OpiniOn2 | September 9, 2009 The RambleR | www.therambler.org

Jonathan Resendez, news editor Laurence Sheehan, opinion editor Conner Howell, college life editor Joakim Soederbaum, sports editor Chuck Fain, entertainment editorLaura Rosser, photo editorRachel Horton, multimedia editor Daniel Bravo, advertising managerLaShawnda Mayhorn, assistant editorKelli Lamers, adviserDr. Kay Colley, faculty liaison

Member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association, Associated Collegiate Press, College Media Advisers,College Newspaper Business and Advertising Managers, Student Press Law Center

Opinions expressed in The RambleR are those of the individual authors only and do not neces-sarily reflect the views of he Texas Wesleyan community as a whole.

Letters to the editor: The RambleR, a weekly publication welcomes all letters. All submissions must have a full printed name, phone number and signature. While every consideration is

made to publish letters, publication is limited by time and space. The editors reserve the right to edit all submissions for space, grammar, clarity and style. Letters to the editor may be subject to response from editors and students on the opinion page.

Address all correspondence to:Texas Wesleyan UniversityThe RambleR1201 Wesleyan St.Fort Worth, TX 76105twurambler@yahoo.comTo contact The RambleR

(817) 531-7552

Advertising Inquiries:(817) 531-7582

RambleR Contributions Please send all news briefs to twurambler@yahoo.com. Submissions due by noon Friday to see brief in the following week’s issue.

The RambleRFounded in 1917 as The Handout

Publisher: Harold G. Jeffcoat

What did you do for Labor Day weekend?

Derrick Rousell, freshman kinesiology

“I went to Houston and spent time with my

family.”

Chelsea Covington,sophomore biology

“Hung out with my parents and watched a lot

of football.”

Bruce Fondren,freshman business

“Hung out with friends”

Elizabeth Curtis, sophomore psychology

“Worked on homework at home.”

Student loans slashed after FDIC sells out American banks

Facebooked Social networking sites can ruin your life

If you’re like most, you have a profile on Facebook … or Myspace or Bebo, and/or any number of Web sites that allow you to put personal in-formation on the Web for the world to see – and the world is watching.

This isn’t to say that one shouldn’t have an account on one of these sites. I have one myself and have found long-lost friends, gained exposure for some of my writing, and it helps me keep in contact with those I care about. Used prop-erly, these social networking sites can be a valuable tool to help keep one’s world con-nected.

They also have the power to destroy one’s world.

Has anyone on Facebook actually read their terms of use policies? Neither have I, not completely, anyway. Who has time for that? Well, if we would have taken the time to read what we were agreeing to, we might not have been so eager to post that drunken picture of ourselves … covered in shaving cream … wearing a dress … with phal-luses crudely drawn all over our face in magic marker.

According to CNN.com, Facebook’s current terms of use states that “an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, world-

wide license (to)...use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create de-rivative works, and distribute material.” This is, of course, if you don’t have your account set to private.

Facebook also reserves the right to keep any informa-

tion posted on the site (posts, photos, notes) after you have deleted them and/or you ac-count. The Consumerists, a consumer watchdog blog, said Facebook was basically say-

ing, “We can do anything we want with your content. For-ever.” Keep that in mind the next time you post that funny picture of yourself hitting a four-foot bong and flipping off the camera – you never know who might end up seeing it, even if you deleted it.

Employers, too, have been known to troll these social networking sites in search of

personal information on cur-rent and perspective employees – and more are doing it every day. CBS News correspon-dent Sharyn Alfonsi recently reported that “an increasing

number of potential employ-ers are accessing these profiles — and using them to decide whom they hire.”

Sure, one can argue that em-ployers have no right to access someone’s personal informa-tion. By law, employers can’t ask about religious, political or sexual preferences so that these personal matters don’t affect one’s chance of employment – but what’s to stop them from finding all of this out on one of these sites? True, this informa-tion is personal, but it is posted in a public forum. Even if one’s account is set to private, there are ways to access the informa-tion.

Should your wild weekend at the club have any effect on the job you do during the sober hours of the week? Of course not. Do employers look for such things and make that judgment anyway? Of course they do.

I’m not advocating that we all flee from networking sites, just that we’re cautious about what we post. Even if it is de-leted, the information can still be retrieved, or copied some-where or on someone else’s page with your name attached to it. Be smart about what you post, you never know who will see it – and what they’ll do with it.

Courageous Kennedy brightened the corners

Edward “Ted” Kennedy was a man who was never scared of proclaiming himself a liberal. In the political arena he would stare his adversaries in the eyes while showing no fear in telling them they were wrong. Kennedy was often referred to as “The Lion of the Senate” and was known for having a heart on the Senate floor. Despite having personal setbacks during his reign in the senate seat, his goals were always in the best interests of the common man.

Ted Kennedy was elected into the Senate in 1962 to fill the void his brother John F. Kennedy had left. He was senator of Massachusetts from 1962 until his unfortu-nate death Aug. 25.

Looking past his flaws, I always find myself in awe of Ted Kennedy. He passed an estimated 3,000 bills through-out his career. Many of those bills became law. In 1965, the National Voting Rights was authored by Kennedy and signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The act strictly banned any kind of discrimi-natory voting practices. He would later expand on these acts and reform them.

In 1986, the Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals Act was also authored by Kennedy. The act helped establish protec-tion for those with signifi-cant mental illnesses against mistreatment from organiza-tions.

If you think that’s impres-sive, he also secured the release of many Jews in the Soviet Union. He rallied

to the bitter end and sup-ported for a strong alliance with leaders in Poland. He expanded ideas for The Civil Rights Movement. Kennedy had a hard fight but man-aged to end the U.S. military support for death squads in South and Central America.

Kennedy fought for peace in Northern Ireland, pushed for prisoner releases in Korea and continued to make a huge difference in the quality of life for all Americans. Ken-nedy saw an importance in the American people and had their best interests at heart.

On the night of July 18, 1969, a fatal tragedy took place that would forever change how Americans would view Kennedy. He had reportedly been driving un-der the influence of alcohol while accompanied with a young woman named Mary Jo Kopechne who worked on his brother Robert’s presiden-tial campaign. He lost control of the car and it flipped over into Poucha Pond on Chap-paquiddick Island. Kennedy was fortunate to escape and find his way to safety. Sadly, Kopechne was not.

It’s a crying shame that some will not forgive him for something he did more than 40 years ago. His life might have seemed like one of a Greek Tragedy with many personal foibles, but one thing remains that will never change -- his great courage.

I hope we can all agree that his service for this country will not be forgotten. His legacy will continue to live on for future generations.

The first week of school is always filled with some sort of excitement -- not enough books, change of professors, a closed parking lot and a Texas-based bank seized by the FDIC. Guaranty Bank, an Austin-based institution, was closed by federal regulators Aug. 21, and all of its assets were sold to BBVA Compass.

To the naked eye, Guaranty just seems like it’s another failed bank, and BBVA Compass is just another local bank growing in line with JP Morgan and Wells Fargo. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Compass Bank became relevant in North Texas in 1999 when Compass bought Texas Bank for $85 million. A legitimate sale before the downfall of the banking

system. However, in 2007, without much notice, Ala-bama-based Compass Bank sold out to the Spanish-held Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argen-taria S.A. for a $9.6 billion cash and stock deal.

Why should this concern you? Compass Bank cut their student loan program in early 2009. To this editor, it shows me the Spaniards have no interest in assisting American students in their educational process, but they do enjoy counting our money.

The acquisition of Guar-anty moves BBVA Compass to the fourth largest bank in Texas. The FDIC is covering the initial 80 percent of the first $2.3 billion losses and then 95 percent of the losses above that.

The good side of all this

could be that it will take BBVA Compass sometime to recoup its losses. Guaranty has been hurting from nearly $1.5 billion in mortgage write-offs, mostly based out of its California branches.

So with a foreign investor, the money doesn’t come out of our pocket. If the plan fails all together, the FDIC can say, “Well, we tried,” and leave BBVA Compass holding the bag.

My thought process is simple: We are experienc-ing a financial crisis in this country, and rather than let an American-held company have the bank or bail this bank out, we sell it to an over-seas buyer. It’s the Wal-Mart syndrome all over again. If Wal-Mart sold American-made goods, we might not

be hurting so much, and unemployment wouldn’t still be going up.

