President’s Honors Concert features 11 top performers.A&E, page 5

The voice of Texas Wesleyan University students since 1917

WEDNESDAYFebruary 3, 2010

Vol. 93 • No. 3

ONLINE: www.therambler.org

The RamblerMartinez named men’s soccer team head coach.Sports, page 6

University College Day makes its way to TWUMelissa Batesmdbates@mail.txwes.edu

All year long students work in class, do proj-ects and study, but on University College Day students, faculty and staff have the opportunity to break from the norm.

UCD is April 13 and the deadline for sub-missions is Feb. 26. The theme of UCD 2010 is “What does this have to do with me?”

“University College Day came out of the idea that college is a forum for sharing ideas. It re-ally is the only opportunity to share what they do publicly,” said Peter Colley, associate profes-sor of art and chair of the UCD 2010 commit-tee. “People may talk with friends about what they did in this or that class, but this is the one day of the year for an ‘intellectual party’ to cel-ebrate your accomplishments. The one day you get to show off.”

Colley said the most memorable presenta-tions are the ones with provocative topics, which usually draw the largest crowds.

The sessions are held around the campus, with an itinerary showing who presents what and where. Teachers are encouraged to offer their students extra credit or assignment credit for attending UCD. Students do not have to have a full paper or presentation to send in a

submission, just an idea.Acceptable presentation formats include

lectures, poster sessions, PowerPoint, photo-essays, readings, theatrical and musical per-formances, panels, debate teams and forum discussions.

Students can present individually or collab-oratively; subjects can be cross-discipline or cross-platform.

Students, faculty and staff who present their scholarly and creative work at UCD may also submit their written work for review by Uni-versity Scholars, published by the Texas Wes-leyan University Press in conjunction with

Bleibdrey earns CFO awardJonathan Resendezjlresendez@mail.txwes.edu

In times of economic duress, a Wesleyan administrator rose above financial expecta-tions.

Senior Vice President for Finance and Ad-ministration Bill Bleibdrey received a Chief Fi-nancial Officer of the Year award from the Fort Worth Business Press in an awards banquet Jan. 28. He was chosen in the education category.

“I’m very honored,” Bliebdrey said. “I really get it on behalf of the university. I have the easy job, and everyone else is doing the hard work and being disciplined by watching their finances.”

The honorees for the award are executives who work as a partner with the institution’s president or chief officer in guiding the orga-nization through the various “financial storms and sunny days they will encounter,” according to the Business Press’ Web site.

Office of CommunicationsBryan, Bill and Linda Bleibdrey at the CFO awards banquet.

“This is the one day of the year for an ‘intellectual party’ to celebrate your accomplishments. The one day you get to show off.”

Peter Colleychair of the UCD 2010 committee

President delivers State of the SGA

Jonathan Resendezjlresendez@mail.txwes.edu

The Student Government Asso-ciation celebrated 90 years of student democracy with its annual State of the SGA report.

SGA President Heath Scott deliv-ered the address to a crowded cham-ber of about 30 students, faculty and

the university president Jan. 19. Cit-ing a successful fall semester, Scott said the student government was strong, vibrant and diverse.

“Traditional students, non-tradi-tional students, those who commute, live on campus, foreign nationals, mothers, Greeks, athletes, minori-ties,” Scott said. “The list is endless.”

The first major success Scott ref-

erenced was the SGA’s possession, after long periods of time without, of a meeting chamber and offices for various representatives.

“Before we were ready to act on be-half of the student body, we needed to act on behalf of ourselves,” Scott said in reference to criticism the SGA initially faced over the amount of money spent to acquire its rooms.

“Students will once again flock to our banner because we have so gracious-ly and elegantly presented it before them.”

Nick Demetre, representative for the school of sciences, said he liked the idea of the SGA speaking directly and publicly to the student body.

Conner Howell| Rambler StaffStudent Government Association President Heath Scott delivers the State of the SGA to a crowded chamber.

Numbers top previous spring term enrollmentJonathan Resendezjlresendez@mail.txwes.edu

With the spring numbers officially in, Wesleyan enroll-ment is up 3.24 percent over last spring.

Including the law school, graduate and doctorate pro-grams, a total of 2,794 students are enrolled at Wesleyan.

