the rambler, vol. 92 issue 17
DESCRIPTION
September 30, 2009TRANSCRIPT
Of Many Colors set to perform at WesleyanA&E, page 5
The voice of Texas Wesleyan University students since 1917
WEDNESDAYSeptember 30, 2009
Vol. 92 • No. 17
ONLINE: www.therambler.org
The RamblerMen’s soccer team breaks into national rankingsSports, page 6
Technology creates virtual classrooms
Daniel [email protected]
Texas Wesleyan is using a new, innovative teleconferencing program between its main campus in Fort Worth and the Burleson site.
The program’s software video feed utilizes dial-up teleconferencing equipment to trans-mit live video from classrooms on the main campus to classrooms.
“The idea is to use live video technology to allow Wesleyan’s Burleson site to use all of its classroom space without having to hire more adjunct professors,” said Dr. Carlos Martinez, dean of the school of education.
That has been an important issue for a long time, since the Burleson site usually has only two full time faculty members teaching onsite, Burleson site coordinator Judy Arnold said in a telephone interview.
Burleson site coordinator Judy Arnold be-lieves that the new technology can best be used to create virtual classrooms by combining the live video feed with the traditional arrange-ment of classrooms and desks.
“The teleconferencing goes both ways,” Ar-nold said. “Students in classrooms at the Burle-son site see the main campus classes on a very large screen, and, at the same time, they can ask the professor questions.”
The classrooms on the Fort Worth campus have the same large screen where they see the Burleson classroom live. The result is live con-versations between both sites, almost as if it is one large classroom.
Burleson site recruiter Ashley Shetter be-lieves that the video teleconferencing system is a great idea and has been very well received by students at the site.
“Students who live in Burleson and sur-rounding areas really like the idea of earning a degree from Texas Wesleyan without having to commute all the way to Fort Worth,” Shetter said in a telephone interview. “The system has worked so well that Burleson students really feel like they are in a class with a live professor there.”
Arnold said the overall effect is so realistic that professors in the main campus classrooms even have a seating chart of the Burleson site
Polytechnic High School passes the test, will not close its doorsTexas Wesleyan almost lost
an old friend and neighbor. After facing an uncertain
future, Polytechnic High School will remain open, pro-viding the university with a fellow community icon and academic partner.
A year ago Poly High School faced state closure after fail-ing to meet the minimum state requirements for aca-demic performance for four consecutive years. Students were challenged to pass the Texas Assessment of Knowl-edge and Skills (TAKS) in the spring.
Students and staff succeed-ed, and the school found out this summer that it would re-main intact.
“I was sad at the thought of losing a school in our neigh-borhood,” said Lisa Dryden, an education professor at Wesleyan.
Texas amended the law in 2006 to say that if a school failed to pass any portion of the TAKS with an acceptable rating for five consecutive years the state would require the school to close immedi-ately or have alternative man-agement appointed to run it.
The law also gives the Texas Education Commissioner the option of closing a school af-ter four consecutive years.
If the school had closed, it could only have re-opened as a new school under a new name and half of its students and teachers would be forced to relocate.
Dryden, who is also Wes-leyan’s director of the graduate program of education, collab-orated with Poly through site-based management teams.
The program met monthly at the high school and dis-cussed ways to raise test scores and create a stronger academic environment.
“We built a learning com-munity and raised school spirit,” she said. “Everyone felt a sense of pride in their school and the things they could do.”
Polytechnic improved im-mensely and went on to show double-digit gains in all TAKS categories, said Doug Maryak, assistant principal at Poly-technic.
“People are now coming to us and asking us how we im-proved so much,” he said.
Maryak said it would take two to three days to list every-thing that contributed to the improvement.
However, the biggest thing was a change in the culture, which took several years and didn’t happen overnight.
“Our kids now understand what great success is,” he said.
University President Dr. Harold Jeffcoat and Provost Dr. Allen Henderson present-ed a banner to Polytechnic’s principal, Gary Braudaway, on July 2 congratulating the
school on its achievement.Texas Wesleyan has a his-
tory of partnership with Poly-technic. It allows the high school’s seniors to enroll in university classes for credit, giving them a taste of college life.
It also offers a Speak Up scholarship, which pays for all tuition and fees, to Polytech-nic students exclusively.
During Polytechnic’s strug-gle, Wesleyan circled the wag-ons showing its support for the high school. Wesleyan
organized a letter-writing campaign to students and staff and offered help includ-ing events such as Career Day, a community breakfast and community TAKS fair and tu-toring assistance for students.
Sexual assault alleged in VillageJonathan [email protected]
Fort Worth police are in-vestigating an alleged sexual assault that was reported in Wesleyan Village Sept. 24.
Chuck Burton, assistant vice president of marketing and communications, said there were no breaches of security as the assailant may have been an invited guest of a female student.
Burton said the assailant may have met the victim on the Internet.
“We want all students to be extremely cautious,” he said in reference to online rela-tionships.
According to the U.S. De-partment of Justice, sexual as-sault is widely considered to be the most under-reported violent crime in America. Most sexual assaults on cam-pus are committed by an acquaintance of the victim, which explains, in part, why these crimes are under re-ported.
Kelly Neace, resident assis-tant at Wesleyan Village, said she would advise students who are meeting online ac-quaintances in real life to do so in a public place and take a friend.
TECH, page 3Laura Rosser | Rambler Staff
Students and teachers can now teleconference between the main campus and Burleson site.
Photo courtesy of Office of CommunicationsTexas Wesleyan presents Polytechnic faculty and staff with a congratulatory banner.
“Everyone felt a sense of pride in their school and the things they could do.”
Lisa Drydenprofessor of education
Opinion2 | September 30, 2009 The RambleR | www.rambler.org
How would you feel if Wesleyan banned smoking?
Ladederick Minnifield,freshman theater
“It would be terrible.”
Earl Karr,graduate psychology
“I’m not a smoker, I’d be indifferent.”
Alexi Perez,senior biochemisty
“I don’t think it would be a good idea.”
Shameka Hyatt,junior mass comm
“It would be unfair, I’m not a smoker but its not
illegal to smoke.”
Lorrie Hohertz,junior paralegal
“I would feel like I’ve been singled out. I’m not a teenager, I’m an adult.”
Jonathan Resendez, news editorLaurence Sheehan, opinion editorConner Howell, college life editorJoakim Söderbaum, sports editorChuck Fain, entertainment editorLaura Rosser, photo editorRachel Horton, multimedia editorLaShawnda Mayhorn, social media directorDaniel Bravo, advertising managerKelli Lamers, faculty adviserDr. Kay Colley, faculty liaison
Member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press As-sociation, Associated Collegiate Press, Student Press Law Center, College Media Advisers and College Newspaper Business and Advertising Managers.
Opinions expressed in The RambleR are those of the individual authors only and do not neces-sarily reflect the views of the Texas Wesleyan community as a whole.
RambleR Contribution Please send all news briefs to [email protected]. Submissions due by noon Friday to see brief in the following week’s issue.
Letters to the editor: The RambleR, a weekly publication welcomes all letters. All submis-sions must have a full printed name, phone number and signature. Confidentiality will be granted if requested. While every consider-ation is made to publish letters, publication is limited by time and space.The editors reserve the right to edit all submis-sions for space, grammar, clarity and style. Letters to the editor may be subject to response from editors and students on the opinion page.
“We are not afraid to follow the truth ... wherever it may lead.”
— Thomas Jefferson
Address all correspondence to:Texas Wesleyan UniversityThe RambleR1201 Wesleyan St.Fort Worth, TX [email protected] contact The RambleR
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The RamblerFounded in 1917 as The Handout
Publisher: Harold G. Jeffcoat
Rights go up in smokeChuck [email protected]
College is stressful. There are deadlines to
meet, papers to write and extracurricular activities that make demands on your time. Not to mention there’s work, family and church (if you’re into that sort of thing).
Like many, you may choose to alleviate some of this stress with tobacco – that is, unless you attend the Uni-versity of Texas at Arlington.
The university is consider-ing a measure that would make the use of tobacco – all tobacco, dip included – illegal within the school grounds. This includes stu-dent’s cars, which is consid-ered private property under federal law.
According to CBS 11, the decision to ban all tobacco products is the brain-child of a 15-member commit-tee, which included leading school administrators and committee chairwoman Jean Hood, vice president of hu-man resources at UTA.
“The overall goal is to have a healthy workplace,” Hood said.
A healthy work place? That’s the overall goal? Then I suppose any food items ap-proaching 1,000 calories will also be prohibited. Goodbye, ice cream and pizza – and any carbonated and/or fla-vored drinks.
With this new health-
conscious goal, will morning calisthenics also be included with price of UTA tuition? Let’s also get rid of all those unhealthy elevators and force people to take the stairs. Have a wheel chair? Well, just think how healthy you’ll be once you finally make it to the top. You can use your newfound arm muscles to write UTA a thank you letter.
And while we’re at it, let’s move the whole university out of the city so the stu-dents don’t have to breathe this horrible air polluted by industry. Whatever it takes to further facilitate UTA’s intru-sive concern into its student body’s health.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll admit that I smoke. I’ll also admit that it’s a filthy, expensive habit that has harmful side effects and can affect others who are around the smoke.
That said, there should be certain restrictions in place to protect those who don’t wish to smoke, or to experience flavor country second hand. That’s perfectly reasonable and fair.
However, UTA already has such restriction in place. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “Smoking is banned within 50 feet of a building, window or air intake system. Violators are fined $10 for the first of-
fense and $25 for a second offense.” The tickets can be waived if the violators agree to enroll in a smoking-cessa-tion program.
Perhaps UTA should focus more on enforcing the current smoking restrictions in place instead of this knee-jerk reac-tion of banning all tobacco products.
“I’m not a smoker, and I personally do not care for smoking,” Joel Chaverri, an Iraq war veteran working on his master’s at the univer-sity, told the Star-Telegram. “What I can’t stand more is taking away individual free-doms. Smoking is not illegal, so if someone wants to do it, they should have that right.”
This is exactly what UTA is doing.They are infringing on personal freedoms and in-dividual rights. People don’t pay money to a college so that it can dictate their moral-ity and deny them personal freedoms like so many moth-ers. If anything, people go to college to get out from under the thumb of such authoritari-anism.
Smoking affects those around you, which is why it should be confined to a designated area. This ban on tobacco, however, affects ev-eryone. Once you give away the personal freedoms of one group, everyone else’s is also up for grabs.