Like many people, I was a fan of Obama. I still am, but I just don’t like his politics or what he is allowing to occur in Washington. His adminis-tration, as well as the FDIC, is failing to protect the value of the American dollar. The Euro is still stronger then the dollar at about 1.43 to our $1, and only going up.

Our country is slipping away as the Roman Empire did, but instead of invading hordes of barbarians, we have invading hordes of foreign capitalist. Don’t be surprised if another local bank is seized and sold off to a foreign investor.

Laurence J.S.ljsheehan@mail.txwes.edu

Chuck Faincmfain@mail.txwes.edu

John Liontosjcliontos@mail.txwes.edu

“By law, employers can’t ask about religious, political or sexual preference...

but what’s to stop them from finding all this out on one of these sites?”

CampusThe RambleR | www.therambler.org September 9, 2009 | 3

Ashley Oldhamanoldham@mail.txwes.edu

Ice and 30-degree weather will not glaze the roads or whirl onto campus anytime soon. This means Josh Mc-Dowell, established Christian author and speaker, will make up his previously scheduled January lecture at 7 p.m. on Sept. 14 at the Polytechnic United Methodist Church.

McDowell’s presentation is part of the annual Wilson Lecture Series that seeks to bring outstanding faith-based speakers to campus. In his lec-ture, McDowell will highlight the importance of relation-ships between young adults and their parents—using this concept as a basic foundation for an individual’s belief in Je-sus Christ.

“It is relationships that en-gender a person’s beliefs, that form our values, that drive behavior,” McDowell said in a previously recorded lecture.

“Rules without relation-ships lead to rebellion,” he said. “Kids don’t respond to rules, they respond to rules in the context of a loving, inti-mate relationship.”

Dr. Gladys Childs, visiting assistant professor and former chaplain at Texas Wesleyan University for six years, said

she booked McDowell be-cause of his well-known repu-tation in Christian apologet-ics, the practice of defending, or proving, Christianity.

Childs said McDowell will benefit those who are ques-tioning their faith and the Bible because he is talented in explaining the questions people have and will provide fresh concepts that people may not have thought of be-fore.

“McDowell’s visit is a good opportunity for Wesleyan and the community and a big draw for people who appre-ciate Christian apologetics,” said Elizabeth Crumpton, senior religion major and secretary to the chaplain. “His ministries do many wonder-ful things, and he does a lot to bring the message of Christ to a lot of different people.”

All varieties of individuals are welcome to this event as the lecture is free and open to the public.

According to Crumpton, “no matter what end of the spectrum you fall on,” wheth-er you are a believer or not, “it is always valuable to hear from a respected voice of the community.”

With 47 years of experience, McDowell has given more than 24, 000 lectures in 108

countries and is the author or co-author of 108 books. Mc-Dowell is the founder of the Josh McDowell Ministry, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ, International.

According to the Web site, the Josh McDowell Minis-try “focuses on serving and equipping churches, pastors, families and people every-where in raising generations of purpose-driven Christians who know what they believe, why it is true, and how to live out their Christian faith.”

More information about McDowell and his ministry can be found at www.josh.org.

Miguel ArreguinAmanda Edmondsonmarreguin@mail.txwes.eduaedmondson@txwes.edu

Students, faculty and trust-ees came together in the Poly-technic United Methodist Church sanctuary to officially open the school year with the 17th annual Academic Con-vocation Sept. 1.

Amy Batheja, communi-cations specialist for Texas Wesleyan University, said the purpose of the Convocation is to provide “an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to gather and reflect of the nature of their mission for the year … to receive, provide and support a comprehensive higher education.”

The Convocation featured speeches from Dr. Pam Rast, chair of faculty council; Heath Scott, president of Student Government Association and guest speaker Dr. Judith Carrier, president of Tarrant County College’s Southeast Campus.

Rast welcomed the students to a new year while encourag-ing them to “savor the experi-ence” of Wesleyan.

“Find a professor with

whom you connect and take advantage of their wisdom,” Rast said.

