The Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 6, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 28, 2001 Page: 1 of 6
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TFXAS WESLEYAN
MAR 0 2 2001
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Rambler
The students' voice since 1917
February 28, 2001
Fort Worth, Texas
Vol. 85, No. 6
News Briefs
Mortar Board Applications
Applications For member-
ship in Wesleyan's Quadran-
gle Chapter of Mortar Board,
an elite senior honor society,
are due in the registrar's office
Thursday, March 1.
Contact Lora Bryson,
Mortar Board president, at
(817) 703-6415; Dr. Tom
Klaasen, professor of eco-
nomics and finance, at ext
4842; or Ann Reed, visiting
assistant professor of educa-
tion, at ext. 4946 for more
information.
Ash Wednesday Service
A special Ash Wednesday
service will be held at 12:12
p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28 in
the Carter Conference Room,
located in the Brown-Lupton
Campus Center.
Careers in foreign langauge
The U.S. Army will pro
vide information about
career fields available in the
Army specializing in foreign
language from 10 a.m. to II
p.m. and 11 p.m. to noon, Fri-
day, March 2 in Dora Roberts
Dining Hall.
Resume workshops
A resume writing work
shop will be presented by
Vikki Liptrot, director ot
career development and stu
dent empolyment, from 10:50
a.m to 11.50 a.m. and 6 p.m
to 7 p.m. March I, 6 and 8 in
the Orientation Room of the
Fast Library.
Call ext. 4859 to register
and to obtain more informa-
tion.
Children's Art Exhibition
The exhibition will be
held March 4 through 22 in
the C.F. Hyde Gallery of the
Law Sone Fine Arts Center
For more information, cal
ext. 4984.
Science and math
conference
The annual "Expand Your
Horizons in Science anc
Mathematics" conference for
girls in grades seven and eight
will be held from 9 a.m. to 3
p.m. Saturday, April 7. in the
Sid Richardon Center.
Registration deadline is
Friday, March 9. The cost oi
the conference is $5, which
includes meals and a T-shirt.
For more information con
tact Dr. Jane Moore, professor
of mathematics, at ext. 4883
Services for healing of AIDS
The Tarrant County AIDS
Outreach Center and other
organizations are sponsoring
The lilack Chrucli week of
Prayer for the Heating of
AIDS, a week of worship ant
educational programs in an
effort to stop the transmission
of HIV/AIDS and to provide
compassion for people affect-
ed by the disease.
The week will begin with
the Leadership Symposium
from 8:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m
Saturday. March 3 at Shiloh
Missionary Baptist Church
located at 2823 N. Houston St.
A citywidc moment ot
silence or prayer for the heal
ing of AIDS will be held at
noon Wednesday, March 7.
Also, a community forum
will be held from 7 p.m. to
8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March
7, at the Great Commision
Baptist Church, located at
7700 McCart Ave.
For more information
contact Sonia McClarron-Sin
gleton at (817) 335-1994.
New and used books wanted
Drop-boxes are labelct
throughout the campus until
April 5 to collect new ant
used books for a fundraiser
conducted by The Nu Zeta
Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta.
Wesleyan says farewell provost and senior vice president
Dee Flowers
NEWS EDITOR
Dr. Thomas Armstrong, former provost
and senior vice president, is leaving the Uni-
versity. According to human resources he is
still a faculty member, but there will be a
farewll party for him at 3 p.m. Wednesday,
Feb. 28 in the University Club, located in the
basement of the administration building.
Dr. Allen Hendeson, professor of psy-
chology remains interim provost.
"He's wonderful. I'm very sorry he's
leaving. It's the University's loss that he's
gone," said DeeDee Friddle, adminsistrative
assisstant to the provost. Friddle has been
Armstrong's assitant since 1999.
"I worked with him, and I think he is a
wonderful person. I'm truly going to miss
him," said Laura Castillo, executive secretary
to the president. Castillo was executive secre-
tary for Armstrong for three years.
"Dr. Armstrong as an admisntrator was,
and is, without comparison, the most direct
supporter of fine arts programs and perfor-
mances that I have ever known," said Jeff
Walter, chair of faculty council and assistant
professor of music.
"He attended almost all of our perfor-
mances, concerts and recitals and special
events. And it was often the case that anyone
involved in such an event would receive a let-
ter or memo the very next morning from him,
commenting on specific moments in the per-
formance, and relaying his appreciation. This
will be missed to be
sure," he said.
Armstrong under-
took Ihe postion of
provost and senior vice
president January,
1995. He spent more
than 20 years as a fac-
ulty member and
administrator.
He is active with
the Southern Associa-
Thomas
Armstrong
tion of Colleges and Schools and has chaired
more than a dozen visiting accreditation
teams.
Throughout his career, Armstrong has
also served in many community organiza-
tions, incuding the Fort Worth Chamber of
Commerce, the Boy Scouts and Shakespear in
the Park. He is also an acitve member of the
downtown Fort Worth Rotary Club.
"I think Tom Armstrong is a fine acade-
mic and administrator, and I know he aspires
to be a university president. He may come
back as faculty, but for right now he's looking
for a presidency," said Dr. Harold G. Jeffcoat,
Wesleyan president.
Biology professor
receives grant of nearly
$100,000for research
An Army of Two
Bruce
Dee Flowers
NEWS EDITOR
Dr. Bruce Benz, assistant professor
of biology, received a grant for $99,804
from the National Science Foundation
Feb. 13 to help support his study, "The
Origins of Mesoamerican Maize Agricul
ture: Climate and Human Intentionality."
The study will
determine whether
climate or human
efforts are the main
factors in the pro-
duction of corn.
The grant
money that Benz
received was a little
less than he asked
for.
"The Univer-
sity doesn't pay us | faculty J to be
researchers. I proposed for $180,000.
They came back and said that they don't
have it, could I do it for $100,000.'" he
said. He said that he had to cut corners to
keep costs down.
"This summer that whole lab
will have corn spread out on all
the tables."
-Bruce Benz
Benz conducted the research by
using carbon 14 data to tell how old the
corn is. He measured the size of the corn
and used fragments for analysis. He used
isotopes of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
and reconstructed the climate to see if the
change in the size of the corn correlates
with change in climate.
He collaborated with Mexican
researchers, and the faculty of the Uni-
versity of Arizona helped conduct the iso-
tope and carbon-14 analysis.
His findings have been published in
periodicals such as Science News, Eco-
nomic Botany and the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
journal. He recently did an interview with
the Dallas Morning News.
"The PNAS is my crown glory. The
grant money came in the same day the
article came out," said Benz.
This summer, Benz will use corn that
is 4,200 years old and came from a cave
in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He also will go to
Harvard to select corn from an archeo-
logical collection stored there.
"This summer that whole lab [sec-
ond floor of the McFadden science build-
ing] will have corn spread out on all the
tables," he said.
Benz has been studying the origin of
corn since 1976. He said his time in Mex-
ico helped inspire him. He taught at the
University of Guadalajara in Jalisco,
Mexico for 10 years.
"The history of Mexico depends on
corn. My presumption is that the Aztecs.
Mayas and Onega developed complex
societies based on the surplus yields of
corn," he said.
Many have asked him why he is
interested in corn.
"I never have been able to answer
that question successfully. Other than just
wanting to know, my objective is to find
concrete evidence of macroevolution,
one species that give rise to another," he
said.
"We still lack evidence that people
used the wild ancestor of corn [Teosinte].
If I can find out that the wild ancestor of
corn was a resource for human occupa-
tion and people used Teosinte, then the
story will be complete. It will show one
species giving rise to another," said Benz.
■#" . «*■
Photo hs Martha Bnnker
Two students climb the rock wall in the "Battle of the Frats" competition held
by the U.S. Army Feb. 27 during free period in the parking lot behind the
Armstrong Mabee business building.
Launch date postponed for Mascot Network System
Shelly Wright
EDITOR IN CHIEF
The Mascot Network has postponed
Wesleyan's launch date, according to Peter
Phaiah, director of student life.
The Network, which would have
featured e-mail accounts for every student on
campus; a student directory, where students
could choose to post photos and information
about themselves; and means for students and
organizations to chat, was originally sched-
uled to be accessible to students Jan. 10, but it
was postponed to Feb. 26 due to the Univer-
sity's failure to fulfill its requirements to load
80 percent of its students' photos onto the
Network.
Less than 60 percent of Wesleyan
students had their photos taken for the Net-
work. Pictures were taken at preregistration,
early registration and late registration.
Phaiah said it was easier for other
colleges to obtain the required percentage of
photos because they had already taken digital
pictures for student ID cards.
Wesleyan's hiring and spending
freezes also contributed to the delay, accord-
ing to Phaiah. The Network had agreed to pay
student interns to update Wesleyan's system,
to promote and market the system and to train
other students to use the system.
Wesleyan's Information Technology
Sen ices department would have been respon-
sible for maintaining e-mail accounts for each
student on campus as part of the system, but
two employees in that department resigned.
"We don't want to get [the Network]
started and not be able to maintain it," Phaiah
said.
The University can still implement
the system in the summer or fall 2001 semes-
ters if it obtains the required percentage of
photos.
"[The Network] will extend the con-
ditions and freebies for us until next fall,"
Phaiah said.
Lisa Orlando, chief justice of the
Student Government Association, said the
fact that the system was put on hold means it
probably will not be implemented. She said
promises had also been made for each student
on campus to have an edit, account by the
beginning of the semester.
"It is my understanding that every-
thing has been put on hold," Orlando said.
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Wright, Shelly. The Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 6, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 28, 2001, newspaper, February 28, 2001; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth253250/m1/1/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Wesleyan University.