WEDNESDAY
March 26, 2014
Vol. 98 • No. 4 www.therambler.org
The Rambler The voice of Texas Wesleyan University students since 1917
British review of U.S. homestyle cooking A&E,
page 6
Construction project on Rosedale delays Wesleyan students for class
University College Day goes green David Hagen
dmhagen@txwes.edu
glopez@txwes.edu
All around Fort Worth, and especially north Fort Worth, people have been experiencing a big change in their lives because of the construction on North Loop 820 and Inter-
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price stated in the Star-Telegram: “It’s time to move dirt in the name of mobility, safety and commerce for our residents and businesses.” According to a report re-
ROSEDALE, page 3
UCD, page 3
Jessica Liptak/Rambler Staff
Detours change on a daily basis here at Wesleyan .
Gates Lopez
With proposals closed, it is only a matter of weeks before this year’s University College Day gets into full swing. There will be a new theme “This Year of Sustainability,” and the two guest speakers Katharine Hayhoe, PhD, associate professor at Texas Tech; and Stefan Stamoulis will help in getting that message across. The theme is “Think Global, Start Local” which gives an idea of what it’s all about. University College Day takes place on Wednesday, April 9, and there will be events from 8:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. The Rambler interviewed Wesleyan Senior Vice President and Provost Dr. Allen Henderson, who helps organize the event “which is a day of scholar presentations, and whatever you have learned from your research, or from your experiences that are unique, that you want to share and present what you have learned.” “There are lots of different ways to demonstrate the research, a paper or project or experiences in student learning, which can be written down and put into a proposal for a presentation or poster format” Henderson said. This is timely opportunity for all students of any background to express themselves and be able to put something special like this on resume when you graduate. Each student has to work with a faculty sponsor, this can give the stu-
state 35. This construction spans from the I-35/820 east split to North Richland Hills and Hurst. People who work, go to school, go shopping or go out to eat and travel in this area have most likely faced major traffic problems getting
to their destinations. A four-mile portion of I35W, beginning just outside of the Fort Worth limits stretching to the Alliance area is part of a planned expansion that will nearly double capacity, stretching the freeway from four to eight lanes, according
to the Texas Department of Transportation and reported by WFAA-TV. The Star-Telegram reported that motorists will experience delays when traveling on I-35 between the Alliance area and downtown Fort Worth until its completion date of 2018.
mester. In the last five years Wesleyan has offered these trips to India, Ireland, England, France, Spain, Nepal, Guatemala, Brazil, China, Australia, Dubai, Greece. and Turkey. Taking one of these trips is a life-changing experience, according to several students who have made the trip. Traveling to another country, students are able to see and learn about cultures in ways they could not learn from a book, and their view of the world will be expanded. “Students will have monumental moments in their life, the way they will look at the world will never be the same again.” said Dr. Kendra Irons, associate professor of religion and philosophy. Students often make friendships with other students in the way they could not in a classroom. Students traveling do not lose sight of their values but will expand them in most international settings. Traveling to another country will not just give students a perspective of a country, but it will help some of them with their language acquisition. In many cases, it makes students appreciate what they have and they can enjoy life more af-
ter visiting such countries as Costa Rica. “It will also open up the way you see the world, you appreciate what you have, but you miss aspects of the culture that you visited,” said Dr. Amy Bell, associate professor of Spanish As students travel to another country they may learn more about their own cultures as well as the ones they are interacting with abroad. Many students want to travel abroad, but they sometimes back out and try to duplicate this trip on their own when they have a little more money. Doing that in some cases will be more expensive than going on a college trip. “It really is not a life-shaping experience,” said Dr. Mark Hanshaw, associate professor of religious studies who has traveled to more than 50 countries, “but it is an experience that cannot be duplicated by an individual. It’s a valuable experience.” Because these trips have specialized experiences that individuals often cannot achieve on their own. One example is when Hanshaw had a group in 2010
Austin Iba
Travel abroad broadens culture TLC assisting internationals Austin Iba
haiba@txwes.edu
There are seemingly endless opportunities for students at Wesleyan to travel abroad and visit foreign countries. Wesleyan Students have an opportunity to study abroad, many programs across the disciplines offer students with an overseas travel component to travel to foreign countries with courses in religion, humanities, languages, music, fine art, and business. Offering students with a global and an eye-opening experience for both graduate and undergraduate students, study abroad trips dates may vary, but they occur every se-
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TRAVEL, page 3
haiba@txwes.edu
With the spring semester here, Texas Wesleyan has had its arrival of new students. These include transfers and international students. For the international students, transitioning to the Wesleyan culture includes many types of support. One type of support that students among the international student population receives is language class. Students must first take classes from The Language Company (TLC) on campus to help them with their English speaking skills. This is a vital element in helping students, and the language lab helps them in both listening and speaking. “Preparing students English-wise is important to keep up at American universities,” said Maggie Brentlinger, a former teacher and current director of admissions at The Language Company. Texas Wesleyan’s office of the Language Company is located in Stella Russell Hall. The Language Company has been located at Texas Wesleyan for 1½ years, but it is not the lone franchise. The
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Austin Iba/Rambler Staff TLC helps international students reach a comfort level in the U.S. with experts such as George Apecechea (left) and Maggie Brentlinger.
