Rambler 1-28-09

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The students’ voice since 1917

January 28, 2009

News Briefs

www.txwes.edu/rambler

IT and the help desk offer more hours of service Tiara Nugent

Union Gospel The Wesleyan Democrats will donate its time and effort to the Union Gospel Mission this spring. They are extending the invite to volunteer at the location on 1331 East Lancaster Ave. Times are 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Feb. 8, Feb. 22, March 8, March 22, April 5 and April 19. The group will meet in the Poly UMC parking lot 30 minutes prior to each serving time.

Vol. 102, No. 2

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Wesleyan’s IT Services division is extending the hours of operation for the Help Desk. Monday through Friday, the Help Desk will now be open from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

According to Chad Ballenger, director of IT Services, keeping hours only from 8 to 5 didn’t cover all the bases.

“Some classes don’t start until 5 and occasionally those professors

need assistance with media equipment or malfunctioning PCs,” he said. “When they called the Help Desk they were getting the answering machine, and the problems could not be addressed till the next day.”

In one instance, this lack of technical assistance led to the cancellation of a class, a situation which was not acceptable to the university.

“One incident was all it took because one class is a major issue,”

Ballenger said.

With technology playing such a critical role in the support and execution of instructional and administrative activities, IT Services decided to ensure that technical support is available when needed.

The Help Desk can assist with e-mail configuration and troubleshooting, network connectivity troubleshooting, basic desktop application troubleshooting, most ID/login issues, escalation of

major system outages, reporting of and status reports on an existing outage or problem and appropriate referral and tracking of all IT-related issues and requests.

The IT Services division also offers walk-in support and consultations by appointment from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, in EJW B-36.

The Help Desk can be reached by phone (817)-531-4428 or e-mail helpdesk@txwes.edu

Ramping it up!

Talent Auditions The Black Student Association is searching for the next great act. The Chocolate Poetry talent auditions will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 7 in Martin Hall. Singers, dancers, mime dancers, spoken word artists and instrumentalists are invited. Participants may sign up outside of the student life office.

President’s Concert Courtesy of Sandy Myers

Wesleyan music’s finest will showcase their vocal and instrumental talents at the President’s Honors Concert at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 6. Six singers, chosen by an independent panel of judges, will perform for the host, University President Harold Jeffcoat, and guests. A reception will follow immediately after at the Baker Building on the corner of Wesleyan and Rosedale.

The event is free and open to the public. Business attire is preferred.

Zeta Phi Beta enters Wesleyan Greek life Shameka Hyatt STAFF WRITER

With its revelation of its newest members during a probate show held Jan. 16 in Martin Hall, Zeta Phi Beta sorority has entered the yard as an official, chartered Greek organization at Texas Wesleyan University.

Its starting five members are senior Britannia Champion, Alycia Nabors, Shameka Hyatt, senior Helena Collins and Courtney Hickerson.

Along with the excitement of chartering at Wesleyan, members said they are also proud to acknowledge that history has been made with Zeta Phi Beta being the first African-American and National Pan-Hellenic Council sorority and organization to charter on the campus for the 2008-2009 school year.

Part of its focus will be on community.

“I want Zeta to be not just known as an organization that steps and throws Greek shows, but also as the sorority that brings about change and

Start Planning Career Services is proud to announce that the 2009 career fair will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

March 31 in the Sid Richardson Center. Current enrolled sponsors include established comapnies such as Walgreens and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Career Services, on the second floor of the West Library, will provide information for the upcoming event.

Rambler Contribution Please send all news briefs to twurambler@ yahoo.com. Submissions due by noon Friday to see brief in the following week’s issue.

Wesleyan employees Helena Bussel, Holli Kiser, Sandy Myers and Kara Persley were among some of the Poly-Wesleyan Kiwanis members in action at a site near Berry Street and Interstate 35. They joined hands with the Texas Ramp Project, a project that began in Richardson in 1985. TRP builds networks of volunteers accross the state and builds access ramps for residents who may need them. Kiwanis focus primarily on service to the community, particularly the youth. The Poly-Wesleyan club will host its first fund-raiser at 6 p.m. Jan. 30 in the Sid Richardson Gym. The Harlem Ambassadors basketball team will square off against the Cowtown Kiwanis. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased from any club member.

improvement of lives in the community,” said Champion, president.

Champion said she became aware of Zeta Phi Beta’s struggle to charter at Wesleyan through Phi Beta Sigma’s fraternity president, Kenneth Jackson.

With Sigmas on the yard, Champion said Jackson stressed the need for Zetas to step on the scene as well.

Being a family legacy and knowing her future lay with Zeta Phi Beta, Champion said she took it upon herself to make things happen after crossing spring 2007. She worked with the graduate chapter Psi Zeta, who was pushing for Zeta Phi Beta to be a recognized Greek sorority on the Wesleyan campus since 2004, to embark on what she called the long, tedious journey of chartering the organization.

“All it took was persistence, to always be heard, and to get everyone’s

See Zeta, page 2

Outhouse to penthouse: Burnett’s long but promising road Patrick McGee

REPRINT COURTESY FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

Jo Ann Reyes was hesitant when the homeless man volunteered to teach a GED class at her church. His clothes were in terrible condition. He had long hair, his front teeth were rotted out, and he smelled of the streets.

But Reyes agreed to let Jeremy Burnett teach.

