The Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 12, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 19, 2000 Page: 3 of 6
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The Rambler April 19, 2000 3
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New Urban University
may shape education
II seems like yesterday that I
was walking up the sidewalk
next to the administration build-
ing to be elected president of this
marvelous place we call Texas
Wesleyan. This nine-year period
has down by so quickly.
Together,
we have
accomplished
much for
which we can
be thankful.
Thankful
because we
have had the
opportunity to
help nourish
and support a
university that , ,■ .
is changing lives on a daily basis.
We are a university community that
not only gives people an opportuni-
ty to expand their intellectual
horizons, but we also encourage
each other to approach life with a
heart that is open to new possibili-
ties.
Jake B.
schrum
Maybe the most important task
that we have accomplished together
is the naming of our common mis-
sion as that of a New Urban
University. Perhaps,Wesleyan will
become known nationally for
reminding America that the educa-
tion of a diverse citizenry through
the acquisition of knowledge and
the application of virtue us the sin-
gle most important factor in 1
sustaining our precious democracy.
Ours is a task desperately needed
and worthy of our efforts.
Stay close to your university,
give it the benelit of the doubt,
remember that we are all human
and in that regard capable of erring,
even in pursuit of "doing good."
Daughters and sons of the universi-
ty will, indeed, "stream forth in a
line of splendor," and will continue
to make our world a better place.
God' bless you all and thank you
lor letting me serve as you leader.
Jake Ii. Schrurn was university
president from I99 I to 2000.
ms TO FUND EDUCATION*
PROPERTY
TAX
SALES
TAX.
IGNORANCE
TAX
€SOOD
KUWUxrto
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Education encompasses
more than a diploma Degree may not be an asset in the workplace
W 1111 nnl !i trrM/liHil ini Of ninr I t'inH nf n/ thn^ec Wr X.
Dustin
Fockler
I'm not a graduating senior. 1
haven't even been at Wesleyan
for a full two years. But i am
leaving the university.
I'm transferring to another
school and as a result of a rather
unique situation
involving the
AEGIS pro-
gram a great
program, by the
way, and I
mean that sin-
cerely I will
arrive at my
next institution
with virtually
no core credits
and very few
related to my current and/or future
major.
When I explain the situation to
people, they sometimes ask me if I
feel my time here was a waste. I
don't.
" I won't go into
the standard plati-
tudes about
education being
more than getting a
degree - even
though they're true.
What I will go into are the
things 1 have learned while at
Wesleyan. These things are all infi-
nitely more important than the job I
eventually land.
I've learned'that people have
an amazing capacity for ignorance.
They tend to even resist learning. I
} know too many people who allow
their parents to spend large sums of
money on an education they don't
want and aren't receiving.
I've learned that intelligent
adults with degrees can be incredi-
bly petty. i don't mean the goofy
pettiness to which best friends and
sitcom characters are sometimes
subject. 1 mean the "Greek gods"
((
[People] sometimes
ask me if J feel my
time here was a
waste. I don't."
kind of pettiness.
I've learned that simply pos-
sessing the ability to do a job and
being passionate about it do not
guarantee anything. I've seen good
people put in bad situations simply
because their fellow employees are
unprofessional.
I've wanted to do something
about these types of situations, but
I've learned something else: a lot
of times, I can't.
I've learned that the advanced
education system in America can
be surprisingly inefficient and out
of touch with students.
I've learned that students don't
realize their power. Sometimes apa-
thy hurts less than concern.
But this last realization goes
hand in hand with another, more
positive one: people have the
power to change their environment.
A college education may not
allow everyone to affect sweeping
reforms in national and
international politics.
It can, however,
allow any student to
change his or her imme-
diate environment. The
. most fundamental way
to do this is to change the way we
look at things. This type of para-
digm shift frequently occurs within
the first weeks or months of college
attendance.
This, I feel, outweighs the
problems of a university communi-
ty-
I'll take this with me to my
next school. I'll take it with me
when I move beyond institutional
education. When i die, what I've
learned here will still be relevant.
That's quite an education.
If all goes well in the next three
weeks, I'm going to walk
across Will Rogers Auditorium
stage May 12, grab my diploma
from President
Jake B. Schrurn
and join the
ranks of the
working stiff.
If all goes
well.
So far,
though, I've
received only
two replies
from the multi-
tudinous
companies to which I have sent my
resume starting last semester.
This scares me.
I, like so many college gradu-
JULIE
King
ates, have to work full-time after I
graduate to pay for insurance and
pay back loans and other bills
accrued in the last four years.
The "trouble is, I doubt a
salaried position in my major
field—mass communication—will
provide enough monetary support
for me to make due.
A desk job at KTVT, Dallas-
Fort Worth's CBS affiliate (where I
interned this semester) pays
approximately $16,000. This is
well below the $36,435 average
. starting salary for college gradu-
ates, a number determined by a
1999 Jobtrak.com survey.
The survey also said only 5.9
percent of media jobs posted are
aimed at graduates.
This leads me to wonder if I
even had go to college in the first
place. Futile thinking for someone
with such little time left.
1 have benefited from my edu-
cation at Wesleyan, but not in the
way you might think, All those'
hours sitting in class, bored out of
my skull, accounted for very little
of my learning. But all those other
hours slaving away at The Rambler
make up for that.
Had I not joined the paper in
1997, I wouldn't know how to use
Macintosh computers,
QuarkXPress, Adobe Photoshop,
digital cameras, scanners and lots
of other technological goodies that
brighten up a resume.