“The successful fall 2009 en-rollment and dilligent work on behalf of the admission team, coaches, staff in new student programs and faculty resulted in an increase in our spring 2010 spring enrollment,” said Pati Alexander, vice president for enrollment and student services, in an e-mail.

Undergraduate enrollment is up 5.22 percent over last spring, totalling 1,476 stu-dents. This figure includes 95 high school students who are taking college level classes.

Wesleyan enrolled 20 new freshmen and 136 new trans-fer and readmit students for a 3.57 increase in credit hours over last spring, Alexander said.

Also, the university retained 91.5 percent of the undergrad-uate fall class.

“The shared efforts of the great faculty and staff here at Texas Wesleyan is why we retained so many students,” said Blair Ensign, coordina-tor of new student programs and transfer liaison in the aca-demic success center.

The law school enrollment numbers showed a slight de-crease from 760 students last spring to 720 this semester.

The two new doctoral pro-grams in education and nurse anesthesia enrolled 15 and 36 students respectively, Alexan-der said.

Wesleyan’s graduate pro-gram accounts for 452 stu-dents while the doctorate pro-gram has 51. SGA, page 4

 UCD, page 4

Opinion2 | February 3, 2010 The RambleR | www.therambler.org

Who do you like in the Super Bowl?

Ladedrick MinnifieldFreshman Theater Major“The Saints, all the way.”

Sarahi SalazarSophomore Undecided

“Saints, no question.”

Parker FitzgeraldSophomore Education Major“If it’s not curling, then I don’t care. Go Canada!”

Rachel Benham Freshman Theater Major“Peyton is the only ‘Mann’ing in my life.”

Johnny GonzalesSenior Business Major

“Saints, because they’ve never won a Super Bowl before.”

Jonathan Resendez, editor-in-chiefChuck Fain, opinion editor, arts & entertainment editorConner Howell, college life editor, special projects editorJoakim Söderbaum, sports editorRebecca Moore, photo editorRachel Horton, multimedia editorKelli Lamers, faculty adviserDr. Kay Colley, faculty liaison

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

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

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

Letters to the editor: The RambleR, a weekly publication welcomes all letters. All submis-sions must have a full printed name, phone number and signature. Confidentiality will be granted if requested. While every consider-ation is made to publish letters, publication is limited by time and space.The editors reserve the right to edit all submis-sions for space, grammar, clarity and style. Letters to the editor may be subject to response from editors and students on the opinion page.

“We are not afraid to follow the truth ... wherever it may lead.”

— Thomas Jefferson

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

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The RamblerFounded in 1917 as The Handout

Publisher: Harold G. Jeffcoat

Joakim SoederbaumSports editorjsoder@mail.txwes.edu

The mark of the modern woman

To the young and bright women of Texas Wesleyan I would like to say, “Do what you want and please stop listening to the men!”

Recently, I had an experience at work that made me more aware of how women with tattoos are viewed, and it’s interesting to me that it’s not all roses and butterflies out there (opinions, not tattoos).

About two months ago, a coworker of mine was listening quietly to my conversation with a friend. We were discussing my plans for a new tattoo when he cleared his throat and said, “You’re getting a tattoo?”

It wasn’t a question so much as a disap-proving statement. I was a little thrown off, but when I asked what the big deal was he just said he didn’t like tattoos. I thought silently that I had never asked for his input and went on my way.

However, when I started getting tattoos last year, I received many mixed responses. Nor-mally I really don’t listen to others’ opinions that much. It’s my life, not theirs. But one article from Tucson Weekly’s Tom Danehy forced me to speak up.

Tom had a field day back in July with an article entitled “Flesh Wounds” that bashed women like you wouldn’t believe. He stated that, “in the matter of tattoos on women . . . that s—t don’t look good.” If that article had come with a picture I’m sure we could have said the same about his face!

Tom ostracizes women in matters of equal pay and professional sports, downsizing the importance of both, and says that the only men “living, dead, and those yet to be born,” that could possibly be attracted to a woman with a tattoo are lower than “white-trash” balding, biker guys, with too-tight Harley Davidson T-shirts and dentures.

It just so happens that anyone who seemed to “disapprove” of my fierce ink has been of the male origin, and I am beginning to won-der why men are so against it. Did I suddenly step through a portal that led me into the 1960s? Women are free to express themselves. How can self expression be unattractive?

It took me many years to be happy with my body and who I am, and many women are still fighting that battle. So why do men seem to love tearing us down? Ladies, we need to stop listening to men and do what we want.