He quickly got everyone to pass the math portion of the test. So Reyes, president of the Hope Center, a ministry for the poor at the Without Walls Church in Fort Worth, recommended him to a nearby electrical training company. He soon had those students up to speed on the math portion of their test, too.

Opinions

It was clear that, despite his appearance, the 35-year-old was intellectually gifted. Encouraged by his successes, Burnett told Reyes he wanted to save money for college.

“I think Jesus is just a little bit stronger.”

– Jeremy Burnett Wesleyan Student

Reyes told him: “Don’t wait. Go now.”

In December, Burnett finished his first semester at Texas Wesleyan University. He got an A in

Campus gun ban laws might be lifted after the current state legislature votes on the bill this year. A student speaks out.

Page 3

every class.

The achievement contrasts starkly with nearly every other part of Burnett’s life. He failed at military enlistment, marriage and three attempts at community college. He slept in parks and homeless shelters for years. He struggled with depression so severe that he was locked in a psychiatric ward three times.

“The hardest part about being homeless was getting food,” Burnett said. “There were several times when I had to eat out of garbage cans. Then there’s the loneliness because it’s hard to find people to talk to.”

See Burnett, page 2

Entertainment

One of 2008’s more popular films has made its way to Fort Worth’s Omni Theater.

Page 6

January 28, 2009

News

High school dropout Attending high school in Spokane, Wash., Burnett showed promise. His teachers enrolled him in advanced math classes, but he started using drugs and alcohol.

He stole from his parents and his brother and sister so often that his mother threw him out of the house in October 1990. Three months later, he stopped attending school. Life as a homeless drug addict was so difficult, Burnett said, that he soon resolved to quit.

“I was sitting in the snow, crying, and I can remember the tears freezing on my face,” he said. “I remember thinking, ‘I can’t live like this forever.’” He quit drugs and alcohol for good, but years of homelessness and depression lay ahead. He tried to turn his life around by joining the Army. Five weeks or so into basic training, he said, the Army decided he wasn’t soldier material and sent him home.

The Rambler 2 and sat with him on the curb all night. Hardy became Burnett’s friend and would often suggest churches he could attend. Burnett studied the Bible and eventually told Hardy he wanted to get married. Hardy introduced him to a woman from church he thought would be right for him. They married in 2004. It did not work.

“I think it might have been a mistake because the marriage didn’t last very long. He didn’t open up to her,” Hardy said.

A man of math Even as he struggled, people noticed that Burnett was gifted in math. He would talk about complex mathematical problems, whether people wanted to hear it or not.

“I’d tell him, ‘Jeremy, don’t start.’ And he starts talking, and he tells me about some elaborate equation,” Hardy said. “I tell him, ‘I have no idea what Unintended destination you’re talking about,’ but that doesn’t stop him.”

Always a lover of books, Burnett decided to see Larry Acuff met Burnett through a friend. Acuff, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. “I just an aerospace engineer at Lockheed Martin who has had this idea of all these books and wanted to see them a master’s degree in engineering, was struck by how all,” he said. He resolved to get there by hitchhiking. much Burnett knew.

He slept in parks and got by on scraps. “People would “I was surprised to see someone who’s in the posigive me money or food on occasion. Mostly, I ate out tion that he’s in who can talk a little above me someof trash cans,” he said. times — or a lot above me — in math,” Acuff said.

Burnett caught a ride out of Denver that brought him Hardy had suggested that Burnett try the Without to Fort Worth. He arrived around July 1992.

Walls Church, a Fort Worth congregation that was tryAfter being homeless for eight years, Burnett has found his niche as a “It’s not exactly that I decided to stay. I just ended up part of the Wesleyan community. He’s constantly interacting with other ing to fight off bankruptcy while maintaining ambitious students, faculty and staff members, below. staying,” he said. outreach programs for the poor. Burnett took a liking to On several occasions, people would take a liking to the place and hung around. When he heard Reyes was the soft-spoken young man and offer him a place to stay. But in what would become a pat- struggling to teach math to a GED class, he offered to teach it. Reyes said the neighboring tern, people soon realized his bouts with depression were more than they could handle, and Independent Electrical Contractors told her they were having trouble getting people to pass they had to force him out. the math portion of the electrician licensing test. Reyes suggested Burnett, with a warning “They really couldn’t take care of me, especially someone with the psychological prob- about his rumpled appearance. He was hired at $25 a hour. lems I had at the time, complicated by the problem I had with withdrawal from drugs,” Burnett said it was his first paying job in 10 years. Inspired, Burnett took Reyes’ advice Burnett said. “I don’t blame them at all.” and sought college enrollment.

Drifting Burnett was in and out of homeless shelters for years. He slept in parks. Sometimes he enrolled in 12-step recovery programs to deal with withdrawal. Depression would burn the biggest holes in his life. He would not care about anything and would not take care of himself. His front teeth rotted and fell out. In some intervening brighter times, Burnett would visit libraries to read fiction and sift through books about math. Around 1993, he said, he worked in a fast-food restaurant and followed a co-worker to a GED class. On his third visit to the class, he passed the test, getting the equivalent of a high school diploma.

Burnett took the GED to enroll at Tarrant County College three times. But depression returned each time, robbing him of all interest in studying and eventually leading him to drop out.

Eventually, a public-health counselor referred him to the county’s mental-health facility. Burnett said he was locked in the psychiatric ward for three months in 1997, a month and a half in 1998, and another month and a half in 2000.

Church folk Sometime in the mid-1990s, Burnett befriended a woman who worked at a laundromat he frequented. He was struck by the warmth she showed him.

