EDitORiaL
sPORts
a&E
ED: Black Friday ruining family gatherings Pg. 2
Students share Thanksgiving traditions Pg. 4
Student comes from New York for eSports Pg. 7
OP: Veterans need to move on
Ed.D. student’s published author and librarian Pg. 6
Women’s soccer scores first SAC regular title Pg. 8
Pg. 2
THERAMBLER
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THE VOICE OF TEXAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS SINCE 1917
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WEDnEsDaY Nov.14, 2018 Vol. 102 • No. 10 www.therambler.org
Fort Worth joins Rams in well-being pledge
Photo by hannah Lathen Rams can join Willie in his pledge to living a better life. Texas Wesleyan has been Blue Zones certified for two years.
HANNAH LATHeN hrlathen@txwes.edu
Fort Worth became a certified Blue Zones Community in October, a milestone for the city in terms of health and well-being. The Blue Zones Project is a community movement that encourages people to improve their health and well-being, Alexis Patterson from the Fort Worth Blue Zones Project wrote in an email. “Principles are based on research into the world’s Blue Zones®, areas where people live longer, healthier lives,” Patterson wrote. The first Blue Zones cities were in Costa Rica, Japan, Italy, Greece and California, she wrote. Fort Worth is the largest city in the world to partner with Blue Zones. “Blue Zones Project draws upon lifestyles in those areas as well as other evidence-based best practices, making changes to the places where people live, work, and play to support healthier choices,” Patterson wrote. The Blue Zones Project stemmed from author Dan Buettner, who studied regions around the world where people lived to be 100 or older. “Blue Zones Project incorporates Buettner’s findings and works with cities to implement policies and programs that will move a community toward optimal health and well-being,” Patterson wrote. Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price,
Texas Health Resources and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce partnered with the Blue Zones Project in 2013 to see if Fort Worth could become a certified Blue Zones community, Patterson wrote. “The answer was a resounding yes, making Fort Worth the largest city to ever partner with Blue Zones Project,” Patterson wrote. “Fort Worth became an official Blue Zones Project Demonstration Site in February 2015 and earned certification as a Blue Zones Community in October 2018.” While the certification is new for the Fort Worth community, the Blue Zones Project had been at Texas Wesleyan for two years. Wesleyan’s Human Resources Generalist Christi Tallent is the chair of the campus’ Blue Zones Committee. “In 2016, we became a Blue Zones committee because we became a Blue Zones University,” Tallent said. “We were actually the first private university to get that designation.” When Wesleyan was working to gain the certification, Patterson wrote, a third of university employees made the pledge to improve their well-being. “The university also adopted Moais, a concept from Okinawa, Japan, in which a small group of individuals comes together to support one another,” Patterson wrote. “Texas Wesleyan formed both Potluck and Walking Moais,
Photo by hannah Lathen Christi Tallent includes taking the stairs in West Library in her routine.
encouraging faculty and staff to share healthy meals and stay active.” Wesleyan also made walking paths and hosts a Purpose Workshop to help students, faculty and staff start utilizing their gifts to help themselves and the community, Patterson wrote. “The university now offers free
BLUE ZOnEs. page 3
Wesleyan works to prevent flu on campus HANNAH ONDeR hlonder@txwes.edu
5 Ways to Prevent the Spread of Flu
Last year the flu hit Texas Wesleyan hard, starting in athletics and building up to 52 cases on campus. Wesleyan had even smaller class Symptoms include: sizes, do not enter signs plastered fever, cough, runny nose, sore all over buildings, and a rush to throat, body aches, headaches, get more hand sanitizing stations fatigue, and sometimes diarrhea available around campus as a result. and nausea “Last year we had 52 cases which doesn’t sound like a lot, but for a campus this size that’s a lot,” 1) Stay home if you’re sick. Director of Health Services Anice Don’t share with your peers Lewis-Hollins said. and professors. Get diagAccording to the CDC, there nosed by a health profeswere 30.9 million people with sional. cases of the flu, 14.5 million people that went to health care providers 2) Wash your hands and use hand sanitizer. Wesleyan for the flu, and 600,000 people works to maintain sanitizhospitalized with the flu last year er stations throughout the in the United States. This number campus. could have been minimized if more working age adults had gotten their vaccination. Adults under 65 have 3) Avoid sharing personal items. Keep your environthe lowest rate of getting their flu ment and belongings clean. shots. With flu season beginning this month, Wesleyan has been working 4) Cover your sneezes with to minimize the damage with tissues or your elbow. The flu getting the word out, providing free is also an airborne virus. flu shots, and filling hand-sanitizing 5) Get your flu shot. Even if you stations throughout campus. still get sick the shot makes it “I think last year the word less servere. got out much later and we were more reacting to especially what For more info, check out happened to the football team www.cdc.gov/flu. and athletics,” risk manager Juan Azcarate said. “I think it was more of a reactive situation last year and Graphic by hannah Onder this year we’re trying to be more According to Anice Lewis-Hollins proactive with getting the word and the CDC, these are ways to pevent the flu from spreading. out.” Azcarate said one of the most available throughout campus in important parts of prevention is order to encourage preventative communication. actions. “We work very closely with Anice, “I think the best thing to do is our school nurse, and with Student make sure that you wash your Affairs to make sure that we are all hands and use the gel dispensers,” on the same page when it comes to Azcarate said. “Make a practice that communicating to students and the when you’re going around campus Texas Wesleyan community about and you see one, stop and use it. how to prevent the flu from actually There’s a lot of germs that are on getting worse,” Azcarate said. “It’s all door handles and any other place about being proactive with getting that we actually touch, so the best the word out to students, staff, and practice is to actually be proactive faculty. Starting in the fall is really by washing your hands.” the best approach because you start Lewis-Hollins agrees that it’s getting the word out rather than important to wash your hands or waiting until the spring where it’s at least use the hand sanitizers a usually already ongoing and could couple of times a day in order to become a problem.” create a protective barrier from Azcarate said he works with your hands when you touch your Student Affairs and Lewis-Hollins face. Lewis-Hollis also noted the to keep the hand sanitizing FLU PREVEntiOn. page 3 stations maintained and
Chastain completes her doctoral degree RACHeLL AGUILAR rlaguilar@txwes.edu What does it feel like to finally have a doctorate degree? It feels like having a weight being lifted off of you. At least that’s what Dr. Patricia Chastain says. Chastain, the student employment coordinator for Career Services, had her doctorial defense on Sept. 20 at Texas A&M Photo by contributed by Dr. Patricia Chastain Dr. Patricia Chastain poses with her dissertation University-Corpus Christi. Her dissertation is titled “Examining the chair/advisor Dr. Kamiar Kouzekanani, during her defense in Corpus Christi in Sept. Relationship Between Co-Circular Activities
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and the Development of Critical Thinking Skills in a Non-Probability Sample of Freshmen and Senior University Students.” “Basically it was a study conducted using Texas Wesleyan national survey of student education results to determine if there is a correlation between involvements in a CoCurricular activities including the campus environment, diversity, and higher impact practices such as employment and internships with developing critical thinking skills such as quantities reasoning, higher older learning and reflective learning,” Chastain wrote in an email.
Chastain had full confidence of getting her doctoral degree in educational leadership while she was balancing work at Texas Wesleyan University and getting her degree at Texas A&M between 2013 and 2018. “I knew I was going to finally get my doctorate, but it’s been a real struggle,” Chastain said. “Now I feel like I can reach higher than I reached before with certain jobs or certain employment.” One of the most important things for Chastain is when people will start to call her
Chastain. page 3
Texas Wesleyan’s Student Government Association passed the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Thanksgiving Meal Bill at Friday’s general business meeting. The bill was presented by SGA Athletic Representative Lynzie Moore and allocated $500 toward the SAAC’s third annual Thanksgiving meal...
2 | Wednesday | November 14, 2018
OPINION
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Black Friday doesn’t spoil traditions EDITORIAL
When you think Thanksgiving, the typical response is family, feast, and football. However, in recent years, Black Friday shopping has continued to encroach further and further into Thursday evening, with several stores opening their doors at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving and some cyber sales occurring all day. With these developments, is Black Friday ruining Thanksgiving? No. Black Friday may be the kickoff event for the holiday shopping season, but participation isn’t mandatory. In fact, the days of crazy doorbusters, endless lines, and large crowds may be limited due to the growing popularity of online shopping. According to thebalance.com, the number of people shopping at stores in person on Thanksgiving and Black Friday last year decreased by four percent, and online sales rose 18 percent with almost half of those sales being done through mobile shopping. Plus, this year Amazon will be offering deals all month with the best deals dropping the week leading up to Black Friday. Therefore, people don’t actually have to leave Thanksgiving dinner to get good deals. In fact, most people don’t leave their house on Thanksgiving for Black Friday sales. According to thebalance.com, in 2016 the largest crowd of people that went Black Friday shopping was actually on Black Friday with 101.4 million people, followed by Saturday with 64 million, Sunday with 33 million, and then Thursday with 29 million. Some retailers are actually starting to adjust their sales hours to get rid of the all-night shopping hours. For example, last year Target opened Thursday evening but then closed its doors at Cartoon by Hannah Onder midnight, and then reopened them 6 a.m. Friday. People that planned on shopping all night may have closed Black Friday does not have to impede on your Thanksgivig traditions, and participation could be incorporated in your holiday. their Thanksgiving celebrations earlier in order to get a nap in before starting their shopping spree. With stores starting to get stores. However, some people see Black Friday as a continua- it to and it can be made into part of the family traditions. Also, rid of the night hours, people that do shop on Thursday eve- tion of their Thanksgiving holiday. Some families have a tradi- with Thanksgiving being centered on making time for family, nings won’t have to close Thanksgiving celebrations down early tion of going out together to do Christmas shopping and bond- it shouldn’t matter if that time is spend gorging on turkey and to get some sleep before their evening shopping trip. ing through a night of craziness. watching football or competing against shoppers to get that toy People don’t have to participate on Thursday with the inTherefore, Black Friday shouldn’t ruin Thanksgiving. Black your younger sibling really wants for Christmas and comparing crease of online shopping and the decreasing hours in some Friday doesn’t have to impede on Thursday if you don’t want crazy stories in the car.
