dawson since their school days at Kirby Junior High and Hirschi High School. Wallace characterized Dawson as a strong leader, who was active in athletics and various academic organizations. He said Daweson was always upbeat and had a loyalty toward her friends.
“She was willing to help any one of her friends out in any situation, no matter what,” Wallace said. “She was outgoing toward all her friends.”
When Dawson had her focus off school work, it was on helping patients at the local United Regional Health Care System and in the Children’s medical Center of Dallas. Dawson’s presence and hard work was appreciated so much in Dalls, that staff members of the Children’s Medical Center made the trip to Wichita Falls for her graduation.
Tenee Rowan, clinical educator, was one of the employees who came to Wchita Falls to witness Dawson’s milestone in life. Rowan acknowledged that Dawson was a hard laborer who never missed a day of work, despite driving to Dallas every weekend for four months.
“She had qualities we look for in a good practitioner. She was very compassionate,” Rowan said. “There were days when she would come in ill and couldn’t move her arms, but she still managed to finish her clinical portions.”
Medford said several members from the respiratory program walked in memory of Dawson on Oct. 9, during the annual Race for the Cure. The race is a nationwide event, in which participants can either run or jog three miles in support of breast cancer survivors and current cancer patients, to volunteers who support the cause of finding a cure.
Donations for the Tenaia Lynn Dawson fund will be accepted in the Clark  Student Center throughout the Respiratory Care Week. A table will be set up in the food court Oct. 25-28 from 11:30-1:30 p.m.
For more information on how a student or organization can help with aiding the Tenaia Lynn Dawson Scholarship Fund and events during Respiratory Care Week, call 397-4653.



Flu Immunizations low at MSU
Carolyn Knothe | Staff Reporter

Repurcussions of the United States’ flu vaccine shortage are now visible in the  MSU community. The Vinson Health Center announced they will receive less of the flu vaccine than they ordered for the season and will not be able to supply it to those who do not meet specific qualifications set by the Center for Disease Control.
Because of contamination of Chiron Corporation’s flu vaccine, the CDC says that only 54 million flu shots are available for the 2004-2005 season, about 50 percent less than was expected.
In accordance with the CDC’s guidelines, the health center will only administer the vaccine to high risk groups, including toddlers aged 6-23 months, adults older than 65 years, pregnant women, people with chronic health conditions and health care workers involved directly with patient care.
 The health center’s advice for avoiding the flu this season is simple: wash your hands, cover the nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing, use tissues, eat a healthy diet and get plenty of rest to promote a strong immune system. Also, the FluMist vaccine is available in local pharmacies, and the influenza virus can be treated with antiviral medications from your doctor if they are administered within two days after symptoms start.
The health center asks for those with vaccination appointments to call 397-4057 to either confirm that they meet the criteria or to cancel their appointment.

Students Learn Basics of Self Defence
Konnie Sewell | Staff Reporter

There’s more to self-defense than just getting in a few good kicks.
About 30 students participated in the self-defense class Tuesday night in Commanche Suites. The class, instructed by Officer Phillips and his two assistants, started at 8:30 p.m. and lasted about an hour. The class included instruction on proper ways to stretch, make a fist, take a defensive stance and also emphasized attacks with the feet and hands.
“There were a lot more students here tonight than I originally anticipated,” Phillips said. “I was expecting about 15 or 20 students, but we had 30 show up, which is great to see. They were a good group to work with and seemed to really enjoy it.”
Phillips said in the past there was high interest in teaching a self-defense class on campus, but no one showed up.
“I can understand how students can be interested in the class but not show up to it when it finally arrives,” he said. “It’s a combination of things that sidetrack them, like parties or get-togethers with their friends. I also think if it were an official kind of sport they wouldn’t see it the way they do. They would see it less as just a way to kill an hour and more about learning techniques and stances that could help them defend themselves when, if ever, the time comes.”
With only a handful of men in attendance, it was obvious more women on campus took heed of the posters in the Clark Student Center advertising the class.
“Guys seem to think that they’re big and tough, and that they can defend themselves,” Phillips said. “They also tend to not worry about ever coming into a potentially dangerous situation. As far as I’m concerned, everyone needs to be aware of what they can do to defend themselves. It’s better to know just a little about it than nothing at all.”
The class was only offered Tuesday night, but Phillips believes common sense is the key to a person’s safety.
“There’s a lot you can do every day to make sure that you don’t put yourself into harm’s way,” he said. “Little things, like looking under your car at night to make sure no one’s there, securing your valuables, and not talking to strangers. It’s always best to be aware of your surroundings and the people you might come into contact with.”
In the long run, Phillips said, people should make sure to educate themselves about the subject as much as they can.
“One little class like this in your life isn’t going to ensure that you won’t ever come into contact with trouble,” he said. “It takes several years to become proficient.”
For more information, Phillips teaches a martial arts class as part of the Wichita Falls Parks and Recreation Program Tuesday and Thursday nights at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The class costs $25 a month and is located in room 202 of the Wichita Falls Public Library.