“One day I decided, ‘You know, I want to love the way she does.’ That was the moment I got saved. A week after that, I went to church and was baptized within a month,” Burnett said. Homelessness and depression continued, but going to church put him around supportive people who could help him.

One was Tom Hardy.

Burnett met Hardy at the Union Gospel Mission, a shelter in Fort Worth where Burnett was staying and where Hardy worked as the night manager.

“He was the most depressed person I’ve ever known,” Hardy said. “When I first met him, he used to just sleep for days, just days on end. And when he got up, he would just reach in the closet and whatever would cover his body he would just put it on and wear it no matter what the condition. It could be dirty, smelly, wrinkled.”

But Hardy was impressed with the kindness Burnett could show others. When a homeless man was kicked out of the shelter for being obnoxious to others, Burnett went out

‘I want to enroll’ Burnett said he went back to Tarrant County College. He was told he could not come back after dropping out three times. A friend suggested Texas Wesleyan University. So Burnett went there next.

“I got off the bus and I came to the library because it was the biggest building, and I found a map of the campus,” Burnett said. He made his way to the administration building and said, “I’d like to enroll.”

Since his federal disability payments for depression amounted to so little, he qualified for enough grants and loans to cover his expenses. He moved out of a homeless shelter and into a dorm. Joe Brown, dean of freshmen, said Burnett stuck out.

“At orientation, we noticed this big, goofy smile, and he was all in black and just so enthusiastic,” Brown said. “He can look at a blackboard when I’m writing down something and say, ‘Well, you’ve got 27 A’s and 40 C’s.’ He just sees things numerically.”

At orientation, the students were asked to say something about themselves. Brown said Burnett’s new classmates were stunned when he said he had lived on the streets for eight years.

A math placement test indicated that Burnett should enroll in a Photos by Gasten Schoonover calculus class. Brown asked the students to write down a goal for the semester. Burnett wrote that he wanted a 4.0 grade-point average.

Burnett studied assiduously and enjoyed hearing the correct pronunciation of terms he had only seen in books. He missed only one class, to attend court to finalize his divorce.

He no longer takes any medication for depression, and his GPA came out to a perfect 4.0.

New goals Reyes said she wants to find someone to fix Burnett’s teeth. Burnett said he wants to become a teacher. He has not decided whether he wants to teach college or high school.

He wants a degree in math and Spanish. Ambitious goals for someone with his history. But Burnett brushes that aside and is optimistic. He said he’ll rely on his faith to get past his troubles: “I think Jesus is just a little bit stronger.”

Zeta, from page 1 attention,” said Champion.

She was joined in her quest by Psi Zeta secretary, now Wesleyan Zeta Phi Beta adviser, Erin Ragsdale.

“Of all challenges faced, the hardest one had to be gaining interest at Wesleyan for Zeta and keeping interest,” said Ragsdale.

Over the years, participation rates in Zeta Phi Beta gradually increased one by one with Champion, then Nabors, until the three remaining ladies came through to make chartering a reality for the organization in fall 2008. They were then able to tout the establishment of the Eta Tau chapter of Zeta Phi Beta incorporated at Wesleyan.

“This moment resembles seeing a child walk for the first time,” said Ragsdale. “My happiness cannot be expressed in words.”

Now their attention turns to membership. The way the group plans to keep its focus on things like change and improvement of the community is through the selection of its members, officers said. The incorporated sorority lists its four principles as sisterly love, service, scholarship and finer womanhood. Officers said they will look for members who exhibit these qualities.

“It is a very exuberating and fulfilling feeling to be known as a Zeta,” said Collins.

Contribute to The Rambler twurambler@yahoo.com www.txwes.edu/rambler

Courtesy of Zeta Phi Beta

Members of the Eta Tau chapter of Zeta Phi Beta gather around Martin Hall at the Zeta Phi probate show. The Eta Tau chapter has has been pushing to be a recognized sorrority on campus since 2004.

“Warner and the Cards to finish out on top.” “‘Fast Willie’ Parker and the Steelers by at least 20.”

“Polamalu versus Warner ... my money is on Kurt.”

“Cardinals for the win.”

Gasten Schoonover Senior Photo Editor

Ryan Authier Senior Entertainment Editor

Staff Picks: Who will win the Super Bowl?

Martin Garcia Senior News Editor Bryce Wilks Senior Sports Editor

January 28, 2009

Opinions

Big bang theory G

uns don’t kill people, people kill people. This mantra of the National Rifle Association, and most other gun advocates, has never really made sense to me. It’s as if to suggest that the person mishandling the gun that accidently fires and kills another person would have committed homicide regardless if he had a gun or a banana in his hand. I can’t envision the outcome being the same, but perhaps there are people out there so dangerous that even fruit in their hands is a weapon of death.

Chuck Perhaps.

Fain If this is true, however, we’ve got a lot more to worry about than someone bringing a gun to school.

Sadly, gun violence at schools has become an prominent issue. From the killings at Columbine, to the tragedy at the Pennsylvanian Amish school, to most recently the massacre at Virginia Tech, gun violence at school seems to be forming a disturbing trend. In order to aid this societal ill, some have come to the conclusion that students with a concealed handgun license (CHL) should be allowed to carry their weapons to school.

“It’s personal protection. It all comes down to self defense,” said Dudley Kelso in The Daily Helmsman.