Language Company has locations on 14 campuses across
TLC, page 3
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TRAVEL
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who were invited to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 75th birthday in Dharamsala, India. This is not something that any individual on the street can enter, and students had to have an invitation to enter, so it was a very unique experience in Wesleyan studies abroad. In Spring 2014 there is a group of students who are going to France and Spain and another group going to Ireland. For the summer there
TLC
are planned trips to Ecuador, Costa Rica, and London, England. In spring 2015 there are planned but not formally approved trips to Thailand, Singapore, and Cambodia. For those who are interested in taking a trip, information is available at the Wesleyan International Office. The front desk has updates about any available trips, signing up for the classes on the trips and costs.
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the country from California to Maryland and North Dakota to Florida. At Stella Russell Hall, international students take listening, speaking, reading, and writing classes. When international students first go the Language Company they are given a placement test to see how good their English skills are on a scale from 1-9. Levels 1, 2 and 3 are the beginning courses. Levels 4, 5 and 6 are the intermediate courses, and Levels 7, 8 and 9 are the advanced courses. An eightweek course is available for students who arrive at Wesleyan without English exposure or ability. “We have a warm and welcoming environment, the teachers are very warm, open and inviting,” said George Apecechea, the student advisor of The Language Company. “A lot of the international students start out at the foundation level; they are very tentative. The Language Company tries to make the students feel more welcome. As their language abilities begin to progress, they gain confidence in themselves and open up and talk more about
News
themselves. “ The goal of The Language Company is that by the time students complete the program, they are able to achieve the level 9. With that achievement, students are equipped for an American university from an English comprehension standpoint. Normally, international students are required to pass an English proficiency test, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), when they come to a university in the U.S. The Language Company has arranged with Wesleyan that if students complete the level 9 classes, then they do not have to take the TOEFL or the IELTS exam, they are eligible to take classes at many universities. Wesleyan has four new international students this semester. Two of the new students arrived from Saudi Arabia, one hails from Jordan and another from Vietnam. The students’ work at The Language Company is helping them to be successful in their transition to the United States.
ROSEDALE
leased by the state transportation department, the stretch of I-35W in northern Tarrant County is the most congested roadway in the state. Janet St. James with WFAA reports that traffic on I35W gets so bad that some employees on the outskirts of Fort Worth would rather stay at work than drive in the traffic. Roman Dominguez told WFAA, “You don’t want to be around there after 4 p.m., and when school has started, it’s twice as bad.” According to the Texas Department of Transportation, a 4-mile portion of I35W in northern Fort Worth wastes more than two million hours of drive time a year. Tony Hartz, a spokesperson for TxDOT told WFAA: “Because we are going to rebuild what’s there to new standards,
UCD
March 26, 2014
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continued from page 1 people might have longer entrance ramps and exit ramps because the road dates back to the 1960s.” The Fort Worth Business Press reported that currently 144,000 vehicles use this massive transportation hub, and it is expected to increase to 270,000 vehicles using this freeway by 2017. Jon Davis, a Fort Worth resident, has to drive through the North Loop 820 traffic almost daily to get to his job at Golfsmith in Hurst. “There is a lot of stop-andgo traffic,” he said. “At times it doesn’t even move, which makes getting to work on time very difficult. Lately, it takes me 45 minutes to an hour to travel 20 miles, which used to take me only 15 minutes. Some mornings, I have had to call in to let my managers
know I will be late because an accident has impeded traffic even more.” Five Star Ford, a car dealership located on the intersection of Rufe Snow and North Loop 820, has felt the negative impact of the construction. Early in the construction process, Five Star Ford was forced to give up part of its property in the front entrance of the business for the freeway expansion. Now the traffic issues continue to affect the business. “During the peak traffic hours, I can’t help but notice a downturn in customer traffic,” said Jeff Smith, a sales person at Five Star Ford. “It is hard for the customers to get to us; they get frustrated by the traffic, and the construction makes selling cars that much more difficult.”
