By Jeff Anderson staff reporter The new $8.1 million renovation of Foster Hall has relocated about 200 students for the spring semester. Nancy Grieser, coordinator of housing assignments, said residents were relocated without much trouble. Most Foster residents stayed on campus for the spring semester, she said. All residents were required to leave when the residence hall was closed last fall. "It was a remarkably smooth transition," Grieser said.
"Everything went very smoothly," Cruz said. "It worked out better than expected." Julian Leaver, a freshman business major, said the housing office was very helpful with the transition. Grieser said the staff members from Foster were reassigned to other residence halls or are studying abroad. Russell Elleven, associate director of residence life, said the renovations should be completed by Fall 2000. Foster staff members will be given first choice to have their positions back in the fall, and former residents will have first choice to move back into Foster, he said. Foster will remain coed next fall. The infrastructure of Foster needed a lot of work, and some rooms were constantly wet and moldy, Cruz said. "The plumbing, air conditioning and heating system is old and outdated," she said. Leaver said the plumbing was inconsistent. "Some days there was only hot water, some days only cold," he said. Elleven said the electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning will be updated. "It's going to look different," he said. Cruz said living in coed Foster was fun and enjoyable and many students talked about moving back into Foster in the fall. Otto Verhulst, a freshmen pre major, said Foster was nice because the rooms were big, and the location on campus was convenient. "I liked the fact it was coed," Verhulst said. "It's in a good location, in the middle of everything."
Jeff Anderson
By Danny Horne staff reporter Internet provider E-College gave TCU a $240,000 grant that will allow some graduate students to receive their master's education entirely online. Master's programs in liberal arts and nursing, which were previously not offered as graduate degrees, will become the first fully online degrees at TCU. "Right now TCU offers several individual classes either partially or completely online, but this grant allows for these entire degrees to be available online," said Kirk Downey, director and coordinator of online education for TCU. Rhonda Keen-Payne, dean of the Harris College of Nursing, said the degrees are a positive step in a new direction for nursing at TCU because of the flexibility of the program. Both programs are still in the planning stages, but administrators within the College of Nursing said they hope to have graduate students enrolled in online courses by next fall, she said. "Graduate students who have families and work will have the chance to sit at home at their computers and earn their master's in nursing," Keen-Payne said. Don Coerver, director of the master's of liberal arts program, said the flexibility of the online program will be a distinct advantage to the students. "Clearly, classes will not have to meet as often, which removes any geographical limitations placed on liberal arts graduate students who may have to travel because of their jobs," Coerver said. However, Coerver said some problems could arise when implementing an online program. The transition from the traditional classroom style to the online method will require professors to rethink their teaching styles, he said. "We cannot expect to conduct Web-enhanced classes in the same manner," Coerver said. "Professors will be forced to start from scratch, but some may not be too eager to do so." Keen-Payne said the nursing professors have begun workshops offered through E-College. These workshops are designed to help professors learn what the software can do and how to conduct an online class. "Another problem could be how to get the students to feel connected to the teacher and to one another through a machine," Keen-Payne said. She said students should feel comfortable asking questions online through a chat room format in which all students will be required to participate throughout the semester. Coerver said the liberal arts program plans to use a similar format to help alleviate the problems of less interaction and no discussions. "It's an effort to break out of the old standard of meeting every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 a.m.," Coerver said.
Danny Horne
By Victor Drabicky staff reporter Three months after Kristen Kirst left her job as the director of fraternity and sorority affairs, officials at the Office of Campus Life said they might be close to naming a replacement. Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Campus Life Susan Adams said a possible candidate for the job joined both students and faculty on a recent retreat. "One of the candidates did go on a retreat with Greek community leaders last weekend," Adams said. "That way we could see how the students would be able to interact with him." Interfraternity Council President Walker Moody said many people were already familiar with the candidate. "He helped us with some development sessions not too long ago," Moody said. Adams said just because the candidate went on the retreat does not necessarily mean he has the job. "There are some pretty strict criteria each candidate has to meet," Adams said. Rick Barnes, director of special projects and student affairs, said there are four main characteristics a candidate must have in order to get the job as the new director. "Each candidate must have university experience, must be very familiar with the fraternity and sorority system and must be willing to play a very active role as a Greek adviser," Barnes said. "In addition to all of this, the applicant must also have a master's degree." Moody said a majority of the emphasis is being put on what the students think. "It is very important that we find out what it is like to work with each candidate so that we can choose the right person for the job," he said. Barnes said beside the fact that TCU wants to make sure they hire the right candidate, the process has been slowed in part because there is a very small pool of applicants. "Most people's contracts coincide with the academic year," Barnes said. "Therefore, the pool of applicants is much smaller than it would be during the summer months." Moody said much consideration was put into deciding when to hire the new director."We had to decide whether it would be better to hire someone now or wait until the summer months to see if we could find someone better suited for the job," Moody said. Adams said no executive decisions have been made, but the appointment of a new director may come as early as this week.
