The Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 16, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 1, 1997 Page: 1 of 6
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he Rambler
The students'voice since 1917
October 1, 1997
Fort Worth, Texas
Vol. 80, No. 16
Bird control program under way
Susan Downing
Staff writer
r
Shades of Alfred Hitchcock! The birds are
here!
Texas Wesleyan's campus is the new gather-
ing place f or flocks of migratory birds, according
to Pat Howell, director-facilities operations.
Many of these same flocks are the ones recently
•"relocated" from downtown Fort Worth near the
Water Gardens and Wesleyan's law school.
Unlike the beleaguered inhabitants of
Hitchcock's fictional town, Wesleyan personnel
arc ready to deal with these winged pests. "We
hired a professional service, Avian Flyaway. Its
whole purpose is to control flocks of migratory
birds using a non-lethal procedure," Howell said.
"The purpose of these efforts is to move the
birds out of our area without harming them,"
Howell explained. He said it was not Wesleyan's
goal to inflict injury or kill the birds. He said the
service is only going after bird populations in
excess of 20 birds per flock.
Howell explained that the service utilizes
punishment signals, which lo a bird would be
noises that mimic natural predators or noises that
birds don't like to hear. "Additionally, they use
intense lights, strobe lights and even starter pis-
tols, similar to cap guns," he said.
He said that the service will come in every
night one hour before and continue one hour after
sunset to interrupt the birds' migratory habits. "If
you don't interrupt their habits, they will keep
doing it," he explained. By disrupting their flight
pattern, the birds will move to other trees down
the line, according to Howell.
Avian Flyaway is licensed with the state of
Texas and regulated by the Structural Pest
Control Board of Texas. Howell said. "They have
to be licensed and under a strict code of what they
are allowed and not allowed to do."
Avian Flyaway began its service on Sept. 16,
and will continue its efforts for six months.
Howell said that it was too early to tell if the pro-
cedures were effective as most of the birds have
not arrived yet. He said, "They will be coming in
from now through March."
Complaints about the birds arose from previ-
' ous years when flocks of migratory birds would
fly in and roost during different times of the year.
Of paramount concern is, the row of old oak trees
along Rosedale Street.
According to Howell, the birds, mostly
grav'kles. starlings and some blackbirds, can dam-
age and even kill trees. He said, "The trees actu-
ally turn white with bird feces. It almost kills the
trees. It stinks and die sidewalks get slippery, and
it then becomes an issue of liability."
Howell said that he feels the relocation of
these birds is important because of the concern
for the old trees on Wesleyan's campus. He said,
"After the damage that the birds did last year, we
felt like there was a possibility that the trees were
harmed. It has taken a lot of years to grow them.
We think it would be an unfortunate event to have
to cut or'move these trees."
So if you see strange lights or hear odd
sounds, it's not ghost,busters at work. It's just
Operation Bird Removal. According to Howell,
"All we want to do is to protect our trees and
make sure no one is injured.'*
■f \ L-«* s .
V- —V. 5
Photos by Jon McKen/.ie
To break from the norm and to escape the pounding roofers, chapel was held outside on the
library steps on Sept. 30. Members of the wind ensemble played selected hymns and the Rev.
Jeff Miller and chaplain's assistant Joe Lynch spoke.
• Photo by Jon McKen/.ie
Misty Bates is the Student Government, Association's
new chief justice
• •
SGA elections yield
nine representatives
Jana-lyn Graf
Staff writer
Misty Bates, a junior, a politi-
cal science major and the newest
chief justice, said, "As a non-serv-
ing Student Government
Association member, I could only
bring issues, problems and/or con-
cerns to the student government's
attention. Now, as an executive
member, I can aid in bringing the
Student Government to the students
which is our responsibility. Only
with students can we meet the needs
and wishes of the entire student
body. Filling the Chief Justice posi-
tion will entail both effort and effi-
ciency, and I accept the challenges."
The newest at large Student
Government Association represen-
tative Jamie McGinty won by land-
slide with 68 percent of the recently
cast votes. She is a freshman music
major.
The business representatives
are Daniel Hernandez, a sophomore
who came in at 42 percent, and
Tiffany Lamb, a junior who cap-
tured 43 percent of the votes, both
business majors.
Science and humanities repre-
sentatives are Jutea Burgess, a
junior religious studies major;
Cedric Adams ,a.freshman; and Joy
Reeves, a sophomore English
major. The newest freshmen repre-
sentatives for the 97-98 year are
Andrea Hardy, a music major, and
Raun Shepherd, who declined to
comment. Andrea Hardy won the
election by 56 percent of the student
votes.
