The Rambler Vol.100 No.8

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WEDNESDAY Sep. 14, 2016 Vol. 100 • No. 8

www.therambler.org

OPINION

Football drives renovations Dalise Devos

dndevos@txwes.edu

Student workers should not be limited to “part-time” work Wesleyan limiting the number of hours a student can work has a negative impact on those students.

NEWS

The return of football brings renovations The influx of students brought by football prompted campus construction.

CAMPUS

Tackling tradition Take a look back at Wesleyan football through the years.

While Texas Wesleyan students enjoyed their summer break, teams of construction workers tackled major renovation projects all over campus. These renovations were made necessary by the influx of students associated with the return of the football program, said Brian Franks, executive director of facilities development and operations. “A lot of this is being driven by the football program, and everything associated with that,” Franks said. “It’s not just the football players. There’s other programs that are expanding that are relevant to the football program. You have a pep band that’s kind of starting up, women’s lacrosse and so on. All that’s tied to the addition of this new program.” The renovations include the addition of a collegiate-level weight room in the Brown-Lupton Campus Center, which crews have been working on since the spring semester, Franks said. “We were lucky enough to get a jump on the renovations that were needed for the football program in the spring semester,” Franks said. Despite the early start, the project is still running into “overtime,” according to Athletic Director Steve Trachier. “The project is running just a little bit behind. There were some unexpected things that came up,” Trachier said. “I’m guessing the project will be completed in a couple weeks, and then the facility will be available for

Photo by Dalise DeVos Football players are scheduled to study in the new classrooms in the library Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights.

the students to use.” The previous weight room was unable to support Wesleyan’s larger athletic teams, like baseball, but the addition of the football program is what prompted the university to make the upgrade, Trachier said. “The existing weight room was really cramped,” Trachier said. “It was almost impossible for our big squads like baseball to all get in there at the same time. The truth is, because of football, we were able to build this new weight room for all of our athletes.” Dusty Cloud, junior criminal justice major and pitcher for the Rams, knows first-hand the necessity for the new weight room.

Shaydi Paramore ssparamore@txwes.edu

Pouring Glory pours up a good time Pouring Glory offers craft beer and craft food and is only about a five-minute drive from campus.

SPORTS Photo by Gracie Coleman Dr. Ricardo Rodriguez wants to make Texas Wesleyan a premier university.

The football team might not be playing any games this season, but they’re getting prepared.

ONLINE

President Slabach is back in the classroom Slabach adds teaching to his presidential duties this semester.

room, even though he suspects it won’t be completed in time for baseball’s fall training. “I am excited for the new weight room that is being built,” Cloud said. “It won’t be done by the time the baseball team starts our weight lifting program in November, but I’m definitely excited to get in there once we get back for the spring semester.” Trachier expects many students will share Cloud’s excitement once the project is complete. “I think our kids are going to be real proud of what we have,” Trachier said. “It’s going to be all new equipment. The facility is going to be very

 RENOVATIONS. page 3

Rodriguez focuses on outreach

A&E

The football team has begun practicing

“When it comes time for the baseball team to lift as a team, we have to go in three separate groups,” Cloud said. “We can’t all just lift as a team like we would like to do. Even when we do split up, it is still very crowded.” Cloud feels that by waiting for the return of the football to build the new weight room, the university put the needs of teams like his on hold. “It feels that we were maybe on the back burner,” Cloud said, “that we weren’t going to get any new stuff like a weight room. But now that football is back they need a weight room for them, so we will take it.” Nevertheless, Cloud is excited for athletics to gain the new weight

Dr. Ricardo Rodriguez wants to reach out – to other universities, to high school students, even to middle schoolers. Rodriguez, who was named the new dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences in April, says his main goal is to bring more students to Wesleyan. He plans to expand outreach programs specializing in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) to provide resources and opportunities for faculty members, and recruit members in the community to assist with future endeavors. “I saw that I had an opportunity to contribute to the university and the surrounding community and was very happy,” said Rodriguez, who has been at Wesleyan for 25 years and was previously an assistant pro-

fessor of chemistry, interim dean, associate director of the nurse anesthesia program and faculty chair in the chemistry department. Rodriguez plans to focus on strengthening and implementing the pre-health science program. “Texas Wesleyan has a role in providing the educational background to those interested in dental school, medical school and pharmaceutical school and we have the faculty to do that,” Rodriguez said. Rodriguez said he was always interested in science, “but never had the opportunity. As I have evolved through my schooling, I have seen a lot of things that people do to strive in the science world. When I think of ideas, I think of ideas that will interest children and young people and get their attention to stay in education and science engineering.”

RODRIGUEZ. page 3

Wesleyan creates new school Shaydi Paramore

ssparamore@txwes.edu

The health care profession is in constant demand for more professionals and Texas Wesleyan University is ready to answer that call. This semester, Wesleyan has created the new School of Health Professions by combining the counseling program from the School of Education and the Graduate Programs of Nurse Anesthesia, said Senior Vice President and Provost Allen Henderson. The plan is to create a program that focuses on transforming current registered nurses with bachelor’s degrees into compassionate nurse

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“Ultimately we hope to take a strong thread of students and increase their knowledge in both taking great care of others, but themselves as well.” - Dr. Heidi Taylor practitioners, said Dr. Heidi Taylor, the new dean of the school. North Texas hospitals are in desperate need of nurse practitioners, and the new school will help fill that gap, Henderson said. “In the next ten years, Nurse Practitioners are expected to start playing

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a major role in primary care delivery,” Henderson said. Most medical schools that focus on creating future doctors and primary care physicians teach them how to diagnosed diseases, said Taylor. Doctors care more about the disease than the patient.

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“With nurse practitioners, they don’t focus on the diagnosis or the disease, but the whole person,” Taylor said. “They focus on promoting a patient’s health and assist the patient with preventing diseases.” The new school will teach students both critical thinking and stronger ability to understand the business part of the health practice, Taylor said. Taylor is still working on the percentage projection of incoming students, but hopes to recruit 20 to 25 nurses for spring 2018. “We hope to take already registered nurses with bachelor’s degrees

 SCHOOL. page 3

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