While trying to figure out what to write for my sec-ond column, I was flipping through the channels on TV. I saw Michael Moore on Larry King Live and The Colbert Report making his pitch for his new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, and I knew the topic for my column.
For those who have not seen the previews for his new movie, Moore is going after Congress (again) and the huge financial companies on Wall Street for taking the American people’s money. He said the American populous has had a love affair with cap-italism, and now, as the Web site for the movie puts it, “ … the all too similar symptoms of a love affair gone astray: lies, abuse, betrayal…” I’m not writing to critique the movie, that’s for the entertainment section. What I am writing about is Michael Moore.
He claims to be doing a huge service to the American people by going after AIG and other financial compa-nies for “stealing” the people’s money. However, that is not the case. He simply focuses on the hot button issues and presents ideas that are, quite frankly, less than original. In the previews Moore is hailed as being some kind of prophet that has foreseen what all of us have known for a long time. Him trying to make a citizen’s arrest of the AIG executives, or walk-
ing up to them with sacks, demanding they fill them with the money they owe the American taxpayers, are over-the-top theatrics to get people’s attention. Tactics like that aren’t going to change anything. The biggest thing that irks me about Moore is that he has made this movie to speak out against capitalism, the sole reason he has been able to make all of his movies. He is taking advantage of our capitalist society just as much as the financial companies on Wall Street.
If there weren’t a demand for movies and other forms of entertainment, then movie studios would never agree to produce them. I also find it a bit ironic that during times of economic hardship, the amount of money Americans spend on entertainment goes up, and Moore is putting out a movie during a recession about how bad capitalism is. He may not be a great documentarian, but he is a great businessman. As humans we do things for one of two reasons: physi-cal or psychological reward. When we help a stranger, we do it for psychological reward because it makes us feel good.
When we make a movie or cut a record we do it for financial (physical) reward. Even when we volunteer with charities or other organiza-tions and seemingly get nothing out of it, it makes us
feel good to know that we’ve helped someone in need.
Moore is in the same category as all of the other directors, music artists or anyone in the entertainment business; they do it for money and he is not the exception to the rule. If he were truly out to help the American people he would focus more on under-lying issues that are equally important rather than the one that happens to be in the spotlight at the time.
As I’ve said before, he is a great businessman but he falls short as a documentarian. If Michael Moore thinks our government and capitalism are really as bad as he says they are, then he should take a cue from Thomas Jefferson and start a rebellion to re-place and fix the government and economy. But if he did that, then he would no longer be able; to make movies and therefore would also make no money.
I’ll let you be the judge, but it’s pretty clear where this writer stands on the subject.Lethargic behavior is an epi-demic most institutions face. While students complain the work load is too much and they can not possibly get everything done, conceivably this could be solved if stu-dents spent more time paying attention in class and less time having a staring contest with the clock.
Moore DeceivingMichael Moore fights the very ideal that’s made him richMatthew FoxKentucky Kernel/Uwire
College students are not necessarily known for their keen sense of fashion. Ask anyone. When most people try to conjure up the image of a typical college student, they envision tousled, unruly hair, ratty sneakers, unwashed jeans and old sweatshirts. This student, let’s call him Jim, just got up five minutes ago and is late for class. He’s barely brushed his teeth, much less had the time to comb his hair. He doesn’t care about what people think. He’s a rebel, and the women love him for it. After all, it’s col-lege. Right? Of course, this descrip-tion does not apply to all of us. It is almost offensively stereotypical to say that most college students roll out of bed not caring how they appear to others. There are many students out there that take time and effort to look put-together.
Yet, we all know this im-age of the “typical” dishev-eled college student. We see Jim on campus everywhere, whether on our way to class or sitting in lecture. We know Jim. Some of us may even be Jim. But is it appropriate to dress that way on campus? I say no. Our parents, our college guidance counselors and those college brochures we all collected our senior year claim that college pre-pares you for the real world. In the real world, appearance does matter. Therefore, students should take some care in the way they dress for class. If profes-sors dress appropriately for class, why shouldn’t students? They should treat their classes as they would their jobs and dress accordingly.
I am not saying that we should wear pantsuits to class, and I am not saying we should dress as though we are
going to the Den, which is equally inappropriate. Clean jeans and a clean shirt are more than acceptable. But it’s more than the clothes we wear. Students should brush their hair, shower and wear clean clothes. We should take the time to look like we care. I understand the pres-sures that come with being a student. I understand that sometimes all you want to do is throw on a sweatshirt after a long night of studying. And this is perfectly accept-able once in a while. But it is completely inappropriate to do so everyday. And if you won’t do it for yourself, do it for the people in your class - it’s unbeliev-ably distracting trying to hold your breath throughout an entire class period because you’re trying not to smell the unshowered, unkempt hea-then sitting next to you
Ramya Vallabhaneni Johns Hopkins Newsletter/Uwire
Students, dress to impress
CampusThe RambleR | www.therambler.org September 30, 2009 | 3
Students gather to praise
T C B Catering“Taking Careof Business”
Chef Todd Brown(817) 821-1621 office
classes, so they get to know the Burleson students by name.
The system has worked well technologically during the year and a half it has been in place. Shetter remembers that there was one ocassion when a mechinacal glitch interrupted the live feedback in one class, but that was quickly resolved.
“Other than that,” Shetter said, “it has been reliable and trouble free.”