Victor Drabicky
By Kathryn Garcia staff reporter 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... "Auld Lang Syne" begins to play in a ballroom, while Dick Clark's words are drowned out by a roaring crowd. Whether TCU students were screaming at the top of their lungs or watching the ABC special at home with their families, they were witnesses to Y2K. Paul Anderson, a freshman marketing major, enjoyed his New Year at a rave in South Africa. "It was madness, absolutely crazy," Anderson said. "People were screaming and yelling and throwing firecrackers. There were at least 15,000 people there." Others celebrated their New Year's Eve at church services. Cindy Kumer, a sophomore ballet and modern dance major, said she wanted to be with the people she grew up with on such an important occasion. "We had a youth service and food and drinks afterward," she said. "My friends and I Saran-Wrapped my youth minister's van and did a great job too." Samuel Rose, a sophomore social work major, attended a church service of 10,000 at his home in the Cayman Islands. Rose said he was surprised at the amount of people that showed up. It was the largest function the Cayman Islands, with a population of 35,000, has ever had, he said. "Our minister said a prayer right before the countdown, warning us not to be scared when they turned off the lights for the fireworks," he said. "We were still kind of worried they wouldn't turn back on." Rose celebrated with his two cousins and several friends. During the countdown they all held hands, cheered, hugged and kissed each other, he said. Although one student welcomed Y2K on the Strip in Las Vegas, she also witnessed the death of a fellow partygoer. Sophomore pre-med major Melanie Winchester said she saw a man electrocute himself when he grabbed a power line above the streetlight he was sitting on. After letting go, he fell to the street below, she said. "He was straddling the light post," she said. "He was really drunk and started to slip and fall, so he reached up and got a hold of the wires above him."Winchester said she and her group were near Paris Casino and Hotel, and the Strip was packed and chaotic. "About 300 people were arrested that night," she said. "(The police) didn't have enough handcuffs for everyone, so they started using zip ties." Despite the chaos, Winchester said she was glad to have been there because it was an experience she'll never forget.
Kathryn Garcia
By Matt Stiver assistant campus editor In the years preceding Y2K, Fort Worth business professionals would have to venture onto campus in order to gain a TCU education. They would have to fight students for parking spaces and eat Marriott food. When the TCUglobalcenter opens, all that will change. Located at Alliance Airport north of Fort Worth, the TCUglobalcenter will offer both a Master's of Liberal Arts and an Executive MBA program when it begins operations later this year. The center will mark the first time that TCU has moved classes off the main campus.
"We are targeting the MLA at executives and professionals who want to enrich their lives with a better understanding of the world," Koehler said. "The E-MBA is for upper-level executives on a fast track. The individual companies will identify the candidates they want to send. They will purchase slots and send their people. So in this case, we are dealing with the company, not the individual." Koehler said the geographical appeal of the Alliance Airport area is important. Within driving distance of the Dallas/Fort Worth area, the TCUglobalcenter will also benefit from Alliance Airport, he said. The MLA program will begin at the TCUglobalcenter this spring, with the E-MBA beginning in either the summer or fall, Koehler said. The TCUglobalcenter will differ from a separate off-campus location in that it will not be a separate entity. It will be run from the main campus. Kirk Downey, provost and executive director of the TCUglobalcenter, said the center will serve as a space for the university to run its programs. The content will be determined by department heads in the same manner as an on-campus class, he said. "The TCUglobalcenter at Alliance does not do any academic programs," Downey said. "It's a space up there. It's a uni versity space. I'm not involved in any of the planning of the programs. I'm just there to help facilitate a space to do it in." The TCUglobalcenter does not indicate a desire of the university to create a separate campus. Chancellor Michael R. Ferrari said TCU is not looking to expand at this time. "Alliance is very focused and targeted," he said. "It has an appeal to non-traditional students as well as professionals."
Matt Stiver
By Rusty Simmons staff reporter The limited parking on campus will be even more scarce until the fall semester as the Linbeck Construction Corps continues renovations of Foster Hall. The work crew has fenced off 46 parking spaces on the south and west sides of Foster to allow an ample work area. Roger Fisher, director of residential services, said the faculty will be most affected by the parking limitations. Faculty members who work in Reed Hall and the Brown-Lupton Student Center will have 16 less parking spaces from which to choose because of the construction. Melissa Bryant White, assistant director of career services, said the faculty better get their walking shoes on. "It just means we'll have to get here that much earlier, so we don't have to park at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum," she said. "It's not so bad to have to walk from the coliseum. I'm sure I can use the exercise." Along with the lost faculty spaces, 24 main campus spaces are being used by Linbeck. Fisher said the current situation at Foster is similar to the parking troubles created during the construction of the Tom Brown/Pete Wright Residential Community. "It's just like when we had to close down South Drive," he said. "(Students) just have to find somewhere else to park." Since Foster will not be open during the renovation, Waits Hall Director Bevin Kurtz said about 200 less students will be vying for the parking spaces on York Drive. Amanda Musterman, a senior religion and sociology major, said despite the 24 less parking spaces, the 200 fewer Foster residents will actually make parking better around the women's residence halls. "I don't think parking should be a problem for students in this area," she said. "There are plenty of spots next to Waits and on the street by the University Christian Church." Jeneille Averett, a junior music education major, said parking may be a problem for students on the weekends. TCU's weekend parking policy allows all students with parking permits to park in reserved and faculty spaces, as well as the spaces set aside for upper-class students during the week. "When the underclassmen are permitted to park on campus, it is always difficult to find a spot," she said. "With less parking around the women's dorms, parking will be worse." One parking space unaffected by the Foster renovations is the Jarvis Hall director space. Although the space is currently fenced off, Assistant Chief of Police J.C. Williams said he will relocate the spot. "Right now I'm leaning toward moving the space to one of the 30-minute spaces in front of the Student Center," he said. Liz Louden, Jarvis hall director, said the final decision on the parking space change should come early this week.
Rusty Simmons |
Dottie Cruz, former Foster Hall director and current Wiggins
Hall director, said students received several letters informing them of
the renovations and had plenty of time to decide where they wanted to live.
Most Foster residents were placed where they wanted for the spring, she
said. 
Provost William Koehler said the programs will cater to
two different types of business professionals.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |