the rambler vol. 100, issue 4
DESCRIPTION
This issue of Texas Wesleyan's award-winning student newspaper features information on the top Spring Break destinations, an update on the Lady Ram softball team and a feature on Texas Wesleyan's own table tennis champ Jason Plog.TRANSCRIPT
NEWS
CAMPUS
A&E
SPORTS
ONLINE
WEDNESDAYMarch 9, 2016
Vol. 100 • No. 4www.therambler.org
OPINION
CAMPUS TheRambler.org | For news throughout the day.
4 |Wednesday | March 9, 2016
*Jerell Ellis - SAC Player of the Year
*Brennen Shingle-ton - SAC Coach of the Year
Men’s BasketballSAC Champions!
HoliFestival
of colors
Come and join Student Engagement for the Holi Festival of colors! This is a Hindi holiday that celebrates the victory of good over evil, and is an exciting time to celebrate love and
friendship! Come during free period on Maon March 23rd in front of the library
to celebrate with us!
Located on the Gulf of Mexico near Corpus Christi, South Padre Island o� ers an
abundance of things to do. You can take sur� ng lessons, enjoy nightly live music
and just soak up the sun at the cleanest and widest beaches in Texas.
New Braunfels is the best place for tubing and camping. Cool o� from the summer
sun while enjoying a four-hour river � oat down the river. Nothing screams spring
break more than a river full of intoxicated people having a great time.
2016spring break 5 Texas getaways
Comal River
South Padre Island
Images credit to google.com. Design by: Brianna Kessler and Michael Acosta
The ugly truth about college degrees
Beckrich named new head of security
Where will you spend spring break?
The Other Side Of The Door is predictable
Jason Plog proves himself in America
Meet new Wesleyan football coach Joe Prud’homme
Students from low-income fam-ilies often reap fewer financial rewards after they graduate than students from rich families.
Chris Bechrich, a former police officer, takes over the job from Blake Bumbard.
Check out the top five places in Texas to enjoy your spring break.
This new horror film set in India offers nothing new in the way of scares or plot.
Plog hopes to help lead the table tennis team to its 12th national title.
For Ashley Pickett, a 28-year-old senior psychology major, gradu-ating high school was her chance to be free.
“I had no curfew, no rules, no adults telling me what to do. It was glorious,” Pickett said.
Pickett first attended college after graduating high school as a junior in 2005. She attended Blinn College in Bryan, Texas, for one year before she dropped out at age 18.
She worked as a bartender and server for six years before she made the decision to go back to school.
“I decided that bartending and waiting tables was beginning to get old, as was I,” Pickett said. “I had to do something to turn my life around.”
Pickett enrolled at Weather-ford College in the fall of 2012, then transferred to Texas Wesleyan Uni-versity in 2014, where she is on track to graduate in May with a bachelor of science in psychology.
For many college students, Pick-ett’s story is a familiar one.
According to a study conducted in 2012 by National Student Clear-inghouse, 38 percent of all college
students in a fall term are now adult learners, which means they are over the age of 25.
The study, which looked at en-rollment trends of adult learners from fall 2009 to fall 2011, also found that the percentage of these students attending college on a full‐time basis has been steadily increasing.
Darren White, associate vice president of Marketing and Com-munications, expects that this is the new normal.
“You’re not going to see a time where adult students are going to de-crease from here on out,” White said.
White believes that Wesleyan has been well prepared for the grow-ing trend of adult students, while some other schools are just waking up to the idea. The Smarter. Small-er. Promise scholarship is a perfect example, as it focuses on transfer students, many of whom are adult learners.
“We understand that adult stu-dents are a large part of the incom-ing student body,” White said. “We want to reach out to them in a way that answers the questions that they want answers to.”
Older students are on the rise
Duo to play concert in MarchPhoto by Dalise Devos
Junior marketing major Grace Fisher studies at the Eunice and James West Library. Fisher is one of many non-traditional Wesleyan students.
Dalise [email protected]
Sign up for text alerts
COLLEGE, page 3
Photo courtesy of Dr. John FisherDr. John Fisher and Dr. Bruce McDonald will play Martin Hall on March 31.
Dr. John Fisher and Dr. Bruce McDonald met at Texas Wesleyan in the fall of 1995, but they didn’t perform together until eight years later. Fisher, professor of music 2, said that he and McDonald, an associate professor of religion, work well to-gether when they perform duo-pi-ano, which means they perform on separate pianos that face each other.
“2003 was our first performance together,” Fisher said. “We’re kind of a matched pair, similar age bracket and similar backgrounds. “Dr. McDonald has an undergrad-uate degree in piano from the Uni-versity of Texas at Austin. My under-graduate was also in piano and it was just a nice fit, so we started playing programs.”
Fisher and McDonald’s 11th performance together will be March 31 at Martin Hall. The program will last about an hour and include pieces by Bach, Debussy, Mozart and Ger-shwin.
In 2009, Fisher and McDonald
released The Fisher-McDonald Duo: A Musical Posy, which features selec-tions by Bach, Mozart and Copland, among others. The CD is available for purchase at the Wesleyan book-store.
“We figured, why not?” Fisher said. “Groups that make music to-gether record music together.”
Fisher said that the two do more than just play the pieces; they also interact with the audience and Mc-Donald offers light-hearted com-mentary.
McDonald said Fisher is incred-ibly fun to work with.
“We thoroughly enjoy doing the work and work well together,” Mc-Donald said. “It just takes time and of course time seems to be very rare these days, it’s an endangered spe-cies.”
Dr. Ronnie McManus, professor of Religion and Philosophy, said he is planning to attend duo’s perfor-mance.
McManus wrote in an email that he has known Fisher for 15 years
Rowan [email protected]
FISHER, page 3
Every day, Chris Beckrich gets ready to come to his new career at Texas Wesleyan with a smile on his face.
Beckrich is Wesleyan’s new direc-tor of campus safety and security, and he said he is already enjoying his transition from a career as a Fort Worth police officer, which he did for 30 years, to his new job.
“My experience is in law enforce-ment, so this fit in well,” Beckrich said.
Beckrich replaces Blake Bumbard, who left Wesleyan in November to take a position at the University of Texas at Tyler.
Beckrich knows Wesleyan and the
surrounding area well, for several reasons. His wife of 29 years, Cindy, graduated from Wesleyan with a bachelor’s degree in finance in 1998.
Also, he has spent most of his ca-reer in the neighborhood, first as a patrol officer and then, for 25 of his 30 years on the force, as a supervisor of security at the Presbyterian Night Shelter, which is only a few miles west of campus.
“I coordinated with the off-duty police and made sure that things got taken care of there at the shel-ter,” he said. “The department had a presence and if there were any policies that needed to be ad-justed they were taken care of.” Finally, Jordan, the oldest of his
GRacie weGeR [email protected]
Photo by Gracie Weger ColemanHead of security Chris Beckrich was a Fort Worth police officer for 30 years.
