Crystal M. Field Award for Student Writing
Jason Wendleton

Outstanding Alumni Achievement
Roy Mussett

Outstanding Alumni Service
Gail Barham

Debater of the Year
Leviticus Coppock

Individual Events Speaker of the Year
Michael Spruill

Outstanding Baseball Athlete
Skyler Stromsmoe

Outstanding Volleyball Athlete
Amy Ruff

Outstanding Student in Math, Physics or Engineering
Joshua Tucker

Outstanding Student Leader
Jason Blunk

Outstanding Contribution to a Special Interest Group
Student – Angee Mullis
Employee – Keet Kopecky

Outstanding Contribution to the College
Student – Margaret Berter
Employee – Karen Halastik

Outstanding Student Advocate
Jennifer Osterberg and Christopher Osterberg

It’s that time of year again when the weather begins to turn and we start thinking about finals. Yes, kids, it’s a cold world out there. The wind doesn’t just blow, it bites—especially on the hill at Longview. As we bundle into our wool socks and heavy coats, only one thing is on our minds: “I wonder if I’ll get a good parking space.”
We’ve all done the rounds in the parking lot, not because we want the perfect parking space, but because we want to find a space, any space that’s not in Lot BFE. But as many will attest, sometimes life is cruel. We’ve all done time in the back forty at some point. Or have we? I decided to resolve this conundrum with some hard hitting investigative reporting. The only way to get an honest answer is to go right to the source with on the lot interviews.
Sometimes the people who drive the cars are reluctant to reveal the truth because they have to pay the ticket if they get caught. But their cars were a little more open.
The first car I decided to talk to was a silver Pontiac Grand Prix, license # 411-LWS. When asked why it was parked in a crosswalk, it replied rather brusquely that she was a woman, not an “it,” and that her owner was the one I should be complaining to, not her. So much for a friendly conversation.
I moved on down the lot and quickly found another crosswalk filled. This time I wasn’t going to fumble the interview from the start so I addressed the red Ford Focus, license # 875-PBJ, as “Madam.” She was rather congenial when asked why she was parked in a crosswalk. She said she really couldn’t help what her owner did but she was rather embarrassed by the whole situation. She also said knew who filled her gas tank and felt it wasn’t her place to complain.
My next interview was quite revealing. The red Nissan 240SX was a little cranky. It complained its left quarter-panel was aching because some inconsiderate kid had knocked his book bag into it earlier that morning and that’s not the half of it. His front bumper was rubbed raw from all those legs squeezing between the stairs and him. “I can’t hardly stand it,” he said. Understandably the Nissan refused to give me his license and registration because he felt all those goody two-shoes that park in legal spaces were targeting him. He was still grumbling as I moved on to the next interview, by far was the most interesting interview of the day.

The gray-black Ford ZX2, license # KTS-ZX2, had an entirely different take on the parking situation. ZX2, as he asked me to call him, said he was entitled to park wherever he *%^&* pleased and it wasn’t anybody’s business. ZX2 was also inflamed by the fact that he had a ticket stuck under his windshield wiper and tried to sweet talk me into removing it. I politely thanked him for his time and ran.
Now, you might be wondering about all the law-abiding cars in the lot. For the most part they seemed incensed by the violators but felt there was nothing they could do. Some cars gave me an evasive glance and really didn’t have an opinion on the parking situation. A few cars in the lot seemed lethargic and were unable to respond to my questions. A friendly blue Jetta volunteered that they were like that because their owners drove them around and around the lot looking for a parking space. Their owners simply refused to park in Lot BFE and the cars were the ones to suffer. She also suggested that if the drivers would show up a little earlier, they might get a space a lot easier.
I’m not sure I’ve resolved much with this bit of investigative reporting, but I feel I have helped bring to light the under-carriage of parking lot gossip. I must caution next time you drive onto campus, you might want to think about that poor Nissan and his aching quarter panel and not put your car into that position.

I can’t get too excited about election time this year. It’s not that the candidates aren’t qualified. Or have a list of accomplishments a mile long and a to-do list of good deeds they want to get done while they’re in office. It’s really the party mentality that turns me off. I have heard more on who is campaigning for who and why which party needs to get what senator into office to aid the cause. Enough of all this. Maybe we should worry less about who is pushing the politicians and instead make an informed decision based on the candidates and what they can or will do for those they serve.
Jean Carnahan, yes the infamous widow from Missouri whose husband beat out now-Attorney General John Ashcroft posthumously and was appointed Senator, is up for re-election. I know when you put it that way it sounds like maybe Carnahan doesn’t really belong in office. And it is a little like a soap opera in the drama of the situation. But a soap opera this is not. The temerity of Carnahan’s situation is real and considering the odd details of how she became a Missouri senator, she’s doing pretty good.
I think Carnahan has made an honest effort to help the people of Missouri. One of the first things she did as senator was introduce the Quality Classroom Act to reduce class size and add more teachers in math, science and reading in public schools. Her work on this legislation was an integral part of the final bill that was passed and will help Missouri schools as well as all schools across America.
Carnahan is an advocate of better healthcare for everyone. She not only co-sponsored the Patients’ Bill of Rights, which will force HMOs to be more responsible to their insured, she supports a prescription plan for Medicare that would benefit the recipients more than the insurance companies. Under her opponent Jim Talent’s plan insurance companies would bid on the right to provide prescription drug benefits for seniors. This would create a middleman, one that wants to make a profit, essentially costing taxpayers and the recipients more in the long run. Carnahan is also co-sponsoring legislation that would end discrimination by insurance companies against those that suffer from mental illness.
Sometimes Carnahan is slow to make decisions on issues, I don’t see this as a detriment. Carnahan understands that issues of great importance must be thought out. She knows not to make a decision simply based on her party’s agenda. If you are a unilateralist maybe you should vote for Carnahan’s opponent but if you want someone to represent you that puts thought into her decisions and is willing to be bi-partisan, Carnahan would be your best choice.