Her remarks set the stage for Scott, who spoke from the perspective of a student still in the process of his Wesleyan experience and ready to sup-port growth and change. He began by emphasizing his commitment to the univer-sity.

“This year will be built on the tested formula of hard work, determination and per-severance,” he said.

He also encouraged stu-dents to share his attitude and vision for the future of Wes-leyan.

“Summer has given us a chance to renew our determi-nation, reignite our passion and consolidate our strength,” Scott said.

“We all share a stake in the

future and promise of Texas Wesleyan.”

Finally, University Presi-dent Dr. Harold Jeffcoat in-troduced Carrier as the key-note speaker, chosen not only because of her position as president of the TCC South-east Campus but also because of her longstanding influence throughout the North Texas area.

“Few people have had the opportunity to impact the community like Judith Car-rier,” Jeffcoat said.

The mood changed when Carrier took the stage. She poked fun at Jeffcoat and got the biggest laugh from the afternoon’s crowd. She spoke expressively to both faculty and students.

Carrier began by talking about the Benoit College Mindset List, which was re-ceived with laughter by the older members of the crowd who understood its humor more personally.

“To them, the Green Giant has always been Shrek, not the big guy picking vegetables,” she said, speaking of the grad-uating class of 2013.

She talked about the chang-es in the world and how the students of today were in the greatest position to facilitate change in the future.

“Your parents affected change because they could; you will affect change because you have to,” Carrier said.

She spoke of how today’s technology has changed rap-idly from what it once was

and now people have the abil-ity to not only impact their lo-cal community and even the country, but also the world

through their instant reach through the Internet.

“Don’t be overwhelmed,” she said. “Every problem has

been solved one tiny piece at a time.”

Convocation kicks off fall semester

questions from security.“Gamma Phi Beta was having a recruitment practice for rush next week,” said Rebecca Moore,

sophomore English major and member of the sorority. “And we called security to lock it up, and they never showed up, and they had left the SUB open. We didn’t even go out the SUB door, but now they’re trying to blame it on us.”

Two student center employees said they were told to remain “hush-hush” about the break in and preferred not to speak.

“It looks bad on campus, which is why no one talks about it,” Moore said. “It looks bad and transfers to the students and it makes less people want to come here.”

Bill Bleibdrey, senior vice president of finance, said although there is always room for improve-ment, the crime at Wesleyan is no worse than other schools.

“Our campus statistics are as good as any other schools’ in the Metroplex,” he said.

$$Rams Stimulus $$Package

• Monday: Chick Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

• Tuesday: Two Enchiladas, Refried Beans & Rice

• Wednesday: Hamburger, Fries & Small Drink

• Thursday: Loaded Baked Potato

• Friday: Grilled Chicken Club

• Saturday Grilled Ham & Cheese, Small Salad

Only $3.99!Hours of OperationMonday- Thursday: 7:30 a.m. - 7 p.m.Friday: 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 2 p.m.Sunday: closed

Only @ the Sub:Located in the Brown-Lupton Student Center

BREAK-IN continued from page 1

Andie Massingill | Rambler StaffFaculty officially commence the school year at Convocation.

Christian author first to speakat fall Wilson Lecture Series

www.josh.orgJosh McDowell

“To them, the Green Giant has always been Shrek, not the big guy picking vegetables.”

Dr. Judith CarrierPresident of TCC Southeast

Andie Massingill| Rambler StaffThe 17th annual Convocation takes place in Polytechnic United Methodist Church.

College Life4 | September 9, 2009 The RambleR | www.therambler.org

Mentorship program helps students connectConner Howellmhowell@mail.txwes.edu

The Texas Wesleyan men-torship program wants men-tors and mentees for this fall semester.

The program pairs first year transfer students (men-tees) with current Wesleyan student, faculty or staff (men-tors) to help transfer students adjust to their new digs at Wesleyan.

“The program offers trans-fer students [the chance] to meet people with common interests, to make friends and to learn about what Wesleyan has to offer,” said Blair Ensign, transfer liaison and coordina-tor of new student programs.

The program matches men-tors and mentees on different levels of compatibility, mean-ing that similar majors, class-es, hobbies and even favorite foods are all criteria for pair-ing the right mentor with the right mentee.