Thanks for your service, now let’s move on David Cason Content Producer dlcason@txwes.edu
Bro-vet, thank you for your service, now can we move on to more import things? The bro-vet I am referring to always steers a discussion in class towards a narrative regarding veterans. There are very real issues that veterans deal with on a daily basis, from the ineptitude of the VA to the number of veterans that commit suicide. There needs to be a frank discussion about PTSD and how little the military prepares its veterans to transition out of the military. But the need for some vets to alert everyone they encounter that they served our country is hurting the cause of actual veteran organizations that sacrifice their time and money in pursuit of reform for our service members. Stereotyping a veteran as a hard-charging, energy drink chugging, military-T-shirtwearing meathead delegitimizes the other veterans seeking to reintegrate into a society that already has preconceived notions about vets. The typical college student doesn’t understand the emotional and psychological toll that the military takes on a veteran and they shouldn’t have to. At the end of the day, we do not draft our service members; you choose to join the military. “Stop thinking people owe you something,” Omari Broussard, who spent 20 years in the Navy, told Business Insider.
“Nobody owes you anything.” I, and many of my closest friends, also went through a rough period of transition. We sought out like-minded veterans, we followed veteran-oriented social media and we wore our brovet gear. I am as guilty as any other veteran of longing for the comradery that I found in the service. But, much like the unknown void vets face when joining the military, they also have to be willing to face the unknown of the civilian world. Seeking to insulate yourself with military jargon and other veterans only makes the transition that much harder. One person who understands the struggle of transitioning from the military is Will Hunting, a Special Operations veteran with multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He understands the challenges of our veterans and, when commenting on them for various news sources, he pushes veterans to reflect on their past experiences while also moving forward in the civilian world. “To successfully transition back to civilian life, we must reflect on the catalyst of emotions that first compelled us to join the military,” wrote Hunting in an OAFNATION.com article. “Whether it was family heritage, a call to serve, or even just to get out of a small town, we decided to change our identity, and embrace head on the unknowns of military life. Transitioning from the military and back to civilian life, we must once again be willing to make ourselves vulnerable, and humble our egos Photo contributed by David Cason so that we can proceed onward with our lives.” David Cason (second from the left) with other members of the The military has afforded us the ability to do something 1st FAST Co. 1st Platoon during pre-deployment workup. else with our lives. Our military life should only be a part of our identity, and the whole is greater than the sum of our honorably in the Marine Corps, where I saw many far away parts. Texas Wesleyan is another part that is helping us be- lands while humping a pack with my fellow grunts. Thank you for your service. Now can you refrain from makcome whole. ing us look like idiots? My critique is meant to inspire other veterans, not alienate them. To be clear, I too am a veteran. I served my country
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Rams up Thumbs up to Thanksgiving break. Thumbs up to reunitng with family. Thumbs up to the semester almost being over. Thumbs up to Fort Worth becoming a certified Blue Zones Community.
Rams down Thumbs down to colder weather. Thumbs down to approaching finals. Thumbs down to flu season. Thumbs down to scholarship deadlines.
Wednesday | November 14, 2018|3
News
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FLU PREVENTION continued from page 1
get something, it’s usually because there was something already there. “I think a lot of the time students don’t realize you can actually die not necessarily from the flu but from complications of the flu meaning pneumonia or a really bad sinus infection. They don’t want to miss class, and they don’t understand that they can miss up to two weeks, a month, or maybe a whole semester if you get sick enough.” Lewis-Hollins said that free flu vaccines are available in the Nurse’s Office at the West Photo by Hannah Onder Village Apartments from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily Director of Health Services and school nurse while supplies last and no appointments are Anice Lewis-Hollins sits in her office. needed. importance of disinfecting your environment. “It’s preventive but it’s a yearly vaccine, so “Wash you backpacks, clean your laptops, it’s not one that you get once in a lifetime,” your desks, your things in your residence Lewis-Hollins said. “You have to get it every hall, just wiping them down will also help to year because the virus changes yearly. It will prevent viruses because viruses lay dormant,” protect you, and if you do get the flu, it would Lewis-Hollins said. “They’re always there, but hopefully cut it in half, so you wouldn’t be as then when they get this moisture and all this sick. Some people still got the flu even though different climate stuff then they thrive. Just the they got the flu vaccine last year, but they were personal hygiene side of it can really help avoid only sick for a couple of days.” influenza or the flu.” Lewis-Hollins also encourages people with Lewis-Hollins said that getting a flu shot is flu symptoms to stay home so classmates and one of the best ways to prevent getting the flu. professors aren’t exposed and to get checked “There’s this myth out there that you get the out as soon as possible to reduce the risk of flu from the flu vaccine,” Lewis-Hollins said. other complications. “That’s not true because it takes 14 days for “(Some flu symptoms) would be an elevated the flu vaccine to actually protect you. If you temperature higher than 100, severe muscle
and joint pain, sore throat, and usually there’s a cough,” she said, “but we call that nonproductive because you’re not getting up any phlegm or things like that. Most of the time you will know if you got the flu, if you’ve had it, you’ll never forget it. Most of the people that have had it don’t want to get it again.” Sarah Ouimet, assistant dean of students for Residence Life, also highly recommends the flu shot and has worked to make sure residents are informed about preventative methods. “We’ve set up hand sanitizing stations in each of the halls to remind students to wash their hands,” she said. “We also work with Anice, who is our Health Services director, with spreading the word about getting the flu shot. We also have some posters around the halls on campus reminding students to wash their hands and do their best to prevent getting the flu in the first place. I got my flu shot last week, so I strongly recommend it to people.” Ouimet said there is a plan in place for students that do get the flu, and that if students feel sick they should visit Lewis-Hollins in order to help diagnose it. “We work with Anice on students that have to stay in their rooms while they are really sick,” she said. “We’ll work to deliver food to them, we’ll have RAs that are on call do checkins to see how they’re doing and if they want or need anything because sometimes when you’re
sick you’re feeling too tired or you feel too sick to reach out so we try to do reach out as well. We also encourage students that live nearby if they do want to go home for the weekend to do so because sometimes staying with your mom and dad is going to make you feel even better than being in your room. “ Ouimet said that they work with professors, coaches, and Dining Services to help get sick students excused from classes, practices, and games and prevent the flu from spreading. “We’re hoping that getting some awareness out first hand will help students (not get the flu) in the first place,” she said, “but then (with us) taking quick action once we know a student is sick to work with their professors, coaches, and Dining Services to help mitigate any kind of spreading.” Ouimet said the university is always looking for ways to improve on managing flu season. “I think we just want to take where we were and keep on improving,” Ouimet said. “I feel like the more people we help prevent from getting the flu in the first place the more we’re going to help students succeed, so they don’t miss class or practice. We’re making sure that we are collaborating as well as possible. That’s something we definitely want to continue to do, if there’s avenues we can take in the future we’re always going to look for better ways to manage sickness.”
“The light never comes on through until you are deep in the forest of dissertation and feeling alone and lost. I just kept telling her to hang in there, and believe in herself, and that she could do it.” - Dr. Nancy Smith, visiting assistant professor at Texas A&M
“The light never comes on through until you are deep in the forest of dissertation and feeling alone and lost,” Smith said. “I just kept telling her to hang in there, and believe in herself, and that she could do it.” Other people in Chastain’s life who helped give her encouragement were her coworkers at Wesleyan like Michael Gatton, assistant director of Career Services. “I am so proud of her that she has completed her goal and earned her doctorate,” he said. “I know it was crucial achievement and that the process has been a major part of her life for the last few years.” The most significant thing that Chastain has learned about herself during the process of getting her doctorate is that she feels that she is a lot stronger than she thought she was. “I think you realize when you make it through this process that you really are stronger and more capable than you realize,” Chastain said.
Chastain
continued from page 1 “doctor.” “What I always wanted is to have Dr. Chastain on my airline ticket now,” Chastain said. Chastain thinks that it is significant to have someone, whether it’s a professor or a friend, that motivates you not to be a procrastinator. “I think that it is important because you kind of need to know that somebody has your back,” Chastain said. “In any of the processes you take, you need to know that somebody is there to push you out of your comfort zone.” And that is exactly what Dr. Kamiar Kouzekanani, professor of quantitative methods in the College Education and Human Development at Texas A&M, did for Chastain. “Chastain was hardworking, dedicated and disciplined,” Kouzekanani wrote in an e-mail. “Also being away from Corpus Christi while completing her study made the task quite challenging. I couldn’t be more proud of Patricia.”
Chastain calls Kouzikanani Superman, because he saved her from dropping out of the program due to the absence of her previous dissertation chair. “Three years prior to having Kouzekanani as my dissertation chair, I did not have anybody who felt supportive of me,” Chastain said. “He kept pushing and pushing me and telling me that I will get this dissertation done by this
time.” But Kouzekannai wasn’t the only support Chastain got. Dr. Nancy Smith, a visiting assistant professor for the Department of Educational Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction at Texas A&M, became a friend and an encourager that talked with Chastain through the process of finishing the program.
principles into your life,” she said. “You don’t have to do all of them at first, but you are committing to some of them.” Tallent said that since taking the pledge she has become more mindful about making healthier decisions, which started with incorporating small changes to her lifestyle. “Now, and the library staff can tell you, I come into the library three times a week and I take the stairs up and down at least four times and that gets my cardio exercise in and it gives me a 10-minute break from work which is good,” she said. Tallent said she wishes she had been more aware of taking care of herself when she was a student. “I think when you are young, you just think
automatically, ‘I am young, and I don’t need to be thinking about all these other things, I am just doing my own thing,’” Tallent said. “As as you get older, which happens very quickly, you discover that you are going to be better off starting taking care of yourself, putting into practice well-being practices.” Wesleyan’s Upward Bound Programs Director Fabiola Rodriguez is a part of the campus’ Blue Zones Committee. One of the ways she has improved her health is by taking up running. “I started going out in my neighborhood and I would run a block and walk a block. I was out of breath even for that walk. I just literally kept doing it because I didn’t have a gym membership at the time,” Rodriguez said.
Blue Zones continued from page 1
membership to the Morton Fitness Center and tastier, healthier on-campus food options,” Patterson wrote. “Texas Wesleyan encourages employees to take time to downshift during the workday and take “microbreaks” to stretch and move. The university also formed a wellness committee with representation from faculty, staff, and students.” This month, Tallent said, the committee will be re-branding itself and is looking for student and employee chairs. The first step to getting involved is taking the Blue Zones pledge, which includes acting in bettering your wellbeing not just in diet and exercise, but also in aspects such as mental well-being. “When you take the pledge, you are making a promise to incorporate some of these
“I needed to do something and that is exactly how I picked up running.” From then she started setting goals for herself and began racing in 5K runs, she said. “The momentum, just the feeling of completing a race, it is a huge accomplishment,” she said. “I started doing 5Ks and that is when the weight started dropping and I started to see it.” The next Purpose Workshop will be Nov. 29 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Lou’s Place and it is free and open to all Wesleyan students, faculty and staff. To get involved in the schools Blue Zones Committee, contact Tallent at cmtallent@ txwes.edu.
campus events
Nov. 14 - Dec. 1
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday Nov. 14
Nov. 26
Nov. 15 -ASC Workshop @ 12:15 p.m. -Counseling Workshop @ 3 p.m. -Freshmen Registration for Spring 2019 @ 3 p.m. -Jazz Combo Concert @ 7:30 p.m.
*Thanksgiving Break is Nov. 19 through Nov. 23. *Classes resume Nov. 26.
Nov. 25
Thursday
Nov. 27
Nov. 28
-Safety Awareness and Training -VB at NAIA National Tour@ 12:15 p.m. nament -Distance Education Conversation @ 12:15 p.m. -Ed.D for an Evening @ 5 p.m. -Wesleyan Singers Concert @ 7:30 p.m. -VB at NAIA National Tournament
Nov. 29 -Purpose Workshop @ 11 a.m. -Distance Education Conversation @ 12:15 p.m. -Safety Awareness and Training @ 12:15 p.m. -Counseling Workshop @ 3 p.m. -VB at NAIA National Tournament -WBB vs. Bacone College @ 6 p.m. (home) -MBB vs. Bacone College @ 8 p.m. (home)
Friday Nov. 16
Saturday Nov. 17
-WBB vs. Newman Universi-WBB vs. Midwestern State Unity @ 1:30 p.m. (away) versity@ 5:30 p.m. (away) -MBB vs. Our Lady of the -WXC NAIA National ChampiLake Univeristy @ 6 p.m. onships @ 8 a.m. (away) (home) -MXC NAIA National Championships @ 8 a.m. (away)
Nov. 30 -Decorated Trees due back to the Library -Wind Ensemble Concert @ 7:30 p.m. -VB at NAIA National Tournament
Dec. 1 -COU Open House @ 12 p.m.
4 |Wednesday November 14, 2018
CAMPUS
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Wesleyan students Thanksgiving tradi
Three Wesleyan freshmen, Taj Carden, Alyssa Taylor and Alyssa Ellis, discuss what they are going to do during Thanksgiving break in the West Express
DAVID CASON
T
dlcason@txwes.edu
he leaves are turning color, the weather is becoming cooler, and finals are approaching quickly. This means Thanksgiving, held the fourth Thursday of November, is around the corner While traditional Thanksgiving Day feasts have religious origins, modern-day Thanksgiving is a time for families and friends to gather together and share in comradery and partake in a bountiful feast. A dozen Texas Wesleyan students were asked what they planned to do for the holiday break and 10 out of 12 said they planned on spending time with family and friends and eating great food. Alyssa Ellis said she couldn’t wait to get home to spend time with her family in Houston and get ready for Black Friday. “I’m going home, we always cook and hang out. We make ham with pineapple, turkey and collard greens,” said Ellis, a freshman forensic accounting major. “At eight we take a nap then wake up at midnight to go shopping. We always go to BestBuy and get cellphones.” Black Friday has become synonymous with shopping the day after Thanksgiving since the early 1980s. According to an online article by the History Channel, Black Friday hasn’t always had a positive connotation. “Back in the 1950s, police in the city of Philadelphia used the term to describe the chaos that ensued on the day after Thanksgiving, when hordes of suburban shoppers and tourists flooded into the city in advance of the big Army-Navy football game held on that Saturday every year,” according to historychannel.com. “Not only would Philly cops not be able to take the day off, but they would have to work extra-long shifts dealing with the additional crowds and traffic. Shoplifters would also take advantage of the bedlam in stores to make off with merchandise, adding to the law enforcement headache.” Today, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are as much a part of the Thanksgiving tradition as turkey and stuffing. Freshman Alyssa Taylor said that Cyber Monday is something that her family looks forward to every year. “I’m going to Ennis to be with my grandparents for Thanksgiving. We watch the Cowboys and my grandma yells at the TV,” Taylor said. “We always put up the Christmas tree in November too.”
Watching the Dallas Cowboys is another tradition that several Wesleyan students enjoy during Thanksgiving. Freshman Taj Carden said that her family did a traditional dinner in her hometown of Crowley, and that her family also watched the Cowboys play. “I’m not a big shopper or crowd person, so I don’t do Black Friday,” Carden said. “My dad is a die-hard Cowboys fan so we watch the game.” Education major Lisamarie Barnes has a unique tradition for Thanksgiving. She spends time with her two daughters making ornaments for Christmas during the holiday weekend. Barnes also has a food allergy that makes eating traditional Thanksgiving food difficult. “The last seven years I’ve had food allergies. Luckily my husband’s a classically trained chef who cooks plenty of veggies and free-range turkey for me,” said Barnes, who is president of Kappa Delta Pi, an education honors association. “We also put up Christmas that day, and every weekend since my girls were two and four years old we would make homemade ornaments for the Christmas tree. They are 13 and 15 now so we have a tree full of ornaments.” Barnes also said that this year would be especially busy. “This year for Thanksgiving I’ll be doing homework,” she said. Students on campus have many unique traditions for Thanksgiving but the one tradition that holds true is eating Thanksgiving turkey. This tradition makes perfect sense once you read a recent poll done by the National Turkey Federation that found that more than 690,000,000 pounds of turkey is consumed during Thanksgiving. “Nearly 88 percent of Americans said they eat turkey at Thanksgiving,” said a recent history.com article citing the federation.
Thanksgiving break starts on Nov. 19 and goes through Nov. 23. Classes resume on Monday, Nov. 26.
Wednesday November 14, 2018| 5 TheRambler.org | For news throughout the day.
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CAMPUS
PET PICKS RETURN IN SPRING 2019 Send us pictures of your pet(s) with a copy of The Rambler to IMG Director Elena Maldonado at ecmaldonado@txwes.edu to have your pet(s) featured in upcoming issues.
Where did she hide the newspapers?
Melvin belongs to Hannah Onder, The Rambler Media Group’s editor-in-chief. He likes to pair his newspaper reading with long naps on the table.
Photo by David Cason s Eatery. Break starts on Nov. 19.
Photo by Lisamarie Barnes For their Thanksgiving tradition, Texas Wesleyan student Lisamarie Barnes and her daughter make Christmas ornaments every year for their tree.
6 |Wednesday | November 14, 2018
Arts&Entertainment
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Doctoral student doubles as author Kayila Brown kabrown2@txwes.edu
Ida Joiner is a student at Texas Wesleyan currently working on her doctorate in education, yet she has already done so much in her lifetime. And although she has only been in Texas for a year and a half, Joiner has already done a lot in her new state. “I am also the librarian at the Universal Academy in Irving, Texas,” Joiner said. “I am an author, a technologist, as well as librarian. I’ve published about five articles, since I’ve been here in Texas.” Before coming to Wesleyan, Joiner said, she also performed on stage in several music performances; the arts are something she has always loved and has been passionate about. “I’ve sang in Vienna and Budapest; I’ve been in two Pittsburgh Opera productions,” Joiner said. “Opera’s my first love.” Joiner said her love of the arts slowly merged into her current career as a librarian and a technologist when she was employed at Carnegie Mellon University, a school that attracts large numbers of artists as well as technologists. She explained that this new-found love for technology became something that she wanted to constantly write about. “I really enjoy writing about technology. If there’s a new development in artificial intelligence or drones or virtual reality, I’m on it,” Joiner said. Joiner was able to find different jobs and occupations that centered around technology, she said, such as the consulting work she did in Pittsburgh, where she was first approached about writing a book. “Elsevier had contacted me about possibly writing a book back in 2009,” Joiner said. “I always kept it in the back of my head.” Fast forward years later when, Joiner said, she was inspired to write a book and decided to use her contact at Elsevier in order to get the ball in motion. “There was a webinar that I did and I thought this might make for a nice book, and I contacted the publisher for Elsevier, one of the largest academic publishers in the world,” Joiner said. Her book, “Emerging Library Technologies: It’s Not Just for Geeks!” was officially published in August and has impressed many, such as Dr. Dianne Hawkins, one of her Wesleyan professors. “I was indeed impressed upon hearing Ida had not only written a book, but had been published it and is now enjoying wide distri-
Photo by Kaylia Brown Ida Joiner poses with her book “Emerging Library Technologies: It’s Not Just for Geeks!.”
Photo contributed by Ida Joiner Photo contributed by Ida Joiner Ida Joiner stands backstage at her perforIda Joiner makes a trip to the Library of Congress. Joiner is a doctoral student at Wesleyan. mance in Pittsburgh Opera’s Rigoletto.
bution and acclaim,” Hawkins said. “Knowing a bit more about her and her joy for learning, I am not the least bit surprised.” Dr. Celia Wilson is another one of Joiner’s professors at Wesleyan who also commented on her love of learning. “My first impression of Ida was that she appears to be someone who is interested in learning; she’s a lifetime learner,” Wilson said.
It is a combination of her eagerness to learn and hard work that will lead Joiner to have a big role in the future, Wilson said. “Ida will likely have a hand in designing systems to allow education, communities, and libraries to meet the needs of people in a yet unknown future,” Wilson said. For the time being, Joiner said, she only hopes her future contains more writing and even more learning.
“I see myself publishing more books, more articles,” Joiner said. “And just learning, I love to learn. For me, it’s exciting learning something new.” “Emerging Library Technologies: It’s Not Just for Geeks!” is available for purchase online on Amazon and on iTunes.
Wednesday | November 14, 2018
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SPORTS
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Sheremeta travels to Texas for eSports
Photo by Rachel Aguilar Lukien Sheremeta grew up in upstate New York close to Albany, and has been playing video games since the age of 5. Sheremeta is currently a member of the Overwatch team for eSports.
RACHEL AGUILAR rlaguilar@txwes.edu
Having known about eSports for a long time, New York native Lukien Sheremeta decided to move down to Fort Worth to be in the Texas Wesleyan eSports program. Sheremeta did not have any eSports options at the local community colleges in upstate New York, so he knew if he was going to take part in eSports that it would not be through those campuses. “It seemed a lot cooler at Wesleyan than staying in New York,” Sheremeta wrote in an email. It was around Aug. 10 when Sheremeta moved to Texas. He wrote that having eSports at Wesleyan influenced him to come to a uni-
versity rather than a community college. “I found out about the eSports program at the Wesleyan campus around June, when Eugen Frier, emailed me to talk about the program,” Sheremeta wrote. “The Wesleyan eSports program is the only program that reached out to me with a personal email; the other 15 schools that wanted me had automatic emails.” Frier, the executive director of eSports and recreation, met Sheremeta during a recruiting meeting over the summer. He wrote in an email that he was very excited that the 18-year-old chemistry major came down to Texas to be on the eSports team. “Sheremeta has a very high skill level in (Overwatch) but he also possesses an extremely high drive to succeed,” Frier wrote.