BECKRICH, page 3
Ex-cop is new head of security
2 | Wednesday | March 9, 2016
Rams up
Rams down
Thumbs up to making new friends in college.
Thumbs up to Brennen Shingleton being named SAC coach of the year.
Thumbs up to spring break.
Thumbs up to women’s tennis team doing well.
Thumbs down to graduation costs.
Thumbs down to the men’s basketball team losing in the semi-finals of the SAC conference tourna-ment.
Thumbs down to thunderstorms.
Thumbs down to no money for spring break.
Letters to the editor: The RambleR, a biweekly publication, welcomes all letters. All submissions must have a full printed name, phone num-ber and signature. While every consider-ation is made to publish letters, publica-tion 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. Member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association, 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 necessarily 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.
Address all correspondence to:Texas Wesleyan UniversityThe RambleR
1201 Wesleyan St. • Fort Worth, TX [email protected](817) 531-7552Advertising Inquiries:(817) 531-6525
“We are not afraid to follow the truth... wherever it may lead.”
— Thomas Jefferson
Channel 25
OpiniOn TheRambler.org | For news throughout the day.
For weekly news and sports updates, check out Rambler TV.
Is free college tuition worth it?EDITORIAL
Even though Bernie Sanders lost on Super Tuesday, he is still very much in the presiden-tial race.
Sanders appeals to young voters because of his stance on higher education. He wants us to have free tuition.
Free tuition sounds great, but is his plan worth it?
Most of the funding today for colleges comes from the federal government, but some states have grants and other types of aid that help students pay for college.
Under Sanders’ proposal, most of the fund-ing for higher education would come from the states. With education funding being such a big problem, especially in Texas, what has to happen for his plan to work?
According to a report published by CNN, Sanders plans on taxing the upper class, targeting some of the big corporations such as Walmart . Here’s how it would work: The federal government would pay $2 in matching funds for every dollar states spend on making tuition free at public colleges and universities. The government would also cut student loan interest rates to about two percent for undergraduates, and allow those with student debt to refinance at low rates. The price tag: up to $750 billion over 10 years.
According to cnn.com, about 11.1 million students were enrolled in public colleges and universities in 2014. States kicked in about $73 billion, while students kicked in roughly $64 billion. Under Sanders’ plan, the number of students enrolling in college would likely sky-rocket.
Let’s look at some of the obstacles that Sand-ers would face. What happens if the House and Senate are controlled by Republicans? There is no way the plan would pass.
Do you remember Obamacare? Obama rolled out that plan in 2008; he didn’t get that
passed until 2010 and then the Republicans declared it unconstitutional and it went before the Supreme Court, where it was upheld in 2012.
There are a lot of issues Sand-ers would have to look at. Kids in grade school, all the way through high school, would be paid for by tax dollars and through the state where they live. Since
getting into college would, through the Sand-ers plan, be much easier, what incentive do they have to try to get good grades in high school?
Also, college shouldn’t be free if you’re family can afford it. There should be a limit on family income: If your family exceeds X amount of dollars, you should not qualify for the free ride. There are
many students from middle-class and low-in-come families that could really use the benefits of the Sanders plan; let them get the money, and make the kids from rich families still pay their own way.
Let’s help people get the education they de-serve.
Cartoon by : Jonah Park
The ugly truth about a college degree
Did you know that a college degree is worth less if you are raised poor?
So much for the American dream. We are taught that if we, no matter who we are, can graduate high school, go to college, find a pas-sion, find a career, get married and have kids, we’ll live happily ever after and walk off into the sunset or something like that.
This sham was fed to us by big businesses, like universities, and corporate America. And it’s time for people to wake up and be realistic.
People are always chasing after this fairy tale so they can achieve a life they always dreamed of, but what happens when one makes all the “right” choices to attain that dream and there is a disproportionate return on investment?
Yes, I am talking about upward social mo-bility and income growth through a college education. People with higher education levels generally tend to earn more. Therefore, if you attend college, make good grades, and gradu-ate you can rise to the top of the economic food chain.
However, what many students fail to realize
is that your socioeconomic status and family background play a huge factor in this scenario.
“There is a smaller ‘bachelor’s bump’ in wages for kids who grew up in poverty than for kids coming from better-off families,” accord-ing to a report from the nonprofit Brookings Institution. Although poor kids who manage to obtain a bachelor’s degree do experience a rise in earnings, they earn less than 20 to 30 percent than rich kids with the same degrees.
These skewed statistics are absurd. But I am not surprised at all because the rich generally stay rich and the poor stay poor. However, there should not be a wage gap due to socio-economic status if two people obtain the same degree.
As a graduating senior from a low-income family, I am outraged that my hard work will not be financially compensated as it should be. I feel like this makes a college degree worth less than promised. There should be a better alter-native to income inequality.
Students who come from low-income fami-lies usually acquire a substantial amount of col-lege debt from student loans and credit cards throughout their college career, while students from richer families acquire less debt or have more help from their family to pay their col-lege debt.
And you are telling me that the rich kids are going to be paid more because of their back-ground?
All of this may completely unfair, but that’s life. I do not think this should discourage any-one from pursuing a college degree, because anyone with a college degree still has the po-tential to earn more than someone with just a high school diploma.
These statistics just prove that college is all about the experience and there is no guarantee
to a great career. You just have to work hard and hope for the best.
All incoming and current college students should keep this in mind when they are choos-ing a college and taking out loans, because too many students are left with high debt and dis-appointment, especially low-income students.
Brianna KesslerContent [email protected]
Photo courtesy of freeimages.com
Print/Web Content Producers: Michael Acosta, Ricardo Cortez, Sachiko Jayarante, Jared Rabye, Gracie Weger, Calvin Johnson, Dalise Devos, Rowan Lehr, Brianna Kessler, Sang Hyun Park
Editor-In-Chief: Michael AcostaIMG Director: Caroline KajiharaRambler TV Director: Victoria Garcia
Digital Media Editor: Calvin Johnson
Adviser: Dr. David FermanFaculty Liaison: Dr. Kay Colley
Publisher: Frederick Slabach
Editorial Staff: Michael Acosta, Victoria Garcia, Brianna Kessler, Dalise Devos, Ricardo Cortez, Jared Rabye
NewsTheRambler.org | For news throughout the day.
Wednesday | March 9, 2016|3
DINING SERVICESSPRING BREAK
EASTER
We hope that you all have a SAFE and FUN Spring Break and Easter Break!
VISIT US ONLINE at www.txwes.campusdish.com
DORA’SCLOSED
March 12th to March 19thOPEN
4:30pm on March 20th
TheSUBCLOSED
March 12th to March 20thOPEN
7:00am on March 21st
DORA’SCLOSED
March 24th and 25th OPEN
March 26th and 27thNormal Operating Hours
TheSUBCLOSED
March 24th to March 27thOPEN
7:00am on March 28th
Pati Alexander, vice president of Enroll-ment and Student Services, has witnessed this trend first hand at Wesleyan.