Without doubt air travel has changed for the majority of us since September 11. Keep your ID handy; I had to show mine three times just to board one plane. I was considering punching a hole through my driver’s license and hanging it around my neck. These are inconveniences anyone who wants to fly must endure.
But is it more difficult for someone who doesn’t fit the American profile to go through this process? Maybe. My travel companion, who is an American Muslim with a headscarf, found there are some subtle differences and sometimes-overt differences s her travel experience. On the surface, the treatment a blond-haired and blue-eyed woman and a woman with a hijab receive seemed to differ little.
My friend went through the security checkpoint at MCI airport ahead of me. It appeared the guard was being thorough and very business-like in checking IDs. H’e checked her ID, then looked at her then back at her ID. After about 20 seconds he passed her through. My turn came and the guard gave my ID a cursory glance, smiled at me and passed me through.
On our return trip from JFK Airport, my companion chose to go through security ahead of me while I browsed the gift shop. She later told me she was singled out for a more thorough search even before she passed through the metal detector. Airline employees were she said, courteous, but thorough, and insisted on patting her headscarf and swept her with a hand-held metal detector.
In defense of the airlines, we witnessed the search of another woman twice, once at MCI and once in St. Louis when we changed planes for our connecting flight. She appeared to us to be a non-threatening middle-aged woman.
During our stay in New York, most people were courteous to us both. I fell behind at times when we were sight seeing and I got a different view of what it’s like to be a woman in a headscarf. Although most people just ignored her, some stared and others even glared at her. She was not treated with disrespect or open hostility by anyone with the exception of a very unlikely candidate.
We were walking in Central Park on the day New York celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. The police presence was tremendous. We saw literally hundreds of police officers that day throughout the city. By us in the back seat of one cruiser was a police officer in full parade dress. To our dismay, in a very conversational tone he addressed my companion as “American Taliban.”
I like to think this was just an isolated incident and on a less emotional day he would have used better judgement. As for my friend, it seriously tarnished her image of the New York Police Department.
Maybe she’s right to feel this way. I can’t honestly say, as I have never had the experience of being a minority.

by DEBBIE MADDEN

The Time Machine, directed by Simon Wells, H. G. Wells’ grandson, should be everything a girl could want in a movie—love, romance, a beautiful ring, a gunshot wound and a crushing blow—Oh, wait, scratch those last two.
Our hero Alex (Guy Pearce) the future time traveler lives in a slightly cluttered Currier & Ives print of New York City. He has the perfect job, a doting housekeeper, a concerned friend and an adoring girlfriend, whose only desire is for Alex to give her flowers.
But on the night Alex plans to propose, his beloved is shot dead in a bungled robbery. This is the catalyst that pushes him over the edge from overworked professor to obsessed inventor. After four years of forgetting to shave and shower, he steps into his bright, shiny, new time machine with the intent of righting the past.
Savvy to prior events, and with a clean-shaven face, Alex steers his love on a different path out of harms way, and all is going well until she asks for her flowers. Unfortunately for Alex his girlfriend is killed yet again in a freak accident when he steps away to get her flowers.
Luckily for his now twice deceased girlfriend, he figures out that she would only die a thousand times, a thousand different ways if he continued to repeat the past.
Unluckily for us, he decides to travel to the future to try to find out why he can’t change the past.
Other than a couple of semi-interesting pit stops in the future the ultimate destination of the movie is to a stylized, yet primitive version of the world so richly described in H. G. Wells book of the same name. Here Alex encounters a pasty faced Jeremy Irons in the very badly acted role of the Uber-Morlock, who lords over the lesser creatures 800,000 years in the future. I believe it may have been more interesting to see the other 998 ways his girlfriend could expire.
The Time Machine is not without redeeming qualities. Guy Pearce is so likable you can’t really hate the movie even though it deserves to be.
Maybe by the time you see the movie someone will have changed the past so the last half of this movie is worth watching.

by DEBBIE MADDEN

Uncle Sam wants you! But so do over 20 Longview Campus student organizations and clubs. With this many people wanting you it could really boost your self-esteem. The good news is you can spread yourself around and kick that self-esteem up several notches by joining more than one club.

