WEDNESDAY March 30, 2011
Vol. 93 • No. 9
www.therambler.org
Dr. John Fisher performs at Celebrating World of Piano.
The Rambler
Arts & Entertainment, page 5
The voice of Texas Wesleyan University students since 1917
War veterans offered post-war relaxation at retreat. Community, page 6
SGA revokes organization approval Shauna Banks
sbbanks@mail.txwes.edu
Alpha Tau Kappa, one of three prospective organizations approved at the Feb. 16 Student Government Association meeting, had its approval officially revoked March 23. Heath Scott, president of SGA,
Runnin Rams join race for breast cancer
said in a formal letter to Ashlie Sivley, president of ATK, that due to significant credibility issues with ATK’s list of interested students originally submitted for approval, the SGA has formally withdrawn its recognition of ATK as a student organization. Scott said immediately follow-
ing ATK’s approval in February, about 15 concerned individuals approached him. “Everyone was highly upset because they were concerned with how these young ladies sometimes conducted themselves,” Scott said. “Their grades were also a concern.” Scott said two women originally
on the interest list for ATK when they submitted their application for approval in January, approached him, saying that they did not know they were on the list. “These two girls came to me, and I told them, ‘look, you have to put something in writing,’ because I can’t just take your word,’” Scott said.
Rams slide into series win
Scott said the women both brought back handwritten statements saying they did not know they had been on the list. Both women did not want to be interviewed for this article at the time of press.
REVOKED, page 3
Library takes trial run with extended hours
Rachel Peel
Melissa Bates
The Runnin Rams are lacing up their running shoes once again. The Runnin Rams team will represent the Texas Wesleyan community by participating in the Greater Fort Worth 2011 Race for the Cure on April 9 at Ridgmar Mall. “I knew I wanted to do it, and this time last year no one really had talked about forming a team,” Sarah Smith, admissions counselor, said. “I had been a team captain for another race, The Jingle Bell Run, so I said, ‘I can do it, I can make a team online.’ ” Smith decided to participate in the Race for the Cure about three years ago when she lived in Amarillo, just because she wanted to participate in 5Ks. Smith said the Race for the Cure just came along at the right time and when she moved here, she decided to participate in the Fort Worth run. “Last year, was pretty simple as far as making the team and anyone who wanted to sign up could just sign up—we didn’t do a lot of advertising,” Smith said. Smith said this year the Susan G. Komen foundation really reached out to team captains from last year as early as January, asking if they were going to be team captains again this year. Then they offered to help with advertising. “Race for the Cure is unlike any other race that I have ever done, there is such a feeling of comradery amongst everyone that is there,” Smith said. “You go there and it’s just a sea of pink.” Smith said the team members can wear pink hats or bows, but the etiquette is that only survivors can wear pink shirts. “Those survivors out there, doing the race is just such a cool thing,” Smith said. Smith said right now there are seven team members but she is still looking for participants. Elizabeth Henson, assistant librarian, is one of the seven team members and said she usually does the Komen with her mom’s workplace, but joined the Runnin Rams this
With projects, research papers and tests piling up, students now have an extra two hours of library time to get it all done. For four weeks, from April 18 to May 12, the Eunice and James L. West Library is running a trial for late-night hours, extending closing time to midnight. Since fall 2008, the West Library has extended their late night hours to midnight for the week of final exams. Sheri Parker, coordinator of library operations, said every year the library receives requests from students for extended hours. Parker said the library staff is happy to stay open for students but the numbers of students present at those hours aren’t enough to warrant the expense all year. “We’re going to try it for three weeks and see how the numbers go and see whether we should try to do it longer,” Parker said. “After finals, we’ll review and decide if we want to stay open longer.” Parker said she could not guess the number of students administration would require for approval to make midnight hours permanent. Safety regulations require two staff members and one student worker to work during midnight hours. During these late hours, students will have the same access to the library and all its resources as during daylight hours.
rlpeel@mail.txwes.edu
RUNNIN, page 7
mdbates@mail.txwes.edu
MORE TIME, page 7
West Library extended hours
Meisa Keivani Najafabadi | Rambler Staff Marissa Rangel, junior outfielder, slides home safe, past Bacone College’s catcher Jessica Harper, to put the Lady Rams up 5-0 in game one of their Lady Warrior series. The Lady Rams won game one of the series 9-3, game two 8-0 and suffered a 5-3 loss in game three, finishing the series with a 2-1 Red River Athletic Conference win at Sycamore Park March 25-26. Their next game is against Langston University April 3-4.
April 18-20 – 7:30 a.m. - midnight April 21-24 - closed for Easter April 25-28 – 7:30 a.m. - midnight April 29 – 7:30 a.m. - 10 p.m. April 30 – 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. May 1 – 1 p.m. - midnight May 2-6 – 7:30 a.m. - midnight May 7 – 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. May 8 – noon - midnight May 9-10 – 7:30 a.m. - midnight May 11 – 7:30 - 10 p.m. May 12-13 – 7:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. May 14 – start summer hours
Graduation ceremony split evokes mixed feelings Stephanie Mejia
smejia@mail.txwes.edu
As the spring semester draws to an end, Wesleyan seniors prepare for graduation. On May 13, students graduating will make the traditional walk across the stage to celebrate the completion of their academic careers, with some changes implemented this semester. Graduation will now take place in the Fort Worth Convention Center and the ceremony will be split by school.
Dr. Allen Henderson, provost and senior vice president, said issues with the Will Rogers venue were key factors in the decision to find a new location for graduation. “Will Rogers discontinued their guarantee not to bump us to Saturday or another date even though we had reserved the facility,” Henderson said. Henderson said students’ demands for more tickets and parking problems in the past few years were considered in the decision. “The spring 2011 graduating class is the largest one we have had in re-
cent years and maybe ever,” Henderson said. “We would prefer not to split graduation into two ceremonies, but the Convention Center is not big enough to hold all school graduates and guests at one time.” These changes have created mixed feelings amongst some graduating seniors. Ashly Spencer, senior education major, said she believes students should have been asked whether they agreed with these changes. “I don’t like that half my professors won’t see me graduate after five years
of hard work,” Spencer said. “I hate that I need a ticket to see my friends graduate and vice versa.” Spencer said the splitting of ceremonies takes away from the experience and meaning of graduation. Rose Boots, senior marketing major, agrees that the separation of the class ruins the graduation experience. “I feel that I won’t graduate with a bonding experience,” Boots said. Tara Cates, senior psychology major said that there are some positive aspects to the split in ceremonies. “What a lot of students probably
don’t realize is that this 2011 Graduating class is the largest one Wesleyan has had in recent years ,” Cates said. “As much as I’m looking forward to graduating and basking in my success, I don’t want to wait four hours for that to happen.” The school of arts and letters and natural and social sciences will have its graduation ceremony at 4:30 p.m. The graduation ceremony for the schools of education and business and all graduate students will follow at 8 p.m. “Regardless of the time we graduate, we are all still Rams,” Cates said.