“The number of adult learners has in-creased over the past several years,” Alexan-der said. “Many adult learners are returning to school after dropping out in order to get a better job, get a promotion, or simply complete their goal of earning a college degree.”
According to collegefactual.com, Wesley-an attracts a majority of older students, with only 39 percent of undergraduate students fit-ting into the “traditional” 18 to 22 age bracket. The national average is 60 percent.
Dr. Bruce Benz, who has been a biology professor at Wesleyan since 1997, sees most of these adult students in his evening and week-end course offerings.
“I’m teaching a Saturday course this se-mester, and of the 13 students, only two are traditional,” Benz said.
Benz believes the growing trend of adult students comes from the economic apprehen-
sion of buying into debt. “I think high school students are becom-
ing more cautious, because it is a big risk,” Benz said. “Then, when they do come back, when they’re older, they’re much more responsible.”
Benz said persistence gets students through college, not intelligence.
“I don’t care how brilliant you are if you’re not going to stick with it,” Benz said. “I think that’s why people come back to school, and that’s why they’re better bets, because they’ve figured out that it’s about persistence.”
This advice resonates with Grace Fisher, a 25-year-old junior marketing major who did not know what career path she wanted to take or even what she wanted to major in her first time in college.
“When I was in college at age 18, I did not take it very seriously,” Fisher said. “I feel like I was still trying to figure out who I was as a person. Now, at age 25, I am the most secure I've ever been with myself as a person and as a student.”
COLLEGEcontinued from page 1
FISHERcontinued from page 1
and McDonald for 21 years, and that he has at-tended every one of their performances unless he was out of town.
“My wife and I attend and there is usually a good representation of Wesleyan faculty and
students,” McManus wrote, adding that Fisher seems very passionate about his work and stu-dents, and that McDonald speaks incredibly highly of him.
“I’m not terribly musically inclined, but rec-
ognize some of the pieces from teaching hu-manities, which I have taught for more than a decade,” McManus wrote. “Whenever you ride in the car with Dr. McDonald classical music is playing.”
Dr. John Fisher and Dr. Bruce McDonald will perform together on March 31 at Martin Hall. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.
four children, recently graduated from the Fort Worth Police Academy and is patrolling in the neighborhood, Beckrich said.
Beckrich is a student himself. He will gradu-ate this summer from Tarleton State University with a degree in criminal justice.
His experience with East Fort Worth, and his connections to the school, were major rea-sons he was selected for the job, according to Vice President of Enrollment & Student Ser-vices Pati Alexander.
“Chris’s work on local events, such as the Cowtown Marathon, managing security for the Presbyterian Night Shelter, working with the mayor on her community bike rides, his previous experience in East Fort Worth, and his investigative and management experience made him the perfect candidate for this posi-tion,” Alexander wrote in an email. “He has al-
ready made a positive impact on the campus.”Beckrich said that his time working at the
shelter taught him a lot about interacting with the public.
“Something I’ve noticed a lot in the police force is I believe in treating people with re-spect,” he said, “and that’s something I have al-ready imparted on the security team; to make sure whatever they’re doing they’re going to treat it with respect.
“Whether they’re good guys or bad guys it doesn’t make a difference. They’re still going to be treated right. So I think that’s pretty much something I go by a lot.”
Beckrich also said that he is currently edu-cating himself about how to be an effective di-rector of campus safety and security.
“Coming from a police department, and into this position, I have several contacts like with
the TCU police chief and others,” he said, “and have been making contact to see what policies and things have implemented to improve cam-puses and see if we can do them here or if it’s possible to implement them here.”
He’s also studying the campus and reading up on Wesleyan’s 2020 Vision and how it re-lates to campus security.
“Right now I’m just observing what Wes-leyan has in place and to look for places to im-prove,” he said. “I plan on, at some point, doing the right assessments on all the buildings on campus to make sure it’s safe and to recom-mend improvements to make it safer.”
Security is a major part of the 2020 Vision, said Ann Davis, director of communications.
The strategic plan calls for a safe and secure campus, Alexander wrote, and Beckrich’s expe-rience will benefit Wesleyan in coming years.
“We need to grow with (the 2020 Vision),” Beckrich said.
In the coming months, Alexander wrote, Beckrich will be training faculty, staff and stu-dents on emergency preparedness.
At present he’s also reaching out to students to get their perspectives on campus security.
“I have an open door and I’m more than willing to come if they have an issue to come talk to me,” Beckrich said. “I’d be happy to see what we can do to address it. I think it’s impor-tant to get the perspective of security from the students who live on campus.
“Students are like clients, so security needs to make sure they’re taken care of properly. Ulti-mately my plans are to continue to make Wes-leyan one of the safest universities in America.”
BECKRICHcontinued from page 1
Campus TheRambler.org | For news throughout the day.
4 |Wednesday | March 9, 2016
*Jerell Ellis - SAC Player of the Year
*Brennen Shingle-ton - SAC Coach of the Year
Men’s BasketballSAC Champions!
HoliFestival
of colors
Come and join Student Engagement for the Holi Festival of colors! This is a Hindi holiday that celebrates the victory of good over evil, and is an exciting time to celebrate love and
friendship! Come during free period on Maon March 23rd in front of the library
to celebrate with us!
Located on the Gulf of Mexico near Corpus Christi, South Padre Island offers an
abundance of things to do. You can take surfing lessons, enjoy nightly live music
and just soak up the sun at the cleanest and widest beaches in Texas.
New Braunfels is the best place for tubing and camping. Cool off from the summer
sun while enjoying a four-hour river float down the river. Nothing screams spring
break more than a river full of intoxicated people having a great time.
2016spring break 5 Texas getaways
Comal River
South Padre Island
Images credit to google.com. Design by: Brianna Kessler and Michael Acosta
CampusTheRambler.org | For news throughout the day.
Wednesday | March 9, 2016 |5
ACCESS THERAMBLER.ORGFor the latest in sports, campus, arts & entertainment, local news, opinions, weather and upcoming events calendar.
This strange cluster of rocks in El Paso is
actually an ancient wonder, because people
used to trek here for the rainwater held
inside the rock basins. Now you can rock
climb, hike, or marvel at more than 200 im-
ages of masks on the rocks drawn by Native
Americans. For more info visit texas.gov.
Enjoy the ultimate music and film experience at one
of Texas’ most beloved concert series in Austin this
spring break. For more information visit sxsw.com.
This massive lake, situated on the Texas-Oklahoma
border, is only about an hour’s drive from Dallas, and
features 89,000 acres of blue water. For more infor-
mation visit laketexoma.com.
South by Southwest March 11-20
Hueco Tanks State Park El Paso
Lake Texoma
Arts&EntErtAinmEnt TheRambler.org | For news throughout the day.
