By Rusty Simmons staff reporter In high school, Marshawn Evans' teachers told her she was not smart enough to take advanced courses, but she vowed not to succumb to the low expectations. Evans, a junior political science major, was presented with a $30,000 scholarship Thursday from the Harry S. Truman Foundation. The Truman scholarship was given to 75 students nationwide to assist those who are seeking careers in the government or other public service arenas, Chancellor Michael Ferrari said. "I realize this is not a Nobel Prize," Evans said. "But it means a lot to me." Carter Evans, Marshawn's father, said he was not surprised his daughter won the scholarship. "Marshawn has a very strong spiritual base," he said. Her father said the scholarship was just another blessing of the good and valuable things she does for kids. Marshawn Evans said, "I give all the praise and honor to Jesus Christ." She has traveled across the United States as a guest speaker and presenter for national youth crime prevention conferences. She is a member of Gov. George W. Bush's Advisory Board and created America's Children Achieving Now.
Scholarship recipients are determined in four stages, said Louis Blair, executive secretary for the Truman Foundation. They include a nomination by a faculty representative, an application by the student, three letters of recommendation and an interview discussing the student's application. As part of the application, a student must make a policy proposal. Marshawn Evans proposed transferring juveniles from the adult court system to a juvenile program. She sent the proposal to the U.S. Justice Department and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. "I've seen firsthand the effectiveness of second chances," Marshawn Evans said. "Adult prisons don't give them the intervention they need." Marshawn Evans said her policy is based on trying to prevent juveniles from losing opportunities because of past choices. She said juveniles should not be put in adult prisons, and their records should be sealed. "We must use our past as a springboard, not a hammock," she said.
The Board of Trustees for the Truman Foundation chose Marshawn Evans as one of 200 students to be interviewed. Marshawn Evans had a mock interview with Don Jackson, political science chairman and Truman Foundation faculty representative, to prepare her for the board's interview. "Don Jackson has been a mentor throughout this, and he has offered guidance," Marshawn Evans said. Carter Evans said he thought his daughter had a good chance of winning the scholarship when it got to the interview stage because she was always a good speaker. "In elementary school, she got in trouble for talking too much sometimes," he said. "We knew then that we had to channel that energy into something positive, and this is an example of the positive." Marshawn Evans said her experiences in the Miss Texas pageant also prepared her for the board's questions about her desire not to send juveniles to adult prisons in light of the horrific school shootings. "I think just sending kids to jail continues the cycle," she said. "People that go to adult jails re-offend at a higher rate." Marshawn Evans said she plans to attend law school at either Northwestern University or Yale University.
Rusty Simmons
By Kathryn Garcia staff reporter Eleven social work majors are organizing a free seminar focusing on sexual abuse from 8:45 to 11 a.m. Saturday in Moudy Building North. The seminar is titled "No Excuse for Sexual Abuse: Get Aware and Care." "We want everyone to understand that sexual abuse is a very serious issue, and that there is no excuse for it," said Christen Grimsley, a junior social work major and one of the organizers of the seminar. About 27 percent of college women reported having a sexual experience that met the legal definition of rape or attempted rape since the age of 14. About 7 percent of college men reported perpetuating aggressive behavior that met the legal definition of rape, according to the Family and Intimate Violence Prevention Team's Web site. Four workshops, two of which can be chosen by participants, will be offered at the seminar. The workshops include, "Educating Educators," "Being a Friend," "Where was God?" and "Breaking the Silence." At the "Educating Educators" workshop, Alan Detlaff from Child Protective Services will teach about sexual abuse and how educators can recognize it in students, Grimsley said. "This workshop is especially good for education majors, but it would benefit anyone interested in the Fort Worth community," she said. Monica Kintigh, a licensed professional counselor at the Counseling Center, will be speaking at the "Being a Friend" workshop, where she will discuss different ways to respond when a friend tries to talk about his or her experiences with abuse. "The best thing to do is be willing to listen to whatever they have to say and not to judge," Kintigh said. "You shouldn't push them to prosecute. That needs to come from them." Grimsley said the Rev. Laurie Feille from Arlington Heights Christian Church will speak at the "Where was God?" workshop. "It deals with the spirituality aspect of sexual abuse because so much emotions come with being