OPINIOn

Merger means murder
Our View
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Letter from the editor

At the Spectator we typically do an “Our view” about an issue. This time, after talking to my staff, I wanted to express my personal view. I must preface it by saying that my view is supported by my staff and we are all against the merger. However, we all have very personal reasons for why the W merging with Mississippi State University would be a bad idea, and I wanted to share mine.

As the nation’s first public college for women, I was drawn to the W from the moment I started looking at colleges. I applied at many schools out of state, but the W was the only Mississippi Institution I would consider. This was due to the accolades that it had been given, and the respect I had heard from every professor and teacher I had spoken with about my college options. 

My college choice was an important one not only for me, but for my family. I am the first person in my family to go to a university and I knew the name that would wind up on my Bachelor’s degree would be one of great significance. I picked the W because of its historic commitment to academic and leadership development for women. I didn’t want to go to a school where the shy girl who had never been exposed to higher education would be passed over in favor of males. I picked the W because I knew they wouldn’t let me fall through the cracks, and would make me into a leader.

Here I am four and a half years later. I am preparing to graduate in May with a double major in psychology & communication, and a minor in women’s studies. I am the editor of The Spectator and have been in numerous clubs, and held numerous leadership positions. I will have an honors diploma as I completed all honors requirements including the dreaded independent study. I wanted to quit many times, but my professors and advisors, most of them women, pushed me and made me believe in my own ability to succeed.

The W has taught me so many things out side of the classroom. I have learned that I have more potential than to be a stay at home mother, with no education, like so many of my high school classmates became. I learned that leadership and integrity are rewarded, and believing in making a difference in the world isn’t just an optimistic ideal, but a reality to strive for.

The most important thing I learned was not to go with the flow of what I was told, but rather to investigate and form my own opinions. That is what I have been doing ever since I realized the W was in danger.

The governor’s proposal to merge the W with MSU seems to me a rather short sighted and poorly researched decision. While it could save some money now, that money won’t go very far in making a dent in the state’s economic problems. As well, the recession will not last forever and when we emerge from this crisis we should do so with eight strong universities that can offer different missions to degree seekers. This is especially important considering that in more financially secure times Mississippi Citizens will be able to afford a degree, or to return for more classes to improve their resume. In a state so far behind the nation in education, cutting educational opportunities should be the last thing we are willing to do.

I have heard many people say things like “it would mean more students for the W” or “the W would be able to offer more programs and activities.” In saying this it becomes clear that many are missing the picture: A merger would essentially be a closure of the W and a murder of our mission. Yes, the campus would exist: as MSU Columbus. Yes, students would still go here: As MSU students who have to pay more than double the W’s current tuition. The “survival” of the W would be the same as if McDonalds bought out a Burger King location. The shell of the building would be the same and the same type of food would be served. However, the taste of everything would be different. There would be no flame broiled anything. There would be no “Have it your way”, instead only a have it their way.

I have been flooding Facebook with status messages and posts about the need for people to act. I have been tweeting nonstop to alums, students, the governor and any other figure I feel could help in these troubling times.  I have called, I have emailed and I have talked to anyone who will listen.
Now it is time for other students to speak up. Write, call and do anything you can to get the message through to our lawmakers. We all came to the W for our own reasons but what unites us is that we picked the W. We could have gone to MSU and we didn’t. We could transfer there if we wanted to but we haven’t. Do not let an ill thought-out proposal allow everything that the W is to disappear. Do not allow a vital university to die because Haley Barbour thinks that the mission of the W has run its course.

I will not stop until this proposal lies dead in the water because I am a W girl, and we do not give up.

Juna’uh Allgood

Editor-in-chief The Spectator

Editor’s note: We want to hear what you think. Send letters to the editor to spectator@muw.edu

Helpless in the dark
Angelica Shields

An old friend of mine used to frequently visit campus.

Every time he would pass the front gate, the security guard on duty would simply wave him in. Sometimes, the guard would not even glance at him. He always seemed at awe at the fact that the officers seemed to not care.

He would always say “Wow, I could just come into the middle of campus and blow up the entire school,” I would always respond, “I believe you could get away with that. These guards wouldn’t notice Jason, wielding a machete in their faces.”

The comments were only jokes, but they would always hold a note of serious concern. I wondered why it is that W students had go through so much trouble to get parking decals for their cars and validation as students when some people are allowed to drive straight onto campus without question. Some guards stop cars at the gate at only certain times of the late day to simply look, and then wave the driver on.

I was alarmed when I realized just how easily any person could arrive on campus and terrorize students and how many illegal activities could slip through the cracks.

I suppose some students wanted to give campus police a wakeup call. I was recently told of an incident that occurred a few years ago in which a number of individuals attempted to pass through the front gate wearing dark hoods and masks. It’s no surprise that the plan worked successfully.

Security has increased since last semester, however. Officers are stopping more “suspicious individuals” and locking more gates in the early hours of the night.

I would thank the campus police, if those efforts actually helped more than they hurt.

Months ago, after finishing up a late night Cromwell, I walked out into heavy rain. I was unable to find a ride and my cell phone was dead. It was only 11p.m., so I figured that I could walk straight across the field into the gate near Kincannon. However, it was locked. I had to walk around the entire campus when I was finally able to get in through a small gate in front of the Puckett House. Drenched from head to toe, I was disappointed when the numerous drivers, including two campus police officers, carelessly passed me without so much as a “Hey, are you okay?”
Photo Courtesy of Angelica Shields

I was not very surprised to find that those few choice people lacked courtesy and concern. Yet, all I could ask was “Whose idea was it to lock all the side gates so early at night, and could I be arrested for strangling that person?”

The campus would be better served to lock the gates after classes are over. Classes end at 8:45 p.m. and students who have classes outside the main campus should not have to walk around the gates, where it may not be safe for them. Additionally, many students live in the downtown area and walk to and from class. With these gates being locked before nine, these students have to walk through the front gates and then to where they live, thus increasing their chances of encountering unsavory characters in their route.

For the most part, I can attest to the effort dedicated to protecting W students. There is always a dispatcher at the front gate to report emergencies. However, in between directing calls and filling out paperwork, the dispatcher doesn’t have the time to check every car that comes through the gate.

As for campus patrol, there are only one or two officers around campus at any given time.
The officers on night patrol spend much of their time locking buildings and gates between 8p.m. and midnight and responding to emergency calls. That’s when they are actually on campus.

When the one or two officers on duty are patrolling the Plymouth Bluff center fifteen minutes away or doing traffic control all around Columbus, how can we feel safe on campus?

There are few ways to alert the police. Students can call the front gate or use one of the emergency blue light telephones. However, if I were attacked, in between my screaming and struggling, how would a reach a phone located in plain sight 10 to 20 feet away from the dark areas where an attack would most likely occur? Just as well, how long would it take the officer to get there if he’s off campus?

I fear for the safety of those who go to the W, something has to be done about this issue.

Cartoon by Natalie Thomas
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