6 |Wednesday | March 9 , 2016
Polytechnic United Methodist Church
1310 S Collard St Fort Worth, TX
Keep up with programs and events by liking the Texas Wesleyan Religious Life Facebook page.
Free food and live worship every Tuesday and Thursday at 12:15 p.m.
John Fisher and Bruce McDonald to present a duo-piano recital March 31
Texas Wesleyan Music Department
ARE YOUCAMERA READY?
For latest in sports,
campus news, arts &
entertainment, local
news and weekly
updated events.
- therambler.org
- Tv channel 25.1 on campus
For digital new access:
Door is just another ghost movie
New hole-in-the-wall eatery is great
Victoria [email protected]
Jared [email protected]
Conveniently located near Texas Christian University, i-PHO is a hole-in-the-wall Viet-namese restaurant with a few Chinese options.
The restaurant is owned by Tue Nguyen and has only been open for about five months. His staff is very small, with only six employees.
You will find a variety of Vietnamese dishes, including eight different types of pho: beef, beef round eye, meatball, chicken, veggie, shrimp, seafood and the special, which com-bines brisket, round eye and meatballs. These range from $8.25 to $9.25; other entrees range
from $3.95 to $9.95.When I first walked to the open dining area, the aroma of the restaurant hit me a little hard. It’s not that it was bad, it’s just that I have never smelled anything like it. A few seconds later, however, I became quite accustomed to the smell.
One thing that is different about i-PHO is that you walk up to the register to order and pay for your food before you sit and eat it.
This is probably due to the fact that most of the business is from takeout orders.
After I sat down, it took less than five min-utes before my food was at the table.
I ordered the sesame chicken ($7.75) be-cause it was something I was familiar with; one
of my friends ordered the chicken pho ($8.25), which is one of the more popular dishes at the restaurant.
My chicken and steamed rice with broccoli was great. Everything was cooked precisely, the portions were exceptionally large, and be-cause everything I needed to eat was on the table (silverware, chopsticks and condiments) I did not have to rely on a waiter or waitress; I got my own beverage refills.
I could not have asked for a better meal, and my friend said her pho was delicious.
The atmosphere in the place is very relaxed; it is a very good restaurant that is inexpensive and makes you feel like you’re just lounging
around kicking it with friends. Pho restaurants have become very popular
in Fort Worth. i-PHO is a place I would rec-ommend to anyone who wishes to try some-thing new. Instead of going and spending $20 at a restaurant everyone goes to, why not go to a place where you will spend $12.50 max for the same or better quality food?
i-PHO is located at 2817 W. Berry St. in Fort Worth. The hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The restaurant ac-cepts all major credit cards and is wheelchair accessible.
The Other Side of the Door is an-other bland and predictable ghost story, and even from its begin-ning, I felt like I had seen it before. Directed by Brit Helmer and Johannes Roberts, Other (96 minutes, rated R) is sporadically silly, and it looks like a filler on a Chiller TV weekend when the station plays back-to-back-to-back bad films.
This is the first Hollywood release by Helmer and Roberts, and it lacks the de-sired gore, subconscious chills and, most important, narrative buildup that might otherwise compensate for its deeply de-rivative material.
The plot focuses on an average young Americans couple. Maria (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Michael (Jeremy Sisto) are on vacation in India, where they decide to permanently relocate after discovering Maria is pregnant.
Six years later, the couple grapples with the grief of losing their son Oliver (Logan Creran) during a miscarriage while con-tinuing to raise their young daughter Lucy (Sofia Rosinsky).
Maria’s profound sense of guilt over Oliver’s death is revealed in a harrowing
flashback (the film’s lone effective se-quence) juxtaposed with an attempt to take her own life. While her actions shake Mi-chael, they spark something else in house-keeper Piki (Suchitra Pillai).
Having lost a child of her own and see-ing Maria at the end of her rope, Piki shares the story of a remote Hindu temple where visitors can communicate with the dead. I would’ve used a Ouija board but that’s just me.
Now don’t get your hopes up; it doesn’t get better.
Maria goes to the temple, and this is when the film’s title is mentioned a mil-lion times.
The only way the temple will work is that only one person converses a single time through the temple’s front door.
Piki warns Maria to keep the door shut, no matter what happens. It’s hardly a spoiler to say the rebellious Maria ignores her warnings.
Like so many films in which a dead fam-ily member haunts the living, Oliver’s spirit follows Maria home to catch up on tormenting his father, sister and Piki.
Door is full of boring and bloodless mayhem that manifests in a predictable se-ries of loud noises and jump scares and the requisite spooky use of a familiar song - in this case, the old Hoagy Carmichael hit Heart and Soul.
Although this is the rare major studio production both set and shot in India, Pil-
lai’s Piki is the only Indian-speaking role of any significance, and the routine horrors that befall Maria’s family could have been set anywhere.
With even a bare minimum of anthro-pological curiosity, Helmer and Roberts might have uncovered a fresh angle for the story. But there’s no interest in min-
ing the setting for anything other than ex-ploitation, such as the beggar who startles Michael by knocking on his car window or the families living in cramped quarters where Maria gets lost looking for Lucy.
Door would have been better if the di-rectors had done more with the setting, and if every scare wasn’t such a cliche.
Photo courtesy of IMDB.com
Photos by Jared Rabye i-PHO has a great homey atmosphere with contemporary decor that makes you feel right at home and the menu selection is fantastic with a wide variety of pho diishes to choose from.
SportSTheRambler.org | For news throughout the day.
Wednesday |March 9, 2016 |7
Plog proves himself in America
Photos courtesy of Jason PlogJason Plog, photgraphed here playing for his former club team in Germany, currently has a rating of 2377 in the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and is ranked No. 26 in the country.
Jason Plog was a success playing table ten-nis as a teenager in his native Germany. Introduced to the sport by a friend when he was nine, Plog was playing at the club level just a few years later.
“My club back in Germany won the Ger-man National Team Championships in the minors division back in 2013,” said Plog, a 20-year-old marketing major.
That championship took him to Berlin, where he got his first taste of real competition.
“There were players there that went to a school specifically for table tennis like an acad-emy. There were some crazy good players on that team,” he said.
These competitions, along with good play and a passion for the game, landed him a spon-sorship with a German table tennis brand, Donic.
“A few people from my club had the spon-sor ship as well and it was a really good expe-rience,” he said.
All of these accolades and triumphs, in Plog’s opinion, belong not just to him but to his former team.
“The entire club I had in Germany was really great, we were all really close,” he said. “The team in general was a close knit commu-nity.”
With Plog’s German campaign behind him, in 2014 he turned his sights to across the Atlantic, knowing he would have to prove himself in America all over again.
“I lived in Germany my whole life, I want-ed to continue playing table tennis and I found Texas Wesleyan,” Plog said.
This interest led to Plog reaching out to head coach Jasna Rather.
“He came here with his father to look at the campus and we got an opportunity to look at his skill,” Rather said.
“At the time, when compared to our other players, his level was not where we expected him to be.”
Plog joined the team in the fall of 2014. It seemed to Rather that his lack of skill was due to lack of practice.
So she waited patiently as he began prac-ticing with the team.
Her patience has paid off. “His desire in the match, his fire just trans-
forms him,” she said. “Even though his tech-nique or skill may not professional level yet he always improves and plays with one hundred
percent the whole time.” This has been reflected in Plog’s achieve-
ments. In 2014 he beat United States national champion Jimmy Butler and was selected to represent the U.S. in the North American Championships.
He currently has a 2377 rating in the Na-tional Collegiate Table Tennis Association, good enough to be ranked No. 26 in the na-tion.
All of this almost never happened.“My grades were translated so wrong that
Wesleyan wasn’t going to accept me,” Plog said. “The GPA that was given to Wesleyan was so low that I almost didn’t make it.”
Tyler Gerwig, a sophomore finance major and Plog’s roommate since he came to Wes-leyan, believes his friend has a bright future.
“His mental game has improved a bunch,” Gerwig said. “That comes with time I know but I think going from club to collegiate com-petition so quickly definitely helped him ma-ture.”
Gerwig believes that the change from Ger many to the U.S. also helped Plog.
“He’s in both worlds equally, basically an American international,” Plog said. “He was already accustomed to American culture and I think it helped him a lot.”
Plog and the rest of the team hit a road-block last season. It was the first time in 12 years that the team did not win the national championship.
“It was one of the best teams we ever had,” Plog said. “We were so close so it was very dis-appointing. To make it even worse several of my teammates from last year took it so it hard.”
With this year’s national championships closing in, Rather expects big things from both Plog and the team.
“Everybody should come and watch him play,” she said. “He is proof that if you work hard enough you can achieve the level that you want.
“We are so happy that he is now playing like we knew he could.”
Rather said that if Plog keeps going, he could be a great player.
“If he continues to play table tennis seri-ously both in and after school at one point he will have a chance to make the U.S. Olympic team,” she said. “It’s all on how much time he decides to dedicate to the sport, so only time will tell.”
The Texas Wesleyan table tennis team hosts the Texas Wesleyan Open at the Sid Richardson Center on March 19. Admission is free.
ricardo [email protected]
TheRambler.org | For news throughout the day.
8 | Wednesday | March 9, 2016
NEWS
CAMPUS
A&E
SPORTS
ONLINE
WEDNESDAYNov. 11, 2015
Vol. 99 • No. 13www.therambler.org
OPINION
caMPUsTheRambler.org | For news throughout the day.
4 |Wednesday | November 11, 2015
Thanksgiving
Do your Thanksgiving Plans involve staying on campus? If so,
please come by the Office of Student Life and let us know. We
would like to provide a Thanksgiving meal but need a head
count. https://www.psychdata.com/s.asp?SID=168767
If you plan on participating, please complete this survey by 8:00am
on November 12, 2015.
Men’s Basketball Home GamesNov. 12 vs. Paul Quinn, 7:30 pmNov. 19 vs. Texas College, 7:00 pm
Nov. 21 vs. St. Thomas, 2:00 pm Women’s Basketball Home GamesNov. 23 vs. East Texas Bapt. 5:00 pm
Hoops is Here!
www.ramsports.net
The top superstitions in America
Knocking on wood� e orginial superstition only involved touching
wood. Many medieval churches had wood be-
lieved to have been from the cross of Jesus. From
that point on, touching wood was thought to help
people avoid tempting fate.
Breaking a mirrorA mirror was once considered to be divine and
supernatural. Breaking a mirror was thought to
break the image of the divine, and as a result, the
breaker would receive bad luck for seven years.
Four-leaf cloverPeople use to think that four-leaf clovers would
keep away witches and allow the � nder to see fair-
ies. � ey are extremely rare and believed to bring
good luck, especially if found accidentally. Each
leaf represents something: faith, hope, love and
luck.
Bad news comes in threes� ere are a few di� erent theories about the origin
of this superstition. One is the trinity of the father,
son and holy ghost. Second is that three estab-
lishes a pattern. People o� en look for patterns in
things to help understand what is going on around
them.
Opening an umbrella inside� e true origins of this superstition are unknown,
but some argue that it comes from the early Egyp-
tians. Umbrellas were used to protect leaders from
the heat of the sun and to open one inside o� end-
ed the God of the Sun. Others say the superstition
is associated with umbrellas breaking objects or
causing injury.Lucky pennyMetal use to be believed to o� er protection from
evil and harmful spirits. When di� erent cultures
began to use metal in currency, those who had the
most were not only wealthy, but had extremely
good luck.
Wishing on a wishboneWhen soothsayers would kill birds, they use to lay
the collarbone out in the sun to dry. � ey would
then make a wish upon it and snap it with another
person. Whoever got the larger piece believe it was
a sign that the gods heard him or her.
Batman v Superman: Who wins?
Chasing tornadoes with George Blackwell
Why is Friday the 13th so scary?
The Peanuts gangreturns
Lady Rams wrap up a great season
Students duel as campus carry debate fires up
Two of our writers square off debate who will win the superhero struggle.
The Navy veteran talks about how he became interested in storms.
We look at the roots of common superstitions Americans believe in.
Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy and more reunite for a new movie.
A strong group of seniors have set the bar high for next years volleyball team.
The clouds turned gray, creating a blanket of darkness in the sky.
The wind began to swirl, picking up little bits of dust and debris and lightning lit up the sky like the be-ginning of a Friday night football game in a small Texas town.
It began to drizzle and the air was warm and humid as the thunder roared across the plains.
It was May 15, 2013. A danger-ous storm was coming, and George Blackwell, Texas Wesleyan’s IT ser-vice desk manager, was driving into it.
He had been traveling west on Route 377 for over an hour, trying to catch a glimpse of Mother Nature’s whirlwind.
Blackwell gripped the steering wheel of his 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 Pickup with one hand while, with his other, checking his GPS, two tablets and the radarscope app on his phone as he approached the dark clouds of the tornado that roared across Hood County.
“Of course I had to get the same
brand truck in the movie Twister,” Blackwell said.
The Navy veteran, who served as a naval information technology spe-cialist for 12 years, used his techni-cal training to help him navigate through the destructive storm’s path all alone.
“During my time in the Navy, I would guide ships out at sea using a HAM radio,” he said. “Which is helpful now because a lot of storm chasers are HAM certified.”
Behind the wheel that day in 2013, he thought to himself that at least he had some training.
This tornado, which would include winds of up to 140 miles per hour and grew to be eight miles wide, hit several small Texas towns and, according to the National Weather Service, killed several people.
It was the first tornado that Black-well saw after months of training.
“You have to know what you’re doing out there,” he said. “I feel very fortunate that nothing happened.”
