NEWS

Campus Minister Enjoys ever-Changing Days
Paige Dickerson | Managing Editor

The life of a campus minister never stops.
From giving advice and just listening to students, to planning Bible studies and mission trips, the Rev. Andy Tyler, director of the MSU Wesley Foundation, loves the versatile nature of his job.
A former accountant, Tyler switched careers and hasn’t looked back.
“I used to be an accountant, and with that it is the same thing every day. It is not like that here, and I like that,” Tyler said.
Tyler arrives at the Wesley around 10 a.m. every day and doesn’t leave until about 10 p.m. every night.
Every day is different, with several Bible studies, movie nights and other events going on weekly. Thursdays he plans and sometimes prepares a meal for the dollar lunch, which has drawn up to 60 students a week.
His favorite part of the job is the interaction with students.
“I really like getting involved in students’ lives, getting to know them and developing relationships with them. I have two that came here that now work in churches, and that just really thrills me,” he said.
Throughout seminary, Tyler never imagined he’d end up in college ministry, but now he likes every aspect of it.
“If you had asked me when I was in seminary if I would end up here, I would have said ‘no way.’ I sort of fell into it. I had worked with college students when I was in seminary and loved it,” Tyler said.
A strong community spirit pervades the atmosphere at the Wesley, Tyler said.
“The people here just want to serve God, to know God and are good friends here. We are open to many different people, and this is what I believe the Kingdom of God will be like. People who don’t always believe the same thing, but have a shared love for each other and God,” he said.
The most prominent part of his job is preparing Bible studies. He participates in the student-led studies, as well as leading one on Tuesday himself. For the past semester he has been teaching on religions of the world to bring a stronger understanding of other cultures.
“I love all the Bible studies. I like talking theology. And it isn’t just leading them; I love being a part of the student-led ones as well,” Tyler said.


Mass Comm Students earn Top Honors at TIPA
Nicole Ford | Opinion Editor

The Mass Communications Department earned 41 awards at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association’s annual competition. 
The Wichitan won this year’s sweepstakes award, as well as first place for in-depth story and second place for overall newspaper. Staff members took home 23 awards, including eight first place awards.
Campus Watch, MSU’s weekly news broadcast, garnered five awards, including first place for overall newscast television and documentary television.
Students also earned 11 live-contest awards, including three first-place awards.
Students earning first place awards included: Jordan Ray, Annette Moore, Zinna Panthier and Samantha Sandell for documentary television, Alison Eatmon for overall newscast television, Ya-Rei Chan for feature photo, Camron Rushin and Ya-Rei Chan for information graphic, Jared Wilson for illustration, Camron Rushin for news story and page one design, Jason Palmer for sports action photo, Jennifer Tavlian for sports news story, Trey Reed for sports feature story and radio sports writing, Ri’Chaele Affanato for radio news writing and Amy Augspurger for television advertising.
Students earning second place awards included: Ri’Chaele Affannato for non-feature television, Camron Rushin for single-subject and photo illustration, Jason Palmer for picture story, Candy Mathis for ads design, Ya-Rei Chan and Camron Rushin for two-person photo essay, Matt Jackson for television sports writing and Ashley Tippit for television news writing.
Students earning third place awards included: Val McCubbins, Zach Duncan, Eleanor Roberts and Kristin Woods for documentary television, Jason Palmer for sports feature photo and news photo, Andrea Veresh and Ya-Rei Chan for picture story, Camron Rushin for feature story, Amy Augspurger for radio announcing and Ashley Tippit for radio advertising.
Students earning honorable mentions included: Val McCubbins, Kristin Woods, Eleanor Roberts, Zach Duncan, Annette Moore, Samantha Sandell, Zinna Panthier and Jordan Ray for public affairs television, Jennifer Tavilian, Jason Palmer and Trey Reed for sports page design, Jason Palmer for sports feature photo, Camron Rushin for opinion page design, Matt Terrell for news story, Marianne Lechuga for news feature story, Jessica Dunn for general column, Abigail Carter and Jared Wilson for feature page design, Paige Dickerson for editorial writing and Ashley Miller for public relations press release writing and public relations crisis management.



Hott: Outsourcing not a Problem
Camron Rushin | Editor-In-Chief

According to North Texas Area Student Conference keynote speaker David Hott, outsourcing is not a major problem for the United States.
Hott, the senior information technology specialist for IBM in Dallas, explained that only a small percentage of technology jobs are actually being outsourced, and that doesn’t match the predicted number of new technology jobs that will be available in the United States.
Hott also said many of the jobs being outsourced are being re-shored because other countries couldn’t handle the amount of work.
Hott predicted the United States will see an expansion of technical industries, but that it would be nothing like the boom of the dot-com era when companies were buying things “just because it’s cool.”
The NTASC was hosted by the Computer Science Department for the fifth year in a row. Students and faculty from MSU, Cameron University, the University of North Texas, Tarleton State and Hirschi High School attended the conference.
Twenty-four students gave presentations on such diverse topics as how terrorist use computers and how the British used computers in World War II.
The idea of the conference is to give students the opportunity to present projects about technology, computer science professor Stewart Carpenter said.
“I am pleased with the overall quality of the conference. The student presentations covered a variety of interesting topics and were well-prepared,” Carpenter said.
The department said they encourage other universities to get involved and hope the conference grows.