Kelso is the student representative at the University of Memphis for the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, and he – along with 35,000 other students, professors, employees and parents – is petitioning congress to pass a bill allowing students with CHLs to carry their weapons to school… apparently ensuring that “personal protection.”

Others, such as Texas State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, a Republican from San Antonio, are also jumping on board with the idea. As reported in lubbockonline.com, Wentworth is already hard at work drafting a bill that would allow students to carry firearms. The thoughtful senator says he wants this bill to pass so that students “will have a chance to live if something like [Virginia Tech] happened again.”

Despite such humanitarian efforts, there are some who oppose the idea yours truly, for one, and for two, every law enforcement official interviewed on the subject! Overwhelmingly, the law enforcement officials interviewed agreed that arming students would just add fuel to the fire.

Derek Myers, deputy director of the Virginia Tech Police Department, said, “Armed good Samaritans at the scene makes it harder to figure out who’s doing what to whom.” He also stated in The Daily Helmsman that it would “make a bad situation worse and make it harder for me to do my job.”

Police Chief Bruce Harbor of the University of Memphis said to myeyewitnessnew.com, an ABC news source, that “only well trained officers should carry a gun.”

Gene Ferrara, the police chief at the University of Cincinnati, said on CNN.com, “I don’t think the answer to bullets flying is to send more bullets flying.”

Those who are trained to deal with and diffuse situations like these agree that adding more unpredictable gunmen to the mix is not a good idea.

The Rambler 3

Handguns are a misfit for campuses, concealed or not

Guns are dangerous. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either a liar, mentally challenged or has misunderstood you and though that you said, “gums.” However, guns do have their place in society, and I believe that Americans’ Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms should not be, as the Constitution states, “infringed.”

These “arms” should be properly maintained, supervised and stored – in a person’s home. As free Americans, we should be able to do whatever we want in our own homes. Heck, I think one should be able construct a meth lab, set up a swingers’ club, and/or erect a shrine to a pagan god composed entirely out of his/her own filth in the privacy of their own home – provided all participants are willing and no one is intentionally hurt.

My point is, the government should not “infringe” on our private rights and lives at home. But once you leave that private residence and step out into society, once you begin making decisions that could profoundly affect another unwilling member of said society, then rules need to be in place to ensure the safety of other innocent bystanders.

Guns are awesome, don’t get me wrong. The way they’re shaped, the sounds they make, the power you feel when holding a finely crafted piece of Colt steel in your sweaty little hand that explodes in a blaze of blinding reverberating glory – yeah, guns are powerful… too powerful. Guns give the ability to take away a life to someone as incapable and inept as a small child. Anyone can pull a trigger, and anyone can die. Allowing more people to carry more guns will only increase the possibility of death.

Guns have one purpose: to kill. Some will tell you otherwise, arguing that they make great can openers, paperweights and stirrers for coffee, but these are all thinly veiled arguments that ignore the singleness of purpose concerning weaponry. Guns serve no other practical function than to kill, and, in light of these facts, students should not be allowed to carry them on college campuses.

I understand the argument that only those students 21 and up with a CHL would be carrying the guns, but that doesn’t make me feel any safer.

So someone can shoot a target and knows how to properly store their handgun, that doesn’t mean that they’ll be effective against a gun wielding maniac.

As Deputy Myers said, “A 10 to 15 hour course isn’t enough education to take on an assailant.”

The argument of protection has been brought up, but to protect is to defend. If you’re shooting at someone, even if they’re shooting at you, then you are not protecting yourself, you are retaliating, you are fighting, you are trying to kill. Instead of helping out others or saving your own skin, the person with the gun is thinking about using their weapon, putting themselves in the line of fire and increasing their chances of getting shot – or of shooting someone else.

It is a dangerous world out there, truly, and people should have the right to defend themselves – but allowing students to carry guns would only make the situation more dangerous for everyone involved.

Chuck Fain is a senior English major and is a staff writer for The Rambler.

Change: what we want to believe in and can hope for I

Martin Garcia

n 1947, Jack “Jackie” Roosevelt Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. In 2007, Tony Dungy became the first black coach to win the Super Bowl. On Jan.20, Barack H. Obama—much like his highly influential predecessors did—defied all the odds and created reality of what was before thought to

be insurmountable.

President Obama was officially sworn in as the 44th President of the United States in front of well over a million eager and emotional citizens in Washington D.C. who were all ready to witness the first African American president live and in color. It was a day just shy of the 200th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth, the man responsible for leading the country through the disaster that was the Civil War and who eventually helped to end slavery.

Millions of other Americans who were not as fortunate to have the opportunity to be there watched from their tubes, their monitors or their pods. The event of historic proportion led people to try and find a way to be a part of the ceremony regardless of the sacrifices made.

Local public schools shared the televised inauguration with their students; Wesleyan’s student union also partook in the events, televising the whole day’s festivities so students could get a piece of the action.