Blackwell, 45 and a Washington, D.C. native, has been the IT service desk manager for the past five years. He said his knowledge of technology
has really helped him chase storms for the past five years.
“I am always watching the news for severe storms,” he said. “I think technology helps people stay in-formed, especially with weather an-nouncements.”
Blackwell said his brother William, who lives in Washington, D.C., also stays up to date with severe thun-
derstorms in Texas and is scared he might be out chasing one.
“William calls any time there is a tornado in Texas, even if I am no-where near it,” Blackwell said.
Blackwell said he often tinkered with gadgets as a boy.
“When I was little, I remember
Crystal Hinshaw, a criminal jus-tice major, is one of the hundreds of seniors graduating from Texas Wes-leyan this semester.
She is also one of many students suffering from senioritis, which urbandictionary.com defines as a disease that has such symptoms as “laziness, an over-excessive wear-ing of track pants, old athletic shirts, sweatpants, athletic shorts, and sweatshirts. Also features a lack of studying, repeated absences and a generally dismissive attitude. The only known cure is a phenomenon known as graduation.”
Hinshaw said she has “definitely” experienced the disease.
“I don’t think it has affected my grades, but it has affected my study habits,” said Hinshaw, who is jug-gling 19 credit hours, a full-time job and being a single mom. “My biggest struggle about being a senior is the work load. It has been so much read-ing this semester. I have a ticker on my phone for countdown to gradu-
ation day.”Joy Woods, a political science ma-
jor with a pre-law emphasis, is also graduating in December, said still works just as hard as a senior as she has before.
“I don’t think my study ethic and work ethic has changed, but this se-mester it’s more that time manage-ment has had to change,” Woods said. “I can’t study the night before anymore. I have to start three, four or five weeks in advance for tests. That’s really the main thing that has changed from when I started at Wes-leyan to now.
“I do have a little senioritis when it comes to the more simple classes. It’s not because I want to, it’s because I am exhausted from studying in ev-erything else.”
Woods said that the hardest thing about graduating this semester is finding a job that she can do before she goes to law school in the fall of 2016.
“I really need a break, but it’s still nerve racking,” Woods said.
Brianna [email protected]
Smartphones are starting to cause serious addictions that can lead to several health problems.
Ninety-one percent of American
adults and 60 percent of teens own smartphones, according to tele-graph.co.uk. And those phones are causing addictions similar to drug abuse.
These addictions include both physical and psychological side ef-fects, and according to Good House-keeping magazine, one in five people around the world are likely to expe-rience new syndromes associated with excessive smartphone use.
Here are those new syndromes.Computer vision syndrome is a
side effect from staring at tiny text on a bright LED screen while scrolling through newsfeeds and other things causing you to strain your eyes, which results in blurred vision, diz-ziness, headaches and dry eyes.
More than 70 percent of Ameri-cans do not know or are in denial that they are susceptible to digital eyestrain, according to The Vision Council.
Jacqueline Jacobson, a senior ac-counting major, said she has experi-
enced computer vision syndrome of-ten during 12-hour workdays often spent in front of a computer screen.
“I spend a lot of time on my com-puter and Kindle, which causes me to feel many of the symptoms com-monly associated with computer vi-sion syndrome,” she said. “I have ex-perienced severe headaches for years and have started seeing a neurologist about this occurring issue.”
Dr. Bruce Benz, chair of the School of Natural & Social Sciences, said that the effect of computer vision syndrome on vision warrants our consideration.
“Since the invention of the televi-sion this has been a potential threat,” he said. “It is no surprise that millen-nials would suffer from something similar with their smartphones.”
Benz said this is true especially now that we have started reading on illuminated screens.
“But studying this would be a hard thing to do,” he said. “You would first have to weed out cause
from effect to isolate the situation to determine whether or not the effects are caused from this specific action.”
iPosture and text neck are caused from hunching over your smart-phone for hours. This strains back and neck muscles.
According to a 2012 study by the Pew Research Center, 70 percent of people check their smartphone with-in an hour of getting up, 56 percent check their phone within an hour of going to sleep and 51 percent check continuously during vacation.
There are many people suffering from posture problems from watch-ing television, so this could be true for smartphone use, said Benz.
“I do not disagree that excessive smartphone use could have long term repercussions.”
Cell phone elbow, similar to ten-dinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, causes inflammation in tendons. According to orthopedic special-
Photo illustration by Gracie WegerClinton Riggins is one of the many Wesleyan students experiencing senioritis;
he says his professors are continuing to mentor him until graduation.
Photo courtesy of freeimages.com
The photo illustrates how students acquire cell phone elbow.
Gracie [email protected]
SENIORITIS, page 3
ADDICTION, page 3
STORM CHASING, page 3
Photo by George Blackwell This funnel cloud formed during a storm George Blackwell chased in 2013.
Brianna [email protected]
Senioritis spreads across campus
Veteran puts his spin on tornadoes
Smartphone addiction not so smart
The Rambler’s Editor in Chief position is open for
Fall 2016.
Pick up an application today!PMC 219Submission deadline is April 15.
NEWS
CAMPUS
A&E
SPORTS
ONLINE
WEDNESDAY
Oct. 14, 2015
Vol. 99 • No. 11
www.therambler.org
OPINION
Editorial: New security
poles are a great
investment
Dora’s Cafe has
nearly eliminated its
food waste
Costumes you can
make on a college
budget
Clearfork Food Park
offers scenic outdoor
eating
Table tennis tries to
rebound from last
year
Vandal uses sand to
damage computer
lab
The Rambler’s editorial board
believes the phones are an
important step in making
students feel safer.
More than 22 million pounds
of food is wasted on college
campuses each year.
These 10 Halloween costumes
are all under $30 and are sure
to impress.
Food trucks are popular, and
Fort Worth has two parks to
choose from.
The team, which includes
eight freshmen, seeks to win at
Nationals after a disappointing
loss last spring.
Check out the Ram
bler TV Channel for
more news and spo
rts!
https://www.youtube
.com/user/thetwura
mbler
Wesleyan safety improved
As part of the 2020 Vision, stron-
ger security measures have been
made to increase safety on the Texas
Wesleyan campus.
Ten new emergency phones will
be placed on Wesleyan’s campus in
order to increase student safety on
campus.
The phones are nine feet tall and
have a blue beaker that activates
when a call is made.
When the call button is pushed,
security will be contacted immedi-
ately. Blake Bumbard, Wesleyan’s securi-
ty manager, said that the phones are
only the beginning.
“This is something that I had been
wanting to get approved for some
time now,” Bumbard said.
“It’s just we had other security
measures that needed attention.”
Bumbard said that each residence
hall will receive one, along with some
around Rosedale and the Mall area.
“We are getting everything orga-
nized as of right now,” Bumbard said.
“We can expect the phones to be fin-
ished around the end of November.”
