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Cast your vote KEIRA PHIPPS Staff Writer KC’s Homecoming week kicks off with King and Queen voting from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, and Tuesday, Sept. 27, in the Devall Student Center. Festivities, parties and dances are scheduled throughout the week as celebration. A pool party will be from 8 p.m.-11 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, in the Parks Fitness Center. This year’s Powder Puff games will take place between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, at St. John Memorial Stadium. “The cheerleaders are the defending champs from last year’s
HOMECOMING COURT Queen Candidates
Powder Puff games,” said Joseph Savoie, assistant director of student life. A Homecoming dance is scheduled 8 p.m.-11 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28, in the carpeted gym of the Parks Fitness Center. The annual pep rally will be 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, in Masters Gym. Classes are dismissed from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to allow students to attend the pep rally and the hot dog and burger lunch. Lunch will be served on Elder Street. Charlie’s Snoballs will serve free sno cones. The week ends with various alumni activities and the Rangers facing Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1. The 2011 KC Homecoming King and Queen will be announced at halftime.
The Flare
Q Amanda Bailey, Rangerettes Q Chelsi Borders, Orientation Leaders Q Symone Brooks, Cheerleaders Q Jenny Ferrusquia, Latinos en Accion Q Bria Jones, Ranger Ambassadors
King Candidates Q Danual Fountain, Baptist Student Ministry Q Joe Leftwich, Ranger Ambassadors Q Anthony Moore, Cheerleaders Q Brian Morton, Orientation Leaders Q Tyler Simmons, Diversity Alliance
Friday, Sept. 23, 2011 Vol. 75 No. 3 Serving Kilgore College since 1936
Enrollment decreases 4.4 percent overall
NEW RANGER BAND DIRECTOR
5HJLVWUDU 6WXGHQWV WDNLQJ PRUH KRXUV GHVSLWH GHFUHDVH JESSICA STOVALL Staff Writer
Brandy Eubanks / THE FLARE
Ranger Band director Glenn Wells returns to R. E. St. John Memorial stadium with a focus on quality and putting on a good show.
Marching in
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and life has a soundtrack. It’s splattered with the sound of footsteps and splashed by the sound of roaring traffic; directionless, until Game Day when the KC Ranger Band sets life to a single soaring song. Since this summer, the Ranger Band has been directed by Glenn Wells. Wiry, lively, always moving, the moustached Wells is aptly suited for his job. “He get it done,” KC percussionist Demanuel Williams said of Wells with the usual drummer’s swagger. “He keeps us organized. He keeps us focused. He’s very energetic.” Coming in at the end of the summer with not much funding, not enough band students and very little warning, Wells had to hit the ground running. He seems pleased with the results so far. “We had a great first outing, just a lot of positive responses,” Wells said. “We hope to keep that positive momentum going because once that train gets going it just needs a little maintenance along the way.” Wells has been riding that positive momentum for a long time. Graduating as valedictorian from Union Grove High School in 1977, he went straight to KC, where he said, “Anne Dean Turk and the music staff here were instrumental in helping me get a
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foundation for music theory. I came out well ahead.” After KC it was on to Stephen F. Austin State University, scoring a Bachelor of Fine Arts, a Masters in Music and a Masters in Education. He later distinguished himself for over 20 years as a high school band director in several areas. Jeanne Johnson, chair of music and dance, takes credit for bringing Wells, a former music major of hers, in. She knew the Ranger Band needed a talented director, but she also saw a need for a director who could cultivate a rapport with other directors and instructors. “That is so important, to be respected,” Johnson said. “You need someone that they respect.” She was very complimentary of Wells’ work recruiting band members over the summer and on into the school year. Wells said that he will continue to recruit and try to wring out new and better instruments, but that he is choosing to focus on quality. He is dedicated to putting on a good show. Budget cuts have been harsh this year, forcing the Ranger Band to limit its travel to one out-of-town game when the Rangers face the Tyler Junior College Apaches. “Returning to KC has been a real thrill for me. I’ve lived here for the second time for 22 years and I’ve been associated with Kilgore since 1975,” Wells said. “It’s almost a dream come true for me. This was my alma mater and is my first college band so it’s been real exciting for me.”
RQFH WKDW WUDLQ JHWV JRLQJ LW MXVW QHHGV D OLWWOH PDLQWHQDQFH DORQJ WKH ZD\ Glenn Wells, band director
KC has had a small decrease in enrollment for the first time since the fall of 2007. As of the 12th class day, the total enrollment is 6,396. Registrar Staci Martin believes the decrease is because enrollment is leveling out. Martin notes there won’t always be a steady increase, and the KC administrators are aware of this. Problems can be caused from a decrease, though. The state can cut funding. “When the state decreases funding, we have to look at ways to make it up,” Martin said. Increases in tuition and housing are two areas that the administrators look at first. Even with possible threats of cut funding, there is a positive side to the 12th day enrollment status. The state not only looks at students enrolled, but also the amount of hours that each student takes. “The state looks more carefully at contact hours,” Martin said. “Our overall headcount is down 4.4 percent, but the number of contact hours (hours spent in class) is down only 2.7 percent. This is good news because while enrollment is down, the students who are enrolled are taking more hours.”
Visitation rules remain unchanged 1R IHPDOH YLVLWRUV DOORZHG RYHUQLJKW LQ 6WDUN +DOO ASHTON JOHNSON Managing Editor KC’s dorm policies remain the same, despite rumors that women can stay overnight in Stark Hall. “No changes have been made to the dorm policies,” said Edward Williams, director of residential life and coordinator of Stark Hall. Stark Hall is an all-male residence occupied by 153 students. It is monitored by seven resident assistants, often called RAs. The residence halls are open to visitors from noon until 11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday See STARK HALL on Page 3
RangerNet access slow 7HPSRUDU\ ˔[ LQ WKH ZRUNV IRU LQFUHDVHG :L )L FRQQHFWLRQV JONATHEN RUESCH Web Editor Students have been complaining about not being able to connect to RangerNet with their wireless devices while the person next to them has no problem connecting to the Internet. The college has made a temporary fix, allowing more students on campus to access the World Wide Web wirelessly. The reason some students were not able to connect to RangerNet is that there were only a limited amount of IP addresses available. At the beginning of the semester, 454 IP addresses were available for both Kilgore and Longview campuses; however, it has been raised to 1,000 IP addresses, according to John Colville, information technology director. This may sound like a lot until one puts into account that every Wi-Fi
enabled device that is turned on takes an IP address when it finds RangerNet. There is a downside to having more IP addresses available. While more students can connect to RangerNet, the connection is slower when more students connect. A way that students can help better KC’s Wi-Fi is to disable the Wi-Fi on their devices when not in use. Thirty-four RangerNet access points are available for both campuses. That’s approximately one access point per building. An access point, costing about $1,000 each, is connected to an edge network switch, running at about $7,000 each, which is what both the wireless and the wired networks are connected to. Then the edge network switch is connected to the core network, costing approximately $35,000 each.
Elizabeth Wisdom / THE FLARE
HELPING HANDS
Deputy Chief Russ Johnson of the Kilgore Fire Department accepts a $1,200 check from the 9HUNLY (TIHZZHKVYZ +\YPUN [OL HYLH ^PSKÄYLZ [OL 9HUNLY (TIHZZHKVYZ JVSSLJ[LK TVUL[HY` KVUH[PVUZ HZ ^LSS HZ ^H[LY ZUHJRZ HUK LULYN` KYPURZ MVY [OL ÄYLÄNO[LYZ
See WI-FI on Page 3
Bre a k i n g n ews, videos an d exten ded cover age at www.thef lareonline. com
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