Wac is, well, wack

This week the Griffon News ran an editorial (click here) on how ‘WAC’ it is for the Western Activity Council to be so late in the spring semester and how they have not release who is going to playing at the spring concert. (A day after we published, WAC did release who the performers were: Young Joc and Rick Ross)

We at the Griffon News have been talking for a month or more about how they have not gotten a performer and we trying to figure out a way to bring this to light. Ultimately we did and editorial on it.

WAC’s president was not happy about our editorial but it was something that we need to inform the school on.

Usually the announcements are months in advance to build up excitement and to promote it. In our case, its two weeks in advance, which is cutting it down to the wire.

This is a case where we have to bite the bullet in order help fix a problem. Our editorial most likely did not effect the announcement but it provides good information on what was going on.

MIAA tourney

Last Thursday, the women’s basketball team made it into the first round of the MIAA tournament in Kansas City, their second in a row. They were in seed 8 and their opposing team is seed 1.

This story was happening outside of our normal news cycle since it was two days before spring break but there is always a chance of them winning, of them going further in the tournament, and ultimately winning (slim they may be but still a chance) but still newsworthy since we have a website.

Read the how the game went here: http://griffonbasketball.blogspot.com/2008/03/miaa-tournament-championships.html

But, there is a difference, no matter how well the Griffon News (or other journalistic venues) reports on the games, no words in our paper could accurately express how much the referees can change the game, how the players are frustrated, or how they are tired struggling with an aggressive and physical opposing team. Some writers can come close, but not all the way.

For that experience, one must actually be at the game, hear Jill Johnson yell out commands, see Yanique Jarvois struggling because of sickness, or see Chemia Woods go against opponents who are taller and bigger than her but still holding her ground.

Journalism comes close but being there is always difference.

Buisness Dept needs more

Last we ran three stories on the Business Department spending a good amount of money trying to improve itself, especially when it comes to professors. The school is spending 92K on a new business full professor who has only one-year experience in this institution, which is more than the 86K that a music full professor gets after 39 years experience.

The 3 top associate and assistant professors are business professors as well. In totally for those six professors, the school spends over $500,000 dollars just for business professors. No other department comes close for the amount it spends. ‘

Unfair? Maybe.

The business sector is a trade sector that requires money for good skills and that is reflect in the salaries but this school does not thrive itself on its business department, nursing and sciences primarily. For the cost of the 92K salary professor, the English or some other department could possibly pick up 2 more professors or improve the department in other ways.

Ultimately it depends on how well the business department invests in this expense. If done well, the department will grow and provide a steady stream of students for the history, philosophy, and government departments’ classes and that will be good for everyone.
Only time will tell.

More Changes

This semester for the Griffon News has started off oddly so far. We had four stories in the first issue that dealt with high-level administration and director positions leaving or people who have come in to replace the ones who have left:

Vartabedian who is soon to replace president Scalon
Dean Martin Johnson leaving in June
Bracciano Who is replacing Dr. Euinger as registrar
Max Schlesigner who is leaving IMC

(That is on top of Dr. Shang, Stan Sweeny, Mark Linder, Jeff Wilson, and Brett King leaving last year.)

Now for the second issue we are going to have stories on Dr. Shove and vice president Olinger leaving this institution. That means we will have six stories on changes in the management of this school, which is highly abnormal given we are three weeks in to the semester.

Why all this change?

The talk right now is that this is normal. Some are leaving because of their age, better job opportunities (like Shove going to Saudi Arabia) or some want to move on from this institution. This is still not good to have all these changes occur with the last year or so because it hurts institutional knowledge (although it has been suggested that some is still retained because the administration assistants.)

The upside is the new staff may come in with new ideas that will help the school improve itself but that is just a hope and not a reality.