The Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 3, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 Page: 1 of 6
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W L E Y A N ' UNIVERSITY
The students' voice since 1917
February 13, 2008
www.txwes.edu/rambler
Vol. 100, No. 3
News Briefs
Curtain Call!
Theatre Wesleyan pres-
ents Alan Ayckbourn's How
the Other Half Loves at 7:30
p.m. Feb. 19-23, with a 2
p.m. matinee Feb. 24, in the
Thad Smotherman Theatre.
General admission is $8, $6
for faculty and staff and $4
with a student ID.
Homecoming Events!
Feb. 13 (banners must
be up by 3 p.m. today!): Hat
Day. Wear a hat to support
Wesleyan and the
Foundation for Children
with Cancer. Stop by
Student Life to have .your
picture taken and to make
donations to "Hats on Day."
Feb. 14: Spirit Pep
Rally Day. Wear school col-
ors and encourage our
teams. We're not just talking
clothes here. Go crazy and
get creative.
Feb. 15 (banners judged
today at noon): Sports
Teams Day. Wear the hat or
jersey from your favorite
sports team.
Feb. 16: Women's bas-
ketball game (5:30 p.m.)
and men's basketball game
(7:30 p.m.). Spirit paddle
contest winner will be
announced during women's
halftime. Coronation of
2008 homecoming king and
queen, spirit contest winner
and banner winner will be
announced during men's
halftime. Join Student Life
for a black light party in
Stella Russel Hall from 9
p.m. to midnight.
Study Abroad Funding
A scholarship and fund-
ing workshop will take
place at 2 p.m. Feb. 13 in
the West Library
Orientation Room.
Love and Poetry
Aries is holding a
Valentine's Day poetry
reading during free period
Feb. 14 in the West Library
Orientation Room.
Refreshments will be pro-
vided during the "broken
hearts and fresh starts"
event.
Present yourself
Proposals for University
College Day applications
will be accepted until Feb.
29. Contact Stan Rummel
(srummel@txwes.edu)
University College Day is
April I.
Hatton Sumners
Hatton Sumners
Scholarship applications are
now being accepted until
Feb 25. Sophomores with at
least 60 academic hours
completed at the end of this
semester and a 3.0 GPA are
elligible to apply.
HOT JOB opportunities
(a) Career Services
♦ Assisstant Therapist,
Brent Woodall Foundation
♦ Foreign Service
Diplomatic Security
Special Agent, U.S. Dept.
of State Careers
♦ Paid Internship, Q
Investments
♦ Personal Trainer, LA
Fitness
♦ Instructional Assistants &
Math Tutors, TCC
In hono
Photos by Kevin Keathley
Texas Wesleyan University's 12th annual President's Honors Concert brings music and smiles to campus Feb. 8. The roster of hand-picked performers,
including junior Jonah Copeland (left) and sophomore Leticia Michael (far right), are given plaques to commemorate the formal evening of entertain-
ment. Friends like Ashly Spencer (center) provide congratulations.
Texas students fall behind in preparedness
Colleen Burnik
ENITER TA INMENT EDITOR
After months of meetings and deliberations,
the Commission for a College Ready Texas
released its report on the need to get students in
Texas more prepared for college. The data that
was released is sobering and concerning for many
who pay taxes in support of the public schools (hat
are falling short.
According to an article published in the Fort
Worth Star-Telegram, only 18 percent of Texas
students who took the ACT college-entrance exam
were proficient in the four core subject areas, and
half of the high school graduates who enter col-
lege qualify for remedial courses in math, reading
and writing. These percentages are only higher for
Hispanic and black students.
According to the ACT inc. president, only 34
percent of students have the skills to be successful
in college. These numbers are worrying parents
and educators across the nation.
The result is that colleges are then given the
responsibility to bring students up-to-speed and
ready to take college-level courses. The cost then
escalates for these students who have to pay for
courses for which they get no credit.
"We have to meet students where they are and
take them where they need to be," said Melody
Bell Fowler, director of Developmental and New
Student Programs at Wesleyan. "It's not necessar-
ily the students' fault or our fault. Somewhere
along the way they just missed the foundations."
When the problem became clear, Texas Gov.
Rick Perry appointed the Commission for a
College Ready Texas in an effort to assess the size
of the problem and what should be done about it.
The commission was led by former Dallas school
board chief Sandy Kress and met all over the state
with educators and legislators.
"We have a big hill to climb in Texas," Kress
told the Dallas Morning News in November. "We
want our kids to come out of high school ready for
college and a good job, but we have a long way to
go to reach that goal."
The solution will take many years to imple-
ment. According to the summary released by the
commission, the overarching goal is raising the
skill level and knowledge in high school students
before they graduate.
The lengths that these students will have to go
will have to be decided by a consensus between
Texas public schools and higher education offi-
cials. New standards have to be established and
maintained to get students where they need to be
for a college education.
According to the Star-Telegram, the 11th-
grade graduation test calls for reading skills that
are insufficient to understand a basic employment
manual.
"Teachers are under pressure to pass students,
parents are breathing down their necks, grades get
inflated, and somewhere along the way students
decide that they don't have to do the work," said
Fowler.
According to Education Week's 121'1 annual
Quality Counts report, Texas earned a C for pub-
lic education. The score tied the nation in overall
performance pointing to the fact that Texas is not
alone in the search for college preparedness.
However, according to an article in the Dallas
See Students, page 2
New ROTC program debuts on campus
Scholarships, military science program available to all students
Kevin keatiii.en
STAFF WRITER
According to Lt. Col. Rodney Joye, Texas Wesleyan's newly appointed
professor of military science, ROTC is up and coming on this campus.
Joye said that Wesleyan students have expressed interest in an ROTC
program for the past two years. They have done so via cross enrollment with
Texas Christian University. Due to
transportation problems, however, it
was deemed beneficial to have an
office on the ground at Wesleyan. Joye
was brought in for that purpose.
Joye retired from the Army in 1996
but volunteered in 2001 after 9/11, lie
w.-is in Iraq in 2006 and 2007.
He calls this service the best thing
he ever did in his life from a humani-
tarian perspective.
"If some students want to protest
that ROTC is here," he said, "I went to
light in a war to ensure that they have
that right."
However, he does not anticipate
any such opinions to be voiced at this
point. He said the faculty has been very
back."
Joye describes military science as involving a great deal of "military his-
tory. management skills, tactics and the basic program for developing junior
leaders in the Army."
Since the program has small classes, Joye utilizes his office as a class-
room with two or three people coming in at a time.
The greatest difficulty Joye has had is getting the word out that military
science is here.
Three students have joined ROTC
at Wesleyan since he arrived. There
are currently eight students in the
program, but he said he anticipates
20 or more by December 2008. Joye
said he regrets that most students
don't kqou ROTC is at Wesleyan
now, because "we can help them
financially."
Joye said any number of "merit-
based" scholarships are available.
"Family income does not play into
whether an individual receives a
scholarship," he said. "It does not
cover your room and board and eat-
ing and living."
■SStaSfaiHfi
Photo h\ Kevin Kcathlcs
These amounts are from $25,000
welcoming, the students outstanding Texas Wesleyan's new ROTC program is already attracting members, but mil- t0 $35,000 a year. In terms of cash-
and the campus "friendly and laid- itary science professor Rodney Joye Is seeking more recruit#. Se? ROTC, page 2
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Poling, Shawn R. The Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 3, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 13, 2008, newspaper, February 13, 2008; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth253408/m1/1/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Wesleyan University.