wednesday
November 28, 2012
Vol. 95 • No. 18
www.therambler.org English professor strives to make a difference. Campus, page 4
The Rambler The voice of Texas Wesleyan University students since 1917
Wesleyan soccer player talks about his journey to America Sports, page 8
Wesleyan students bring world flavor It’s that time of year again, the hustle and bustle of running from store to store trying to figure out how to get the last ingredients for the pumpkin pie, stuffing and sweet potatoes. Oh wait, don’t forget the most important thing of all, the turkey. For some of Wesleyan’s international students, this is their first year to celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas. Wei Sun, graduate education major, is from China and this will be her first time to see what the holiday seasons hold in America. Sun said she came to America less than a year ago on a student visa and plans on going to one of her professor’s houses for Thanksgiving this year. In China they do not celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving, they celebrate Chinese New Year and what is called the Spring Festival in February. “They give kids small red pockets. It represents fortune and luck,” Sun said. “Then they put some money inside as gifts.” Sun said families in China spend time with their families and make dumplings out of pork, beef and vegetables, and the children receive new clothes. “Kids always wear new clothes on the first day of the Chinese New Year,” Sun said. “It’s kind of like New Year’s Day here.”
Some of the foods Sun and her family make during the holidays in China are moon cake, which is a common food item during the holiday Mid-Autumn Day. Moon cake is small round cake that can be made with different foods on the inside. Abir Rahman, freshman business management major, is also new to American traditions. Rahman came to the U. S. four months ago from Bangladesh on a student visa. “In winter, public schools and private schools are all closed,” Rahman said. “So children go for picnics and campfires.” Rahman said in his country, the festivals they celebrate are mainly religious festivals, but they celebrate the New Year with a festival as well. Some of the other holidays they celebrate are Victory Day on Dec. 16 and on Feb. 21 they celebrate International Mother’s Language Day. Rahman said once Bangladesh was part of Pakistan, until 1971 when Bangladesh won the war. Rahman said they celebrate International Mother’s Language Day because Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan. The Pakistanian’s wanted to pressure Bangladesh to speak Urdu, so they went on strike against Pakistan and a lot of people were killed. “We are the only nation in the world that sacrificed their lives for their mother
Rachel Peel
rlpeel@txwes.edu
China
rlpeel@txwes.edu
Bangledesh
Rachel Peel
Photo Illustration by Rachel Peel | Rambler Staff
language,” Rahman said. Like Sun, Rahman’s family makes unique food items during the holiday seasons. One of the foods they make is called hilsha fish, which is a common fish in his country and with it, they make rice. “[Hilsha fish] is a traditional food we make for our own New Year,” Rahman said.
Elyssa Ruesing, senior English major, said her family traditions are the normal traditions everyone does around the holidays. “On Thursday we go to my in-laws house and have Thanksgiving with my husband’s family,” Ruesing said. “Then on Friday we drive to Tyler, and have Thanksgiving out there with my family.”
Ruesing said since her parents, sister and brother live in Tyler, she and her husband are split between going here and there. “We do the normal eat, nap, eat again,” Ruesing said. “We eat turkey, ham, potatoes, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and my favorite is the deviled eggs, my hus-
band loves the pea salad yuck!”
New CETL director arrives,looks forward to future Tristian Evans
tkevans1098@txwes.edu
The Center for Excellence in Teaching in Learning, at Texas Wesleyan has a new director, and his name is Dr. Nakia Pope. Pope hails from South Carolina and earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Furman University. Be that as it may, Pope is no stranger to Texas. He earned his master’s degree in Philosophy from Texas A &M, where he met his wife. He went on to earn his Ph.D is Philosophy from the University of Virginia. “My academic background is in philosophy and education,” Pope said. “And those are the type of courses I taught as well as general education and humanities courses.” Prior to coming to Texas Wesleyan, Pope worked at Winthrop University and during his seven years there he served as a faculty member and then an assistant dean. Pope said he and his wife wanted to get back to Texas to be close to family, and when he began his job search he found out about the CETL
Tristian Evans | Rambler Staff CETL Director, Dr. Nakia Pope, previously taught at Winthrop University.
director position at Texas Wesleyan. When he realized that his knowledge and skills would be complementary to the position he applied. “We’re really excited to be back here in Texas,” Pope said. “My wife is very happy and my mother-in- law is ex-
New IT director shares life story
traordinarily happy because she’ll be closer to her grandchildren.” Pope said he’s excited to be the CETL director and looks forward to helping faculty enhance their teaching experience, which will in turn; enhance the learning experi-
ence for students. “We’re interested in helping faculty meet student needs,” Pope said. Pope said in the spring, he hopes to hold Friday open house events at the CETL. These would give faculty a chance to talk with him and
his staff and ask questions about utilizing different technologies in the classroom. Pope said he loves that Wesleyan is small, and it has allowed him to meet and become familiar with a lot of people in a short amount of time. “Everybody I have met has been very welcoming and happy to have me here,” Pope said. Pope said in the future, he looks forward to getting to know more students, he said because of his background as a teacher, he enjoys the opportunity to interact with students. “I look forward to getting know students more and maybe teaching a class or two in the future,” Pope said. Pope said he wanted faculty and students to know he and his staff in the CETL are always available to help anytime. Lisa Hammonds, who is a instructional designer in the CETL, said she has enjoyed working with Pope so far. “He’s been really nice and innovative,” Hammonds said. “He’s an excellent listener, and has been able to guide the staff in [strengthening] and rebuilding the CETL.”
When you walk into the office of Wesleyan’s new information technology academic services director Micah Marin, the tall muscular man looks intimidating behind his desk, but this well-dressed IT guru has everyone fooled. He has both the brains and the attitude Wesleyan has been looking for. Marin said he started working at Wesleyan Sept. 5 and he got there in a very roundabout way. Marin grew up in Springtown, Texas, not far from Fort Worth, and his original goal was to leave Texas, but when he got to Texas Christian University, his plans changed. “I was trapped in a small town, and I was looking to find bigger and better things,” Marin said. Marin said he was going to play football, but decided to quit the sport and ended up getting a music scholarship to TCU where he met his wife. She didn’t want to leave so they stayed in Fort Worth and decided to have a family. At TCU, Marin earned his degree in elementary music education, but once he taught in a classroom for a year, he had enough and decided he wanted to go to grad school, so he ended up back at TCU. While at TCU he figured out he could get tuition benefits by working on campus, so he got his first job on campus in the admissions office in 2000. Then a few years later, he went to work in the financial aid office and by working these two jobs he got into technology. “I knew that I liked technology,” Marin said. “I picked up a lot while I was there, and found out that I was kind of good at it, so I did what I could to learn more.” While he was at TCU Marin got his masters and then went to seminary at TCU where he received another master’s degree. After earning his master’s, Marin worked for a company called Oracle. “That [working for Oracle] actually helped a lot,” Marin said. “I was able to get a lot more experience and was able to do a lot more management,” Marin said he got tired of traveling and being on a plane every week for four years while his wife was at home with four children, three boys and one girl, ranging from the age 4-10 years old. “That kind of lifestyle [traveling] is not good,” Marin said. “It’s an awesome job if you’re married without kids, or single, but once you have kids, four specifically, it takes its toll on you.” Marin said his job includes being a liaison to faculty and deans in regards to technology
IT Director, page 3