Ensign explained that once assigned, both participants schedule meetings with each other via e-mail or phone over the course of the semes-ter. The students can meet for lunch, form a study group or do what works best for them. The school also provides in-centives for students to meet such as free tickets to Wes-leyan games, shows and even tickets to Bass Hall perfor-mances.

Through the meetings men-tors act as guides to their counterparts, providing in-formation about the campus, organizations, classes, fields of study and their overall ex-perience at Wesleyan. But the meetings are intended to build relationships as well.

Paula Turnage, senior and mentor this semester, said she became involved with the

program because she wanted to be there for a new student because she was once one too.

“I want to be able to con-nect,” she said.

According to Ensign, reten-tion is one of the main focuses of the program, and through their connections, she hopes transfer students can feel more comfortable at Wesleyan.

“If a student feels that some-one knows them, it makes their experience [at Wesley-an] more memorable,” Ensign said.

But mentees have their own reasons for joining the

program too. Craig Meeke, a junior transfer student, said the program was a network-ing opportunity. Meeke trans-ferred from Tarrant County College’s northeast campus and said he wants to take ad-vantage of the many student resources provided at Wes-leyan.

“Wesleyan has a good stu-dent ratio, lots of services, and I wanted to tap into every-thing possible,” Meeke said.

For more information on the mentorship program con-tact Blair Ensign at bensign@txwes.edu or 817-531-4923.

“If a student feels that someone knows them it makes their experience [at Wes-

leyan] more memorable.”Blair EnsignTransfer Liaison

Three friends find refuge and opportunity at Texas Wesleyan University

Andie Massingilladmassingill@mail.txwes.edu

On the four-year anniversa-ry of Hurricane Katrina, three students embark on a new beginning at Texas Wesleyan this semester.

In 2006, Chelsay Blake, 19, came to Texas with her par-ents from Alexandria, La., and she transferred to Texas Wesleyan. Blake’s parents both work on campus – her mother, Felisa Barnes, is head of security, and her father, Jo-

seph Barnes, is head of food services.

Their family is growing. This summer, Blake brought

two friends from Louisiana to attend Wesleyan. Perry Banks Jr., 23, and LaDedrick Minni-field, 20, are beginning their academic journey this semes-ter after several years of work-ing.

Long-time friends with Banks’ and Minnifield’s par-ents, the Barnes’ are now their godparents.

“We are thrilled to be able

to offer this opportunity to the boys,” Felisa said.

Blake brought her friends Banks and Minnifield not only to a new state, but also into a new family.

This is not a conventional family, but they have found refuge together since their move to Fort Worth after Hurricane Katrina.

“There are not a lot of ed-ucational opportunities in northern Louisiana like there are here,” Felisa said.

All full-time students this

fall, Blake, Banks and Min-nifield are seeking four-year degrees.

“I want to be the next Will Smith,” Banks said. He is working toward a degree in theater and said he loves hav-ing his teacher, Joe Brown’s, cell phone number for when he has questions.

Blake is on a similar path. She is planning to go into

acting and screenwriting and wants to teach drama.

“This semester is keeping me on my toes with four the-

ater classes,” Blake said.But she doesn’t stop there.“Working on the Wesleyan

dance line keeps me very busy,” she said.

Minnifield is pursuing a dif-ferent course of study.

He is studying exercise sci-ence while also playing shoot-ing guard for the Wesleyan Rams on the junior varsity team. He hopes to be a col-lege basketball coach when he completes his degree.

The three students said they have enjoyed their first weeks

of this semester. All living in Wesleyan Village, they’re building a family.

Minnifield likes the study groups that have formed with the cheerleaders, dancers and athletes.

“The people are friendly and we have all been getting real close since Ram Camp,” he said.

Felisa said she is thank-ful for the opportunity at her “kids” have at Wesleyan.

