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Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009
Page 5
University steps up Hispanic outreach efforts SAMANTHA HENRY STAFF WRITER
Lone Star Eatery Grill & Bar has made many improvements to its service since moving to its current location in August 2008, including a newly printed and expanded menu and website.
Lone Star: something for everyone JARED WATSON ONLINE EDITOR Lone Star Eatery Grill & Bar has been a restaurant fixture in Commerce for a decade, from its beginnings as Lone Star Pizza Works, which opened in 1999 on Live Oak Street, to its new location in front of Wal-Mart, which opened on Aug. 27, 2008. For owner Ken Moyer, the restaurant’s mission is simple. “Our goal is to be the restaurant of choice in the community of Commerce,” Moyer said. Lone Star offers a wide variety of menu items, including pizzas, steak, salads and many other choices, and also has a full bar. “The food is really good,” bartender Stormie Smith said. “It’s all cooked to order. The things that are really popular are chicken fried steaks, the Texas burger and we have great shrimp.”
Though Lone Star’s menu is already extensive, they are open to new ideas. “[For example], people have been wanting fried pickles since we opened,” Moyer said. “Well, we never had them, so we put them on the new menu, and now we sell a ton of fried pickles. So if there are other ideas out there that people would like for us to incorporate into our operation, we’re always willing to try them.” In addition to giving residents and students a place to eat lunch or dinner, Lone Star has given many students a place to make a living. “We do employ a lot of college students,” Moyer said. “We’ve got about 30 students who work here.” Lone Star’s customer base is not limited to Commerce. Customer Pam Evans drives once a week from Celeste to eat at the restaurant.
“It’s worth the drive,” Evans said. “The service here is just really, really good.” The diversity of the menu draws many customers from neighboring towns, as Lone Star offers some items diners cannot find where they live. “I’ve heard people say they come in groups from Greenville, because [Lone Star] has tilapia,” Evans said. “They can’t get tilapia in Greenville.” The new Lone Star location, which is next to the Holiday Inn Express at the intersection of Culver Street and Hwy. 24/50, can seat up to 150 people. This can be a little misleading when the parking spaces fill up outside. “You can have a full parking lot out there, but that’s only 75 people,” Moyer said. “That’s only half capacity, so it doesn’t mean every seat in here is full. There’s almost always seating available.”
Lone Star is in the middle of adding technology to their menu as well. The restaurant’s website, www.lonestareatery.com, is currently being redesigned by Paul Bryan, a photographer for Marketing Communications, and will soon debut some new features. “There will be comment pages so people can type us notes and comments,” Moyer said. “You can Twitter us; you can [find us] on Facebook. We hope to get everyone’s e-mail address eventually and do mass e-mails of our specials. We’re looking at ways to expand our marketing to a more current setting that more people are using.” For those who are unsure whether they will be able to find something at Lone Star to their liking, Evans lays those fears to rest. “There’s something here for everybody,” Evans said.
TOMS invites students to “Style Your Sole”
Texas A&M UniversityCommerce has been increasing outreach efforts in order to meet the Hispanic Serving Institute (HSI) initiative set forth by President Dr. Dan Jones. “Basically what we are doing is trying to partner with groups that are working for the Hispanic community to raise the college going rate,”Jones said. “We formed a partnership with Education is Freedom, which is a Dallas based organization that provides scholarships.” Jones stated that in addition to scholarships, Education is Freedom also provides a lot of college readiness activities such as summer programs and SAT prep classes. They work with high school’s in the Dallas area that have high Hispanic enrollments. “They have a variety of things to encourage people in the targeted communities,” Jones said. “We’ll raise their awareness of what it takes to go to college and also raise their level of readiness.” According to Luis Franco, Director of Hispanic Outreach and Student Programs, the university is currently working on SAT math prep classes and have partnered up with other institutions to offer free prep courses in Dallas and in Fort Worth that are open to all students regardless of ethnicity. “We know that standardized entrance exams can be a challenge and intimidating to all students,” Franco said. “First generation and
minority students have struggled a bit more perhaps because they are not as familiar with the test and its format.” In addition to the agreement with Education is Freedom, A&MCommerce is also working with Dallas Independent School District, the Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and with specific high schools. “The biggest goal of our office is to raise awareness among the Hispanic community with regards to attending college,” Franco said. “We really feel that this population needs support, in navigating the admissions and enrollment process. We want to make sure they have the information they need with regards to the admissions steps, financial aid, and scholarship opportunities and the benefits of attaining a college degree.” Another early effort of the universities Hispanic enrollment is the reorganization and split of the Division of Academic and Student Affairs into Academic Affairs and the Division of Student Access and Success. “The One Stop Shop is our new administrative support unit for students,” Jones said. “As a university we have made a commitment of resources, both in terms of people and dollars, to support student access and success. So the Division of Student Access and Success is a key element of our overall HSI initiative. We need to not only get the students in the door, we need to help them succeed once they get here.”
Philanthropic shoe company hosts second campus event CHANCELLOR MILLS STAFF WRITER Students at Texas A&M University-Commerce spent their Thursday night painting shoes and listening to acoustic music all for the sake of raising awareness for a good cause. On Nov. 20, a group of about 25 students gathered in the media room of Prairie Crossing Apartments for the first ever “Style Your Sole” event at A&MCommerce. This event is only the second to be hosted by TOMS’ campus representatives, junior sociology major Kerry Hendricks and sophomore art major Lindsey Durham. As campus reps, the pair has been charged with spreading TOMS’ “One for One” movement. The idea behind the movement is that, for every pair of shoes someone
buys, TOMS will donate a pair to a child in need. After the success of their first event in October, the duo held a “Shoe Drive” where they received shoe orders from almost 20 A&M-Commerce students and staff. During this drive, Hendricks and Durham encouraged students to buy white or natural canvas TOMS in anticipation of the “Style Your Sole” event. This second event was intended for those who ordered shoes to come pick them up, and the reps furnished paint supplies for anybody wanting to paint their shoes. There was also live acoustic music from already established, yet still relatively unknown singer, Jake Germany. “It was fun,” freshmen math major Douglas Boney said. “We actually got to paint and stuff. Even though I do not have any
creative ability, we all still had fun.” Although not many people in attendance were there to paint their shoes, the ones that were did so with excitement and laughter. One student brought friends with him to help him decorate his shoes. Despite the entertainment of the evening, the campus reps kept focused on the true goal behind what they are doing. “I think it went well,” Durham said. “We had few people paint their shoes and they looked great. In the end, though, it is good to know that 18 kids got new pairs of shoes.” The musician for the event, Jake Germany, said he came to A&MCommerce because he is an avid TOMS supporter. When he heard what the reps were doing on campus, he jumped at the opportunity to come play
for the event. “We want to give thanks to Jake Germany for coming out here and playing for us despite his busy schedule,” Hendricks said. “For him to take time to come out here and play for our event just really speaks a lot about the movement and how important it is.” Both Durham and Hendricks said they are looking forward to future events that will take place sometime next semester. As for the rest of the semester, the pair will be taking more shoe orders for the holidays in the coming weeks. For information on ordering a pair of TOMS or helping the movement, students can visit the “TOMS Shoes for Commerce” page on Facebook or send an email to commercetoms@ gmail.com. Top: Students sign up for the “Style your Sole” event hosted by TOMS shoes on Nov. 20. Bottom: Students enjoying the company of the TOMS event.