The new teleconferencing system has, up until now, been used solely in classrooms in Wesleyan’s school of busi-ness. However, a generous grant from Wesleyan friend and donor, Alfred Brown Jr. has allowed the university to expand the system to other areas.
It is now ready for use by the school of education, with the hardware and software now in place in Dan Waggoner Hall.
School of business secretary Chastiti Dixon said the sys-tem has mainly been utilized in business courses that do not involve group projects.
“So far it has not been used
in courses that involve a lot of outside the classroom, group-type projects, but that may change,” Dixon said in a telephone interview. “At this point, so early on, we are looking to see how it works out in larger applications in the school of education, then we may see different uses for business classes.”
Martinez sees the new vid-eo teleconferencing system having a much greater role at Wesleyan in the near future.
Martinez said future de-gree plans will allow students in other countries to do their coursework by a combination of live classrooms, video tele-
conferencing classrooms and online classes.
“Our goal is to use the sys-tem to expand our graduate programs beyond the Metro-plex,” Martinez said. “We’d like eventually to be able to use the technology to broad-cast Texas Wesleyan courses abroad.”
Martinez envisions degree plans that will allow students in other countries to do their coursework by a combination of live classrooms, video tele-conferencing classrooms and online classes.
Brown will be honored in a ceremony at 4 p.m. Oct. 1 on campus.
TECH continued from page 1
Jonathan Resendez| Rambler StaffStudents congregate and sing on the mall in front of the library for the annual See You at the Pole event.
Jonathan [email protected]
More than 30 students gathered on the steps of the library last Wednes-day to eat catered Italian food and wait for the beginning of this year’s See You at the Pole.
Scheduled for the fourth Wednesday of every September, this year’s See You at the Pole event was organized by Baptist Student Ministries.
Ashly Spencer, senior elementary education major and president of BSM, said the purpose of the ministry group is to give college students a chance to worship and help them find a church to be a part of.
“See You at the Pole is a day people can come together and pray for the school, community, nation and leaders of the nation,” she said.
Baptist Student Ministries also helps organize mission trips. In the past they have sent students on mission trips to Los Angeles and New York City. They hope to set up homeless ministries as well.
Spencer said the organization relies heavily on word of mouth to draw new members to their bible study luncheons, which sometimes feature guest speakers, every Wednesday at noon.
“The more people the better,” she said. “More people definitely came out this year.”
Kevin Doskocil, alumni and active BSM member, said Christian, non-Christian and all other denominations are welcome.
Amanda [email protected]
Advancement and alumni relations will host Wesleyan Fun(d) Day from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Louella Baker Martin Pavilion. A $5 contribution is good for a hot dog lunch.
Faculty and staff are encour-aged to come dressed in jeans and Wesleyan colors as extra incentive to participate.
The event supports the Wes-leyan Fund, which provides scholarships for students and funds programs at Wesleyan.
According to Leslie Anton-iel, director of annual giving, when the school applies for grants from corporations and foundations donations made by faculty, staff and alumni are looked at closely. Fun(d) Day is intended to kick-off the campaign for faculty and staff contributions.
“We ask that faculty and staff participate in giving back to the school through con-tributions to the Wesleyan Fund,” Antoniel said.
A vegetarian option is avail-able upon request.
Hot dog, it’s Fun(d) Day!
Kimberley [email protected]
JoAnn Moore, administra-tive assistant in the school of business is retiring Sept. 30 af-ter 15 years at Texas Wesleyan.
Moore said she had never really wanted to retire before now, but now, she felt the time was right.
“When the time was right, I would know it, and this is the time,” Moore said.
Moore will be joining her husband who has already re-tired. She said she will spend more time focusing and tak-ing care of her husband and
herself. Also, she has some upcoming surgeries and will especially need to take time for herself.
“I will miss the interaction with students and the faculty the most,” Moore said.
Chasiti Dixon is also the school of business’ admin-istrative assistant. She has worked with Moore for more than three years.
Dixon said her favorite thing about Moore is “listen-ing to her crazy stories and getting a chance to bond. What I will miss most about JoAnn is listening to her sing gospel.”
Texas Wesleyan is more than a place to work for Moore, it is a family. Moore’s own family also has a history with Texas Wesleyan. She has several family members who have attended Wesleyan, in-cluding her son, who earned bachelor’s and master’s de-grees from Wesleyan.
Despite her Sept. 30 retire-ment date, Moore could never abandon or forget about her Wesleyan family. She will be training and getting the new administrative assistant situ-ated. She said she will also be making visits to campus from time-to-time.
After long run, admin assistant set to retire
Self defenseKelly Neace, resident as-
sistant at Wesleyan Village, will host a hands-on self defense program at 8 p.m. Sept. 30 in the Wesleyan Village clubhouse. Chance Burleson, six degree black belt and owner of Legends Martial Arts Karate School, will present a program fo-cused on awareness and practical advice for staying safe.
Burleson suggests wear-ing comfortable clothing to move around in. The event is open to all and will offer free egg rolls and fried rice.
Benefit concertThe music department is
raising money for scholar-ships through an ensemble performance by Of Many Colors Oct. 2. Sponsored by Jan Fersing, Wesleyan trustee, the event will serve as the Fall President’s Coun-cil and Music Scholarship Benefit Concert.