Besides, by generalizing women who get tattoos you’re alienating thousands of differ-ent types of women and hundreds of artists who take pride in what they do. Art is a beau-tiful moving type of self expression, and if I or anyone else in this world chooses to use my wall, my notebook or my body as a canvas, no one should stop me.

I don’t want to make the same mistake Tom Danehy did with broad overgeneralizations. When I say men, I really mean boys. Those big burly ones who have the alpha male syn-drome and can only stop beating their chests long enough to belittle us women. I thought they were all gone, but Danehy proved me wrong, and that’s OK. I’m a woman, and we women can admit when we’re wrong. Well, except Sarah Palin, but that’s another matter.

I just felt that after years of torture in junior high and high school, I had finally found college: a place where we are all different but admire each other. And if we didn’t… well we kept our mouths shut for the greater good.

Being sexist is way out of style, and I refuse to take it anymore. When I look around Texas Wesleyan I see a campus full of great minds, and 62 percent of those minds are female.

The women on this campus and in today’s society are beautiful and intelligent and anyone who thinks otherwise is in for a big shock. That cute coffee girl is going to have your job one day, and all you will have is a little pink slip.

One thing Danehy said was an argument that most people seem to agree with: People get tattoos for the sake of others. They get them to be seen and not for themselves. That is simply not true.

I have four and most people never notice. I love my tattoos, but explaining why I have Swahili on my ribcage gets old really fast.

I just want everyone to stop worrying about other people and start enjoying life. Because you only get one chance to live your life and one chance to live out all your dreams. So if some guy in Tucson thinks I’m ugly, I don’t really care.

I hope that you don’t care either because we are beautiful when we’re happy, and we’re a heck of a lot nicer to each other. Maybe Tom Danehy needs a cat.

We can all learn balance, Insha’Allah

We have all heard students say “I can’t afford my text books” and “I need to get an extra job.” The global financial situation expresses itself ev-erywhere, and people tend to approach the issue differently, something that became very clear to me when visiting Dubai.

Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, was opened Jan. 4. I arrived in Dubai only three days later. According to www.arabian-business.com, Dubai has an estimated debt of about $80 billion, a fact that didn’t keep them from spending $4.1 billion on the impressive, 828-meter building.

Originally known as Burj Dubai, the tower’s name was changed in honor of Abu Dhabi’s ruler, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who provided a $10-billion lifeline for Dubai. To me, it sounds like an overpriced purchase.

No matter the politics behind the scenes, the amounts being spent in Dubai are enormous. Over here, we tend to hold on extra hard to our money when times get rough. At first, the exces-sive money flow did not make sense to me, but when it was time to leave, I had realized some-thing. Just as we tend to believe that people in The Middle East need to open their minds, we need to ask ourselves if we actually are as open-minded as we try to portray.

For instance, here, people are laid off due to lack of work, and a sense of panic has been al-most palpable for quite a while now. At Grand Hyatt in Dubai, the workers were offered to take a two-month, unpaid vacation with a guarantee that the job would still be there when they returned. No one had to leave due to the financial crisis.

The elevator transporting tourists to the 124th floor of Burj Khalifa does so in about 60 seconds, or 2.07 floors per second, as compared to the elevator in the West Library, which takes you the three floors from the basement to the top in about 25 seconds, or 0.12 floors per minute.

I know that the average speed of elevators in no way can be correlated with different cultures in some form of exact science, but this fact still represents the point I am trying to make.

Besides the fact that it would take more than 17 minutes to reach the 124th floor of Burj Khalifa if traveling at the speed of the elevator in the West Library, the people of Dubai have an important lesson to teach: don’t let anything slow you down.

Every time I got into a taxi to go somewhere, the driver repeated my request and added “Insha’Allah” as we took off. “Insha’Allah” means “God willing” and definitely constitutes a key concept in Dubai.

While we in the West tend to believe that we are in control of things, my new friends in the Middle East firmly believe that God is in con-trol. If He wants you to get there, you will get there—no matter how fast or slow you are driv-ing. If God wants you to get through a financial crisis, you will—no matter if you spend or save.

Maybe I am generalizing, but no matter what school of thought you come from, the apparent absence of worry impressed me. If your destiny is in God’s hands, you can’t do much about it.