Perry Banks Jr., Felisa Barnes, Chelsay Blake and LaDedrick Minnifield now call Wesleyan home.Andie Massingill | Rambler Staff

Andie Massingill | Rambler StaffMelody Fowler talks to new international transfer students about Wesleyan

Weathering the storm

Arts & EntertainmentThe RambleR | www.therambler.org September 9, 2009 | 5

Arlington tastes a lot like home

Come fly with meQuidditch comes to college campuses

Chuck Faincmfain@mail.txwes.edu

What sport combines cleats, safety goggles and brooms? Quidditch, the game played by wizards in the Harry Potter universe, which has now found its way onto college campuses. This isn’t just fanboy pos-turing in which obses-sive geeks live out their escapism fantasies – not completely, anyway. An article in Paste maga-zine said the sport attracts the obsessive and passive fans alike. It’s not your nor-mal geek sport, either.

The Quidditch phenom-enon isn’t played in a dark basement with dice or dun-geons drawn on paper. It is “full contact Quidditch” and those brave broom-riding souls have the scrapes, sprains and broken bones to prove it.” But how do muggles manage to execute a game that involves magically fly-ing around on brooms? Like geeks fulfill their fantasies, of course – they pretend.

The game is played like this: Each team has seven players on the field at a time. Three of the team’s players

are “chasers” who try to score by tossing the “quaffle” (a semi-deflated volleyball) into one of the other team’s three elevated hoops (usually hula hoops) on either side of the field.

Each team also has two “beaters” who throw “bludgers” (semi-deflated dodge balls) at opposing team members trying to score. If a player is hit with a “bludger,” he must drop his “quaffle” and run around the goal to simulate falling from one’s broom in mid-flight.

Both sides also have a “seeker,” which is the infa-mous Harry Potter’s posi-

tion, whose job is to find the “snitch.” “Snitches” are usu-ally cross-country or track athletes, dressed in all yellow, who have free reign of the campus. They wear a sock stuffed with a tennis ball in the back of their waistband, which is the object of de-sire for the “seekers.” Once a “seeker” snatches the sock from the “snitch,” the game is over.

Sound fun? College stu-dents from all over the coun-try seem to think so.

“It’s good being that kid who plays Quidditch because it’s so phenomenally ridicu-lous and yet so amazingly fun,” said Vassar’s team cap-tain David Bridgman-Packer in the New York Daily News. “What Quidditch lets you do is get a great workout, have a great time and meet people who are just as nerdy as you are.”

Renowned colleges from all over the country are partici-pating in Quidditch matches. Princeton, LSU, Vassar and the reigning champions of the Intercollegiate Quidditch World Cup (yes, you read that right) the Middlebury Panthers are just a few of the 150 or so college teams

around the United States. Even our neighbors to the north have caught Quidditch fever as Canada’s McGill University also has a team of brazen broom jockeys.

The sport has become so big, there is now a (semi) organized governing body called the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association. It sanctions teams, organizes events, records wins and losses and even has an offi-cial rule book laying out all the finer details of the game. The rule book is only avail-able online through special request – serious Quidditch inquiry only.

The IQA also has a Web site, collegequidditch.com, with team profiles and pic-tures, news updates and a history of the sport. There is also a Facebook page for the IQA, and for just about ev-ery other college Quidditch team, providing more infor-mation that one can stand about college Quidditch.

For all their sanctions, organized committees and rules, those involved in the

sport do realize they are play-ing out a fictional game from a children’s book while wear-ing capes and pretending to fly.

“When you’re running around on a broom, it’s just so wonderfully silly that you can’t take the sport too seri-ously, so you can’t get too worked up about attacking other people,” Bridgman-Packer said in Paste maga-zine.

A mass collection of vid-eo is available online. Just a quick Google or You Tube search for “Quidditch” re-veals more than the average muggle can handle – and it is definitely worth a look. Whether you’re laughing with them or at them, their numbers continue to in-crease, which would seem to indicate that Quidditch is here to stay. So get out your brooms, dust off that quaffle, and find yourself a snitch – it’s time to turn the mall into a Quidditch court.

Dust your brooms off, Wesleyan - let’s fly.

Photo by Kate OlenoQuidditch players go for the gold...en snitch.

