The Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 12, 2000 Page: 1 of 6
six pages : ill. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
T E X A S
u / .v L E Y A a' U N I \ I a' ■> I I >'
Rambler
The students' voice since 1917
April 12, 2000
Fort Worth, Texas
Vol. 83, No. 11
News Briefs
Spring Musical
The School of Fine and Per-
forming Arts will present Evita, the
46th annual spring musical, at 7:30
p.m. April 13, 14 and 15 and 2 p.m.
April 16.
The musical will be performed
at the William Edrington Scott The-
atre at 3505 West Lancaster.
Admission is $12 for adults
and $6 for students and seniors.
Discount tickets are available for
groups of 10 or more. Ticket reser-
vations are not required, but are
strongly recommended and can be
made by contacting the Scott The-
atre box office at ext. 4991.
Invitational Jazz Festival
Tickets for the Wesleyan InvL
tational Jazz Festival, which will be
held at 7:30 p.m. May 8 at the
Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Per-
formance Hall, are available at any
Albertson's location, the Bass Per-
formance Hall box office or
through Star Tickets at 1 -888-597-
7827. Tickets are $5.
The festival will feature Denis
BiBlaso on saxophone, Dave
Mancini on drums and Allen Viz-
/.utti and Steve Weist on trumpet.
The Texas Wesleyan Jazz Ensem-
ble, directed by Tim Ishii, assistant
professor of music, and jazz bands
from James Martin, R.L. Paschal
and Grapevine high schools will
also perform.
Art Exhibit
New works by Metroplex artist
Wanda Lou Raymond, entitled
Downtown Dallas: Views from
Above, are on display in the East
Room of the Eunice and James L.
West Library until April 30. For
more information, contact the art
department at ext. 4984.
Willson Lecture Series •
Author Barbara Brown Taylor
will present "Christianity and
World Religions," the second of
two lectures jointly entitled "The
Ministry of Reconciliation," in the
Law Sone Fine Arts Center April
12 at 10 a.m. For more information,
call the Chaplain's Office at ext.
4461-,
Neighborhood Clean Up
Wesleyan will participate in a
neighborhood clean up April 29.
A morning pep rally and lunch
will be held on southern half of
Wesleyan's plaza area.
Organizers hope to involve
300 to 400 people in the invent.
For more information;-call
Anita Westmoreland in the Chap-
lain's Office at ext. 4461.
Sigma Tau Delta Contest
Sigma Tau Delta, the Interna-
tional English Honor Society, is
accepting student entries in its
annual writing awards contest. The
four categories with cash awards
are poetry, fiction, essay and
drama. A maximum of one entry
per category will be accepted. All
entries are due April 21.
The submitter's name must not
appear on the the entry Instead, a
title page should be attached with
the title of the work and the
author's name, address, phone
number and email address, if avail-
able.
Submit entries in the mailbox
>>t Dr I'hom Chesney in Stella Rus-
sell Hall, room 108. or through
campus mail
Winners will be announced
during Awards Day, May 2. For
more information, call Cfoesno at
ext. 4923
Correction
I he new Nenetta Burton •
C arter Building will be located next
to Dan Waggoner Hall. The new
building will be funded by the
$750,000 donation from the Amon
Carter Foundation.
Search committees fill positions for professors
Shelly Wright
NEWS EDITOR
■ ' ' ' , I ' - ' '• , ' • •
A variety of searches for pro-
fessors have progressed this semes-
ter, and the biology, psychology,
political science and English depart-
ments have filled positions.
A search in the chemistry
department is yet to be completed..
In the
bi'ology
department,
Chitra Chan-
drasekaran
has been
named cell
biologist,
concluding a
search which
began in
October.
Chandrasekaran has been
teaching cell biology, advanced cell
biology, contemporary biology and
physiology at Wesleyan for two
Linda Carroll
years.
The position was formerly
filled by assistant professor of biol-
ogy Naomi Robinson, who went on
maternity leave and ultimately
decided she did not want a full time
job.
Chandrasekaran competed with
two other candidates for the posi-
tion. Search committee members
included Dr. Michael Dixon, chair-
man of biology; Bruce Benz, visit-
ing assistant professor of biology;
Dr. Robert Landolt, professor of
chemistry; and Dr. Marilyn Pugh,
psychology department chair. '
The committee evaluated the
candidates for the position on the
basis of expertise in the areas need-
ed, experience in teaching, an inter-
est in helping students on a one-on-
one basis and research background
and interest.
According to Dixon, the com-
mittee would have been happy with
any of the other candidates, but
committee members agreed that the
person already at Wesleyan would
be the best for the position.
Dixon said, "IWe are) very
happy about how IChandrasekaranJ
has been performing in classes. She
is very popular with the students.
She is a knowledgeable and caring
professor."
Benz said the search went
smoothly
and the best
applicant
was chosen.
"We
had three
excellent
candidates,
and we got
the best of
the lot. It
couldn't
have gone better."
Chandrasekaran said she is
thrilled that she was chosen for the
position and that being at Wesleyan
Michael Zarkin
for two years has enabled her to
learn about the school and about the
students.
Chandrasekaran added, "1 have
a lot of new things that 1 want to do,
and it feels good to be permanent."
In the psychology department,
Dr. Marcel Kerr has been chosen to
fill the position of assistant profes-
sor. He is presently an assistant ana-
lyst for the Texas Education
Agency, and he was interviewed
March 10.
Kerr was one of four candi-
dates for the position, which opened
after Dr. Charles Dickens resigned
at the end of Spring 1999. Dr.
Eyvonne Rogers filled the position
in the 1999-2000 academic year.
Search committee members
included Dr. John Hall, chair; Dr.
Laura Schneider, professor of psy-
chology; Dr. Mike Ellison, profes-
sor of psychology and director of
guidance and placement; and Dr.
Michael Dixon, chairman of the
biology department.
Criteria for the candidates
included teaching ability and a
background in developmental psy-
chology.
Hall said the committee was
very pleased with the way the
search went. He said the fact that
the committee was pleased with all
the candidates led to some difficult
choices, but the committee was for-
tunate to be in that position.
The search for a political sci-
ence professor concluded with
Michael Zarkin's acceptance.
Zarkin currently teaches politi-
cal science at the University of
Florida. He has been teaching since
1998 and is currently completing
his Ph.D.
Zarkin visited Wesleyan March
3 and competed with one other can-
didate for the position.
Committee members said they
See Searches, page 2
Singin' in the sun
mmmm
Photo courtesy of Ben Parker
Local rock group Morning People sings in front of Dora Roberts Dining Hall at Ram Jam,
Saturday, April 9. Members of the group, from left, are James Pfleger, Chad Smith, Jimmy
McEwan and Mike Smith. Ram Jam is an annual event sponsored by the Student Activities
Committee, Student Government Association, and the Office of Student Life. This year it
was held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and featured live bands, games and refreshments.
Yearbook plans
encounter problems
Julie King
MANAGING EDITOR
Wesleyan's deans council
raised questions and expressed
doubt about reorganizing the
campus yearbook following a
recent presentation by Director
of Student Life Peter Phaiah.
Phaiah said Wesleyan
administrators, alumni and var-
ious student organizations have
expressed their support for the
revival of The Ram's Horn, and
support from the academic
community was needed.
But according to Provost
and Senior Vice President
Thomas F. Armstrong, who.
oversees the deans council, the
council raised "a number of
questions that need to be
addressed" before the funding
and framework for the year-
book is solidified.
Student Government Asso-
ciation President Cedric Adams
said some of the deans believe
most of the student body, most
of whom are non-traditional
students and commuters, do not
want to have a yearbook.
But approximately 61 per-
cent of 435 students surveyed
by SGA in Fall 1999 said they
would purchase a copy of The
Ram '.v Horn if it was reissued,
Phaiah said.
Phaiah said Wesleyan's
alumni association recently
contributed $5,000 for the year-
book, raising total funding to
nearly $10,000.
The cost for printing 450
books—the average number of
books the university would
order—is $18,000, and a single
book would cost $30 to $35,
Phaiah said.
Any profit made from stu-
dent payments would help pay
for equipment, salary for an
adviser and possible salary or
scholarships for staff members.
