Scholarship money for most Pitt Points

J. Fred Fox | reporter Scholarship money is still up for grabs for any student who collects the most Pitt Points by the end of the year. “Pitt Points is an incentive program started in 2011 to encourage students to attend campus events,” said Tyler Edwards, SGA campus affairs director, and head of the Pitt Points program. $1,000, $500, and $250 scholarships and other prizes, including an iPad, are awarded to the student who has the most points. “I attended ‘iPod Man’ last night, football games, and some other events. I didn’t know I was doing so well,” said Lynzee Flores, freshman in communication and Spanish. Jacob Rudolph is currently leading the Pitt Points program…

Biking nowhere for a cause

J.Fred Fox Members of Campus Christians spent all day riding bikes in the Oval on Wednesday, April 17, except they didn’t go anywhere. The riders, who each had a bike with a pedestal attached, lifting the driving back tire off the ground and holding the bike in place, were pedaling for a cause. That cause is the third annual Tour de Hope, sponsored by Campus Christians. The riders were in the Oval to hold a fundraiser for Jordanian and Syrian refugees. The contest prizes consist of a $200 prize for teams that pay a $50 entry fee, or a $50 prize for individual entrants who pay a $5 entry fee. Teams will bike for 55…

No full ride

NCAA caps scholarship levels J. Fred Fox | reporter The vast majority of athletics spending goes toward student-athlete scholarships: A whopping $1.7 million out of the $2.3 million dollar budget. However, the NCAA caps scholarship levels for Division II. No more than the equivalent of 36 full-ride scholarships can be spent on football student-athletes. A full-ride scholarship pays all academic, housing and meal expenses and includes a $400 book stipend. However, no athlete at Pitt State receives a full ride. Also, PSU only paid out enough scholarship money to account for 32.64 of the limit last year. As a part of the process of distributing scholarships, there are transfer students, graduates and players leaving the…

Definition of marriage is important

J. Fred ox It’s time to identify what the gay-marriage issue is all about: The issue isn’t who is or isn’t able to marry, but what marriage really is. Conjugal-marriage, or marriage between a man and a woman, is an institution of our society built around its most important aspect: child-rearing. The revisionist view, or that of same-sex unions, redefines marriage as nothing more than an emotional fulfillment between any two people. The purpose of marriage law in any society is to promote the marriage-based, child-rearing family that produces mature individuals who can contribute socially to society. The revisionist view undermines this ideal culture and damages the cultural and political goods attained from conjugal-marriage and…

SGA says no

Athletics asks for $6 SGA grants half J. Fred Fox SGA finally settled on a fee increase for Athletics in the last meeting of the semester for the current administration. Athletics student fees were raised $3 to a total of $149 per semester. This brings total student fees for 2013-2014 academic year to $563 per semester. Senators spent hours trying to get to the 2/3 majority needed to pass the Athletics fee increase. Originally, the Athletics fee committee, including members from Athletics and SGA members, proposed a $6 increase. SGA voted that number down last week, and after voting on $5 and $4 increases failed in this week’s meeting, senators settled on $3. However, this…

Promoting oral tradition

J. Fred Fox | reporter Professional storytellers came to the Pittsburg Public Library and told ghost stories, joke stories, and life stories for Pittsburg’s first Storytelling Festival. “Storytelling can be for kids or senior citizens,” said Steve Otto, a Kansas City storyteller who is a member of the River and Prairie Story Weavers Guild. “This generation has been sucked into flashing screens. People need to rediscover this vital medium. The best images are created within a person’s mind; something nobody else can see.” Otto has been a full-time professional storyteller for 19 years. His favorite genre is ghost stories. Otto says he has a talent for suspense and the high anticipation he can build up,…

Tempers flare over athletics fees

J. Fred Fox | reporter Athletic fee increases were rejected Wednesday night, at least for now, as Student Government Association (SGA) prepares for elections and the end of the year. Lara Ismert, SGA president, Christian Cruz, SGA legislative affairs director, and Sen. Austin Osborn, all members of the Athletics Fee Council, debated how much to increase athletic fees. They submitted a resolution to increase fees by $6, per the recommendation of the Athletics Fee Council. “I talked to about 50-75 students about Athletics Fee Council,” Osborn said, “and based on my reasoning, the majority thought that in the grand scheme of things (the increase) is not that overwhelming for what the university is needing.” Senators…

NSSE sees ‘abysmal response’

J. Fred Fox | reporter Few students take advantage of a survey that affects almost every aspect of their university experience. The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) measures university involvement of freshman and senior students. Questions cover academic learning activities, courses, clubs, organizations, quality of education, co-curricular activities, diversity and many other measures of learning style, quality, environment and atmosphere. Results are compared to three groups of universities: Writing-emphasized schools, MIAA schools and a Carnegie group of comparable schools, based on enrollment and state school status, that round out the comparison. Freshmen and graduating seniors are surveyed to get their initial and overall impressions, but only 372 out of 3,246 contacted students responded. “Our…

Students grading teachers

J. Fred Fox | reporter Students’ Perception of Teaching Effectiveness (SPTE), or the surveys of teachers that are given toward the end of the semester, can have a pretty significant impact on some faculty, one professor says. “After the semester is over, I receive a results summary and the comments,” said Ananda Jayawardhana, professor of mathematics. “I read the comments. Like, if my handwriting is bad … I work on that.” The class evaluations are most useful for professors to react to student opinions of their teaching and improve. They’re also used by deans and chairs of departments in deciding tenure, promotion and salary assessments, Jayawardhana says. Some students may not take them very seriously….

Questioning the president

Students challenge hot topics J. Fred Fox | reporter More than 100 students filled a lecture room in the Crimson and Gold Ballroom to listen to Steve Scott, univeristy president, answer questions. Questions taken on Wednesday night, March 27, ranged from budget, tuition and fee questions, to the introduction of the Baby Gus mascot, to Scott’s favorite thing that he has don e as university president. Shawn Naccarato, director of government and community relations, spoke on his work in Topeka with legislators on higher-education funding as they prepare a state budget for the year. “Our line from the very start has been no cuts to higher education,” Naccarato said. “Cuts to higher education damage the…