SGA holds its elections every
fall and in the spring, when neces- •
sary, and with a voter turnout of
only 7 percent. An S.G.A.
spokesman said he hopes that more
students next year will be actively
involved and represent them during
the course of the year and with the
newest members of SGA, is
promise of a wonderful and chal-
lenging academic year.
Normally the president-elect
appoints the representatives with
the approval of the student body but
this year SGA took a different
approach for the elections to give
the students more voice.
"It will give an effective evalu-
ation on whom the students feel will
best serve the position," said Aaron
Young; president of SGA.
"[Because] we represent'the stu-
dents in all aspect of the
University"
Bohon, Fowler receive Golden Shears
Julie Terrell
Staff writer
The Golden Shears award
began in 1938 when the Rambler
honored 'students each week for
extracurricular activdies
The Golden Shears was estab
lished to honor distinguished stu-
dents who are involved in activi-
ties on campus and in the commu-
nity
today, there are 1.306
guardians of the Golden Shears
Although the award usually goes
to upperctassmtrn. this year's
recipients are sophomores Mark
Bohon and Carmen Fowler
Bohon, a business administra-
tion major and pre law, is a mem-
ber of the business fraternity Phi
Alpha l ambda and law fraternity
Phi Alpha Delta He also partici
pates in the Pre-Professional pro-
gram. is a business representative
for ' Student Government
Association (SGA), and works in
the Freshman Admissions office
part-time.
He helps with the career
development program at his
church. He enjoys outdoor activi-
ties such as camping, fishing and
hunting.
tie said he looks at the Golden
Shears award as a great honor and
a prestigious award.
"It was a shocker to me," he
said Bohon said that a student
must participate in leadership
roles in order to be a "well-round-
ed student."
"You have to be able to lead
and to follow and those things are
crucial for being successful," he
said.
Carmen Fowler, a marketing
major, is philanthropy chair for
Alpha X Delta, a member of the
Student Activities Committee.
Student Ambassadors and is a stu-
dent life representative for SGA.
She is also president of Crime
Stoppers, a new organization on
campus designed for members to
become aware of w hat is going on
at the university
Fowler said she enjoyed par-
ticipating in Ram Camp, because
she said it "promoted Wesleyan
and school spirit" She also works
part-time in the purchasing office.
She lives in Elizabeth hall
and encourages students to live on
campus because she said that it. is
part of the "whole college experi-
ence." She runs every other morn-
ing with the basketball team at
6:30. She enjoys outdoor activities
Ptotct Iob 'McRttwic
Mark Bohon is a sophomore busi-
ness administration major
such as rollerblading and camping.
Fowler was surprised that she
received the award because she
thought the award was only given
to upperclassmen.
Dr. Stephen Yuan is the recip-
ient of the Earl Brown award,
which was established in 1986 in
honor of Dr. Earl Brown, a profes-
sor of sociology at Texas Wesleyan
from 1967 until his retirement in
1986 The award honors a faculty
member who displays excellence
in the areas of teaching and com-
munity involvement.
Yuan, professor of computer
science and mathematics, has
taught for 16 years at Texas
Wesleyan and became an
American citizen after three years
of teaching at Wesleyan.
He received his bachelor's
degree in mathematics in Taiwan,
and his master's degree in mathe-
matics at the University of Texas
at Austin
He also earned a doctorate
degree in mathematical statistics at
the University of Iowa.
Last summer. Yuan worked on
a prototype for a degree plan audit
system for the registrar's computer
system that processes a student's
degree plan much faster; a matter
of minutes as opposed to a number
of we,tHW. The current system is
where the classes are all written by
hand on a form.
As part of the lecture series,
Photo by Jon McKctizie
Carman Fowler is a sophomore
marketing major
Yuan will speak on his prototype,
which is still in the test stages,
Oct. 2, in the East Room of Dora
Roberts dining hall at 12:15 p.m..
Yuan also set up a network of com-
puters for the computer science
students. He also advises the
Computer Science club.
He said that teaching math
involves a great deal of patience.
He said every year is different and
every student is different. "One
way for one student may not be the
best way for another student," he
said.
He encourages students to
come by his office to talk with him
because he said that he wants to
make his students comfortable. "1
tell my students that I am not the
Maytag repairman. I do not like
being in my office all by myself."
He said he was very honored
to receive the Earl Brown award.
The recipient of the award is deter-
mined by faculty recommendation,
and he was recommended by
mathematics professor Dr. Jane
Moore.
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Wood, Allison E. The Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 16, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 1, 1997, newspaper, October 1, 1997; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth287690/m1/1/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Wesleyan University.