The ensemble features a mix of professionals and amateurs and focuses on diversity. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. in Martin Hall with a reception to follow in the Louella Baker Martin Pavilion.
The performance and reception, as well as valet parking, are free and open to all. To RSVP, call 817-531-4404.
Wesleyan SundayWesleyan Sunday is Oct.
4. The annual celebration will take place at 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary of Polytechnic United Method-ist Church with a reception following in the Bragan Fel-lowship Hall.
Jesse Sowell, professor of religion, will deliver the ser-mon. The morning will also feature worship music by The Wesleyan Singers un-der the direction of Jerome Bierschenk, assistant profes-sor of music.
In Brief...
College Life4 | September 30, 2009 The RambleR | www.therambler.org
Students rebuild international clubJosephine [email protected]
International students are rallying together to raise cul-tural awareness on campus through the international club.
The international office an-ticipates organizing a meeting where the international club will be revived, new student leaders elected and social events organized.
“The club that will be re-established will have students taking leadership positions, as opposed to the former that was faculty led,” said Marie Boisvert, director of interna-tional programs.
The first international club was established in Septem-ber 2003 with a membership more than 60 students.
Initially the international club was formed as a point of contact for international stu-dents, led by President Caro-lyn McCarron who was origi-nally from Ireland.
This year, the club is hold-ing frequent meetings and an international week and fes-tivities.
“I want to make sure all international students enjoy their stay and study at Wes-leyan,” Boisvert said.
It is encouraging all inter-ested students, both local and international, to be part of it.
The current internation-al student adviser, Tami Brunelle, has lived in three different countries and has similar experiences to the international students she serves.
Many international stu-dents cannot wait for the club to come back.
“This will enable us to meet, interact and share our expe-
riences with others and help out each other, for it is not an easy thing moving into a whole new country,” said Toby Rachau, an international student from Germany and the Rams men’s soccer goal-keeper.
Another international stu-dent from China, Mo Xu, said that in the future, as a way of preparing new incoming international students, the international office should provide advisory services in terms of American culture and way of life.
“To psychologically prepare incoming students on what to expect,” Xu said.
The students may then share with others what they learned and get different views, once the club is re-established.
Xu also said that the club, once in operation, will con-duct frequent meetings, tours and fun activities to break the monotony of constant school work.
Ines Perhoc, an interna-tional student from Croatia, thinks that the club would provide answers to her many questions without having to schedule appointments with the international office.
“Scheduling appointments doesn’t work for me because I may forget about them and I also never have the time to e-mail for an appointment,” Perhoc said.
She said having an open day where her questions will be dealt with is the best foot for-ward for her, because she can talk to fellow international students in the same situation.
Senior business major Seth Nelson, who has been a mem-ber of the international club in the past, said he achieved a sense of global awareness and met people from many differ-ent countries.
Nelson said the club will help students on issues per-taining to international study guides and volunteer services.
The international club will host international week Oct. 19-23.
During the week the club will showcase diverse cultures from all the nations represent-ed in the school.
There will be free native food and information on study abroad programs. Both faculty and students are en-couraged to wear their native dress.
The international club wants both local and interna-tional students to participate.
“It is open to all, because it is about getting to know and appreciate all the diverse cul-tures this world has to offer,” Boisvert said.
For more information on the international club, contact Marie Boisvert at [email protected], or call the interna-tional office at 817- 531-5868.
Principals’ CenterWesleyan school of education sponsors center for local schools
Daniel [email protected]
Texas Wesleyan’s school of education is partnering with local school districts to form a new professional develop-ment center for principals and other school leadership professionals.
The Principals’ Center, a joint venture of Wesleyan and the National School Leaders Network, is intended to fa-cilitate mentorships between established, veteran school principals and people who are new to the job.
The center will not neces-sarily have an actual physical address on the Wesleyan cam-pus. Instead, it will be more of what school of education professor Dr. Twyla Miranda calls a “virtual concept” cen-ter.
Emphasis will be on using information technology to facilitate principalship men-toring, rather than providing an actual brick-and-mortar building.
Dr. Miranda said there will be occasions when the Prin-cipals’ Center will need to use physical space on campus for meetings and other events. On those occasions, Dr. Mi-randa said space will be made for such functions in Dan Waggoner Hall.
Dr. Carlos Martinez, board member of the program and school of education dean, said that the project will continue to be based at Texas Wesleyan, even though it is partners with principals from the National School Leaders Network.
“The center is technically located on the main campus, although we have not yet as-signed it a physical address yet”, Martinez said.
A board of directors com-prised of both Texas Wesleyan
school of education faculty and Fort Worth ISD officials, will lead the new Principals’ Center.
Miranda said the board will meet in conference sessions that may be either at the main campus or at schools in the area.
“When you have a meeting, Miranda said, “it is not re-ally that important where the meeting takes place.”
The new center held its first conference Sept. 24 in the Louella Baker Martin Pavil-lion.
The conference hosted a distinguished panel consist-ing of representatives from local school districts and col-leges, and Dr. Aileen Curtin, director of the doctor of edu-cation program at Wesleyan.
The panel discussed issues such as education reform in Texas and its effects.
Board member and Fort Worth ISD Director of Prin-cipals Dr. Josie Hernandez-Gutierrez said the board will publish a seasonal e-newslet-ter with regular updates.
The center will also have a Web site with a link on Texas Wesleyan’s homepage.