All of a sudden there was a different feel in the air as if the tension was so built up that

it made it hard to breathe. Last November houses U.S. enemy combatants in Guantánamo America spoke and declared who was to be the Bay, Cuba. The facility is to close within the next President. Now that outgoing President next calendar year—a move that Obama says is George W. Bush has left the White House and more consistent with the country’s values and returned to Texas, the country may hopefully get ideals. a promise that it has been waiting for—a change That’s just one of the many articles on the they can believe in. president’s already stacked agenda. Before too In his inaugural address, President Obama long, decisions will have to be made regarding mentioned that the the economy and the nation’s presidential oath healthcare—two significant has been recited topics that he campaigned with by 44 different during the fight for the White Americans, spoken House. either during “rising Several days after Obama’s tides of prosperity presidency began, USA Today [or] amidst gathering wrote that President Bush’s clouds and raging downfall was his failure to storms.” execute his plans. America now It’s certainly sits at the edge of their seats, no secret that this Courtesy of Google Images watching and waiting. But at time around we’re least this time it’s safe to say on the latter of the newly minted president’s that a lot of hope and blind faith accompany the assessment. We’re a nation that’s in trouble 44th president. socially and economically as we’re still at war He has stepped into a position hard to wish and remain steadfast with our increasing debt. upon anyone considering our current events, So what is going to mend our “collective but it appears that President Obama has an failure to make hard choices and prepare the overwhelming support of the people. nation for a new age?” Obama agrees that all of If there’s light at the end of our current our present indicators signify a time of crisis, tunnel, citizens will need to listen to the words and he promises to end the string of “petty the new president said when concluding his grievances and false promises.” inauguration address: we must come together Obama’s first 100 days began with several with “hope and virtue” if we are going to strokes of the presidential pen, leading the “endure what storms may come.” country in a new direction. One of the moves included the order to close down Guantánamo Martin Garcia is a senior English major and is news editor for The Rambler.

Bay, a United States detention facility that

The Rambler

Rambler Ratings

Founded in 1917 as The Handout Harold G. Jeffcoat, Publisher Kelli Lamers, adviser Tiara Nugent,editor-in-chief Ryan Authier, entertainment editor Gasten Schoonover, photo editor

Martin Garcia, news editor

Bryce Wilks, sports editor Ashely Oldham, advertising manager Rachel Horton, Web editor

Member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.

Opinions expressed in The Rambler are those of the individual author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Texas Wesleyan community as a whole.

Letters to the editor: The Rambler, a weekly publication, welcomes all letters.

All submissions must have a full printed name, phone number and signature; however, confidentiality will be granted if requested.

While every consideration is made to publish letters, publication is limited by time and space.

The editors reserve the right to edit all submissions for space, grammar, clarity and style.

Letters to the editor may be subject to response from editors and students on the opinions page.

“We are not afraid to follow the truth...wherever it may lead.” -Thomas Jefferson Address all correspondence to: Texas Wesleyan University, The Rambler, 1201 Wesleyan St., Fort Worth, TX 76105.

Newsroom: 531-7552 Advertising: 531-7582 E-mail: twurambler@yahoo.com

Thumbs up to all faculty and student workers pitching in to keep the ARC functioning.

Thumbs down to night classes that run overtime.

Thumbs down to the owner of the red Jetta who parks in visitor parking every day.

Thumbs up to the Fort Worth police presence in Stella Russell Hall.

4 The Rambler

College Life

January 28, 2009

Stepping stones

Multiple degrees increasingly in demand for a rewarding career

by Ryan Authier Believe it or not, there was a time when a bachelor’s degree meant something. Having a college diploma in hand made you one of the elite: a shoe in for the job of your choice; an expert in your field. Now I can log onto the University of Phoenix and, with a bowl of Cheetos on my belly and solitaire running in the background, have a degree in most any field within a matter of months. Not to say the degree has been cheapened, but there certainly are a few million more out there than there used to be.

Now combine that competition with the current state of our economy. Tens of thousands of employees are being released due to the recession. Even the NFL, the Oz of infinite money, recently released 10 percent of its workforce, according to nbcsports.com. For those of us who will graduate in a matter of months, an incredibly challenging job market awaits us. How is the class of 2009 supposed to survive?

The general consensus: Four more years!

Four more years! Or at least two, anyway.

“The sagging economy has created a bonanza of applicants for the nation’s schools of business, law, journalism, education and many other graduate programs,” said Yilu Zhao of the New York Times, “Laid-off workers and college seniors are deciding to wait out the recession by honing their skills.”

This is news that many of us don’t wish to hear. We just spent four of the hardest years of our lives with our heads buried and text books, staying up all hours of the night to squeak through the next test. All for what? The opportunity to do it all over again at the next level.

Yippee!

But for many majors and professions, graduate school is inevitable. Psychology, law, business, religion and medicine are all fields that virtually require a post-graduate degree. It seems as though education, journalism and many others will follow suit shortly.

The good news, however, is that this isn’t a new trend. According to an article by Eilene Zimmerman of the New York Times, “All four previous U.S. recessions declared since 1980 have corresponded with an upswing in the number of GMATs [the test used for admission to

MBA programs] taken.”

As goes the proverbial line-graph roller coaster that is the U.S. economy, so too will people’s search for erudition.

Often times when applying for graduate school, people are surprised at just how challenging this phase can be. My personal and, honestly, somewhat cynical belief, is that undergraduate school is a way for universities to make money, and graduate school is how they make a reputation. If this is true, it gives them the entitlement to be very VERY picky about who they let in.

When pursuing a master’s degree, you not only apply to the school, but a specific program. For doctoral degrees, you must not only be accepted by the school and program, but also by a single professor who will serve as your mentor for three to five years. Sound tough enough? I forgot to mention that at each school you apply to, you are competing against about 300-700 people for around 10-20 positions.

Challenging? Yes. Rewarding? Immensely. In today’s world, a post-graduate degree is arguably the new bachelor’s. There may come a day when a PhD is required to work the register at McDonald’s and “supersize those fries, Dr. Smith” is proper ordering etiquette, but as of now, having M.A. or PhD follow your name truly makes you one of the elite: an expert in your field.