Had I done nothing but attend
class and go home, I would have a
little knowledge of radio and televi-
sion production workings, but not
the slightest idea how a media busi-
ness works.
Still, I had I skipped college
altogether and gone straight into an
entry-level job monitoring police
scanners, my salary would have
gone up a little bit by now, right?
At least they wouldn't be tun-
neled into loan payments.
Gosh, this is depressing. I've
just wasted $40,000 and four years
of my life!
But I did learn a thing or two
about the way things work in this
crazy, mixed-up world. I just hope
that will help me earn more than
minimum wage.
Julie King is a senior majoring in
mass communication and managing
editor of The Rambler.
DUstin Fockler is a sophomore
majoring in mass communication atul
editor in chief of The Rambler. '
The Rambler
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Newsroom: 531-7552 AdtertWn*: 531 7582 Fwt: 531-4878
K-oi nil:
Letters to the Editor
As I was looking over the can-
didates for the upcoming elections
I noticed that under each candi-
dates name and major was the list
of organizations they are involved
in. Why would that stick out? First,
because some of the organizations
that they list were organizations
that they were "involved in" and no
longer a part of or that organization
is struggling and close to being
"defunct."
So, is it just a name thing for
status or should their current lack
of involvement and commitment
worry us? The answer: IT
SHOULD!
For example, those who listed
Student Ambassadors as an organi-
zation they are involved in are not
currently a member of Student
Ambassadors, which has totally
restructured and only selected stu-
dents are chosen to be members.
ULTRA is another organiza-
tion that is currently in trouble
because of lack of leadership and
organization. If there is a lack of
leadership and organization in a
Student Organization, will we run
into the same problems in the
future?
Up until recently, only certain
organizations were highly promot-
ed or encouraged by certain SGA
Officers This showed very little
concern for the rest of the
organizations that do a lot here on
campus
With the exception of Gamma
Sigma Sigma, who united most of
the organizations on campus for
Women's Awareness, there are
those who SGA never even recog-
nized this past year for their
contributions to the school and to
the community.
For example: Alpha Phi
Omega, with their work on the
Dillow House and Habitat for
Humanity or the New Student
Ambassadors, who continue to rep-
resent Wesleyan and the
Student Body everyday of the week
and sometimes on weekends.
SGA is for the students and
should not have needed to wait
until March to recognize them.
The biggest problem overall, in my
opinion, was a lack of
communication between SGA and
the student body as a whole. >
Extra effort is going to need to be
made next year to communicate
more effectively with them, most
of who are commuters.
I don't know how to answer
some these questions, but the can-
didates should. You should take the
time to talk to these candidates and
find out their level of commitment
to the organizations they are CUR-
RENTLY in and see for yourself if
they will carry that commitment
into SGA.
Robert Alicea
Junior
History
Inquiry Coordinator, Office of
Transfer Admission
Liberal arts molds minds
Ben
Parker
Opinions editor wanted for Fall
Mass communication students preferred
Strong writing ability,
knowledge of current events a plus
Call 531-7552 if interested
It took four years, but I am
finally getting a degree. And
yes, it is in mass communica- •
tion and yes that is a real degree.
I got
tired of peo-
ple telling
me that I
was not
going to get
a job and
what was
doing wwas
high-tech
basket weav-
ing.
I took
just as many
classes as other majors. I worked
just as hard and stayed up just as
late. The only difference is that I
know now how to deal with all
parts of society instead of one
specific area, hence mass com-
munication..
College has taught me many
things, and not just education-
wise. It changed my political
views, my attitudes towards free
speech and self-expression and,
of course, my view towards
money and greed.
1 came into college like most
everyone from the small town
where I grew up, I was a die
hard Republican, saying "Screw
the poor! It's their own fault!'"
Well, I matured and was
able to make my own decisions
and not just digest what was
spoon fed to me.
I realized what was really
happening in the world and
decided I didn't like any political
parties because they are all
wrong and eventually are cor-
rupt.
I also use to think that my
opinion was the onlyone that
mattered. But somewhere
between Dr. Salih arid humani-
ties, I found out that others can
also have merit and deserve a
voice.
Then came communication
law and ethics, in whih I learned
what free.speech really is and
what it is percieved to be by the
unknowing public. Perception
and reality are two vastly differ-
ent things even in law and the
ethics of individuals or groups.
You see, that is what a liber-
al arts college does to you. You
start to think independently and
logically. You find that you don't
have to conform to set standards.
An eager and shy boy that
entered these hallowed halls four
years ago. Now he has turned
into a bitter, highly irritable, mis-
anthrope who can't stand to be
around incompetent people for
more than a greeting.
As for what was shown to
me in my first year, I've seen dif-
ferent programs for improvement
come and go. Docs anyone
remember "Wesleyan 2000" or
"Wesleyan 2001?"
I commuted 30 minutes one
way for four years and no, I
don't think that is too long to
drive to get to school.
I would also like to say
something to everyone that
thinks that sports is the only
thing that keeps Wesleyan going:
Get a clue. This isn't high school
and not all the cool people play
sports. There arc other things of
greater importance, even on our
quaint campus.
So in summation, it was fun,
it was a short four years, and
thank for everything. -
1
Ben Parker is a senior major-
ing in mass communication and
features and photo editor of The
Rambler.
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Pfaffengut, James. The Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 12, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 19, 2000, newspaper, April 19, 2000; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth287755/m1/3/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Wesleyan University.