The Wichitan - Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls Texas

MIDWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY | February, 16, 2005

NEWS

Coupon Scan warrants Students Free Pizza
August Schuman | Staff Reporter

Fake coupons for free pizzas distributed on campus brought many MSU students to Papa John’s on Feb. 1 causing the pizzeria to run out of dough.
Monica Horton, from the Better Business Bureau, explained that two men were responsible for the coupons. Damon Watson and Ryan True representatives of Elite Synergy, a company from Pennsylvania, paid Papa John’s with a check from a closed account.
“They were handing out coupons for free pizzas and when a student went to Papa John’s (Damon and True) had students fill out a credit card application first,” Horton said.
The Better Business Bureau talked to Greg Willcox, manager of Papa John’s, and he said they were going to go ahead and honor the coupons but asked Damon and True to leave the store. Papa John’s received a check in the mail for $800 from Campus Dimension, a division of Elite Synergy. “We called the National City Bank of Pennsylvania and it was a closed account, Horton said. Then we called Campus Dimension and the check was on hold because the manager had ask the guys to leave,” Horton said.
The Better Business Bureau also contacted City Bank because they were one of the companies on the application for the credit cards. “City Bank told us that it was not one of their applications, Horton said. We really don’t know anymore information because we have not been given confirmation either way,” Horton explains.
“We ask students to be very careful when giving away information,” Horton said. “I would encourage students to call the Better Business Bureau with us to check anything out if they have questions,” Horton said.
Tony Leija, shift manager for Papa John’s, explains that Papa John’s needs to make sure accounts are properly checked to prevent this from happening again. “I don’t think we found out till the next day that the account was closed. It was a bad check,” Leija said.
“There were students in all day. This had not happened before,” Leija said. MSU students were still coming in the following day. “We ran out of dough that night and had to sign the back of student’s coupons so they could pick up the pizzas on Wednesday,” Leija said.
Beth Puckett, finance major, tried to pick up her pizza after night class around 8:30 p.m. and they were already out of dough. “They signed the back of my coupon and said I could come back tomorrow,” she said. She went back the next day and was “really curious on why this had happened” and talked to the shift manager. “He said it was a hoax. They did not have any idea what was going on and were not prepared,” Puckett said.
He explained to her that the address on the coupons was for a different address. “I even looked the number up in the phone book and it was a different number. He was right. It was their old address,” Puckett said. The manager explained to her that Papa John’s was going to be reimbursed by the Federal Business Bureau. “They did not want to make everyone at MSU mad, so they went ahead and took the coupons,” Puckett said.
“They must have lost tons of money,” Puckett said. “I was completely shocked that it was not a legitimate coupon. The coupons were made of a little strip of blue paper. That looked like it was made up on the computer.”
Sallie Austin, political science major, said her boyfriend found coupons in the student center. “I took five coupons and got five free pizzas,” Austin said. Then we found out that you could get as many pizzas as you wanted with the coupons, explains Austin. The Papa John’s employees were cutting up large and medium size doughs because they were running out.
“You get free coupons all the time and you sometimes don’t always pay attention,” Austin said. She said the pizzas were still high quality pizzas and not just thrown together. “Papa John’s was so cool because they honored every single one,” Austin said.
Chuck Egbuonu, business major, was approached by three girls walking around in the Student Center passing out coupons. “The girls had stacks of coupons. If I would have known it was not one per person I would have taken the whole stack,” Egbuonu said All my friends received coupons and went to pick up the pizza that day, he said.
Ashley Hyatt, social work major, found the coupons on the ground by her door at Sunwatcher apartments “When I first read it I thought they were crazy. Free pizza on a college campus,” Hyatt said. She said when she went to pick up pizzas at noon it was really crowded with MSU students. “We had pizza boxes for about a week in our apartment,” Hyatt said.
A manager at Papa John’s said it was a legal matter and could not speak any further on the issue.