As reported by WFAA’s St. James, construction issues will continue until completion. “Although this major construction on I-35W in Fort Worth didn’t begin until mid-2012, unfortunately for commuters, the project won’t be done until 2018,” she said. James reports that construction plans make it clear that traffic headaches are going to continue for a while. Fort Worth and surrounding residents are reminded by the professionals and officials in this story that the ongoing delays caused by the construction will be a thing of the past eventually. The completion of these construction projects should relieve congestion, she said. Major bridge work has clogged University Avenue and I-30 near TCU for days.
with a smile. “This year is excited because I got to work with Dr. Zane and helped create a new submissions form, that is working well” to help the process of applying and create more submissions to create hopefully a much smoother event for everyone involved. The best submissions will be put forward for a google website database and will be created in the library which showcases the reward-
ing works. Last year Wesleyan student Matthew McCormick made five presentations, and there have been ample success stories in this yearly event. Organizers are thanking the Wesleyan community for its support and participation in UCD2014. Both faculty and students are a critical part of the collaboration that makes University College Day a signature event for Wesleyan.
continued from page 1
dents direction and advice to make sure the presentation or proposal is on the right track. The committee panel has made a few changes on last year’s event by trying to have more presentations than 2013 UCD of an even higher quality. Students are asked to present for approximately 20 minutes; the poster session will be about two hours in length and students may come and go during their poster presenta-
tions as they please to help fit into students classes. Dr. Loraine Dieckmann, who is chair of the event, said: “It’s a one day event and takes a year to organize, we choose the topic, we found the guest speakers in fall” and she also has a vision that she wants students to share of making the planet a greener place. “I want people to be more aware of their carbon footprint.” Dr. Dieckmann said
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2
Opinion
March 26, 2014
The Rambler www.therambler.org
Landscaping improvements or disasters? Erica Estrada Content Producer
eestrada@txwes.edu
It seems as though the latest improvements have gained a liking with the Texas Wesleyan body months ago. There have been new trees, bushes, rose beds and benches put into place across campus; but mainly many new trees and bushes around Elizabeth Means Armstrong Hall and O.C. Armstrong Hall. However, when everyone came back to campus after spring break, the new landscaping improvements that were at first a step-up became a step-down. Confused looks and comments have been going campus around about why all of a sudden the trees were being cut down around the Eunice and James West Library. One of my friends mentioned hearing someone saying it makes the campus look more open; still, many think removal of the trees look very plain and bare. Warm spring weather has slowly arrived in North Texas as we desperately wished. Yet, the white cherry blossom trees and Bradford pear trees have not been able to bloom because they were hacked down earlier. Many other universities are known for their beautiful campus because of their landscaping and unique architectural buildings. For example, TCU is known for its tulips that bloom in the spring. Even Wesleyan’s sister school, Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, is known for their beautiful campus because of their numerous white cherry blossom trees. To continue, the statue of Willie the Ram is isolated and stands in front of the hideous rock garden with random shrubs by the Student Union Building as a result. It would be different if the rock garden was appealing, yet, it is not. And can I mention the new flower beds in
the front of the administration building? I, along with many of my colleagues, agree that the flower beds would have been much more appealing if they were vertically aligned on the main sidewalk instead of the random circular flower beds. Instead, it just looks arbitrary and terrible. I heard recent rumors from colleagues that have spoken to the maintenance staff that there are plans to plant new trees in place of the old trees that were cut down. This makes absolutely no sense when the trees before were already fully grown. I can only hope these new trees will somehow make up for the gorgeous white cherry blossom trees that were originally around the Eunice and James West Library. Julia Anderson, senior music performance major, explains her concern in the new campus look. “The campus is so small that I feel that the landscape should be an asset to appeal to the students and to the new students to come,” Anderson said. “I support the new idea for adding more plants and flowers to the campus; however, I feel removing the trees that were originally here has lost its charm on campus. If they’re going to change landscape, they should work with what they have and add nicer grass, trees, and flowers instead of taking away any trees.” Also, many students are concerned about how funding for landscaping is being used. It takes an ample amount of money to uproot a tree. Perhaps what would have been helpful is if there was a blueprint of what is to come with all the new landscaping just as there have been blueprints and maps with the Rosedale Renaissance project. Maybe a poll would be helpful from the Wesleyan student body of what that group would like to see as a whole. Overall, .students can at least be very fortunate for the attempts to further improve the look of Wesleyan.
