McMurry University, The War Whoop (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 6, Ed. 1, Wednesday, December 4, 2002 Page: 1 of 6
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End of Semester Special Edition
Over the River
and Through
the Woods
review Page 2 -sg
'
Ala Cumba!
Homecoming
2002 pictures
Page 6
it Wm twtML
McMurry University
The War Whoop
"1 FErdnB i i
Seminar shows how McMurry works hard for its money
By KIMTKIHOU
Editor
Teresa I sman. Vice President ol Finance
recently addressed an open lorum sponsored by
McMurry Student Government regarding where
the students' money goes
According to Dsnian McMurry operates on a
budget of about SI 5 9 million This money
comes from tuition dollars room and board
interest from the endowment and friendly dona-
tions Tuition and fees comprise about S14 6 million
dollars however roughly S4 million of this is
returned to students in the form of scholarships
and discounts This ligure comprises; 66 percent
of the income for the budget
Other sources for the SI 5 l) million in operat-
ing fees include interest from the endowment
which ideally amounts to S2 million The exact
amount of this budget contribution is calculated
by taking the three-year trailing average of the
Speaker chose
path that could
help the world
Bv SHARON NORMAN
Staff Writer
Shannon Sedgwick an honors graduate of
McMurry will be the commencement speaker
when 82 students graduate from McMurry at 10
a m on Dee 14
Sedgwick is the Director of
Public Affairs for the
International Justice Mission
a human rights organization
that investigates oppression
against victims primarily in
developing countries She
handles and organizes all
major PR and media events
for the International Justice
Mu.im.
Sedgwick According to McMurry
religion and philosophy prolessor Dr Philip
Shuler Sedgwick was driving down the Ireeway
on her way home from work one day when she
decided that she wanted to make a difference in
the world That is how she became involved in
the International Justice Mission
There is no doubt that Sedgwick has achieved
her goal because she is certainly making a dif-
ference m the world
Among her many accomplishments
Sedgw ick organized the 2002 Olympics Sex
Trail icking Briefing where Madeline Albright
was the keynote speaker
She has also conducted high-level briefings
for White House staffers and members of
Congress as well as with human rights activists
ranging from B2's Bono to actor Robert
Red ford
A highly sought after speaker Sedgwick has
addressed various legal and church groups
across the nation and was this year's keynote
speaker at the Annual Nashville Bar Association
meeting
She also directs the IJM's attorney relations
and travels overseas with IJM investigators and
attorneys to engage in the casework of IJM
This year Sedgwick has spent more than a
month overseas working to tree girls from
brothels and children from bonded slavery
A native of San Antonio Sedgwick earned
her law degree from Baylor Law School Prior
to joining the IJM She served as a trial attorney
with the law firm of Touchstone Bernays
Johnston Beall and Smith m Dallas She now
lives in Washington D C
kjl. H
KTaH
return and taking percent of this
Owing to the poor perlorm nice ol the stock
market the last couple ol years the yield Irom
the endowment has been less th in anticipated
While the endowment has lost money because of
the volatile stock market McMurry 's endowment
lost less last year than oilier similar sized institu-
tions I he other large portion ol the budget comes
from gifts Irom generous benefactors I his num-
ber needs to be increased and the university pres-
ident is evaluating how to best raise more dollars
through gifts
According to I sman approxim itelv 60 percent
of the budget is spent on s il ines and benefits to
McMurry personnel I his portion of the budget
is fixed as "once vou s iv vou're going to pay a
person something vou reallv c in t go luck the
next year and tell them otherwise"
Twenty-five percent ol the budget rotighlv S4
million is used on operating expenses lor aca
demic athletic and other dep irtments I hese
numbers are computed said I sm in bv first
determining revenues and second calculating
expenditures
Departments submit an itemied request ol
what lunding they would like and these requests
are granted as the budget allows
"The requests far exceed out income." noted
I sman
Another 5 percent of the budget is spent on
improvements Some ol the more notable this
school year are technological improvements
including the addition ol a new server and an
upgrade in the I lbs to nulows P a new root
lor the campus center boileis in Hunt and
Martin lulls and new lurniture for the residence
halls
I he remaining portions ol the budget go
toward an emergency contingency lund and to
pav down the notes p ivable lor lacihties as well
as the groundwork or phones and internet lines
Take A Seat
Photo Courtesy Ann Spence
Servant leadership mentors and students from Sweetwater ISD create n "human chair."
Students build leadership skills
at 'Mission: Possible' conference
B I ALRA IIOI.U.N
C (intribiilinu liter
Iwenty-one mentors pirtieipating when this semester's
Servant I eaderslup class held a conference lor the 4th-
and Sth-grade gifted and talented suulciils ol Sweetwater
Independent School District on Nov 20
Kathy C oehran. Sweetwater ISD te ichei. and 36 4th-
and 5th-grade students aimed lor the conlerenee called
"Mission Possible" al ') a in and p irtieipaied in a lull
day's activities I he eonleieiice included energizers team
building exercises and lessons about leadership styles
Cochran requested the conlerenee lor her students after
seeing news coverage over a simil.ii confeieiiee held
recently lorln-Counly Co-Op
"Loved the cafe food1 1 oved the servant leaders' We
had a great tune and we can'l w ut to come back1 We are
all ready to sign up and become Indians'" C oehran said
after the event
The preparation lor this conlerenee took several weeks
and was headed by a committee ol seven that included
Rachel Brown Jessica Cil ulm in pril Wynn 1 acey
Steel Kaci Ry bolt. 1 lolls Baker and Kobyn I Imore
Ryan I eDoux. Jo im Ihomas ndrew llar. Jamie
I awrence. Ileaihei dates. Shannon Siovall Annalise
Haussler. I reddie Marline labia llirlmou. I J Molina
Aleth i illiams. I horn is Pierce. Jeramie I lenderson
Aaron S imuels and Oeorge Brown also helped in the
prep iration and p irlicipated in the "Mission Possible"
conlerenee
' I think the's did in awesome ob leaching these stu-
dents about leadership reallv slums their leadership skills
I hey really slime s ml Ann Spence. director ol the
Servant I eadeislup C enter ol the Southwest at McMurry
' It was nice to see the children open then minds to new
outlooks on how lo do simple teamwork t isks' slid April
Wynn
"Hie kids enjoved it which m ikes it a lot ol lun lor us
too" said Jessica (il ulnian
"It's all about the kids" said Andrew llar
"And it allows us lo give back to the community" said
Ryan LeDoux
Ihree more Serv nit I eaderslup eonlerenees are sched-
uled lor Uyhe ISD bilene ISD and Sweetwater ISD's
Sth and 6th grade classes
Computers make plagiarism a whole new game
By JOHANNA IVA.MORE
Stafr Writer
It's that tune of year again folks' Tinals arc
approaching and students arc frantically frying to fin-
ish up and turn in all of those final papers and projects
they have been working so diligently on all semester
While work throughout the semester sounds good in
theory very few college students actually work dili-
gently on a final assignment or paper long before it is
due The few students who do this arc exceptional
It is very common for a busy hard-working college
student to wait until the last minute to crank out a
paper and turn it in without editing or revising it first
And yes sometimes some students may be under so
much pressure with studying for everything else that
they cave under the pressure break down and get on
the internet to find or in some cases purchase "their"
final papers
Years ago in the Dark Ages before the internet pla-
giarism was common but not as easily accessible To
obtain a plagiarized paper back then a student would
have to cither get the paper from someone else or look
up an essay Irom a literary cntieism book Irom the
library
Students need to be awaie that although the process
of obtaining a piper trom the internet has been made
readily available educators now have a way to catch
plagiarism and considering th it plagiarism can I ring
about severe consequences students may want to think
twice belore submitting a plagiarized paper to their
prolessor
The modern marvel lh.it has allowed educators to
determine whether or not a student has plagiarized a
paper is I'm mini ami
Through this site the prolessor submits any suspi-
cious phrases paragraphs or words in to the program
In turn the piogram will determine what percentage of
the paper was in tact plagiarized
Cole Ihoinpson a McMurry 1 nglish prolessor
recently submitted a paper that wasn't 100 percent pla-
giarized but was 15 percent plagiarized therefore he
handled the issue less seveiely than he might have lor
a completely plagiarized paper by allowing the student
to rewrite the paper although her grade on the assign
ment would still be pen ihed
Tin mini i om is a highly recognized souice among
respected institutions and is very accurate in determining