“The Web site is already up and linked to the university’s homepage and it is interac-tive,” Hernandez said. “It also offers a lot of resources for principals and other leaders.”
Board members from the Fort Worth ISD see even larg-er applications for the new center.
Meadowbrook Elementary Principal Francesca Cain believes that the center will eventually serve most, if not all, school districts in North Texas.
“We also plan to involve private and charter schools, as well as public,” Cain said.
“In addition, we intend to
use the site to do recruiting for our school of education’s doctoral program,” Cain said.
Miranda said that Texas Wesleyan became the home for the Principals’ Center be-cause of the university’s need to expand and improve exist-ing programs.
“We already had a principal preparation program as part of our master of education degree plan,” Miranda said, “and we also wanted to ex-pand our principal mentoring program.”
The project is also seen by Wesleyan officials as a way to generate publicity for the uni-versity, especially its school of education.
“The new center will be a great way for Wesleyan’s school of education to gain publicity and prestige in the local education community,” Miranda said.
Conner Howell| Rambler StaffDr. Carlos Martinez introduces panel members (left to right), Patricia Hardy, Dr. D. Mike Sacken, Dr. Melody Johnson, Dr. Gene Buinger and Dr. Aileen Curtin. The panel answered questions concerning education reform Sept. 24.
TEXAS
UN IVERS I TYWesleyan
You are Invited to AttendTexas Wesleyan University’s
1st Annual Graduate and Professional School Day!
When:Tuesday, October 13, 2009Where:University Mall AreaTime:11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Over 25 graduate & professional institutions will be distributing materials and applications!
Graduate and ProfessionalSchool Day!
“I want to make sure all international students enjoy their stay and study at Wesleyan.”
Marie BoisvertDirector of International Programs
Conner Howell | Rambler StaffDr. Twyla Miranda and Dr. Carlos Martinez are members of the board of directors that will supervise the new Principals’ Center.
Conner Howell | Rambler StaffDr. Jane Moore recognizes Laurin Krumnow for her achievements in sociology. Krumnow was one of many students honored at the Dean’s Honor Reception Sept. 22.
Making the Grade
Arts & EntertainmentThe RambleR | www.therambler.org September 30, 2009 | 5
Vampire epidemic: It sucksJohn [email protected]
Sinking their teeth into every young woman’s imagination and causing a global phenom-enon, vampires are a hot com-modity right now. Who do we have to thank for this? Stephe-nie Meyers, author of the popu-lar book series, Twilight.
Twilight’s success has spawned a revolution of un-necessary vampire fanatics into the mainstream. I’m sure you know of at least a few Häagen-Dazs-infused folks who are obsessed with the books or that awful excuse for a film.
I have no problems with vampires themselves. Like many other nerds out there, I owe my fondness of them to the brilliance that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its creator, Joss Whedon.
I’ve tried reading the Twlight books, but with each time I tried, I lost countless brain cells. Meyers is a dread-fully horrible writer who lacks imagination. The characters come off as one-dimensional, and the story line lacks excite-ment.
The character of Edward, for instance, comes off ex-traordinarily irritable and was the equivalent of the stereo-typical controlling boyfriend.
The character of Bella is spineless and annoying. The film was worse. It was admit-tedly somewhat enjoyable, but for all of the wrong reasons. I’d rather relive my Goose-bumps days than sit reading this garbage again.
In the vast sewage of pop-culture, vampire filth lies a winner who takes out the garbage and grabs you with an addictive bite. That winner is Sookie Stackhouse. Sookie Stackhouse or The Southern Vampire Mysteries is a popular book series by Charlaine Har-ris that helped launch HBO’s True Blood.
While the books are labeled as mystery or horror, they also
play out as a social commen-tary that is extrav-a g a n t l y p l o t t e d and dis-turbingly gripping. U n l i k e Me yers’, H a r r i s ’ series is fascinat-
ing and quite imaginative. Sookie Stackhouse is a true
heroine and a strong wom-an unlike Bella. HBO’s True Blood series is truly irresist-ible and just as good as the books, if not better. If you’re a Twilight fan out there waiting to sink you’re teeth into some-thing new, I highly suggest graduating to the next level with The Southern Vampire Mysteries or watching True Blood.
If that isn’t to your liking and you’re finding yourself going crazy while waiting for the next Twilight film in-stallment, I suggest checking out The CW’s new series The Vampire Diaries based on the book series by L.J. Smith.
I have seen the pilot and thought it was quite enjoy-able. I’m going to wait and see how the series plays out. It does come off a bit rehashed, making me feel like “I’ve seen this before” and turning into a kiddy-ride version of True Blood. Pun intended, Twilight sucks, feeling like a tickle, leaving you with a bad rash, whereas True Blood sucks like an actual vampire should.
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Chuck [email protected]
Wesleyan talent takes the stage
La Ronde (above) opens Oct. 1. The Theatre Wesleyan pro-duction is a racy period piece that concerns sex and social classes.
Of Many Colors (left and right) performs Oct. 2. It includes professionals as well as dedicated amateurs.
Photo courtesy of Cinamatical The Twilight vampires suck. I mean, just look at that guy.
Photo courtesy of IGN imagesTrue Blood features vampire love done right.
This weekend, Wesleyan kicks off two fantastic fall shows. One sings and dances; the other loves and romances.