Chuck Faincmfain@mail.txwes.edu

Loosen up your belts. The 27th annual Taste of Arlington rolls around again this year Oct. 6. The event will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Arlington Convention Center, 1200 Ballpark Way. There’s free parking, a si-lent auction, a Big Board auc-tion, live music by local rock band Bentli and, of course, food as far as the eye can see. Taste of Arlington is an all-you-can-eat event with tasty wares from all over the city. Proceeds benefit youth pro-grams for Arlington chapter YMCAs and Theatre Arlington. “It’s for such a good cause, and the food is always fan-tastic,” said Joleta Waldrop, local resident and supporter of the arts. “I have discov-ered several new restaurants there that have made their way into my regular rotation.” A complete list of restaurants on hand to dish out the goods is available online. These are but a few of the participants tempt-ing your taste buds: Atlanta Bread Company, Birraparetti’s Colters, Freebirds, Fuzzy’s Taco, Hooters, PF Chang’s, Rockfish, Sweet Tomatoes and The Keg Steak House and Bar. Budweiser, Coors and Mill-er will all be on hand serv-ing up suds, as will other local restaurants that ca-ter to the drinking crowd. Visit www.tasteofarlington.info for ticket pricing. Tickets can also be purchased at The-atre Arlington and at any Ar-lington chapter YMCA.

The event usually draws 2,000 to 3,000 people every year, attracting patrons to come out and eat like crazy, drink with reckless aban-don, listen to live music and help kids all at the same time. Where else can you do all of these things in one evening, in one place?

Event Place

Thursday

9th Annual Freedom Run Dallas City Hall Plaza

CD James PattersonYou’ve Been Warned

Friday

Memorial concertat TCU featuringthe Wesleyan Chamber singers TCU campus

National ChampionshipPow-wow Traders Village

CD Jay-Z Blueprint 3

Saturday 7th annual Jazz by the Boulevard Will Rogers Memorial Cntr.

Skin of Our Teeth Stage West

Sunday

Zestfest 2009 Will Rogers Memorial Cntr.

MondayDallas Wind Symphony: Carmina Burana Meyerson Symphony Cntr.

TuesdayCD TheBlack Dahila Murder Deflorate

DVD X men Origins: Wolverine Local retailers

Wednesday The Mars Volta in concert Palladium Ballroom

Upcoming Events:

Photo by Kate OlenoCollege kids battle it out on the Quidditch field.

Photo by Kate OlenoHe shoots, he scores, he casts a spell on the other team.

Sports6 | September 9, 2009 The RambleR | www.therambler.org

Men’s soccer returns to core: aiming highJoakim Soederbaumjjsoederbaum@mail.txwes.edu

Losing just one senior from last year’s squad, head coach Josh Gibbs is carefully opti-mistic about the 2009 season.

“Last year we were a collec-tion of talented players,” Gibbs said. “This year the players have come together to create a stronger team feeling.”

Returning sophomore for-ward Marcus Harris will try to cause much trouble for op-ponents this year.

“He is one of the most elec-tric players I have ever seen.,” Gibbs said. “He can change the game in a flash, and you seldom see a player that tal-ented working as hard as Mar-cus does.”

In addition to the players re-turning from last year, Gibbs hopes that junior transfer Ri-cardo Aguilera from Univer-sity of the Incarnate Word, junior transfer Tyler Keith from UT-Permian Basin and freshman Clayton Herzog will be able to instantly further in-

crease the quality of the team.“Aguilera received good

training at University of the Incarnate Word; Keith is a proven college player who provides a different element up top, and his hard work will allow his teammates to score. Herzog has a solid soc-cer background from playing with the Dallas Solar Soccer Club and is used to big situa-tions,” Gibbs said.

Freshman defender Henry Iraheta, defender/midfielder Roberto Campuzano and de-fender/forward Sean Maloney are also new additions.

On the sideline, the return-ing coaching staff is joined by Matt Walusimbi who spent the last four years as an assis-tant coach at Nolan Catholic High School.

Working with mostly the same squad that fell to UT Brownsville in the conference championship semi-final last year, Gibbs sees no need to change the team’s goal.

“Our only motivation is to win a conference champion-

ship,” he said. “It is nationals or nothing.”

This year’s Rams soccer fea-tures nine seniors, and Gibbs is confident they will leave it all on the field their last year.

“They have wanted it for a long time, and they are good enough to achieve their goal [nationals],” he said. “For them it is do or die.”