whether or not a paper has been plagiarized Not only is
this site a usclul tool lor educators but students too can
use it to check over a paper belore they hand it in to
determine if it com tins any plagiarized inlormation
McMurry University's Student Allairs Code ol
Conduct defines plagiarism as "the use by paraphrase
or direct quotation ol the published or unpublished
work ol another person without lull and clear acknowl-
edgment "
It also includes the "unacknowledged use ol materi-
als prepared by another person or agency engaged in
the selling ol term papers or oilier academic materi-
als "
Although they provide this definition ol plagiarism
the Student Allans oil ice allows lor prolessors to
determine their own policies regarding plagiarism
Because of this plagiarism policies may vary Irom
professor to prolessor yel Ihey all generally include
1 he president and the Cabinet set tuition To
determine this amount the Cabinet will sec what
the market can bear and what other universities
with which McMurry is benchmarked are doing
I rom these numbers the Cabinet will determine
what is reasonable and set tuition accordingly
C urrenf seniors arc on a fixed tuition plan
whereas the other three classes bear the burden
ol tuition increases Starting this school year
freshmen are on the block tuition plan
I ollowing the budget discussion Estnan
addressed student questions Some of the topics
discussed included food service the funding of
student organizations and other capital improve-
ments "Your current student life administration
won't let the ball drop" Said Lsman
While the budget is a complicated science
I sm in stresses that administrators have the stu-
dents in mind "Like American Airlines says we
know you have options and we appreciate you
flying with us
A lot goes
into a grade
B-fore it's
earned C?
By SHARON NORMAN
StarrWrllcr
What do you do when you
get a bad grade? Do you just
complain about it and blame
the instructor or do you try to
sec what went wrong and how
you might cam belter grades in
the future '
In many universities profes-
sors are encouraged to grade
on the bell curve which means
that most of the students are
expected to get a C If too
many of the students get an A
the professor may receive a call
from administration According
to McMurry's Religion and
Philosophy Department
Chairman Dr Philip Shuler
this is not true at McMurry
"Some departments may
expect their professors to grade
on the bell curve or some pro-
fessors may choose to do so
but there is never any pressure
from administration" he said
According to a professor
who taught in a graduate pro-
gram at Texas Christian
University some universities
expect professors to make a
certain percentage of test ques-
tions ambiguous to make you
think These questions arc the
ones that separate the "A" stu-
dents from the "B" students
Shuler said that at McMurry
the professor is the one who
decides how the class will be
taught how the students will
be prepared for the test what
kind of a test it will be and
how difficult it will be
"Some department heads
may encourage their professors
lo give challenging tests" he
said "But the professor has
what is referred to as academic
freedom in the classroom "
Dr Beverly Lenoir the vice-
president of academics says
that the traditional method is
not fair because ambiguous
questions sort students by abil-
ity rather than testing what
they have learned She also
says that she thinks it is the
professor's responsibility to
make it clear to students what
they arc expected to learn for a
test instead of making them
guess
She says the professor
should communicate expecta-
tions about what the student is
expected to learn and explain
the grading process but ulti-
mately the responsibility is in
the hands of the students
"Professors don't give
grades" she said "Students
earn them The grade only
reflects back what the student
has learned"
According to senior Mandy
llolson who is a psychology
major "It is the students'
Please see CHEATERS Page 5 Please see GRADE Page 5
k
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McMurry University, The War Whoop (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 6, Ed. 1, Wednesday, December 4, 2002, newspaper, December 4, 2002; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth104655/m1/1/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting McMurry University Library.