However, I don’t believe in extremes. I am the first one to resent people who victimize them-selves, and I am annoyed with people who try to affect things they have no control over.

The concept of balance seems more im-portant than ever; having experienced both cultures, I can only conclude that we must learn from each other. In the West, we must stop trying to control the uncontrollable.

Occasionally it feels like it is our need of control that causes us to actually lose the same. In the East, they might want to think twice before putting a brick on the gas; I remember reading somewhere that speed kills, so let’s not be negligent. We can’t escape individual responsibility.

Times are tough, but let’s step back and get some perspective on what’s going on. What can you do about some things? What can you affect at all? What do you really want to change? Also, remember that there is nothing wrong with riding life in the fast lane. Reces-sion or not, make sure that you control what you can, and it will get better, Insha’Allah.

Rebecca MoorePhoto editorrmoore@mail. txwes.edu

The RambleR | www.therambler.org February 3, 2010 | 3

“The University’s Most Prestigious Honor”

The Hatton W. Sumners Scholarship

Up to $3,500 per semester for your junior and senior years is just the beginning. Sumners Scholars gain access to special programs such as lectures given by the National Center for Policy Analysis—followed by private briefings with the guest speaker. You’ll even attend a four-day leadership conference at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin.

The scholarship is focused on those studying political science, pre-law, history, or social studies. However, any student who demonstrates high academic achievement, is involved in campus or civic activities, and exhibits leadership and a strong sense of community responsibility may be considered. How about you?

TEXAS

UN IVERS I TYWesleyan

— President Harold Jeffcoat

Congressman Hatton Sumners represented Texas from 1913 to 1947. The Foundation encourages the study, teaching and research into the science and art of self-government, to the end that the American People may understand the fundamental principles of democracy and be guided thereby in shaping governmental policies.

Application Deadline: February 22, 2010

Apply at the Office of Financial Aid • For More Information, Call 817-531-4420 • www.txwes.edu/sumners

College Life4 | February 3, 2010 The RambleR | www.therambler.org

Photos by Conner Howell | Rambler StaffThe Texas Wesleyan chamber singers perform at the Concerts at Arborlawn Jan. 24 to raise donations and support for the people of Haiti.

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Chamber of charity

“The more communication the students have with stu-dent government, and student government has with the fac-ulty—the more successfully things will get done,” he said.

Scott touched on 10 pieces of legislation passed by the SGA ranging from extended hours of the cafeteria to a des-ignation of a new intramural sports field.

The SGA also added a stu-dent’s rights and responsibili-ties section to the handbook,

something that other univer-sities have but was lacking at Wesleyan, Scott said.

According to Mindy Pos-pichal, SGA treasurer, Scott left out the new protocol for documentation within each executive office from his ad-dress.

Although Scott mentioned that members now sit on fac-ulty committees, he did not go into technicalities. Appoint-ing secretaries and taking notes for each office so that

they are all uniform will make it easier to find information in the future, Pospichal said.

Future pieces of legislation the SGA hopes to pass involve new televisions, computers and a fax machine for resi-dence halls, as well as officially providing funding for a spirit group known as the Blu Cru.

“These students will bleed the blue and gold,” he said. “I can see it now, visiting teams dreading to come play at Tex-as Wesleyan because the Blu Cru will be there courtside to making their lives difficult.”

SGA continued from page 1

SGA legislation

•Resolution -- Eating Late Could Be Great

Requesting the University to extend the hours of Do-ra’s Cafeteria

•Resolution – New Lights Policy for the Sports Court

Requesting the University to extend the hours for light-ing on the sports court

•Resolution – Expression of Gratitude for the Depart-ment of Facilities Operation

Thanking Facilities for all the hard work they do

•Resolution – Wireless In-ternet

Requesting the University provide wireless Internet for the residence halls by March 1

•Resolution – Field Dedica-tion for Intramural Sports

Requesting the University designate the field on the corner of Ave D and Bin-kley as the official intramu-ral sports field

•Bill – “Adopt-A-Spot”

The SGA will landscape the area around Stella Rus-sell Hall

•Bill – An Act to Provide a Perfect Union at Elizabeth Hall

The SGA will purchase a new 32-inch LCD television for Elizabeth Hall

•Bill – Fenced In

The SGA will purchase additional fencing for the sports court

•Bill – Conference Table for the ROTC Program

The SGA will purchase a conference table for the ROTC program

Conner Howell | Rambler Staff

UCD continued from page 1

xlibris.com with sales on amazon.com and barnesand-noble.com.