Students Living off-campus take advantage of Shuttle
Ashley Dennis | Staff Reporter

Despite student complaints about the campus shuttle service, MSU police chief Michael Hagy said “all students have to do is ask.”
Numerous students claim the shuttle buses fail adequately providing transportation services to and from the Sikes Lake area. But according to Chief Hagy, the students aren’t making enough requests.
“We really didn’t have any request last year, aside from maybe a few students who were taking classes in the OEC (Outdoor Education Center),” said Hagy. “We want to provide the service. They just have to tell us where they want to go. It’s not intentional.”
The shuttle service began in August in order to help students cope with parking issues on campus. It also provides service to and from campus for students who live in Colony Park apartments. The shuttle buses operate Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., making rounds on and off campus every 15 minutes.
“I think the students are aware of the shuttle service, but I don’t think they know if it will be beneficial for them to use it or not,” Hagy said.
MSU Shuttle Bus driver Sheila Figueroa agrees.
“There are people who I know will ride everyday. And then sometimes it could be pouring down rain, and students will turn a ride down,” she said.
Figueroa, a veteran waitress of 25 years, began driving part time at MSU after a car accident left her physically unable to continue her waitressing duties.
“My [boss at my] other job wanted me to take time off and get better,” she said. “I’m hoping to get hired on full-time.” As far as the campus’ transportation system is concerned, Figueroa said she’s hasn’t heard a complaint from students who have taken advantage of the free rides.
“I try and make my rounds to all the parking lots and just wait for the students. Sometimes I get bored because no one is riding.”
Figueroa also makes tries to accommodate students with curbside service, and makes students as comfortable as possible while they ride.
“I’ll give them my cell phone number so if I’m out making my runs, they can just call me and tell me where they need to be picked up at, “ she said. “And I keep the radio station on Hot 103.9, because that’s what most of the students listen to.”
As the year has progressed, however, Figueroa said that student transports have increased, mainly due to parking shortages and construction restrictions. There are currently two vehicles used for the shuttle system; a passenger van that Figueroa drives, and a small bus driven by fellow shuttle driver David Young.
“I keep a log of how many students ride, and how many miles I go a day. It all depends. Some days I can pick up 60 [students], other days I can pick up more. Once I picked up 200 students just in the few hours I worked. I’ve even picked up students on one of the golf carts when the regular shuttle buses were being used by some of the coaches,” she said. “I enjoy it. I get to meet new people everyday, and I joke with everybody that gets on.”

Source: Chief Michael Hagy, Sheila Figueroa, ext. 4239

SGA considers Graduation Regalia
Shinice Curry | Staff Reporter

Student senate tabled a motion for maroon regalia and to amend the election process for online voting at the meeting on Tuesday.
The proposed regalia are custom-made maroon caps and gowns so all graduates will have the same cap and gowns and graduation is uniform.
“A college graduation should look like a college graduation. The bar should be raised a little bit,” Jenny Duncan, bookstore manager, said.
Students are currently charged $31.99 plus tax for rented robes, keeping the tassel and cap.
“Herff-Jones has guaranteed that the prices would not zoom up from where they currently are,” Duncan said.
Other options for the rode include an embroidered design at the Hardin Tower. The motion for custom made gowns follows a trends from other universities such as Texas Christian University and Texas A&M who have had special gowns made for their graduations.
Senate voted to appoint a committee to recommend colors and designs for the regalia.
The senate also heard from Raul Peters, chair of the election board, who proposed an amendment to regulate online voting.
Currently the constitution has no guidelines in the case of contested election. The proposed amendments include no campaigning in the computer labs. The amendment would also formalize for students to have a MSU account.
Some concerns voiced include voter anonymity and the availability or contestant information.
The administrators have the choice for voters to be anonymous or to track voting records, according to Keith Lamb, associate vice president of student affairs. Sen. Chris McDonald proposed that it be required that voting is anonymous.
Any information included on the voting Web site about the candidates must be submitted by the candidates themselves.
Other information discussed in student issues were flooding between Pierce and Killingsworth halls, the unsightly grass and potholes across the campus.

Cashier Helps Students with Billing Problems
Paige Dickerson | News Editor

Crunching numbers, student billing and helping out the cashiers is all in a day’s work for Sherri Helms, university cashier.
The semester starts out hopping as she works with registration and student billing.
“It is my big, big job to make sure the rate table is working during registration. It needs constant monitoring,” Helms said.
At the beginning of the semesters her day can start out at 7:30 a.m. and go as late as 9 p.m.
“There’s the influx of payments, and the deposits are due before noon because I’m never sure when they will be here to pick them up,” Helms said.
An abundance of student refunds at the beginning of the year picks up right as the flow of registration dies down.
“One thing we are really encouraging students to do is look on the Web. Everything they call and ask is on there, on Web World,” Helms said. “It would also be faster than them talking to us on the phone.”
Despite the business of crunching numbers for student bills, Helms loves her job.
“I have been here 15 years,” Helms said. “I don’t really have bad days. I love it here.”
Helms started out as a teller at a bank when a friend told her about the job at MSU in the Business Office. She has “been here ever since.”
Helms is working on a degree in management at MSU as well. She has only 24 hours left to go before she graduates.
A good day for her is when she knows she can help out a student. She routinely sits down with students just to chat over their bill or any other matter that’s bothering them.
“They come in here and have a concern, and if I can help them it is a good day. I always keep candy on my desk so sometimes I get students who come in just to talk. Especially around the holidays students will come by to talk about how homesick they are,” Helms said.
If a student is having trouble paying a bill she is open to talking to them to try and figure out how they can get through.
“If they are having trouble with payment deadlines, they might give me a call and we can talk about how they might be able to take care of it,” she said.
Talking to students is the best part of her day.
“I help the students understand the billing statements and I’m a liaison between campus offices,” Helms said.

Professors win Games 2-1 against Varsity team at Practice College Bowl
For the Wichitan

The faculty won two out of three games to beat the varsity college bowl team Sunday in the annual event.
Representing the faculty were IELI Instructor Tom McNeely, History Professor James King, Professor of English Jeff Campbell and Biology Professor Jon Scales.
This year’s varsity college bowl team consists of Ron Bailey, history major, Britton Sauerbrei, undecided major, Rory Payne, humanities major and Camron Rushin, mass communication and computer science major.
Bailey and McNeely were the high scorers for their respective teams.
“Last year we lost all three matches and this year we won one pretty convincingly,” Bailey said. “I think we’re better than we were last year.”
Bailey argued that the professors have a psychological advantage because they have doctorate degrees.
McNeely said the professors may have a slight advantage within their fields, but sometimes they are clueless about pop culture and youth culture.
“We have a bit of an intimidation factor,” McNeely said.
This match was the final practice for the team before heading to the regional tournament at Texas A&M this weekend.
The team will compete against 14 other teams within the region of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Last year at the regional tournament, MSU’s team won fourth place and Bailey won highest overall score.
Mark Farris, mathematics professor and college bowl coach, said the team looks good but the outcome all depends on the competition.
In order to advance to the national competition, the team must place first at regionals.

POLICE BLOTTER

Jan. 28 – A female student’s car was vandalized and the windows were knocked out of her car while it was parked in the lot behind the Fain Fine Arts building.
Feb. 3 – The tires on a vehicle parked in the lot behind McCullough-Trigg had its tires slashed.
Feb. 4 – An officer stopped a maroon sedan for having an expired state registration sticker on Louis J. Rodriguez.
Feb. 5 – An officer was flagged down by an individual wanting to report a theft.
Feb. 6 – A student was removed from McCullough-Trigg who had been barred from the dorms.
An officer stopped a gray sedan that ran a stop sigh on Wigwam Trail.
Feb. 7 – A false alarm was called into the police from Moffett Library.
Feb. 9 – An officer noticed two males acting suspiciously near a vehicle in Lot 19. Upon investigation it was discovered that the driver’s side window was knocked out.
Feb. 10 – A female in Killingsworth reported that she was being harassed.
Dispatched advised an officer that the alarm was not turned on for Ferguson 302 and 302 A.