Kansas Board of Regents

Honoree immortalized

Medal of Honor recipient receives stone at memorial On Oct. 3, 2009, Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha went above and beyond the call of duty. Those actions earned him the nation’s highest military decoration: the medal of honor. He earned the honor while his force of 85 soldiers defended an attack of around 300 Taliban fighters that surrounded them on three sides. The fight is known as the Battle of Kamdesh. During the struggle, Romesha held his command after being injured in the neck, shoulder and arms by a rocket-propelled grenade. He received his Medal of Honor in February 2013 from President Barack Obama and was on PSU’s campus on April 25 and 26. While he…

PSU ahead of curve

Graduates well prepared for competitive job market Marcus Clem | copy editor Though recovery from the recession has slowly continued nationwide, employment for young college-educated professionals remains a concern. About 5.7 of workers nationwide who recently earned a bachelor’s degree are out of work as of March, according to a Pew research poll. Fortunately, according to numbers compiled by Pittsburg State’s Career Services Office, PSU graduates are a little ahead of the curve. Sydney Ward, who recently stepped down as SGA vice president as she prepares to graduate, says that the services offered by PSU are a great help, but that ultimately, it’s on each student to succeed. “Personally, I don’t think the burden is…

Dashing through the mud

ROTC hots 70 participants in 2nd annual Gorilla Dash Joud Bayeh | reporter The Gorilla Battalion had many from the community turn out for its second annual muddy mess of a race. The Gorilla Dash, a 5k obstacle-riddled run promoted by the PSU Reserve Officer Training Corps, was held for the second year on Saturday, April 27, at the PSU Baja Course near the Student Recreation Center. About 70 people participated as PSU students, area high school students and people from the community struggled through a harder, muddier course compared to last year. “This year there are some differences because it is actually a 5K,” said Cadet Stephen Cuff, senior in geography. “Last year it…

Weekend entertainment

Pittsburg ‘Rocks’ out Audrey Dighans | reporter This Saturday, April 20, will start the weekend off with a BANG. The fourth annual Big Bang Rockfest is set to start at 4 p.m. in four locations across Pittsburg: JST Bobby G’s, 5th Street Bar and Grill, Danny Bell’s Wild West and Club 505. “In the past, 505 was the only bar to participate,” said Larry Fleury. “This year is amazing, with four local bars taking part in the action.” Each bar will be hosting several bands and solo acts, with sets lasting for an hour apiece. The action is set to continue until 10 p.m., but several of the last bands plan to continue playing at…

Surviving Boston Marathon

Former PSU student reflects on racing during the marathon bomb attack Jay Benedict | editor-in-chief Scott Cichon was still on a high from running his fastest marathon ever on the event’s most prominent stage. He was just getting off the phone with KOAM-TV when tragedy struck. He had just walked back into his hotel room where his parents were watching a local Boston channel’s live coverage of the marathon when the explosions hit and chaos began. “My first thought was that it was an act of terror, but we were hoping that it was just some kind of accidental electric or gas explosion,” Cichon said. “Then you wonder about the motive or if it was…

Former student killed in car wreck over weekend

Marcus Clem | copy editor Former student Brandon Mills, 22, was killed in a rollover accident on the morning of Saturday, April 6. He was a passenger in a car whose driver lost control of his vehicle outside of Bonner Springs. Mills was wearing his seat belt, says Maj. J.W. Sherley, of the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office, but was pronounced dead at the scene. According to an accident report filed by the sheriff’s office, police responded to a call before making contact with the driver, a 22-year-old white male. He was taken to the University of Kansas Medical Center. His identity is being withheld pending an investigation of the wreck, Sherley says. Mills, who was…

Lower turnout looming

SGA election has drawn feweer han 600 students Jay Benedict | editor-in-chief Student Government Association election balloting has been open for a week. As of 11:22 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, 564 students, or a mere 8.3 percent of the student body, have voted. Polls remain open until 4 p.m. Friday, April 12, so there is still time to vote. This year’s total so far is more than 300 fewer than in 2012, when 925 students voted, or 12.7 percent of campus. This year’s election is different than last year’s in many ways, though. This is a hotly contested race: A candidate debate was held, banners are spread all over campus, and candidates spoke at the…

Smokers under fire

Sara Liming | reporter Smoking on campus and the rising issue of secondhand smoke has started to affect Pittsburg State’s faculty, staff, students and the community. The idea for a tobacco-free campus started in 1995, when a student brought a proposal to the Student Government Association for a smoke- and tobacco-free campus. On July 1, 2012, PSU adopted the current tobacco policy from the Kansas Clean Air Act. In November 2010, Gorillas in Your Midst held the first “Great Gorilla Smokeout.” Recently, Steve Scott, university president, created the task force to tackle the issue of changes to the tobacco policy. Jim Triplett, professor and member of the task force, says that the task force was…

Phishing for Zimbra

Hackers try to control campus emails Jay Benedict | editor-in-chief On Tuesday, April 2, PSU’s faculty and staff email system, Zimbra, came under attack. The platform was hit by an unknown source, so it could be added to a spammer’s “army of zombies,” according to Tim Pearson, assistant director of information services. Hackers tried to gain access to university email addresses because its designation as a trusted site and its “.edu” designation makes it reputable. This allows emails sent from a compromised account to get through most filters that email providers use. Hackers desire these trusted addresses because it’s easy to take advantage of people with them. “These false e-mail messages are designed to coax…