Staff Editorial
Smaller, smarter priorities needed at Wesleyan We at The Rambler are excited to see all the recent aesthetic improvements around Texas Wesleyan’s campus. But we are also becoming increasingly concerned about Wesleyan’s financial priorities. In fall 2013, Wesleyan held a groundbreaking celebration to commemorate the beginning of phase one in the campus improvement project. The entire project consists of four primary phases that are concurrent. The $1.8 million East Rosedale Street improvement includes adding street lights and resurfacing the sidewalks and crosswalks for safer pedestrian travel. The $3 million Central Texas Conference Service Center will be a hub for leadership training and support, mission support services and evangelism. The $1.3 million entryway
or the “Front Door” to Wesleyan will include a clock tower, but most importantly, a striking entrance to Wesleyan’s campus. Last is the $400,000 Business Incubator Center, which will serve as a Wesleyan student hub for business advising and research. The total expenditure for these projects is $6.6 million. The Rambler agrees with President Frederick Slabach, who has said: “It’s a very positive development in terms of student recruitment.” But our current concerns are about what happens after new students have been recruited. And what about current students, faculty and staff? On Thursday, Feb. 27, Wiley Lindsey, administrative assistant to chair and faculty of Arts and Letters, along with a
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Wesleyan faculty member had to carry a Wesleyan student who relies on a wheelchair down the stairs of Polytechnic United Methodist Church because the elevator was out of order…again. “Not only do several professors depend on the elevator,” Lindsey said, “but people like that student in a wheelchair that was stuck on the second floor [depends on the elevator]. I remember the student mentioning that they had a test to take, at that moment, somewhere across campus. As a fellow professor and I carried [the student] down the stairs, we were just thankful we didn’t fall or trip. “The university is supposed to accommodate everyone,” he said, “but that elevator goes out frequently from what I hear. In fact, a professor got stuck in the elevator the same
week.” On Tuesday, Feb. 25, Dr. Linda Carroll, Texas Wesleyan professor of English, was trapped in the elevator. “It was only about 15-20 minutes,” Carroll said later in cheerful spirits. But 15 to 20 minutes is arguably a substantial amount of time to be confined alone in a small space with little to no idea of what is happening on the other side of metal doors. “The elevator problem is just the start of issues that the PUMC building is experiencing,” Lindsey said. “There are many more problems that need assistance and/or attention. The church does need attention.” Wesleyan’s maintenance facilities advised faculty and staff that there would be no heat in PUMC for the remain-
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der of the semester on the same day as the latest elevator incident. As a result, a limited number of space heaters were placed throughout PUMC. This caused repeated circuit failures in various sections of PUMC, including classrooms and administrative offices. According to the National Weather Service website, temperature highs for Feb. 24-27 did not reach 60 degrees, and low temperatures were barely above freezing. In addition to the elevator, electrical and heating problems, students, faculty and staff endure frequent plumbing problems in PUMC. Over the summer, a restroom plumbing issue caused significant damage to several offices on the second floor. The flood also affected an area on the first floor. The flood forced several
professors to pack up and move into unaffected offices. Meanwhile, professors had to tally estimated costs of damaged belongings. Since the summer fiasco, the restrooms of PUMC have been closed numerous times, which results in students, faculty and staff having to cross campus to use restroom facilities. While we at the Rambler believe the aesthetic improvements are benefitual to the campus and community, we also think that campus functionality and the ability to receive our education without being stuck in an elevator, shivering in dark classrooms or running across campus to the nearest restroom is more important.
thumbs up Thumbs up to the new landscaping improvements with the new trees, bushes and flowers before Spring
Break.
Thumbs up to the Career Fair on March 20. Thumbs up for students participating in early voting for SGA elections in April.
thumbs down
Thumbs down to cutting down the trees around the library. The cherry blossoms weren’t able to bloom for the spring season. Thumbs down to people who continue to litter on campus in spite of the many new improvements on the grounds. Thumbs down to people who don’t keep their Wesleyan commitments and have “senioritis.”
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Campus
March 26, 2014
The Rambler
www.therambler.org
Office of Admissions moves to new home
Dakota Baggett / Rambler Staff
Left: Baker-Martin House is now the fulltime office for Admissions, and the changeover ocurred in January 2014. Right: Baker-Martin House sign.
Austin Iba
haiba@txwes.edu
It’s 2014, the spring semester is well underway, and the Wesleyan Office of Admissions is busy with new student admissions and transfers for both this semester and the next one. At the start of the 2014, the admissions office made a few changes - one of which is moving its office to its own space from the second floor of the O’Neal-Sells Building to the Baker-Martin House. One reason for the change is due to a visit from a consultant who evaluated the cam-
pus visit from a new student’s perspective. The student experience - especially in the first year - is important to the prospective student’s decision on a college home. The office has been moved so that students can have their own space when these potential students visit campus for the first time. The Baker-Martin House offers a perfect setting for the office in the eyes of Wesleyan administrators. “This is a very good starting point,” said Denelle Rodriguez, assistant director of operations for the Admissions Office. “We try to make the campus visit experience a
very warm and welcoming for our perspective students and families.” The O’Neal-Sells Building has many different offices, and it sometimes made it difficult to find the Admissions Office there. “That’s the big difference is it will be easier to identify, more of a comfortable and welcoming environment,” said Chad Wylie, senior counselor in Admissions. Helping students in the application process is one of the most important functions of the Admissions Office, but long before potential students become Wesleyan applicants,
the admissions staff has been working to recruit students by raising awareness about the university. Recruiting students is key to the life of colleges and universities, and this is another major role the Office of Admissions plays in attracting students to Wesleyan. “It’s really important,” said Pati Alexander, vice president of enrollment and student services, “not only for the student body. A university has to bring in new students every single semester, for the culture, the student activities and the student life. That’s why we’re a university. Profes-
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sors have to have somebody to teach, so it’s important that we have to keep up with it.” Another vital function of the Admissions Office is to help with international students. This often involves assisting them to navigate the enrollment process. Wesleyan has many international students from 20 different countries represented by the new students attending Wesleyan during the spring semester. International students enrich the student experience by providing different perspectives and exposure to different cultures. Students are com-
ing from the United Kingdom. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Guyana, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Thailand, Egypt, Mongolia, India, Sweden, Malaysia, China, and Germany. The Admissions Office plans for the future by managing student numbers between freshmen and transfer students and to increase the number of visiting students in a welcoming environment. Target numbers for the future semester are to enroll 217 freshman and 315 transfers in Fall 2014. The number of Spring 2015 transfers is targeted at 150 students, and other numbers are to come.
2014
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Campus
March 26, 2014
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SGA voting starts April 15 with online balloting Austin Iba haiba@txwes.edu
The election campaign for Student Government Association offices begins in March with voting occurring April 15-16. The Wesleyan SGA will hold elections for 2014-15 officers. Almost any student can run in the election for any of the SGA offices: President, Vice President, Secretary, and
Treasurer. Those running first need to write a petition to fill an open seat. They must be a participant in SGA for one full year and must meet the hour requirements. Voting booths have been used in recent years for students to cast a ballot. This year student voters have a chance to go green and will be voting online. An online voting system is in place, and it permits stu-
dents to vote electronically. The procedure is quite simple. Students do not have to register to vote online; they will receive an email alerting them about the voting period. Students then reply to the email to complete their votes. All students must follow the rules by the SGA constitution and by campus rules of the government in order to run for office.
SGA’s mission, duties denoted for 2014-15 Joy Woods jmwoods@txwes.edu
According to the Texas Wesleyan website, the mission of the Student Government Association is “to interact with the administration, faculty, staff and students on behalf of the Student Body for the benefit of the students and student life on campus. In order for the students to be represented effectively, elections must be held every year.” And it is now election season. Students wishing to run for any executive positions - President, Vice President, Chief Justice, Treasure, or Secretary - the student must be have held a position in SGA for a full academic year. For representative positions, however, any student can run as long as they meet all of the requirements that are set in the constitution and bylaws of the association. Also in order to run, students must get a petition signed by their fellow students saying that they have support to get on the ballot. The meeting for those interested in running for executive positions was held Thursday, David Hagen/Rambler Staff March 20, and the meeting for those interAfter reopening for a matter of days, Subway on Rosedale Avenue closed once again during spring break ested in being a representative will be held after Texas Wesleyan University gave its support for local businesses in a recent email to the community.
Thursday, March 27. Current Chief Justice Bill Rucker explained some of the other election procedures. “All campaigning must be done fairly and clean,” he said. Campaigning for executive positions will begin March 27. Students running must not tamper with opponents campaigning material and cannot spend more than $500 on all of their campaign materials. To get students involved in the campaign, there will be two debates - April 1 during free period at 12:15-1 p.m. at a location to be determined and April 8 at 7 p.m. in Stella Hall. The purpose of these debates is for the student body cannot only get know the candidates, but also so the students can ask questions and learn about each candidate’s platforms. During the April 8 debate, SGA representatives will be present so they can be asked questions as well. Elections will be held April 15-16. There will be polling places set up in the library and in the Brown-Lupton Campus Center, and voting will take place online. An email will be sent to all students reminding them that it is time to vote. The new president for the 2014-15 academic year will be sworn in on April 22.
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Arts Entertainment
March 26, 2014
Wesleyan’s Fisher, Eloff debut work by Rose in Great Britain Dakota Baggett
dabaggett@txwes.edu
Music department Chair and Professor Dr. John Fisher accompanied South African soprano Suré Eloff to England to debut the song cycle “Avebury Stone Circles” during spring break. During the break there were be two performances at two locations: first, at the Church of St. Mary-le-bow, Cheapside, London, on March 13 and then at St. James Church, Avebury, Wiltshire, the site that inspired the music, on March 15. The two concerts consisted of two large song cycles for piano and soprano, Samuel Barber’s “Hermit Songs” and the premiere cycle, Londonbased composer Gregory Rose’s “Avebury Stone Circles.” The seven-part song
cycle by Rose was commissioned by Eloff, who is the wife of adjunct tuba teacher Vurl Bland at Wesleyan. The cycle’s world premiere was at Texas Wesleyan on Oct. 24, 2013. “I am thrilled that I got to go represent Texas Wesleyan and spread the Wesleyan name,” Dr. Fisher said. He also pointed out that this could be the beginning of a strong relationship between Wesleyan and music schools in the United Kingdom. The U.K. premiere had have the same lineup as the world premiere: Dr. Fisher playing the piano and Eloff singing soprano. The headlining composer Rose is internationally recognized as a composer and conductor specializing in music of the 20th and 21st Centuries. The song cycle written by
Rose was inspired by the Neolithic henge monument that surrounds part of Avebury village in Wiltshire, Southwest England. It is estimated that the monument was completed around 2600 B.C. Much like the famous Stonehenge monuments, the Avebury henge monument has one of Europe’s largest outer circles. A monument such as this has a henge, which is a bank and a ditch, an outer circle, and two smaller stone circles in the center of the monument. Several older sites are nearby, and one is Silbury Hill - the largest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe. According to local history, the stone circles are a site .which held rituals and gatherings. Rose has imagined the gatherings at these sites in his composition.
British review on DFW’s homestyle
David Hagen
dmhagen@txwes.edu
There are times when students at Wesleyan need to get off campus and try some of the diverse food that Fort Worth has to offer, especially for the many international students that now live on campus. As a senior student from London, England, I find the home style restaurants here in Texas especially interesting because the food represents the old-fashioned southern comfort food that has been made over the last few decades in the southern states. I remember four years ago when I first moved to Texas, I had never even heard of fried okra, black-eyed peas (apart from the music group) and chicken fried steak. After four years all these foods are just as common to me as fish ‘n chips is back
at home. I don’t love all the foods on the home style menu but for international students and tourists passing through Fort Worth, it’s highly recommended. Some of the key foods to try including yams, grits and gumbo - all served with a fresh piece of corn bread that can be served as a sweet or savory side dish. Many of the following restaurants mentioned have dated, more traditional attire but it’s worth it for the freshly served food with a southern charm. After doing some research and speaking to expert foodie and chef Kelly Burton, who graduated from Texas Wesleyan last semester, we came up with this list of unique must visit places to eat not too far away from campus. This continues a review of area foods including TexMex. barbecue and Asian.
Homestyle • John Carter’s Place (5309 E Lancaster Ave., Ft. Worth) o What to get: beef stew or chopped beef o One of the closest to campus • Old Neighborhood Grill (1633 Park PIace Ave., Ft. Worth) o What to get: award-winning chicken fried steak • The Star Cafe (111 W. Exchange Ave, Ft. Worth) o What to get: chicken fried chicken with gravy • Westside Cafe (7950 Camp Bowie W. Blvd. Ft. Worth) o What to get: chicken and dumplings o Serves breakfast, lunch and dinner • Ma’dea’s Down Home Cooking (1019 W Enon Ave., Ft. Worth) o What to get: meatloaf or catfish entrees
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‘300: Rise of an Empire’ REVIEW
There is good news for movie buffs but bad news for fans of illustrator Frank Miller. Ready for a history lesson? I didn’t think so. I am not going to write a history paper comparing Greek history and a movie based on a comic, which is loosely based on history. If you want to know what historians and archeologists have to say about the story, go to YouTube and check out the hour and a half special that covers the battle of Thermopylae and all that led up to it. To sum up, Athens helped a rebellion burn a major Persian city to the ground, so the Persian Empire in turn burned Athens. Here is the real history lesson: “300” is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Miller that came out in 1998, and eight years later in 2006 the movie debuted. Eight years later they have released the sequel, which is based on Miller’s next title in the series “Xerxes.” According to the internet in December 2013, Miller hasn’t actually finished this novel. It is bad news for Miller’s comic fans, but I guess you could say it was a win for moviegoers. My regular movie theater, whose name I will not mention because of some difficulties during the March 6 review showing, was offering a double feature of both Miller films.. This is always worth the extra money. Even though I have seen the first film almost as many times as I have seen any Quentin Tarantino film, the experience was truly awesome to see it on the big screen once more It took me back to my high school days where I not only sneaked in to see the movie three separate times because I was too young to buy an actual ticket, but I loved the movie so much I helped three separate groups of friends to sneak in and see it as well. “300: Rise of an Empire” does not give me really much
Dakota Baggett Opinion editor
dabaggett@txwes.edu
to say. Zach Snyder is not the director, but he is in the credits as a screen writer, and so is Miller. The film is takes place on an almost parallel time line to the first film. The Spartan queen has had that mole on her cheek removed, and this version highlights the naval battle that was taking place at the same time the Spartans were fighting on the ground. The movie sheds a little light on Xerxes’ past but mainly focuses on smoking hot Eva Green’s character, and, yes, there is a really humorous and slightly pointless sex scene. Does there need to be a reason to watch Green? Even though it wasn’t directed by Snyder, the movie marches forward with all the best art, music, and cinematography techniques that made the first one so great. I don’t think “Rise of an Empire” was as great as the first film, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I also am going to go out on a limb and think they are going for a trilogy. I saw the double feature then watched the history people talk about the “real” story, and all in all I did just over five hours of research. There is going to be a sequel if you know your “real” history. “Rise of an Empire” is referring to the unification of Greece, which in both films hasn’t actually happened yet. According to real history, this will not happen until Alexander the Great’s daddy comes around and unifies the city states. The second film covers two separate naval battles. The first is at the Strait of Artemis, which on the timeline runs parallel to the first movie, and then after the Spartans are defeated and Athens burns, the
second naval battle happens at the Strait of Salamis, which is after Thermopylae but before the battle in the end of the first movie. I will not give away the ending, but there must be a third movie coming. The naval battles are epic and truly beautiful, the fight scenes are still cool, and the story might seem a little weak, but it is worth seeing. Overall, there is about the same amount of screen time for the women such as Green, which is a good thing, and there is still a good balance between fighting and the boring talking. There also is only one slowmotion decapitation compared to three in the first one, but there is far more slow motion dismemberments to make up for the beheadings. There are still those cheesy one-liners that they obviously wanted to have quoted, and they added more of the action sequences where they suddenly switch from fast forward to slow motion when people are dying. In the end it just doesn’t bring out the same emotions that the first film did. All that said, it is definitely worth going to see on the big screen even if you do wait a couple of months and catch it at a dollar theater.
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Sports
March 26, 2014
7
Rams lose final home hoops’ games of seasons on Senior Night Dakota Baggett dabaggett@txwes.edu
In their last home games of the season, both the Texas Wesleyan men and women’s basketball teams lost to the Oklahoma City University Stars. Both games were nearly identical as OCU downed the Lady Rams 60-51 and then edged the men 85-78 in the nightcap. Texas Wesleyan fought hard in each contest but could not stage late comebacks to defeat the Stars. In the women’s loss, Oklahoma City took the early lead and controlled the game until
the end. Wesleyan fell behind 13-0 and played catchup for the rest of the game but were impressive defensively. Five senior women and assistant coach Craig Lindelow were recognized during Senior Night activities. Onysesonam Nolisa led the Lady Rams with 16 points and nine rebounds. Senior ToiEasha Cooper added 10 points, and point guard Amy Moody chipped in six assists. The Wesleyan women’s team fell to 13-14 overall and 8-10 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. OCU, ranked sixth nationally, advanced to 19-3 and 16-2 in SAC play.
The men’s squad honored eight seniors playing in their final regular season home game. Senior standout Deonte Jones, one of 16 finalists for the national College Slam’s Dark Horse Dunker, also sang the national anthem in his home finale. Coach Brennen Shingleton’s men also fought hard and cut the Stars’ lead to five points twice in the second half but could not catch up against the Sooner Athletic Conference power, which is now 16-9 overall and 12-6 in the SAC. The Rams dropped to 15-13 overall and 8-10 in conference play prior to a Feb.
25 road game against Oklahoma University of Science and Arts. Both the Wesleyan and OCU men were not shy about launching three-point shots. The host Rams were a solid 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) with Deonte Jones sinking 5-of-8 while Oklahoma City went 8-for-20 from beyond the arc. Jorge Redmon topped Wesleyan with 21 points while Dallas Jones had 18 and Deonte Jones ended with 15 markers. The last home game of the season also was ALS Awareness/Senior Night. The eight men’s seniors were escorted
with their parents to center court, recognized for their career accomplishments, had commemorative pictures taken, and were awarded with enlarged game action photos from their careers. The women had a total of five seniors, and the men had nine seniors on the team. After the last home games of the seasons, both squads qualified for the Sooner Athletic Conference postseason tournaments in Shawnee, Okla. The women defeated Northwood 80-59 in the opening round before losing to Wayland Baptist 54-40 in the semifinals. The men fell to
tournament host Oklahoma Baptist 103-76 as both teams finished the season with 1516 overall records. Senior guard Takoia Larry led the Lady Rams with 12.4 points per game while point guard Amy Moody finished 21st nationally with 4.4 assists per game. On the men’s side, Jorge Redmon paced the team with 19 points per game. Point guard Jervon Hooks was sixth in NAIA overall stats with 5.8 assistant per game and finished seventh in the country with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.9.
ters but retired the 21 batters who came to the plate as both teams did not commit an error in the seven-inning game. He also used 106 pitches to go the distance, one other runner reached base on a dropped third strike, and just one ball made it out of the infield as he recorded seven ground ball outs. “The no-hitter was something I will never forget,” he
said. “Sometimes as a pitcher you get dialed in, but even then you still have to catch some breaks and have things fall your way and luckily for me they did.” McLeod continued to talk about the defense and how the fielders deserved credit for the no-hitter. “Props to my defense,” he said. “They deserve as much credit as anyone, and I am
glad they have my back.” McLeod, who is from Troy, Ala., and played at Central Alabama Community College before coming to Wesleyan, has been an integral part of the team and hopes to continue to make major contributions. “In the fall when I got here,” he said, “I just wanted to find a spot where I could help the team and contribute. Fortu-
nately I feel like I have found that and I could not ask for a better opportunity. I like our chances this year. We have had some younger guys step up for us and hopefully we can get hot and make a run into April and May, but there is some areas we can always improve on - myself included.” McLeod helped the Rams win two of three games in a Sooner Athletic Conference
series against St. Gregory’s (Okla.) on March 21-22 in Fort Worth. His midseason statistics for the 16-13 overall (8-4 SAC, fourth place in the standings) Rams include 55 innings pitched (17th nationally in total innings), 47 strikeouts, a 2.78 earned run average and a 3-3 overall record. McLeod was an All-State pitcher at HHS in 2011.
McLeod no-hitter highlights Rams baseball season to date Jose Najar
jnajar@txwes.edu
On Feb. 28, junior pitcher Mitch McLeod tossed a nohitter in a 10-0 win over MidAmerica Christian in the second game of a doubleheader in one of the early highlights of Wesleyan’s baseball season. McLeod did not allow a batter to reach base via a hit and struck out 11 in the memorable game. He walked five hit-
Sports Boxscores
Women’s Basketball (15-16, 9-11 SAC) Mar. 6
Shawnee, Okla
L 54 - 40
Women’s Golf
Men’s Basketball (15-16, 8-11 SAC) Mar. 5
Wayland Baptist University
Oklahoma Baptist U.
Shawnee, OK L 76-103
Mar. 31- Apr. 1
Grand Prairie, TX
Dallas, TX
54 Holes
Baseball (16-13 , 8-4 SAC) Mar. 22
St. Gregory’s University
Fort Worth
W 8-6
Apr. 1
Texas College (DH)
Fort Worth
2:and 4 p.m.
Softball (12-9, 5-3 SAC) Mar. 21
Southwestern Assemblies of God University (DH)
Fort Worth
W 4-0, W 8-0 (5)
Apr. 1
Northwood University (DH)
Fort Worth
5 and 7 p.m.
Men’s Golf Apr. 7-8
Dallas Baptist Classic
Dallas
54 Holes
8
March 26, 2014 2014
Campus
The Rambler
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Spring seasons blossom into full flow
(Far left) Brandon Kaufman pitching during a recent baseball game against Arlington Baptist College; (top right) Timothy Wang practicing on day two with Laura Huang at the USA Table Tennis Trials which were hosted on campus in March’ (bottom right) Amber Marlett pitching against Oklahoma City University game before spring break. She is 6-1 with a 1.85 ERA for the Lady Rams.
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Photos by Austin Iba and David Hagen Rambler Staff