The Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 10, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 13, 2005 Page: 4 of 8
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4 April 13, 2005
Campus Life
The Rambler
on't talk to strangers. These instructions are
meant to assure safety for children, but to
adults, invite loneliness.
The gregarious become frustrated while the shy
remain safe from rejection under the wings of
silence, like timid little chicks under the wing of the
mother hen. At Wesleyan, this problem prompts the
question, "Why are we so chicken?"
"I know that meeting people is harder for some
than it is for others," said Dr. Ronald Ballard, pro-
fessor of religion at Wesleyan. "Some seem to
never meet a stranger, and, for others, it seems that
is all they ever do meet. Yet it disappoints me to ask
a student halfway through the semester about the
person sitting beside them, and they don't know
their name."
Ballard just doesn't understand it.
"How do you sit next to a person for three
months and not even exchange names? And even
outside the classroom, there should be the routine
courtesy of exchanging pleasantries and greetings
between one another as a minimum level of civili-
ty," said Ballard.
While many students have a friend or two
on campus, too many undergo shallow
inner growth because they trun-
cate opportunities
others by retreating
the boundaries
of a
closed
circle of
friends.
Outsiders can
scarcely get a
"hello" out of
them, and a con
versation is out
the question.
Observe any large
gathering of students on
campus. What you'll see i
segregation and integration
co-existing in an odd
unmixed blend, giving the
assemblage a checkerboard look
"Of course I've seen the divi-
sion. In the SUB, for instance, basketball hangs
with basketball, soccer hangs with soccer, and the
list goes on. I've also seen how usually they are the
same ethnic group," said Kyiesha Smith, a sopho-
more majoring in athletic training. i
Researchers have long established the tendency
of people to interact with people who share the
same values.
"According to early sociologists G.H. Mead
and C.H. Cooley, we develop the image of who we
are, based on the reaction to us from others in our
intimate circle - again family and friends," said Dr.
Sara Horsfall, professor of sociology at Wesleyan.
Research also shows that change is underway.
Horsfall explained improvement in social relations
referring to sociologist Emory Bogardus' social
distance scale, a scale ranging from one - indicat-
ing a willingness to accept an outsider into one's
family (marriage) - to seven, which means you
don't want the person to live in the same country
you live in.
"When Bogardus first did his study in 1925, he
found that the average distance for all people
was 2.14, which means in between
accepting them into your social
circle and as a neighbor ...
By 1991, the average
social distance
for all
jjg^tyC
%
a*
e
people
questioned was
1.76, which means in
between accepting them
into your family by marriage and
into your social circle as friends," said
Horsfall.
When asked if the shift toward accepting out-
siders would continue, Horsfall said yes, definitely.
"The world is becoming smaller and smaller,"
she said. "We are aware of each other like we have
never been before. We are eating food from differ-
ent countries, watching movies from different
countries, hearing news from different countries
and marrying people from different countries more
than ever before."
The world is in the mood to "get along," so
what's with the family of 3,000 at Wesleyan?
"People at Wesleyan definitely are not friendly,"
said a student currently in his first semester at
Wesleyan. "When I first came here, 1 said hi to
everyone. If they didn't say hi back, 1 never said
hello to them again," said a student who wished to
remain anonymous.
The student spoke of women's over-reliance on
their friends' opinion and the spreading of rumors
about him as other barriers to making new friends
at Wesleyan.
"They don't give people a chance to see who
they really are," he said.
"Some people don't like
me because of what oth-
ers have said about me.
We're in college and
they're still doing
this high school
stuff. Ninety per-
cent of them
listen to their
friends. The
other 10
percent
have a
mind
o f
their
own."
Smith
offers other reasons
that Wesleyan students are
unwilling to meet new people.
'People fear pain," she said.
"When you open yourself up to a relationship,
be it friend or more, you run the risk of getting hurt.
That's the gamble you take getting to know some-
one."
Krystal Maldonado, a sophomore kinesiology
and English major, shares her view.
"People don't know how the other person will
react to them or if they'll reject them," said
Maldonado.
Both Smith and Maldonado said they talk to
strangers. They're college students, and what better
place is there to meet new interesting people?
"University is probably the easiest and safest
place to make friends today. The academic and
social environments blend together quite well and
allow for the formation of lasting friendships,
sometimes even matrimony," said Ballard.
"Nothing affects the quality of one's life, more
than the quality of one'Relationships," he said.
And no one knows what relationships might be
behind the faces of the persons we see every day on
campus.
In transition
Students contemplate move into new dorms
i %
Photo by Whitney Fowler
Photo by Whitney Fowler
SBWS^sss^
Photo by Jillian Jones
Students currently living in O.C. Armstrong Hall will have to choose to live in
either Elizabeth Means Armstrong Hall or the new apartment-style dorms.