“He is able to lock onto an area for improvement and dedicated a tremendous amount of focus to improve his skill in that area.” Senior and criminal justice major Zach Lanham met Sheremeta through Ram Camp. “I think that it’s amazing he could come so far on an eSports scholarship,” Lanham wrote in an email. Lanham thinks the fact that Sheremeta has a lot of skill and is Overwatch’s ace in the hole makes them a competitive team. “Instead of killing off one person on the enemy team, he kills off all of them,” Lanham wrote. Sophomore and business major Parker An-
derson, who met Sheremeta over the summer while the program was looking to fill the Overwatch roster, thinks that Sheremeta has a spirit that distinguishes him from the other Overwatch players. “He stands out on the team for his vocal style, but he also stands out for his amazing Pharah and Genji play,” Anderson wrote in an email. Sheremeta wrote that what interested him about being on the Overwatch team was that he is very good at the game. He would like to play for an Overwatch team after graduation. “I have always wanted to play in a competitive setting,” Sheremeta wrote.
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Photo by Rachel Aguilar Lukien Sheremetam (center) practicing with Zach Lanham (right) and Zach Williams (left).
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8 | Wednesday | November 14, 2018
SPORTS
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Women’s soccer scores first SAC title
Photo courtesy of Katelynn Teufel The Lady Rams were named SAC champions after a 1-0 victory against John Brown University on Oct. 25.
ASHTON WILLIS anwillis@txwes.edu
The Texas Wesleyan women’s soccer team has had much success over the past couple of years, but nothing can compare to the strides that they made this season. The Lady Rams won the Sooner Athletic Conference regular season championship for the first time since joining the SAC in 2013, according to ramsports.net; with a 1-0 victory over John Brown University on Oct. 25, the team was seeded number one in the conference tournament for the first time. That win gave head coach Josh Gibbs 150 career victories; he now has an overall record of 150-73-12. The team ended its season on Nov. 5, when they lost 3-1 to John Brown in the semi-final round. While the ending was not what the team wanted, they also have numerous honors to go with their 13-4-1 season record, which includes going 7-1-1 in conference: Tameir Grosvenor was named Player of the
Year, Amber Leachman was named Defensive Player of the Year, and Gibbs was named Coach of the Year. Defender Katelynn Teufel, a junior criminal justice major, wrote that winning conference was surreal and unlike anything she had experienced before. “Winning conference felt unreal, we were all so happy and crying,” she wrote. “It hadn’t been done in 10 years and no one had ever won a conference at John Brown other then themselves at their field.” Teufel wrote that she believes the team’s mental game is what really put them on top this season. “Honestly I think the difference is that we are of one mind as a team, we take ownership of our roles,” she said. “We fight and push ourselves and each other to finish games.” Midfielder Lynzie Moore, a senior history major, wrote that the talent on the field is really what makes a difference with this team. “We have talent incomparable from our forwards that no one else in the conference
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Photo courtesy of Katelynn Teufel Amber Leachman, Lynzie Moore, Katelynn Teufel, and Christy Zwart (in green) celebrate winning the SAC title for the first time.
has, but it takes the passing from the midfield and build up from our defensive line to get the game rolling in the first place,” she wrote. Moore wrote that the goalies Christy Zwart and Lauren Bond have really stepped up this season and helped the team out immensely. “We also have incredible goalies, hands down the two best goal keepers in the conference,” she wrote. “The brick wall they bring to the table each game does wonders for the overall dynamic.” Hana Diaz, a junior athletic training major, wrote that she is really proud of how this team played and won conference. “To be SAC conference champs is such a great feeling, and I am extremely proud of my team because they worked tremendously hard all preseason and every practice,” wrote the midfielder. Diaz wrote that the team’s ability to bond together was crucial to being successful. “In order to become champions this season the girls really needed to get good chemistry
on the field as well as off the field,” she wrote. “With practice and adjustments throughout the season, they eventually found what formation worked for them, what players were good where, and that’s what led them to multiple wins.” Diaz wrote that the team should be proud of how they played this season and the goals that they accomplished. “The season overall was very exciting to watch because the girls work hard every game and at one point there was a couple of ties for first place, but luckily we clinched first and finished the season 7-1-1,” she wrote. Diaz wrote that even though the season did not turn out exactly as planned, the team should be happy with how they competed. “Although the season ended sooner than we anticipated, the girls should be extremely proud of themselves for working hard from beginning to end,” she wrote. “Also, for finally getting rings in the program after 10 years.”
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