Bumbard said that Wesleyan is
planning to add three armed offi-
cers, more cameras and phones.
“We are underway with hiring an
armed officer to have here on cam-
pus,” Bumbard said. “We are in the
process right now, and with all the
new implements Wesleyan has now
and what we have planned, I think
Wesleyan definitely can be safe.”
Vanessa Renteria, a freshmen fi-
nance major, said that she is looking
forward to the telephones.
“I really like how accessible the
phones will be when they are built,”
Renteria said.” I’ll definitely feel a
lot safer walking through campus at
night or whenever I’m alone.”
Renteria said she has never felt
unsafe on campus.
“Texas Wesleyan, in terms of secu-
rity, does excellent,” Renteria said. “I
always see security guards walking
through the campus.”
Renteria said that although Wes-
leyan does its job, there are still im-
provements that she feels are needed.
“I would suggest having a secu-
rity guard on duty right in front of
the library at night, and at late night
events, such as theater plays, to make
sure everyone gets to their cars safe,”
Renteria said.
Anthony Harper, a sophomore fo-
Brianna Kessler
[email protected] in on the ‘freshman 15’
Gracie WeGer
Colleges and universities through-
out the United States are consistently
throwing out uneaten food.
According to an article on npr.org,
the average college student produc-
es about 142 pounds of food waste
a year, and college campuses, as a
group, throw out an average of 22
million pounds of uneaten food.
Very little food is wasted at Texas
Wesleyan, said Michael Clifton, di-
rector of dining services for Dora’s
Café. “We are very accurate in predict-
ing how much food to prepare each
day,” Clifton said. “We don’t have
much food waste at all.”
Clifton said that on average three
pounds or less of food get wasted
each day. This waste includes burnt
food and food that is not salvageable
for reuse.
“The past two years have been
Dora’s limits the daily waste of food
ricardo cortez
Map courtesy of Marketing & Communications
The red dots represent where the emergency phones will be on campus.
PHONES, page 3
FRESHMAN 15, page 3
Photo by Jessica Liptak
Dora’s Cafe wastes three pounds or less of food each day, including food that’s not salvageable for reuse.
FOOD WASTE, page 3
The “freshman 15,” a common
slogan which refers to the idea that
students will gain 15 pounds during
their freshmen year of college, is one
of the most common myths about
college.Freshmen do gain weight, but not
nearly that much.
The average freshman weight gain
is just under three pounds, accord-
ing to a study by the ACHA-Nation-
al College Health Assessment, a re-
search group that collects data about
students’ health habits, behaviors
and perceptions.
Students gain weight in college
due to stress and not enough exer-
cise, said Dr. Bruce Benz, chair of the
School of Natural & Social Sciences.
“It is fairly common to gain a little
weight your first semester of college,”
Benz said. “And stress eating has a
lot to do with it.”
The best way to reduce stress is ex-
ercise, he said. However, it is also hu-
man nature to find comfort in junk
food, because foods with a high level
of carbohydrates tend to be more
comforting due to the chemical
compound.
The college student’s lifestyle leads
to an inconsistent school, work and
social schedule, said Aaron Whaley,
director of Morton Fitness Center.
This can make it hard to adhere to
the timed healthy habits necessary
for the body to maintain a healthy
well-being, said Whaley.
“I think the freshman 15 is a fact,”
Whaley said. “I have talked to so
many students in the fitness center
who have said, ‘I need to get back
in shape. I’ve already gained some
weight.’”
Illustration by Jessica Liptak
Students gain weight from stress, junk food and lack of exercise.
NEWS
CAMPUS
A&E
SPORTS
ONLINE
WEDNESDAYSept. 16, 2015Vol. 99 • No. 9www.therambler.orgOPINION
caMPUs
TheRambler.org | For news throughout the day.
4 |Wednesday | Septemeber 16, 2015
FRIDAYSoccer - Sept. 18thhosts St. Thomas 6&8pmVolleyball - Sept. 18thhosts Southwestern Christian 7pm
SATURDAYSoccer - Sept. 19thhosts University of the Southwest 2&4pmVolleyball - Sept. 19thhosts St. Gregory's 2pm
Don't miss the action this weekend!
Mental health of college studentsSigns of depression
• Di� culty concentrating, remembering details, and making deci-sions
• Fatigue and decreased energy• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and/or helplessness• Feelings of hopelessness and/or pessimism• Insomnia, early-morning wakefulness, or excessive sleeping
• Irritability, restlessness• Loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable• Overeating or appetite loss• Persistent aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive prob-
lems that do not ease even with treatment• Persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” feelings• � oughts of suicide, suicide attempts• Making comments about being hopless, helpless, or worthless• Putting a� airs in order, tying up loose ends• Saying things like “It would be better if I wasn’t here”
Warning signs of suicide• Excessive sadness or moodiness• Hopelessness• Sleep problems.• Sudden calmness• Withdrawal• Changes in personality and/or appearance• Dangerous or self-harmful behavior• Recent trauma or life crisis• Making preparations: Th is might include visiting friends and fam-
ily members, giving away personal possessions, making a will, and cleaning up his or her room or home. Some people will write a note before committing suicide. Some will buy a fi rearm or other means like poison.
• � reatening suicide: From 50% to 75% of those considering suicide will give someone -- a friend or relative -- a warning sign. However, not everyone who is considering suicide will say so, and not every-one who threatens suicide will follow through with it. Every threat of suicide should be taken seriously.
Where to get help
� e Community Counseling CenterFree personal councling to Wesleyan stu-dents, faculty and staff .3106 E. Rosedale Ave. 817-531-4859
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline24/7 help for anyone
1 (800) 273-8255www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
Wesleyan should have given more warning to International students
Three potential stores coming to Wesleyan
Info graphic of college students’ mentalhealth
A Walk in the Woods is “excellent”
Wesleyan golfer looking to go pro
Watch out for these 2015 NFL storylines
Editorial on the “deregistration” policy for international students.
As part of the 2020 Vision, Wes-leyan plans to fill the vacant storefronts to enhance the student experience.
Statistics about depression, stress and suicide, and how to get help.
Hilarious moments make this movie worth seeing.
Alexis Belton works to accom-plish her dream of going pro, despite slim chances.
EST. 1946
WILLSON LECTURESHIP
DOORS OPEN AT 6:30 P.M.
MANDELA & TUTUMONDAY, SEPT. 287 P.M., MARTIN HALL
FEATURING HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS NDABA MANDELA, GRANDSON OF NELSON MANDELA & NAOMI TUTU, DAUGHTER OF ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU PRESENTING CONTINUING TO STRIVE FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION
PRESENTED BY
Michael Acosta gives five bold predictions for the 2015 season.