Michael McKenzie
STAFF WRITER
The new dorms on campus are scheduled to be open by fall cf 2005.
However, current campus residents have mixed feelings on the highly publi-
cized and costly apartment-style dorms. Students find themselves at a cross-
roads trying to weigh all the pros and cons of moving to a newer building.
Internet availability, meal plans and alcohol possession top the list of con-
cerns for several students.
"The new dorms cost more than my bank account holds, so I would like
to see more affordable pricing," said freshman music major Ronnie Lee.
The current Internet package used in Stella Russell Hall, O.C. Armstrong
and Elizabeth Means Armstrong Hall is what's slated to wire the new apart
ment-style dorms. Zandy Baker, director of residence life, said that current-
ly everyone is OK with allowing alcohol in the new dorms. The decision cur-
rently rests in the hands of the Board of Trustees. This could possibly lure
legal drinking age students to the new dorms as the freedom to drink is a pop-
ular concern.
According to Baker, as of April 11, Residence Life had obtained 62 hous-
ing contracts in which 44 were for the new housing.
Baker said that she does expect the new dorms to be completely full by
the time August rolls around. History has shown that many students register
at the last minute and even all the way up to the first week of school. She also
said that if any rooms arc still available by August, the rates will not be low-
ered and the empty rooms will remain empty.
Mike Kennard, a sophomore political science major, said that the new
dorms cost "more than I am willing to pay to live in Poly."
Students have voiced their concerns about the cost of room and board in
relation to the poor community that surrounds Wesleyan. With 18 car break-
ins this semester, many students find that living on campus is a poor choice
and not very cost effective.
"The new apartments spice up the living conditions on campus, anything
newer and done correctly would be an improvement," said sophomore chem-
istry major Jimmy Juelg. Juelg has yet to sign an official housing contract for
a room in the new dorms but is seriously considering it.
John Pirtle, a junior mass communication major, said, "It would be
cheaper to live in one of the other dorms than the new ones."
Students have had mixed feelings about the new dorms ever since prices
were announced. Some like the idea of having new living quarters while oth-
ers can't seem to get past the higher cost.
Residence Life is still weighing many options and remains optimistic
about the success of the new apartment-style dorms. Scholarships for $500
are being offered to new dorm residents, which Baker said will virtually
equal out to cost the same as a single room currently offered in Elizabeth
Hall.
O.C. Hall is still scheduled to closc at the end of this semester, and stu-
dents opting to not pay the extra premium for the new dorms will have the
liberty of moving into Elizabeth Hall as it will become co-ed.
mm
Titf
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Week
Ahead
13
On Campus
'Methodist Student
Movement meeting:
Stella Russell Hall
lobby, noon, free
lunch served
'Baptist Student Ministry meet-
ing: Carter Conference Room,
noon, free lunch served
Off Campus
'Baseball vs. Henderson State
(Ark.): 2 p.m.
14
On Campus
•Community
Church of Christ
Bible study: Carter
Conference Room,
7 p.m.
Off Campus
*Latinologues: Majestic Theatre
Dallas, 8 p.m.
15
On Campus
'Baseball vs. UT-
Permian Basin:
LaGravc Field,
3 p.m.
Off Campus
'Crown Royal Iroc Series
NASCAR Nextel Cup Qualifying:
Texas Motor Speedway, 3 p.m.
On Campus
'Baseball vs. UT-
Permian Basin:
LaGrave Field,
noon
16
'Basketball tryouts: Sid W.
Richardson Center,
I p.m. - 3 p.m.
Off Campus
'O'Reilly 300 NASCAR Busch
Series Race: Texas Motor
Speedway
17
On Campus
'Community
Church Sunday
morning service:
Carter Conference
Room, 10 a.m.
'Polytechnic UMC Sunday morn-
ing service: 10 a.m.
Off Campus
'Baseball vs. Bacone College
(Okla.): 2 p.m.
18
On Campus
'Pool and spades
tournament: Stella
Russell Hall,
7:30 p.m.
Off Campus
'Baseball vs. Howard Payne,
Brownwood, 2 p.m.
Off Campus
'Baseball v . Paul
Quinn, Dallas,
2 p.m.
19
'Baseball v>. SE
Oklahoma State (Okla.): 2 p.m.
'Dallas Mavericks v . Seattle
SuperSonics: American Airlines
Center, 7:30 p.m.
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Fowler, Whitney. The Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 10, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 13, 2005, newspaper, April 13, 2005; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth253344/m1/4/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Wesleyan University.