“It is intended to celebrate collaboration with faculty and students and scholarship across disciplines,” said Stacia

Neeley, associate professor of English.

Neeley’s involvement with UCD spans five years. She said the idea of UCD came from a professor who wanted to find a way for students, fac-

ulty and staff to work together and show off the great minds at Texas Wesleyan.

Students interested in get-ting published can send their work to sneely@txwes.edu by midnight May 22.

Arts & EntertainmentThe RambleR | www.therambler.org February 3, 2010 | 5

President’s concert honors elite musicians

Chuck Faincmfain@mail.txwes.edu

Many great performances have graced Martin Hall, and this year’s President’s Honors Concert, taking place at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 5, will be one for the record books.

The President’s Honors Concert is an annual event in which patrons of the arts, friends of the university and invited guests of University President Harold Jeffcoat come to Martin Hall

for an evening of entertainment from Wesleyan’s top musical performers.

Only 11 performers have weath-ered the strenuous audition process to be selected for this prestigious event.

“The concert is a wonderful op-portunity for students to represent our school and show the community what the Wesleyan music department is all about,” said Ashlie Averyt, a se-nior music major here at Wesleyan and one of the few picked to perform.

Averyt will sing Sure on this Shin-

ning Night by Samuel Barber for the concert.

Described as the “major event” for the music department, this year’s performance will coincide with Wes-leyan’s 120th anniversary.

Jeffcoat and his wife, Marie, host the event with David and Rose-mary Jobe, and alumnus Quentin McGown (’79) will be emceeing the event.

“The concert is a great opportunity to honor the traditions in our music

department and our university, and it’s a crowning moment for the per-formers,” Jeffcoat said.

Come witness the vocal mastery and instrumental savvy of Wesleyan’s elite musical talents. An event like this can only happen once a year.

The event is free, and a reception will follow the concert at Lou’s Place. It is preferred to RSVP by Feb. 3 by calling 817-531-4404. Business attire or better is the dress requirement for this evening of fine arts.

courtesy of Wesleyan Music Performers from the 2008 President’s Honors Concert take the stage at Martin Hall.

RamageTexas Wesleyan’s Online Journal of Artistic and

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Currently accepting your submissions until April 15Submit to: Wesleyanramage@gmail.com

Send us your poetry, art, prose and comedy sketches.

The Book of Eli makes modern movie miracle

Visually stimulating and dramatically palat-able, The Book of Eli accentuates the story of post-apocalyptic journey with thoroughly developed, character-driven narratives and tight, brutal action sequences that gratify the viewers sense of danger and adventure.

The story centers around Eli (Denzel Washington), who continues to survive the scorched wasteland left behind after what he calls “the great flash.” He heads west to find a place to deliver a King James Bible he has faithfully carried for 30 years.

Washington portrays a solid character, demonstrating his resolve through the use of his blade on unwashed adversaries foolish enough to block his path without the sense to stand downwind.

Eli’s path eventually takes him to what appears to be the remnants of a town evoca-tive of the Wild West resettled by other survivors. Here he encounters power baron Carnegie (Gary Oldman) and his daughter Solara (Mila Kunis).

As it happens Carnegie has a special inter-est in books, ordering his men from behind his desk to scour the wasteland in search of a particular piece of literature he intends to use to further his position of power.

It’s a mixture of well-crafted gun battles and proverbs as Solara escapes with Eli and heads west into what they hope will be the answer to their prayers.

There are strong themes of religious devo-tion and faith coupled with the suggestion that the abuse of this religious fervor led to the war that blasted the planet. However, these pious undertones aren’t overpowering to the point of leaving a self-righteous taste in your mouth.

The theme is really about having faith in a time when belief is as dried up as the desert landscape depicted in the film. Though the Bible can come off as a cliché symbol of faith in the movie, it doesn’t detract from the story. It’s comforting to know that the Bible can be used in a film without the old hypocritical mantra.

There’s no inquisition types lurking in scar-let robes putting people to the question, and there are no visions of grandeur or ulterior motives in Eli’s intentions with the Gospel.

If you take any preconceived notions of religion out of the mix and keep in mind that it’s just a movie, you’ll probably like the film without suspicion of the “good book.”