And although expensive at first, these degrees pay for themselves. According to salary.com, on average a person with a master’s averages $10,000 more per year than a bachelor’s level worker “All four previous U.S. recessions declared while employees with doctoral degrees average almost $40,000 since 1980 have corresponded with an more. upswing of GMATs taken.”

Applying to graduate school is a Eilene Zimmerman high-risk/high-reward decision.

New York Times Applications are expensive. Tests are expensive. Possibly moving to a new city is trying. Two to five more years of school is utterly painful. But in this ever changing world, especially the struggling one we currently reside in, the payoffs could be endless.

Sweet Dreams

Hours in bed key to resisting the bug Tiara Nugent

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Photos by Gasten Schoonover

‘You won’t like me if I’m angry...’

Stella roommates Hailey Barrett and Emily Straigton let off some steam in their dorm rooms.

EXPERIENCE

the power of the press Write for the Rambler. twurambler@yahoo.com

If you don’t snooze, you lose... your health that is.

Ignore that midnight oil, fluff your pillows and snuggle with your favorite wooly blanket: Research says sleep equates the best way to fight the common, nasty cold.

“The longer you sleep, the better off you are and the less susceptible you are to colds,” lead author Sheldon Cohen, an acitve researcher of the effects of stress on health, told the Associated Press.

Research has suggested that sleep boosts the immune system at the cell level.

According to a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, habitual eight-hour sleepers proved much less likely to get sick than those who slept less than seven hours or slept fitfully.

In fact, the people who slept less than seven hours a night in the weeks before they were exposed to the virus were three times more likely to catch a cold than those who slept eight or more hours.

Implication?

“The message is to maintain regular sleep habits because those are really critical for health,” quotes the Associated Press of Dr. Michael Irwin of the University of California, Los Angeles, who researches immune response.

Psychology senior Rene Rosser has observed that health isn’t the only side affect of sleep deficiency.

“Personally, whenever I don’t get enough sleep, my body and especially brain does not function as well,” she said. “I’ve seen it affect my performance and grades on papers when I’ve not slept like I should and worked on them.”

Amidst loads of intense homework and the daily pressures of work and life, falling into sweet slumber can actually be more tricky than counting black and white sheep.

However, Harvard sleep researcher Sat Bir Khalsa told CBS News that people do not need to turn to prescription sleep aids to improve their sleep.

Rather, Bir Khalsa advocated setting a regular bedtime, moving computers and televisions out of the bedroom and, when restlessness hinders the onset of sleep, getting out of bed for a while and doing something soothing yet productive.

While greatly influential, sleep alone does not dictate the body’s reaction in infection. Cohen also cited regular exercise, moderate drinking and maintaining a low stress level aids the body’s battles with germs, according to research.

Additionally, illness isn’t the only negative effect of poor sleeping habits.

Prior research has tied lack of sleep to greater risk of weight gain, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

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January 28, 2009

Quick Quote

“It is all very well to say that a man should play for the pure love of the game.

Perhaps he ought, but to the working man it is impossible.”

- J.J. Bentley British football player

Upcoming Events

Sports

Rams roll on

Led by players like point guard Terrell Henry (below) and national scoring leader Chris Berry (right), the Rams are off to a 15-3 start.

Berry received his sixth nod of the year as conference player of the week for the period of Jan. 21-28.

Berry is averaging 23.8 points per

The Rambler 5

game after 25, 28 and 32 point outbursts against conference opponents.

Henry has added 12 points per game and is leading the team in assists and steals.

The Rams will play Jarvis Christian at home Feb. 2.

- Staff Report

Jan. 31 *7 a.m. Table Tennis NEWGY Tournament 2 p.m. Women’s Basketball @ Wiley College 4 p.m. Men’s Basketball @ Wiley College Feb. 2 *5:30 p.m. Women’s Basketball vs.

Jarvis Christian *7:30 p.m. Men’s Basketball vs. Jarvis Christian Feb. 3 *1 p.m. Baseball vs.

Arkansas-Monticello

Photos by Bryce Wilks

Riding the waves

*3 p.m. Baseball vs.

Arkansas-Monticello Feb. 4 *1:30 p.m. Baseball vs.

Southwestern University

The commute to campus can fill your head with sports knowledge thanks to many radio options

Sports Briefs

Baseball and softball teams ready to go Jan. 27 The baseball team is set to host Arkansas-Monticello at LaGrave Field Feb. 3. The team is ranked No. 17 in the NAIA preseason poll. The softball team will start with a trip to Texas A&M International Feb. 7 Wesleyan to host table tennis event Jan. 25 Sid Richardson Gym in set to host the NEWGY Texas Wesleyan Tournament for table tennis Jan. 31. Entry forms are posted at www.txwes.edu/tabletennis/.

The deadline to enter is Jan. 28 and the entry fee is $8.

Wesleyan beats rival Lions Jan. 24 The men’s basketball team took an 80-75 victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God University. Chris Berry had a game-high 34 points, raising his season average 23.8 per game.

Lady Rams fall short against SAGU Jan. 24 The women’s basketball team suffered a 52-46 loss against Southwestern Assemblies of God University. Kim Gatlin paced the team with 12 points.

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Courtesy of Google images

Rodeo runs through Feb. 8 The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo is running it’s 2009 season through Feb. 8 at the Will Rogers Coliseum.