abused," Grimsley said. Melissa Martin and Cindy Freeman of the Rape Crisis and Victim Services Program at the Women's Center of Tarrant County will be speaking at the "Breaking the Silence" workshop, said Diane Mayfield, coordinator of research and training for Rape Crisis. "They will be talking about how to handle disclosures, the emotional effects that victims of sexual abuse experience, stages of adjustment and the best way to respond,." Mayfield said. The social work students sponsored the seminar for a social work project in an upper-level class - Generalist Practice with Communities - taught by Linda Moore, an associate professor of social work.Moore, also chairwoman of the social work department, said the students in her class learn how to work in communities and access the community's needs. "They were assigned to do a project that demonstrated the skills they were learning and would benefit a group of more than two people," she said. Moore said she is not surprised by her students' decision to take on such a large project. "They're just go-getters," she said. "When they are concerned about an issue, they do something about it." Heather Ferra, a junior social work major, said her goal is to educate people on different issues of sexual abuse. "I want for people to become aware of sexual abuse and get help for those problems," she said. "I hope we make people aware of the different opportunities to join support groups and other places they can go for help, like the Counseling Center."
Kathryn Garcia
By Rusty Simmons staff reporter With the one-year anniversary of the last sexual assault on campus approaching, TCU Police Sgt. John Pachecko said he is worried people have let their guard down. During the height of sexual assaults around the campus between January and April, 1998, the TCU Police commenced a three-part plan to counteract the danger. The TCU Police increased patrol on streets adjacent to campus, where many of the assaultsoccurred, campus escort services were expanded and the Rape Aggression Defense program began. But almost a full school year has come and gone without any sexual assaults, and only eight women signed up to take the latest RAD classes. The classes, originally scheduled for Saturday and April 1, have been moved to April 17 through 19 to gain more participants, Assistant Safety Director Glen Payton said. "The whole dynamics of the class change when a lot of people are there," he said. "Last time, we had 25 people, and it was a really good session." The newly scheduled classes will be three hours a day in the Frog Fit room of the Rickel Building. Payton said the first two hours of class are devoted to a lecture on risk avoidance, which will teach women how to become aware of possibly dangerous situations and how to prevent them from occurring. The next seven hours are used to teach self-defense tactics and techniques, he said. "The women actually get to fight with an instructor for the last three hours of the class," Payton said. "The instructor wears those pads that everyone has seen that makes him look like a space alien." Payton said some self-defense courses teach women to scream, but RAD teaches them to yell while defending themselves. "Yelling comes from deeper down in the chest and involves simple commands like 'no,'" he said. "But survival is the only goal." All of the instructors are certified to teach the RAD program, and the participants receive a free workbook, which outlines the entire Defense Program for reference and continuous personal growth. The overall theory of the Defense Program is called "fight or flight," Payton said. "We believe the body's response (to assaults) is to do something," he said. "It is a natural instinct. We teach the women how to do both - (fight and flight). They have to get loose before they can run away." Senior physical education major Annette Kvamme participated in the RAD program during Fall 1998. "The simulations dealt with people unknown to you," she said. "One was someone breaking into your apartment while you are sleeping, and another one was someone attacking you from behind while you are walking. Then they taught us how to kick the attacker off." Women interested in participating in the RAD course can contact Payton at 257-7220.
Rusty Simmons
By Jeff Anderson staff reporter TCU housekeepers will wash cars Saturday and Sunday to raise money for TCU graduate Robbyn Kindle's transplant fund, housekeeping supervisors said earlier this week. Janett McTaggart, head assistant supervisor for Residential Services, said she wanted to do a fund-raiser since she first found out about Kindle's situation. "I had a dream about (Kindle) walking across the (graduation) stage," McTaggart said. "Everything was dark except a bright light on Robbyn. I woke up and decided I wanted to do something." Kindle is currently at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha awaiting a liver and small bowel transplant she needs to survive. The car wash will occur from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the driveway between Colby Hall and the Brown-Lupton Health Center. Anyone wanting to get their car washed, vacuumed, dried and air freshened can give a donation at that time.