An annual budget for the
yearbook would have to be at
least $40,000, Phaiah said.
SGA Treasurer Brent Mor-
ton said the allocation of schol-
arship money was another area
of concern for the deans, who
include Dr. Jeffrey DeLotto,
dean of the school of science
and humanities; Dr. Allen Hen-
derson, dean of the school of
education; Louis McLain, dean
of the school of business; Dr.
Robert Pevitts, dean of the
school of fine and performing
arts and Richard Gershon, dean
of the school of law.
See Yearbook, page 2
Math requirement sparks debate
Shelly Wright
NEWSEDlfOR
. Because the Wesleyan mathe-
matics department has the highest
failure and dropout rates, requests
have been made to allow certain
courses to be taken in place of col
lege algebra!
However, no
changes have
been, made
far.
Accord
ing to univer-
sity data, the
cumulative
withdraw al
rate in math-
ematics for
the Wl.
through Spring 1999 semesters was
nearly 30 percent, and the failure
rate was almost 14 percent
The computer science depart-
ment trailed with the second highest
withdrawal rate, at 27 percent, and
the English language and literature
Benjamin
Hale
had a 10 percent failure rate.
Dr. Ben Hale, program coordi-
nator of mass communication, said
about four years ago logic philoso-
phy and psychology statistics were
alternatives to college algebra. The
requirements were later 'changed,
requiring students to take college
algebra. Hale said nearly two years
ago he made a proposal for alterna-
tive courses.
*7 think a return to options
is far more relevant than the
requirement that we have
mot*"
•Mike Seweti
Hak said. "It's been set up
such that (administrators) encour-
age freshmen to taike algebra as
soon as possible, but they don't tell
the freshmen that once they ire
enrolled in algebra at Wesleyan.
at Wesleyan "
In order to be approved, a pro-
posal must go through a dean, the
academic affairs committee, the
faculty council and. ultimately, the
faculty open assembly.
Hale's proposal was rejected by
Academic Affairs, a policy-making
body with faculty, staff and student
representatives.
Hale later made a proposal to
allow each
department to
select courses
to fulfill the
math require-
ment
On Nov.
18 the faculty
council sent
to academic
affairs a
request to
allow each
to
math alternatives Hale said
since then Academic Affairs has
failed to put this on the agenda.
Hale said proposals normally
only take a couple of months to
complete, and the fact that this pro-
posal has taken so long means that
Thomas F.
Armstrong
the committee head, Provost and
Senior Vice President Thomas F.
Armstrong is not doing anything
about it.
Hale said, "So far the provost
has failed to put this on the agenda.
Tm trying to get that out in the open
so everybody realizes who the road-
block is."
Armstrong said he does not
recall an active proposal on this
issue, but if there were a proposal.
Academic Affairs would have
something to work with.
Armstrong said, "To my
knowledge, there is not an active
proposal at this ,point. I don't recall
that [Hale] sent a proposal. I'd be
delighted if there were a proposal.
Then we'd have something to work
with."
Some academic assembly
members say they support Hale's
proposal to allow each department
to choose courses to fulfill the math
requirement for that department.
Dr. Mike Sewell. professor of
mass communication, said, "I think
a return to the option is far more rel-
evant than the requirement that we
have now. For (mass communica-
tion] majors, logic, can be just as
useful or more useful...than college
algebra. The choice should be left
up to [the students)."
Professor of management Dr. J.
Lee Whittington said, "I'm general-
ly in support of everything Dr. Hale
wants to do."
Despite this support, mathe-
matics professors Dr. Jane Moore
and Dr. Michael E. Petty do not feel
Hale's proposal should be
approved.
Petty said. "We feel that stu-
dents should take math require-
ments for math courses/'
Moore said, "1 would not feel
comfortable deciding English
requirements because I don't have
any experience in that field...I think
math people should make the deci-
sions for what courses should be
required {for math]."
Hale said students should tell
members of the academic affairs
See Math ,page 2
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Pfaffengut, James. The Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 12, 2000, newspaper, April 12, 2000; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth287754/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Wesleyan University.