Amongst the backdrop of a mini carnival with free cotton candy, nachos, colorful balloons and music provided by Radio Free Longview the various groups including academic oriented, campus community, religious and sports related clubs gathered January 17 in the Campus Center cafeteria. But instead of hucksters many of the organizations had friendly volunteers at their table waiting to hand out information and enthusiasm.

Club Day was successful for many organizations; several of the groups acquired a number of new and potential members. If you weren’t able to attend club day don’t despair, you can visit the Student Activities Office for a list of clubs and contacts.

Imagine peeping out your window on a dark, foggy night and catching sight of a bespectacled man in a robe with a long white beard extinguishing street lamps with a most unusual contraption. You would be getting only a small taste of the magical world Harry Potter was thrust into.
This first scene opens up a magical world full of wonderfully ugly goblins, exquisite architecture, glorious billowy spirits and exotic beasts. It also accomplishes what so few theatrical adaptations have; it visually brings a book to life and doesn’t leave you wanting for much.
Director Christopher Columbus, under the watchful eye of author J. K. Rowling, faithfully retells Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, complete with dazzling special effects and an incredible amount of detail.
The movie is not without flaws, albeit minor ones. Harry Potter groupies are in for a real treat, but for those who haven’t been initiated into the mystical world of Harry Potter, the movie may have gaps in the story line. Most prominent is the lack of animosity on screen between Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman). Harry fears for his life at one point in the movie at the hands or magic wand of Prof. Snape, but aside from a few well-placed sneers from Snape there is no real basis for his fears.
Radcliffe delivers an even performance, although he has a hard time measuring up to the caliber of the adult supporting cast. The real gem is Harry’s best friend Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint); he is on the same level as Robbie Coltrane’s Hagrid and Richard Harris as Dumbledore. He is a natural as Harry’s foil and his comedic timing never falls flat. Other than Hagrid, Dumbledore and the main children’s characters Harry, Ron and Hermione Granger there is very little character development. Which is sad because while the adults had great visual impact they were sadly not much more than window-dressing.
Christopher Columbus, best remembered for his work on Home Alone, behaved himself for the most part and subdued his urges for gratuitous violence, with one exception-the Quidditch match. Unfortunately this spectacle was nothing more than a game of flying hockey. At the beginning of the match the referee was introduced to the cheering crowd, I’m not sure why they wasted the time, since not one foul was called, even when two of Harry’s teammates were knocked unconscious by the opposing team. This whole scene should be given a foul.
This movie isn’t only for Harry Potter fans, with all the action and special effects the few weak spots don’t detract from the overall effect it was truly what millions of fans have been waiting for.

There is no such thing as a free lunch.
That may be true but many Missouri high school students have found out there is such a thing as a free education. Missouri’s A+ Schools Program has made a free education beyond secondary school available to eligible students through a merit-based program. Students who meet certain guidelines receive tuition and books to any two-year community college or post secondary vocational-technical school in the state of Missouri.
The A+ program was designed to decrease high school dropout rates, raise academic standards and provide an opportunity for students who might have little incentive to go to college. The guidelines for acceptance into the program encourage students to become active in their education. Students must attend an A+ designated school for three years and maintain a 2.5 grade point average throughout the four years of high school. In addition, each student must have a 95 percent attendance record, demonstrate good citizenship based on guidelines set out by each school district, stay off drugs and perform 50 hours of mentoring or unpaid tutoring.
Missouri boasts over 100 A+ schools; Raymore-Peculiar, Lee’s Summit and Independence are among them, with more local districts seeking A+ status. Longview had 99 A+ students in the spring semester and 13 over the summer. Once an A+ student graduates from high school, he or she must enroll full time in an eligible program and maintain a 2.5 GPA. Students are allowed four years to complete a two-year degree or certificate program if they choose not to begin college immediately after high school.

Financial help could be on the way for many Metropolitan Community College students and the scholarship recipients will have somebody nearby to thank. The MCC Foundation is conducting what it calls the “Vision Campaign” in order to assist current and future students with the costs of college and to assist in technology advancement, capitol projects and professional development in the MCC system.
All of the MCC administration and staff and many of the faculty members have been asked to contribute to the newly created campaign. They responded overwhelmingly, with pledges of $169,683 slated to go to various scholarships and endowment funds. Each contributor had the option of making a one-time donation or contributing through payroll deductions over a period of time.
Many faculty members have not yet been approached to donate, of those already solicited, close to 100% have chosen to contribute to one of well over 100 scholarships or endowment funds that will benefit students from the entire MCC district.
According to the foundation office, 100% of the donations will be used for the specific fund chosen by each individual donor, thus allowing contributors to have some control over the ultimate use of their support. The scholarships and endowments are diverse and will benefit a wide range of students based on varying needs.