Tickets cost either $16 or $22 a piece depending on which session spectators attend.

For more information visit the rodeo Web site at www.fwstockshowrodeo.com.

Student basketball league with cash prize to begin Jan. 28 marks the beginning of the weekly three on three basketball league for students hosted by student life.

Competition will take place in Sid Richardson Gym every Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Teams must consist of four players and there will be a $100 per team prize for the winners.

Contact Aaron Whaley for more information.

Desert delight

Rams take win on long road trip Jan. 22 In the first ever basketball contest between Texas Wesleyan and University of the Southwest, the Rams prevailed 82-66. Ryan Barnes scorred 11 points and had a career-high 17 rebounds.

Mustangs outlast Lady Rams Jan. 12 The women’s basketball team took a 65-56 loss at University of the Southwest in Hobbs, NM. Kim Gatlin scored 14 points in the losing effort.

Log on to www.ramsports.net for the latest game information and profiles of your favorite Wesleyan teams and athletes

Dirk Nowitzki will represent Dallas at the NBA All-Star Game Feb. 15 in Phoenix. The Mavericks forward is averaging 25.5 points per game this season. All-Star festivities begin Feb. 13 with television coverage on TNT.

veryone has preferences that cause rivalry and competition in the business world. Wal-Mart has Target, Lowes has Home Depot, CVS has Walgreens and so on.

Often, competitors are built just a street or two apart, or maybe on opposite corners of the same street. The tactic aims to push the public towards drawing a line in the sand and choosing one or the other.

Competition of this nature grew on local sports airwaves recently with the founding of a new sports station, 105.3 The Fan. With the addition of The Fan, consumers can find three stations that focus on sports between Bryce 103 and 106 on the FM dial.

Wilks

For several years 103.3 ESPN faced off with 1310 The Ticket (104.1 FM) for the attentions of fans in North Texas.

This arrangement gave me a headache for two reasons: 1. Listening to Randy Galloway and Jen Engel on ESPN literally makes my head hurt.

2. The Ticket has weak reception that is often infiltrated by a neighboring Latino music station.

“Para bailar la bamba” is a great song and all, but I don’t want to hear it during a ticket ticker when there could be new developments with the Mavericks or Dallas-Fort Worth Cowboys. now has three sports Because of this, stations competing the strong signaled for public attention and Galloway-less and advertising 105.3 grabbed my dollars. As a result attention immediately, there are several new and a review of programs for students to check out. the new lineup in comparison with ESPN and The Ticket should help the sports faithful decide where they want to receive their daily fix.

You really can’t go wrong on the morning commute with any of the three options. ESPN features the likable and funny duo of Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic with Mike & Mike in the morning.

The Musers, George Dunham and Craig Miller, accompany drivers to school on The Ticket with hilarious skits like the “fake Jerry Jones” and the “fake Wade Phillips.”

The upstart Fan 105.3 program The Jagger Show features Chris Jagger and a host Courtesy of Google images of sidekicks. Jagger does more of a variety show, sometimes focusing on sports, but often drifting to current events, entertainment, or pop culture. At any rate, Jagger makes the drive entertaining.

All of you should be studying hard and working during the day, so the next programming that should matter is the drive home.

This is where The Ticket and The Fan become appealing options while many poor souls listen to Galloway whine and moan about the Cowboys without knowing they have choices.

I am convinced that 103.3’s Galloway and Company has caused countless wrecks during rush hour over the years with their frustrating and predictable programming.

Luckily, a trip home with The Ticket and its Hardline program will make listeners grin and grip their steering wheels with less aggravation.

The Fan features Ben and Skin on the drive home, and the duo routinely hosts special guests, always keeping the mood light and fun.

Just as competition between chain stores keep prices competitive, the trifecta of sports radio stations should keep programming top-notch and benefit listeners.

No matter where your dial is set, it won’t be far from a station that can keep you up to date on all the sports news while commuting to and from campus.

Bryce Wilks is a senior mass communication major and is sports editor for The Rambler.

Entertainment

January 28, 2009

Closing Time Monique Nolly STAFF WRITER

Commentary

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ill college students soon be able to afford to dine in downtown Fort Worth? Not if the current trend continues.

Due to an economy that is suffering, downtown Fort Worth is losing two of its popular and more affordable eating locations. La Madeleine French Bakery & Café and Chili’s Bar & Grill just closed their respective doors. The restaurants, both located on Main Street, were a thriving business for the last decade since each opened in 1998.

Stephanie Long, brand-marketing manager for La Madeleine told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “Our lease was up, and we took a look at the location and decided it wasn’t a financially viable location.”

Mark Thomas with the downtown Chili’s location told the Star-Telegram that when he spoke to Chili’s officials they informed him “they were a couple of months late in renewing their lease, and have no plans to renew it.”

La Madeleine and Chili’s are just two restaurants that have recently closed downtown.

Bennigan’s closed its downtown Fort Worth restaurant in July.

On Dec. 31,

downtown also lost a favorite in The Pour House, a locally-owned restaurant/pub that gave many college students a beloved hangout.

The entire Bennigan’s chain was widely known to be in financial turmoil, but The

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Downtown eateries folding, forcing student wallets open

Pour House lost its location because of the landlord. According to news reports, XTO Energy had purchased the building in which the eatery was located and was

simply not interested in having the restaurant as a tenant.