Rambler Review: Notable notes from this week

Conner HowellCampus Life Editorchowell@tmailxwes.edu

This Week in History•Feb. 3, 1959 – Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (17) and The Big Bopper (28) die in a plane crash in Iowa•Feb. 3, 1960 – Frank Sinatra forms Reprise Records •Feb. 3, 1961 – Bob Dylan makes his first re-cording, San Francisco Bay Blues, in New York City•Feb. 3, 1991 – Sinead O’Connor boycotts the Grammys because the show reflects “false and destructive materialistic values.”•Feb. 6, 1935 – Monopoly went on sale •Feb. 7, 1964 – The Beatles arrived in the U.S. for the first time

Birthdays•Feb. 3, 1894 – Norman Rockwell•Feb. 5, 1962 – Jennifer Jason Leigh•Feb. 6, 1917 – Zsa Zsa Gabor•Feb. 6, 1945 – Bob Marley•Feb. 7, 1812 – Charles Dickens•Feb. 7, 1966 – Chris Rock•Feb. 7, 1978 – Ashton Kutcher

Deaths•Feb. 4, 1995 – Betty Davis•Feb. 4, 1987 – Liberace•Feb. 6, 1994 – Jack Kirby

Sports6 | February 3, 2010 The RambleR | www.therambler.org

Jacqueline Wittmanjrwittman@mail.txwes.edu

Gaspar Martinez was named head coach of the Texas Wesleyan men’s soccer team after being the assistant coach for the men’s and wom-en’s soccer teams.

An assistant coach at Wes-leyan for five years, Martinez served four of those years with Josh Gibbs as the head coach of both the men’s and women’s teams. Now, Marti-nez will coach the men’s team, and Gibbs will continue to coach the women’s team.

“Martinez is starting new in a job he definitely deserves and has earned,” Gibbs said.

“We have been building up two competitive programs for years now,” he said. “We know that with two separate head coaches, we can provide a bet-ter environment for all the players and give them the fo-cused coaching they deserve.”

The soccer program was the only program left at Wesleyan with one head coach running both the men’s and women’s team simultaneously.

“It was a good decision to separate the coaching staff,” Martinez said. “Gibbs can concentrate on the women’s team, and I can concentrate on the men’s team. This way, no team will be at a loss be-cause of concerns with the other team.”

Martinez said his main fo-cus is the men as students and players.

“Our system of play will change, and the expectations of each player will increase in a competitive atmosphere,” he said.

Like the years past, Marti-nez wants the team to make it to the conference tourna-

ment. “Once we are in the tourna-

ment, we will focus on win-ning it,” he said. “We won’t think too far in advance, but still work hard to reach our goal.”

The players are adjusting to the change and looking for-ward to the new season.

“The change is positive as it will bring the possibil-ity for more concentration on each aspect of the game and on individual and team tech-niques,” said junior forward Marcus Harris. “I am excited to get started and glad to have another great head coach leading the program.”

Martinez is working to fill the teams with new players and 17 returners from last season.

“It’s different being the head coach, but I also have a lot of experience from assist-ing with Gibbs,” he said. “Now I have more office work and behind the scenes things to address.”

Martinez’s tasks have in-creased as he is now responsi-ble for recruiting and compil-ing the roster for next season.

“I plan to bring in about 15 men, all who will make an immediate impact on the pro-gram,” Martinez said. “I want academically strong players and walk-ons that are willing to work hard as a team with our returners.”

With offseason training already started, Martinez is working hard on recruiting.

“We will announce some players on signing day in mid-February,” he said. Martinez also plans to hold open try-outs in late March, after high school soccer season, to at-tract freshmen to Wesleyan.

The men’s soccer program

will also be adding a reserve team.

“The varsity and reserve teams will have a floating roster, which means we can change the roster per game,” Martinez said. “If a player is not performing at the varsity level, we can now take a player from the reserve team to com-pete in conference matches.”

Martinez describes the re-serve team as a luxury the program didn’t have before.

“The functioning of the teams will model professional teams and increase the com-petition for the men to do well as players and students,” he said.

The teams will practice at the same time, but separately on most occasions. The re-serve team will play junior colleges such as Hill College and Mountain View College.

As for the coaching staff, the men’s and women’s assis-tant coach will still be Jody

Ellsworth. Phillip Blocklinger will continue to be the men’s student assistant coach and Brianna McKernon will be the women’s student assistant coach.