Texas officially loves tacos more than any other state, and Fort Worth is second only to Arlington in cities that love tacos the most, according to a 2014 survey.Cowtown native Joshua Matthews, a senior science in athletic training major, is not surprised by these re-sults at all.“I believe people love tacos in Fort Worth because of all of the heritage and diversity in the city,” Matthews said. “I love tacos.” Matthews, who eats tacos about twice a week, recommends Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, Torchy’s Tacos and Jack in the Box.
“I mostly go to Jack in the Box for tacos because they’re two for a dollar,” he said. “And I love Fuzzy’s breakfast tacos. But I think Torchy’s Tacos is the best place for tacos in town.” Estately, an online blog, conducted the 2014 survey, “Most Taco-Crazed Cities in America” to find out which of the largest 50 U.S. cities had the most taco enthusiasm, according to NBCDFW.com
Fort Worth ranked number two for highest level of taco enthusiasm out of the largest 50 U.S. cities, right behind Arlington and topping Aus-tin, which came in third. Dallas and San Antonio were fourth and fifth. Philadelphia, Boston and New York brought up the rear at 48, 49 and 50.The survey measured the percent-
age of each city’s restaurants serv-ing tacos via Yelp, the percentage of Facebook users in each city express-ing interest in tacos via Facebook, and the level of internet searches re-lated to tacos via Google Trends, ac-
cording to blog.estately.com.Taco enthusiasm is even spread-ing to out of state Wesleyan students, said Adrian Perez, a senior biology major from Miami. “I have started eating tacos so
much more living in Fort Worth than I did back home,” he said. Perez, who eats tacos once every two weeks, loves going to Chipo-
Texas Wesleyan University’s Rose-dale Renaissance Project is coming to an end, and the university is now considering food vendors and fran-chise retailers for three vacant store-fronts on campus to further the 2020 Vision. This is an opportunity for Wes-
leyan to provide additional space for retail and the school’s programs, said President Fred Slabach. “We would love to have a retail place that is appealing to students,” Slabach said. “A place where stu-dents can hang out, study and eat would be ideal.” Neighborhood revitalization, eco-nomic development and campus en-hancement are strategic parts of the 2020 Vision, said John Veilleux, vice
president of marketing & communi-cations.“We are highly motivated to get re-tailers into the storefronts,” he said. “And we are very interested in eatery type places for our new retail spaces to enhance the community.”There are a lot of people on cam-pus with certain diet restrictions and cannot eat at Dora’s or Subway, said Kelsey Manuel, senior theatre major. “We need something like Spiral
Diner,” she said. “I would love to have somewhere we can all eat to-gether.” There are not many food options on campus so a new place to eat would be great, said Daniella Shack-elford, sophomore psychology ma-jor.
“I would like to see something healthy and cheaper go in as far as
Texas Wesleyan’s Help Desk is now the Service Desk.The difference is not just a name change. The reorganization means that “the Service Desk is now like a secretary for Facilities,” said Maria Dominique Brown-Spence, a Wes-leyan graduate and Service Desk employee. “We send the tickets out and it gives Facilities a schedule with an estimated time to have requests
solved,” Spence said.Spence spoke highly of the new
approach to organizing the school’s maintenance requests.
The reorganization helps Wesleyan hold people accountable instead of
running simply on a word of mouth request for help or services, she said.
This has eliminated the complaints for the turn around on job comple-tions, said Spence.Spence said that the change has made her job easier with the help of the four student workers and the three analysts also working for the Service Desk.“The student workers really help to free up the technicians for the major things, and the students can handle the smaller things,” Spence said.Sallie Trotter, Wesleyan’s Service
Wesleyan hopes to fill storefronts
Fort Worth has taco feverBrianna [email protected]
Graphic by Brianna Kessler
These are the top four places to get tacos in Fort Worth, according to students surveyed for this article.
Photos by Jessica Liptak
Weslyan plans to fill vacant retail spaces with student-oriented businesses after construction is completed on Rosedale Street later this semester.
Brianna [email protected]
STOREFRONTS, page 3Service Desk streamlines requests
SERVICE DESK, page 3
“The Facilities adoption of the Ser-vice Desk tool has truly been a game changer for the department.” -Michael J. Poole
Gracie [email protected]
TACOS, page 3
Lady Rams focus on conference play
After starting the season with a 7-7 non-conference record, the Lady Rams softball team wants to put the past behind them and focus on conference play.
The team held a lead in all but two of their 14 non-conference games. However, losing five of those leads put a dent in the team’s record, head coach Shannon Gower said.
“I feel like something we need to improve on is holding leads,” Gower said. “Being up in all but two of 14 games so far and only having seven wins is a little bitter.”
The Lady Rams went 4-2 at the North Texas Softball Bash in Februrary. Gower hopes the team’s play there will set the tone for confer-ence play.
“The tournament really helped the girls
physically and mentally and during the tour-nament they showed poise and determina-tion,” Gower said.
Gower said she is happy with the non-con-ference play and knows that the team’s biggest challenges for the rest of the season will be on how well the players can manage themselves.
“Managing games and school for the play-ers is probably one of the biggest challenges,” Gower said. “Battling small injuries and the large amount of games we’re about to play in a short period of time add to the chaos of the season as well.”
A few players in the young season have stood out to Gower a little more than others, she said.
“Everyone on the team is very versatile, but that being said a few of the girls have stepped their game up and are being noticed,” Gower said. “Samantha Vasquez, Kaylee Batchlear, Kayla Prachyl and Dani West have all played
well thus far, and with hard work from the oth-er players the team will excel.”
The Lady Rams won their first two confer-ence games when they shut out Southwest-ern Assemblies of God University 6-0, 6-0 on March 1.
The Lady Rams face off against Saint Greg-ory’s University at home on March 12; this is one of the team’s most significant conference games, Gower said.
“We never underestimate teams, but Okla-homa City University and Saint Gregory’s are the two teams we are looking to take down be-cause of their stature in the conference,” Gower said.
Assistant coach Matt Wilkins who’s charge of the pitchers and said that this season there is much more communication between them.
“They just have a group mindset this year and are more vocal with each other,” Wilkins said. “The practice format has also really al-
lowed the girls to excel and hone their crafts a bit better.”
Wilkins has noticed that his pitchers are more focused and competitive and he wants to see more of that.
“I just want them to have a bulldog mental-ity and attain a deeper focus on the mound so they can perform to the best of their ability,” Wilkins said.
Junior psychology major and first baseman Samantha Vasquez came from Ranger College, and said she never really had to compete for a spot there.
“Coming to Wesleyan has made me more of a teammate because I have to battle every day at practice, and during games to keep my place on the field,” Vasquez said.
The Lady Rams play a doubleheader Friday against Bacone College at Sycamore Park in Fort Worth. The first game starts at 2 p.m. Ad-mission is free.
Photo by Jared Rabye Lauren Davis, left, throws to Samantha Vasquez at a recent Lady Rams practice.
Jared [email protected]
Photo by Jared RabyeFirst baseman/third baseman Bailey Terry gets ready to throw the ball to a teammate.