Theatre Wesleyan opens for its first show of the season, La Ronde. It is a racy period piece that concerns sex and the social classes. Characters go from scene to scene (and bed to bed) as they use negotiation and manipulation in their quest for fornication.
Directed by theater professor Jeanne Everton and starring theater students ranging from freshmen to seniors, La Ronde promises to be a tantalizing affair you’ll want to have over and over again (don’t worry, we won’t tell…).
La Ronde runs Oct. 1-3 and Oct. 8-11 in the Thad Smother-man Theatre. Thursday through Saturday performances are at 7:30 p.m. with one matinee at 2 p.m. Oct. 11.
Tickets are $8 for general admission, $6 for all Wesleyan facul-ty and staff, $4 for all students with ID and seniors 65 and older. Call the box office at (817) 531-4211 for more information.
On Oct. 2 in Martin Hall the Fall President’s Council and Music Scholarship Benefit Concert gets underway.
It features the ensemble Of Many Colors, a lively group of performers who are just as diverse in their musical ability as they are in ethnicity. Of Many Colors features 12 vocalists and five jazz musicians making for one marvelous musical experi-ence.
The ensemble includes professional as well as dedicated amateurs coming together to fill Martin Hall with their talent.
The Fall President’s Council and Music Scholarship Benefit Concert starts at 7:30 p.m. with an after-party in the Louella Baker Martin Pavilion. The concert, valet parking and after-party are all free of charge. To RSVP, call 817-531-4404.
Photos courtesy Of Many Colors
Photo courtesy Theatre Wesleyan
Sports6 | September 30, 2009 The RambleR | www.therambler.org
“Any time Detroit scores more than 100 points and holds the other team below 100 points, they almost always win.”
Doug CollinsFormer NBA player and coach
Rams into the record books:Men’s soccer ranked No. 24Jacqueline [email protected]
The Texas Wesleyan Uni-versity men’s soccer team broke into the national rank-ings for the first time in his-tory on Sept. 15.
The Rams ended up as No. 24 in the NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.
The Rams kicked off the year with the best start in the program’s history and tied the school record for the longest winning streak at 6-0.
“The team deserved the record for a six game win-ning streak and to be nation-ally ranked,” Head Coach Josh Gibbs said. “They put in all the work and deserved the re-sults.”
The Rams moved to No. 24 in the coaches’ polls—the first ranking in the history of Texas Wesleyan Men’s Soccer—after only receiving votes but no making the rankings the pre-vious week. The Rams totaled 157 votes through games played Sept. 13. The poll was voted on by a panel of head coaches representing each conference, independents and unaffiliated groups.
Gibbs calls this squad the most committed team since his arrival in 2006.
“All the credit goes to the players,” he said. “With inju-
ries, changes in lineups and alternation between two ex-ceptional goalkeepers, the team adjusted and accepted what needed to be done.”
After defeating then sixth-
ranked Oklahoma City Uni-versity 2-1 on Sept. 8 and Bethany College 1-0 on Sept. 11, the men tied the school re-cord for the longest winning streak at 6-0 with the 1993
squad.“I am grateful to be a part of
a team with such great play-ers that are working hard to-ward the same goal—to win a championship,” said Senior
Forward Theo Nabassi. “With our determination, I think we will continue to accomplish great things.”
Texas Wesleyan becomes the 122nd school in the na-
tion to be ranked in the Top 25 since 2000.
“It’s a good achievement to be noticed and ranked in the country, but we’re not satis-fied,” said Senior Midfielder John Kuethe. “We’re motivat-ed to go for more and achieve greatness throughout our en-tire season.”
Booting Kentucky’s Uni-versity of the Cumberlands to No. 25, the Rams trailed 23rd-ranked Bellevue Uni-versity. With 650 votes, Bethel University of Tennessee was at No. 1.
The Rams are looking to carry on with record-break-ing success by focusing on one game at a time and con-tinuing to push forward.
“This is special for the en-tire team,” said the goalkeeper and captain, senior Toby Ro-chau. “I hope that this early ranking will drive us to reach our overall goal of going to the national tournament in November.”
This year, with 19 return-ers, the team holds a different mentality and a new outlook on life. “They decided to work hard and believe in each oth-er,” Gibbs said. “We are seeing the benefits of that.” With an overall record of 8-6-2 last season, the Rams are off to a great start this year with a re-cord of 7-2-0.
Rams Golf team returns to actionJoakim [email protected]
As one of the strongest NAIA programs in the na-tion, the Wesleyan golf team is looking to add an-other chapter of success.
“It is what motivates me the most,” Coach Bobby Cornett said. “We have a very strong tradition of success here at Wesleyan and plan on being continu-ally competitive on a na-tional level.”
Losing graduating se-niors and national tourna-ment participants Kevin Doskocil and Carlos Are-nas, Cornett returns three players from the team that finished second at last year’s national championships.
Junior Armando Villar-real finished second indi-vidually at nationals and received third-team All-American honors last year. Villarreal, senior Drew Koonce and junior Stuart Martin return this year with valuable experience.
Koonce is looking for-ward to a successful sea-son.
“The only way to get bet-ter from last year is to win,” he said. “Coach leads us in the right direction, and it is up to us to finish it.”
As the Rams took New-man University to a play-off at Abilene Christian’s Charles Coody West Texas Intercollegiate in the first tournament of the year, Koonce finished second in-dividually.