“Of course we are hoping to see rewards from the change and positive benefits for the players,” Martinez said. “Be-fore, when one team lost, we had to quickly adjust to coach the next team. It was hard to get prepared mentally for both games back-to-back and now that won’t be a concern,” he said.

Senior defender Heather Pagano sees the benefits for the women’s team.

“It’s great to have Coach Gibbs only as our head coach. Now he is able to focus his at-tention solely on us,” she said.

“We are doing what is best for the program and the play-ers,” Gibbs said. “The change was needed for the success of the program overall.”

Game Time/Place

ThursdayWomen’s Basketballvs. Texas CollegeMen’s Basketball vs. Texas College

5:30 p.m.Sid W. Rich.7:30 p.m.Sid W. Rich.

Friday Baseball vs.Oklahoma City Univ.

1 p.m.LaGrave Field

Saturday

Baseball vs. Lubbock Christian UniversityWomen’s Basketball vs. Paul Quinn Coll.Men’s Basketball vs.Paul Quinn Coll.

12 p.m.LaGrave Field5:30 p.m.Sid W. Rich.7:30 p.m.Sid W. Rich.

MondayWomen’s Basketball vs. Bacone CollegeMen’s Basketball vs.Bacone College

5:30 p.m.Muskogee7:30 p.m.Muskogee

Upcoming Sports

Jacqueline Wittmanjrwittman@mail.txwes.edu

The Texas Wesleyan base-ball team is aiming for the NAIA World Series this sea-son.

“Our goal this season is to make it all the way in the NAIA World Series and be successful all throughout,” Head Coach Mike Jeffcoat said.

The Rams’ goal is arguably attainable with 18 experi-enced seniors and 13 new-comers this season. Joining the squad are four transfers and nine freshmen, seven of whom are walk-ons.

“We lost three seniors last year: our left fielder, short stop and a pitcher,” Jeffcoat said. “But this season we feel improved with more depth in hitters and the pitching staff.”

Senior Caleb McCool is looking forward to this season with high expectations.

“We have acquired a group of hitters to go along with the ones we had last year, so now our lineup should be fairly strong from top to bottom,” he said. “If we can manage to score some runs, I’m sure our pitching staff can take care of the rest.”

As for coaching, Blake Walker, former Wesleyan out-fielder, has stepped up to be the Rams’ assistant coach.

“With our new additions, we are expecting big things from this group of men,” Jef-fcoat said.

The Rams will start the sea-son playing top competitors, but they are looking forward to the challenge.

“We are going to have a tough but good start to the season,” Jeffcoat said. “We will play Lubbock Christian and Oklahoma City.”

Lubbock Christian is the defending national champion of the NAIA World Series and recently took the No. 1 rank-ing in the 2010 NAIA Coach-es’ Top 25 poll.

Oklahoma City won third place in the NAIA World Se-ries and claimed No. 3 in the 2010 NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 poll. Both teams are in the Sooner Conference and will create strong match-ups for the Rams.

The Rams finished with an overall record of 42-22 last season and made national playoffs the past two years.

As for the NAIA World Se-ries, the Rams were one win shy of making it into the fi-nals to win a trip to the NAIA World Series the past two sea-sons.

The Rams opened the sea-son against Southwestern University Feb. 2. The team will face Oklahoma City at 1 p.m. Feb. 5 and Lubbock Christian at noon Feb. 6. Both games are at home.

The Rams’ first Red River Conference game is at 2 p.m. March 12 against the Univer-sity of the Southwest at La-Grave Field.

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New chapter for soccer: Martinez becomes new head coach for men

Wesleyan week-in-sports

•The Lady Rams Basketball team (12-6, 8-2 RRAC) picked up a pair of wins against Huston-Tillotson University (Jan. 28) and Our Lady of the Lake Uni-versity (Jan. 30).

•The Rams Basketball team (16-5, 9-1 RRAC) beat Huston-Tillotson Unversity Jan. 28 in their 32 consecu-tive home win. They lost to Our Lady of the Lake University Jan. 30.

Baseball aims for NAIA World Series

Melissa Bates | Rambler StaffGaspar Martinez

The Weekly Sports Quote

“You can observe a lot just by watching.”

Yogi BerraFormer MLB Player and Manager