Lady Rams soccer team to build on successJoakim Soederbaumjjsoederbaum@mail.txwes.edu

With the addition of Our Lady of the Lake Univer-sity to the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC), the Lady Rams will have to work harder to defend their regular and conference championship titles from last year.

“We are looking to continue our tradition of excellence,” Coach Josh Gibbs said.

After making their first ever national appearance last year, the Lady Rams have brought in a large group of new players to build on the success.

Brandi Berrier, midfielder; Cara Lumpkin, midfielder;

Vanessa Lopez, midfielder; Meagan Williams, defender; Leah Valtman, defender; Jes-sica Watton, forward; Saman-tha Greer, midfielder; and Jordan Carrizales, forward, constitute the group of fresh-men.

In addition, sophomore transfer Alysia Kroger, a for-ward from Northwood Uni-versity, and junior transfers Kayla Doherty (defender, Lynn University) and Heather Pagano (defender, Navarro College) will further increase the quality of the team.

“I was nervous about the fact that the new players al-most outnumbered the exist-ing players,” Gibbs said. “A

situation like that can be quite intimidating, but the return-ing players were very welcom-ing, and the new players still didn’t take anything for grant-ed. The team came together as a group incredibly fast.”

Further, senior Alejandra Barrera, RRAC Co-Player of the Year last year in her first season with the Lady Rams, is returning for her last year.

Sophomore Katy Houchin will succeed graduated Hon-orable mention All-American Brittany O’Brien between the posts as the next in line of a proud tradition of successful goalkeepers at Texas Wes-leyan. O’Brien stays with the Lady Rams as a goalkeeper

coach.The talented newcomers are

mixing well with the already well-established tradition of success within the women’s soccer program.

Having appeared on the national stage once, the Lady Rams are looking to establish themselves as regular compet-itors at the highest level.

“The quality of our confer-ence has improved, but so have we,” Gibbs said.

According to Gibbs, the fu-ture looks very bright for the Lady Rams.

“This group has the poten-tial to build on last year’s suc-cess and be the best they have ever been,” he said.

Game Time/Place

Wednesday Volleyball vs.Texas Woman’s

7 p.m.Denton

Friday

Women’s Soccer vs.Texas Woman’sVolleyball vs.ConcordiaVolleyball vs.Lubbock ChristianMen’s Soccer vs.Schreiner

1 p.m.Denton3 p.m. Lubbock7 p.m.Lubbock7:30 p.m.Wesleyan

SaturdayVolleyball vs.Howard PayneVolleyball vs.Wayland Baptist

1 p.m.Lubbock4 p.m.Plainview

Tuesday Volleyball vs.Souther Nazarene

7 p.m.Wesleyan

Upcoming Sports

WesleyanWeek-in-Sports

•The Lady Rams Soccer team beat Oklahoma Baptist Uni-versity (1-0) after double over time Sept. 5 and Schreiner University (1-0) Sept. 5. The Lady Rams are now 4-0. Senior captain Jaimie Romaguera leads the Lady Rams with four goals. Goalkeeper Katy Houchin recorded three shutouts in four games.

•The Rams Soccer team is off to its best start in school his-tory (4-0) after beating Oklahoma Baptist University (2-1) Sept. 5 and Schreiner University (3-1) Sept. 6. Sophomore Marcus Harris (three) and junior Theo Nabassi (four)are the Rams’ leading goal scorers so far.

•The Lady Rams Volleyball team (1-3) suffered a 3-0 loss at Tarleton State University Sept. 2. Junior Kristen Venhuizen leads the team with 28 kills and 40 digs.

“The lead car is absolutely, truly unique, except for the one behind it, which is exactly identical to the one in front of the similar one in back.”

Grand Prix Race Announcer

Willson Lecture SeriesPresents

Josh McDowell

Josh McDowell is a four time winner of the Gold Medallion Book Award and his book,

New Evidence Which Demands A Verdict, has been named as one of the most influential books

of the century by World Magazine.

MONDAYSEPTEMBER 14

7:00 p.m.POLYTECHNIC UMC

SANCTUARY

For more information call Gladys Childs @ 817-531-4461

Courtesy of the athletic departmentSophomore Marcus Harris

The Weekly Sports Quote