"Things could have been worse in frat brawl" is exactly right

The column written in the last edition by Jason Palmer seemed a little to the extreme for myself, an Alumni of Tau Kappa Epsilon and media lover, to placidly sit on the fence and ignore the comments.
Let me first begin by saying, whomever, including brothers of my fraternity, is found guilty of stealing and destroying The Wichitans, should be punished by law and the University to the furthest extent allowed.
The effort and countless hours to produce a weekly published newspaper for readers, is substantial. This publication allows its readers their first amendment right...freedom of speech. It is a privilege to have a paper at MSU, and to throw that away is a disgrace and a slap in the face to all students and staff who provide it.
Mr. Palmer, you stated that you hosted two dozen parties at UT Arlington with drinking, "lots of it," with "guys and girls ranging in age from 17 to 30 + (a conservative estimate). Congratulations and thank you for sharing this fact with us.
While I was in Tau Kappa Epsilon I held the position of Social Chair.
The position has the responsibility of maintaining a positive image of the TKE fraternity within the university, and also throughout the community. My office was very purposeful, and I treated it as such. My major at MSU is mass communication with a minor in broadcast television....come on, I love the public eye.
TKE, as a group, changed rules and regulations of how social events are held. We did this because as a group we do have to be aware and plan for the "what if ". Unfortunately many students who are new to college life, and are away from home for the first time, and need a social caretaker for the first semester or so. Therefore, rules were adopted. An example is no drinking is allowed for members of the fraternity at a social event until 1:00 a.m.
On the night the "forty-some odd frat guys throwing haymakers at each other" occured, more than half of our fraternity members were not drunk...at all. In fact, when the fight broke out between OTHER parties, our so-called "guests," our members were trying to solve the situation quickly. Another policy we follow: When, AND IF a fight does occur, immediately break up the fight and kick out both parties. No questions asked. The fight you make reference to involved more people than the number of members we have. With your experience in hosting drinking parties, what would you do in this situation, Mr. Palmer? Hopefully the same thing we did, call the police.
A part of being a social organization is to have social events. We have done this in many different ways. In April of this year, I was the event coordinator of the 3rd Annual TKE ELITE. The event was a wonderful success and flowed smoothly because of sponsors that were able to foresee the good in what we strive to do. The TKE’s are proud to publicly thank our sponsors Danny Ahron, owner of the Iron Horse Pub, Shirley Craft, running for Texas House and husband Ken Hill, land owners of the Neon Spur, David Morris, marketing director of Budweiser, Rock ‘N’ Roll Off-Road, and KFDX, having live weather cut-ins. They all allowed us to raise and donate over Two Thousand Dollars to the Alzheimer’s Association of Wichita Falls.
This is the same event that Mr. Palmer and I had numerous conversations about. He agreed with me how impressed he was with the event and how surprised he was that a fraternity could pull something off of such magnitude at MSU.
This is the same fund-raiser that artist Jared Wilson, artist of "MSU Circus" in last week’s edition, created the outstanding flyers we had for the event. Numerous times we had to change flyer information and he willingly helped.
Mr. Palmer seemed to be pretty upset with the situation that unfortunately happened at the TKE Mansion. Just as upset as the fraternity who opened their doors of their home to the school and was disrespected. We didn’t bring this plight upon ourselves. We strive to do the same as everyone in any organization...better ourselves, MSU, and our community.
Unfortunately, it seems MSU Police feel giving parking tickets to students is more revenue than finding the thieves who throw "money" in the trash. There are surveillance tapes available, but with the long hours and busy schedule our police department has, the tapes may be looked at next year.
I offer the Wichitan my assistance in watching hours of surveillance tape to find the guilty party. As a school we should hold those guilty accountable for their immature and childish decision instead of an entire group.

Tuition Increase is Bad News; at Least it's not the Plague
Jason Palmer | Staff Reporter

It’s no wonder that people around campus cringe when they see my name at the top of an article in the Wichitan.
Photos, never a problem, I’ve taken some pretty good ones around here.
But when it comes to writing, other than the occasional column, it’s usually about another tuition increase (see front page).
Sorry guys, that’s the way it is. Believe me, I don’t like having the burden of breaking it to 6,000+ students, “Hey guys, it’s gonna cost more to go to school again.”
Talk about the weight of the world on my shoulders.
Budget numbers, tuition revenue, senate committees and legislative sessions, I probably know more about our crappy financial straits than any other student on campus.
And I don’t even like math.
Two years ago, the editor of this paper told me to go attend a faculty meeting where President Rogers was going to say something about budget cuts.
I was like…huh?
One of the biggest stories to break at MSU, and I was tabbed as the new budget-beat writer.
Great.
Since that time, I took it upon myself to learn as much as I could about the state of higher education from several different angles and have tried to write the best possible stories about rising costs.
The good news is there’s a lot of information out there to learn.
The bad news? It’s all bad news.
The state of Texas has basically told colleges that they’re not gonna get any more money, and if they don’t like it…raise tuition.
Don’t believe me? They passed tuition deregulation.
That means there are no limits to what a school can charge for local tuition.
The maximum cost per semester credit hour used to be $45. Some schools are double that amount already.
Amazingly enough, we’re among the lucky ones so far.
I agree, another tuition increase sucks for those who are gonna be here next year, but President Rogers really doesn’t have that many options.
Don’t think transferring to another school our size is going to help either. The next couple of tuition increases will take MSU to their current level. They will likely increase tuition anyway.
But don’t point a finger at the administration. That blame really falls on our elected congressmen.
They are the ones who took money out of MSU’s pockets two years ago. They are the same group that has systematically failed to pass legislation to help stabilize the faltering higher education system in our state.
There will be a lot of belly-aching and groaning about paying too much for this and that, I know.
But really, it’s for the best. It’s just not that easy to understand unless you are on the inside.
President Rogers said he woke up at 4 a.m. Monday morning thinking about how he was going to break it to the Student Government about another increase.
Honestly, it is a sort of preventative medicine and a last resort at the same time.
Really, I’m sorry for having to bring more bad news to the campus.
Just don’t shoot the messenger.