While these affordable restaurants are closing, more highend restaurants are opening in the downtown area, including Grace and Shula’s 347 Grill, opening on Main Street Aug. 8, and Ruth’s

Chris Steakhouse, which opened on Main about a year ago.

Information obtained from each restaurant’s Web site shows that Grace and Shula’s 347 Grill has a menu price of $30 and under and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse has a menu price of $50 and over, both a far cry from the more reasonable menu prices for those restaurants closing which were $15 and under.

We can also add to the list Bob’s Steak and Chop House, yet another high end offering, which is opening in the new Omni Hotel.

Most college students already have to carefully manage their budget and the recent loss of affordable choices downtown will make this more difficult to do.

These recent closing and openings makes one wonder if college students will be able to meet with their fellow classmates for lunch downtown … or simply enjoy a sack lunch from home while enjoying the view of the campus.

Monique Nolly is a senior mass communication major and is a staff writer for The Rambler.

Batman returns A harmonious evening The box office leader of 2008 comes

fit for a president

back to an even bigger big screen

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Courtesy of Texas Wesleyan music department

Texas Wesleyan University’s highest-achieving music students will share their vocal and instrumental talents during the President’s Honors Concert at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 6, in Martin Hall on the Texas Wesleyan campus. This evening of extraordinary talent is free and open to the public. Eight of this year’s 10 performers are taken from the department’s attainment (junior/senior) division. In addition, one sophomore and one freshman made the cut. Freshman soprano Melissa Pierce will sing Richard Pearson Thomas’s setting of Emily Dickinson’s 1890 poem I Never Saw a Moor.

The President’s Honors Concert, established in 1996, is now in its 13th iteration. The event has migrated from its original venue in the Texas Boys Choir building to the Scott Theatre in the old Modern Art Museum to its current home in Martin Hall, where it has been since 2003. Valet parking is available. Business attire preferred. To RSVP for the event, call )(817) 531-4404. Martin Hall is located at 1309 Wesleyan St.

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Look Ahead

Wednesday

Off Campus:

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• Musee Mecanique and C. Johnson: Chat Room Pub, 10 p.m.

• Freddie Jones Quartet: Brooklyn Jazz Cafe, 7 p.m.

Thursday

Off Campus:

29

Friday

Off Campus:

30

• The Seafarer: Stage West, 7:30 p.m.

• The Bluest Eye: Jubilee Theatre, 8 p.m.

•The John Lewis Band: The Belmont Hotel, 6:30 p.m.

Weekly Movie Releases: Taken; New In Town; The Uninvited

To submit an event for the “wurambler@yahoo.com.

Saturday

On Campus:

31

Sunday

Off Campus:

1

• Honor Band Concert: Martin • Natasha Paremski with the Hall, 6 p.m.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Meyerson Symphony Center, Off Campus: 2:30 p.m.

• Cross Canadian Ragweed: Billy Bob’s Texas, 10:30 p.m.

Monday

On Campus:

2

Tuesday

On Campus:

3

• Nominations for Homecoming • Praying for Peace and king and queen being accepted: Singing for Joy: Martin Hall, SGA offices, all day.

6:30 p.m.

Weekly DVD Releases: Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist; The Secret Life of Bees; Zack and Miri Make a Porno

he Dark Knight has returned to a theater near you, and this time, in the larger than life format only IMAX can provide.

The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History’s Omni Theater is now part of a select group of IMAX theaters to show the encore of The Dark Knight, the second highest grossing film of all time. Christopher Nolan’s sequel to the 2005 Batman Begins stars Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart.

With several sequences shot using IMAX cameras, the Rachel film made history as it was the first time a major feature Horton film had ever been even partially shot using IMAX cameras.

IMAX called it a “revolutionary integration of the two film formats.”

Nolan told Warner Bros that he was “thrilled to give Batman and The Joker the largest possible canvas on which to face off.” Of course the high tech special effects and mind-numbing visual images are only part of the experience.

Viewers become part of the action in the dome theater as the Batman redefines the concept and role of what a hero truly is. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon (Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart), the Batman (Bale) sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets.

Interested only in exposing Courtesy of Google Images the evil in mankind and laughing Heath Ledger, front, was posthumously nominated at the downfall, the Joker (Ledger) for an Oscar for his role as Batman’s nemesis the is instantly notorious for an Joker. original, yet lethal sense of humor which accompanies his equally nefarious plots against the good of Gotham City.

As the self-proclaimed “agent of chaos,” the Joker has no limits, no plan and no rules. Bruce Wayne must choose between his short Inside Tips & Random Facts: term personal ambitions, and - The Fort Worth Omni is one of only 45 IMAX the possibility of inspiring Dome theaters in the United States long term hope and peace in - The film itself is about nine miles long when Gotham City. At one point completely unwound and weighs approximately in the movie, Harvey Dent 700 pounds makes the observation that “you either die a hero, or - During the filming of The Dark Knight one of you live long enough to see the cameras was smashed up during the car yourself become the villain.” chase. Special strengthened rigs also had to The reality of the choice be made to support the additional weight of the Batman must make between IMAX cameras. hero and villain stands out in remarkable clarity in the - The Dark Knight garnered more than $531 Omni Theater and makes the million domestically and was second only to the experience all the more vivid. 1997 Titanic Tickets are $10 and can be purchased through the Omni Theater Box Office until March 5, 2009. Visit www.fortworthmuseum.org for show times and information.

Rachel Horton is a sophomore English major and is Web editor for The Rambler.