"For all the hard work the housekeepers do and the lack of recognition they get, this is an extremely generous gesture on their part," Frederic said. "The least the students can could do is take advantage of the car wash." McTaggart said the supplies are being provided by Residential Services, and all donations will go toward Kindle's transplant. The housekeepers hope to raise at least $1,000 in donations from the car wash, she said. Julie Graver, service assistant for Residential Services, said the staff is very excited about the car wash. Everyone has been very supportive, she said. Some of the housekeepers wanted to help but could not donate money, she said. "We figured at least (the housekeepers) can donate time," Graver said. McTaggart said several TCU groundskeepers have shown interest and will help with the car wash. Some staff members are bringing their children to help out too, she said. Roger Fisher, director of Residential Services, said this is a housekeeper-sponsored event since the housekeepers came up with the idea. "The housekeeping staff really wanted to help Robbyn," Fisher said. He hopes to see several faculty and staff members bring their cars to be washed, he added. McTaggart said Fisher and the entire Residential Services staff has been very supportive of the car wash. "Residential Services is helping out in any way they can," McTaggart said.
Jeff Anderson
By Jill McNeal staff reporter Ten years of economic sanctions have killed more than half a million Iraqi children, and 250 more die each day, sophomore religion major Amanda Mahan said. Mahan is president of TCU Peace Action, which is sponsoring a presentation on Iraqi sanctions by G. Simon Harak at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the Student Center Lounge. The event is free of cost and open to the TCU and greater Fort Worth community. "Basically, the United Nations has banned all imports or exports from Iraq, meaning that the people there have not been able to receive food or medicine," Mahan said. "The initial goal was to force Saddam Hussein to relinquish his nuclear arms, but it has been 10 years, and the sanctions have clearly not been effective." Harak, a Jesuit priest and former university professor, has violated the sanctions by traveling to Iraq three times to bring medicine and toys into hospitals, said Daryl Schmidt, chairman of the religion department. Harak will include a video presentation from his trips, Schmidt said. "The Gulf War is long gone in most people's minds, but the sanctions continue," he said. "There has been an increasing movement recently that it is time to end them. Humanitarian aid must get through." Mahan said she is excited to hear about the issue from someone with first-hand knowledge. "(Harak) probably knows more than any other person about the situation in Iraq," she said. "He has devoted his life to this cause." Freshman premajor Lauren Tybor said she is going to hear Harak speak because she has always been concerned with humanitarian efforts and foreign policy. "I was taught growing up how important it is to care for humanity," she said. "We need to be exposed to these issues somewhere because we're not exposed to them in the news or at school." If TCU wants to prepare its students for the future, Mahan said they need to know how to communicate with people across the globe. "We need to be taught about who these people are and where they come from," she said. "I don't think TCU is doing this very effectively right now." Schmidt said the main goal of Harak's visit is to raise awareness. "TCU's new mission statement is supposedly to train ethical leaders for a global society," he said. "This implies not just sitting by but knowing what's going on in the world in order to make moral choices." Mahan said if nothing else, she hopes students see that there is a world outside of TCU that's not as pleasant as their own. "We're trying to bring the issue closer to home," she said. "These people are just like us, and we'd help them if they were just down the street." Postcards that can be sent to the U.S. government in protest of Iraqi sanctions will be available after the presentation, Mahan said. Harak is currently touring with his presentation, "Iraq: On the Ground, Behind the Headlines." He will be a guest on KERA radio 90.1 FM from 8 to 9 p.m. Friday, Schmidt said.
Jill McNeal |
America CAN! is a leadership development
program designed to teach youth to recognize and capitalize upon their
leadership potential in order to deter criminal activity, Marshawn Evans
said. She said the program concentrates on six Ds - desire, drive, determination,
dedication, diligence and discipline.
Marshawn Evans also said the prosecution should be limited
in its ability to try juveniles as adults, and juveniles should have the
ability to review the decision to be tried as adults. Money must continually
be put into programs to prevent juvenile crime, she said.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |