WEDNESDAY
January 19, 2011
Vol. 94 • No. 1
www.therambler.org
The Rambler The voice of Texas Wesleyan University students since 1917
Mckinley’s serves classic sandwiches for tasty lunch.
Southside Community Center offers financial assistance. Community, page 6
Arts & Entertainment, page 6
New policy implements mandatory housing Fall 2011 incoming freshmen encouraged to become more involved in campus activities Shauna Banks
sbbanks@mail.txwes.edu
Future Rams will inch closer to the full college experience starting next fall. Beginning in the Fall 2011
semester, new incoming freshmen will be required to live on campus unless they meet specific exemption criteria. This housing policy change came after its approval in October 2010, where it was
voted on by the Student Life Trustee Committee, a subcommittee within the Board of Trustees at Texas Wesleyan. “We don’t think it’s really going to have that great of an impact, because most of
our first-time freshmen live on campus anyway,” Sharon Manson, director of residence life, said. “It’s more of a statement in a lot of ways that we think living on campus is important to the col-
lege development.” Although the idea has circulated for several years, it has never been a realistic option for the university until this academic year. After housing consultants John White and
Bambi Harris suggested mandatory housing following a visit to the campus last spring, the idea was considered once again.
HOUSING, page 3
Nominations for homecoming king and queen end today. Students can vote for nominees in front of the SUB or West Library tomorrow and Friday. Winners will be announced at the half-time show during the men’s basketball game on Saturday. Tailgating begins at 1:30 p.m., the women’s game at 2 p.m. and men’s at 4 p.m. All students are encouraged to wear Texas Wesleyan blue and gold at the game.
Appeal process takes new turn
Photo by Angie Ruiz
Homecoming week revives ’94 tradition Shauna Banks
sbbanks@mail.txwes.edu
Operation Homecoming hit the ground running this past fall, and will continue full steam ahead through this Saturday night, when the Rams take on the Jarvis Christian College bulldogs. In a collaborative effort between several departments and individuals on campus, homecoming 2011 kicked off with king and queen nominations last Wednesday.
Voting for king and queen is tomorrow and Friday at the Brown-Lupton Student Center and Eunice & James L. West Library. “We decided that we wanted to do ‘operation homecoming’ and make homecoming something that students, once they graduated and became alumni, really wanted to come back for,” Gina Phillips, director
RAMS, page 4
Students discover new opportunities Stephanie Mejia Photo illustration by Meisa Keivani Najafabadi | Rambler Staff Anyone wanting to appeal citations received on campus should visit the SGA offices on the second floor of O.C. Armstrong Hall, where appeal forms are located. Each individual has three business days to return the appeal form to request a hearing. Shauna Banks & Melissa Bates
sbbanks@mailtxwes.edu mbates@mail.txwes.edu
Citation appeals at Texas Wesleyan have taken a more
student-driven approach as fees for violations are set and enforcement increased. The appeal process for citations received for student handbook, housing contract and parking violations
has been revamped starting this spring semester. According to a message to the Wesleyan student body from Dean of Students Cary Poole, students are entitled to due process. If a student
is charged with a violation of the student handbook, they can choose between two hearing boards. The first is chaired by the dean
CITATION, page 3
smejia@mail.txwes.edu
Opportunities to study abroad are now within reach for Wesleyan students on a tight budget. A new scholarship sponsored by the Student Government Association will soon be available for students to apply for. Justin Mikulencak, vice president of SGA, came up with the idea for the scholarship and wrote the bill that
has set money aside for it. “There are students that want to go on trips, but don’t have the extra thousand dollars sitting around,” Mikulencak said. The scholarship will be applicable to students going on trips sponsored by Wesleyan and led by faculty. In order to be considered for the scholarship, an application must be filled out and returned to the SGA offices on the second
STUDY, page 3
Scholastic dials down discounts on items at book sale Melissa Bates
mbates@mail.txwes.edu
After a 10-year business relationship, Texas Wesleyan has parted ways with the Scholastic books company. Following a decrease in profit and book donations at the Scholastic book sale held last fall, Cindy Potter, director of the Eunice & James L. West Library, decided to discontinue sales, usually held each semester. Sheri Parker, coordinator of library operations, said in the past that profits have been between $1,800 and $2,500. Scholastic has also always donated $500 worth of books for the juvenile collection.
This past fall, the sale brought in just $1,000. This reduced donations to the library to just $100 worth of books. Other factors in the decision to discontinue the sale included the reduction of sale prices by Scholastic. In semesters previous to last fall, students were able to purchase books at 50 percent off. In the fall, it was changed to a buy one, get one free sale— which required students to purchase at least two items to receive any discount at all. Parker said the sales have always been popular among education majors, who would use the discounted books to build libraries for the future
students they will teach. “With the way times are now I’m sure Scholastic is having a hard time just like everybody else, so they had to change their policies to go with the times,” she said. “Businesses have to do what they have to do to stay in business nowadays because everything is so bad.” Although the decision has been made to discontinue the sale, Parker said she and others would consider reinstating the book sales if Scholastic offered a deal that benefited the students and made everyone on all sides of the issue happy. “It was an opportunity that we took advantage of while we could and now it’s gone and
we’ll look for something else to be able to do,” she said. Scholastic Communications Manager Teryl McLane said Scholastic changed to a new profit and reward structure last year to benefit their customers nationwide. “Last year we came out with a standard profit structure across all of our book fairs called Scholastic Dollars,” she said. “Basically, what it’s helped us do is to offer consistent rewards programs for all of our customers no matter how big or small their fair was.” McLane said Scholastic The Scholastic book sale, usually held every semester has been
DISCOUNT, page 3 discontinued due to lack of profit and change in discounts.