WEDNESDAY February 2, 2011
Vol. 94 • No. 3
www.therambler.org
Should students have pets in on-campus housing?
The Rambler The voice of Texas Wesleyan University students since 1917
Super Bowl brings celebration and protest to Fort Worth. Community, page 6
Opinion, page 2
Theft at Elizabeth leaves student anxious Shauna Banks
sbbanks@mail.txwes.edu
Returning to her room in Elizabeth Armstrong Hall in the afternoon on Jan. 6, junior exercise science major, Cordelia Henderson realized her Sony laptop and Apple iPod had been stolen. Campus security was notified within 10 minutes of Henderson finding her belongings missing.
Slabach puts down roots in Ram territory
“The bad part about it is, all of this happened right before the second semester started, so I don’t have a computer or anything like that,” Henderson said. “I have to spend all my time in the library.” Henderson said she was gone all evening the day before, but that both entrances to her room were locked before she left. “The University takes every precaution to protect students and their
possessions,” said Pati Alexander, vice president of enrollment and student services. “We advise students not to leave their possessions unprotected.” Alexander said the university advises that students carry personal property or renter’s insurance. According to the Fort Worth Police Department report, Henderson stated that she has no idea how entry was gained, and that there were no signs of forced entry into the room.
“The main reason I make sure I lock my door is because I play on the basketball team and I’m on the opposite end [of the residence hall] as my team mates,” Henderson said. “I’m not surrounded by people I know.” Henderson moved from West Village at the beginning of last fall, wanting the extra space that Elizabeth’s single occupancy rooms offer. “I called [campus security] as soon as I found that my stuff was gone, and
they came over. They asked a couple of questions and wrote down on pen and pad,” Henderson said. “I personally feel like that day it was important, but I don’t feel like they’re really worried about it anymore.” Henderson also contacted the Fort Worth Police Department and was called back within an hour to give her statement to an officer.
THEFT, page 3
New features create Wesleyan hot spots
Rachel Peel
rlpeel@mail.txwes.edu
Former CEO of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, Frederick Slabach, was appointed the 19th president of Texas Wesleyan University on Nov. 19, 2010, and took office Jan. 1 this year. Slabach left his CEO position with the Truman Foundation when he accepted the position at Wesleyan. “I really missed being directly involved in higher education and so when this opportunity came up I jumped at it,” Slabach said. He applied for the position when he heard it was open last summer. After being appointed, the Texas Wesleyan Board of Trustees asked Slabach to take office in January, so it was a quick move for him from his hometown in Virginia. “The difficult part of the transition for me is that I’m here and my family, my wife and children, are still in Virginia,” Slabach said. Slabach has 12-year-old twin boys in seventh grade, and a 6-year-old daughter in first grade. His wife, Melany Neilson, a nominated Pulitzer Prize author and his three children will join him in June.
SLABACH, page 8
Photo Illustration by Meisa Keivani Najafabadi | Rambler Staff Will Timmerman, director of food services, implemented several changes in Dora Roberts Dining Hall this semester, including freshly baked cookies at the door (limited to two per person), a Swiss Miss hot chocolate machine and an updated salad bar for healthy eating options. In addition, Dora’s also now has photos of Wesleyan athletes enlarged and hanging from the ceiling. Timmerman also initiated changes in the Brown-Lupton Campus Center’s food court. Improvements in the SUB include a new paint job to give the eating areas a café vibe. The C3 Express convenience store will be moved soon to open up more space for students visiting Grille Works, Bene Pizza and Java City in the SUB. Stephanie Mejia
smejia@mail.txwes.edu
In attempt to create new hot spots for Wesleyan students, Dora Roberts Dining Hall and the Brown-Lupton Campus Center’s Grille Works and Bene Pizza, have recently undergone facelifts in their appearance and to their menus. The changes in Dora’s and the SUB were fueled with ideas from Will Timmerman, director of food
services. Timmerman, an employee of Aramark, joined Wesleyan’s food service department at the end of November. Aramark has been Wesleyan’s food service provider since 2006, and beat out other companies when Wesleyan accepted bids to contract a food service provider in December 2005. Debbie Cavitt, director of purchasing, said Aramark was the better option because it offered the
best service at the best price. Timmerman entered the Wesleyan community with several new ideas for improving and expanding food offerings in Dora’s and the SUB. “He has done great things to spruce up the cafeteria,” Cavitt said. Dora’s now offers artisan breads, including ciabatta, pitas, hot or cold wraps, paninis and low-carb sandwiches. The salad bar was moved from
its prior position, and a new breakfast and soup station was installed. A Swiss Miss hot chocolate machine was also added, along with a new dessert case. “My overall goal is to drive students’ satisfaction so that they feel comfortable renewing their housing and meal contracts,” Timmerman said.
DORA’S, page 3
Gandhi’s grandson set to give UCD keynote address Melissa Bates
mdbates@mail.txwes.edu
Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, is set to speak at Texas Wesleyan’s annual University College Day April 5. With the “Connecting the Community and the World” theme in mind, students, faculty and staff can make submissions online for presentations at the event anytime before Feb. 11. “The number of submissions has increased by about one-third, which is a pretty substantial increase,” said Pe-
ter Colley, associate professor of art and chair of the UCD committee. “This is a celebration of intellectual experience. It really is quite wonderful; and not only that, it’s very enjoyable.” Gandhi will give the keynote address on UCD, and attendees will need a ticket to get into his speech and the luncheon. “Pricing has not been decided,” Colley said. “Tickets do not apply to presentations. We want everyone to come to presentations.” Colley said presentations are not limited to in-class
work. Personal interests are also welcome. “There has to be some academic merit to it,” he said. “It is people’s experiences volunteering, people’s experiences in community organizations.” Colley said students unsure how their ideas could be turned into a scholarly presentation are free to contact him for assistance. Every presenter must have a faculty sponsor— preferably someone working in the area the presentation pertains to. Every presentation will be limited to 20 minutes, including time for question
and answer. “Last year, we had 90 submissions and only 40 slots,” Colley said. “This is quite a change compared to 1997. When this started, there were around 12 presentations.” The Student Government Association is the co-sponsor for Gandhi’s visit to Wesleyan and is also funding the luncheon. “I really think this is a good opportunity for the student body,” he said. “I think of the experience this is going to mean for this university and the publicity it’s going to bring. I think having a
speaker like this come to our university will do lots for the students.” Assistant Professor of Religion Mark Hanshaw has met with Gandhi before and is looking forward to the keynote speech. “I think he’s interested in speaking to two very important issues: how we, in terms of our day to day practice, can adopt and embrace these very same ideals that motivated his grandfather so strongly, and what it would mean for our world if all of us began to adopt the pathway of nonviolence,” Hanshaw said.
Hanshaw will moderate the evening presentations as well as be a personal host to Gandhi. Presentation sessions are held around campus, with an itinerary listing the presenters, places and times. Teachers are encouraged to offer their students extra credit or assignment credit for attending UCD. Students do not have to have a full paper or presentation to send in a submission, just an idea. Anyone presenting at UCD have the opportunity to take that same work and submit it to Wesleyan Press for publication.