“He showed great com-posure despite lots of pres-sure,” Cornett said. “It is important to have players who don’t get overwhelmed by the magnitude of the competition.”
Both Villarreal and Mar-tin turned in solid score cards from the tournament as well.
Joining the returning core this year are sopho-more Derek Brown and freshmen Aaron Canavan, Frazer Ogston, and Dillon Watkins.
“Frazer has already shown that he can play,” Cornett said. “He grew up
in a great golf atmosphere at St. Andrews golf course in Scotland. He takes con-trol of a situation rather than letting circumstances decide his destiny.”
On the coaching side, Bill Myers stepped up to become an assistant coach, and Ronnie Rosson has joined to become the direc-tor of instruction, allow-ing for further one-on-one refinement of the players’ skills.
Having a great mixture of returning experience and
new talent, as well as a larg-er coaching staff at his dis-posal, Cornett is looking to play as heavy of a schedule as possible with only one thing on his mind.
“Everything we do is in preparation for nationals,” he said. “Sure, it would have been nice to win the first tournament, but when it comes down to it, all that matters is where we are at nationals.”
In the fall, the Rams will participate in a preview tournament in Silvis, Ill.,
the site of the 2010 national championship, at the same course where they finished runner-up behind Okla-homa Christian University.
“The more experience the players have from the course, the less intimidat-ing it is,” Cornett said. Re-turning junior Stuart Mar-tin agrees.
“Having played the course twice already last year and once again this fall is perfect,” he said. “It is like we have been preparing for the upcoming nationals for
two years.”According to Cornett,
not many teams manage to deliver back-to-back years of excellent results.
“Golf is a funny game,” he said. It really doesn’t mat-ter whether you have the best team or not. You never know what you will get.”
The strong tradition of success for the Wesleyan golf team begs to diff. Or, perhaps it just comes down to how Cornett sees it.
“You just have to bite the bullet and do it.”
Game Time/Place
Thursday
Volleyball vs.SW Assemblies of God UniversityMen’s Soccer vs.Bacone CollegeWomen’s Soccer vs.Bacone College
7 p.m.Waxahachie
7 p.m.Muskogee9 p.m.Muskogee
Saturday
Volleyball vs.Bacone CollegeVolleyball vs.University of St. ThomasMen’s Soccer vs.Texas CollegeWomen’s Soccer vs.Texas College
11 a.m.Sid W. Rich.1 p.m.Sid W. Rich.
2 p.m.Tyler3 p.m.Tyler
Upcoming Sports
WesleyanWeek-in-Sports
•The Lady Rams Volleyball’s Destiny Clemons and Kris-ten Venhuizen were selected to last weekend’s Wesleyan Hughes Volleyball Classic. The Lady Rams, after finishing 1-3 in their own tournament, began conference play on home court last week. They lost 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-20) to Wiley College on Sept. 25 before making a quick recov-ery, beating first Jarvis Christian College 3-0 (25-7, 25-12, 25-9) followed by Texas College 3-0 (25-4, 25-4, 25-13) on Sept. 26. The Lady Rams are now 7-10 overall and 2-1 in conference.
•Lady Rams Soccer went to Arkansas to take on John Brown University in their final contest before conference play. The Lady Rams lost 1-0 on a late goal. Goalkeeper Katy houchin made seven saves in the loss. The Lady Rams are now 6-3.
•The Rams Soccer team did not manage to cope with John Brown University but lost 3-0 after allowing three goals in the first half. The Rams are now 7-2 when heading to Oklahoma on Oct. 1 to face Bacone College in their first conference game.
•The Rams Golf team hosted the 12th annual O.D. Bounds Gold Classic at Diamond Oaks Country Club on Sept. 21. The tournament featured 35 teams and 139 individuals and raised a total of approximately $20,000, benefits that will proceed the O.D. Bounds Endowment. The Blue division was won by the foursome of Reed Petrie, Kyle Finkler, Stuart Martin and Billy Privette with a score of 119. The Gold division was won by the foursome of Mashall Barton, Benny Hamilton, Jack Kell and Johnny Pilcher after a scorecard playoff with a score of 136.
The Weekly Sports Quote
Laura Rosser | Rambler StaffFreshman Frazer Ogston.
Laura Rosser | Rambler StaffThe men’s soccer team practices at Martin Field before leaving for Arkansas to play John Brown University.
7-7 Flag Football StandingsName Wins Loses TP Scored TP Against ByesPickles 2 0 93 18 0
BOHICA 2 0 14 0 0
TapOut 1 1 47 57 0
Twisters 1 1 7 7 0
1 L's 0 2 18 83 0
Pink Dragons 0 2 0 14 0
Fantasy FootballPig Skin Pick'Em
Leaderboard Name Pts.June Johnson 25Jeremy Newton 23Ryan Amador 23Rachel Loftin 23Michael Greer 22Fabiola Duron 22Erik Hall 22Terry Waldrop 21Jason Simpson 21Phillip Blockinger 21Cara Lumpkin 21Justin Payne 21Sandy Gonzalez 21Barbara Kirby 20Ken Flowers 20Keith Wright 20Oscar Lazarki 20Michael Chaney 20Michael Wylie 19Kyle Morgan 18Trey Bomar 18Randy Pistorious 18