By Victor Drabicky staff reporter Less than a year ago, freshman psychology major Tiffany Ayler, her mother and doctors were racing to keep the cancer in her mother's breast from spreading. This Saturday, they will help keep others from going through the same suffering they experienced. "It's really emotional when you don't know if you will survive or not," Ayler said. "Luckily, my mom was able to beat the disease, and she is now in remission." The five-kilometer Komen Race for the Cure is hosted by the Tarrant County affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and is sponsored by several local businesses. It is expected to bring more than 12,000 women to Amon Carter Stadium early Saturday morning, Race Chairwoman Rozanne Rosenthal said. The event was moved to campus because of last week's F-2 tornado that destroyed most of downtown. "This will be the first time in the race's seven-year history in Tarrant County that the race will not be in downtown," Rosenthal said. Although the 8:30 a.m. race is for women only, anyone may participate in the 8 a.m., one-mile Fun Run. Preregistration takes place today and Friday at particular stores in area malls and costs $20, but race-day registration, which occurs from 6:30 to 7:45 a.m. Saturday, costs $25. The race, which is also the Zeta Tau Alpha's philanthropy project, is expected to raise more than $500,000 for breast cancer awareness and research. Zeta president Lisette Gerch, a sophomore business major, said she is excited about the amount of time the Zetas are volunteering to help with the race. "We have a bunch of girls that are going to be up at 6 a.m. to help set up for the event, and there are about 50 more actually running in the race," Gerch said. "I know the race will be special for some of the girls because they are going to be running with their mothers, who have survived the disease." In addition to the race, the Zetas' Mother's Weekend celebration is also scheduled to take place this weekend, Zeta Service Chairwoman Kara King said. "We deliberately scheduled Mother's Weekend and the race for the same weekend," King said. "By scheduling the race the same weekend as Mother's Weekend, we have given people a chance to do something special with their mothers and have given them an opportunity to bond with their mothers and support a good cause." Ayler said she is grateful she will get to spend the weekend and run the race with her mother. "My mother and I will actually be starting a tradition this weekend," Ayler said. "My mom and I are going to meet every fall to run in the Dallas Race for the Cure. Then, every spring, we will run in the one in Fort Worth together, too." Ayler said she still remembers first finding out her mother had the disease. "I actually had to take my mom to the hospital for her biopsy," Ayler said. "The operation wasn't completely successful, so she had to go back for a second time. Luckily, all the cancerous tissue was removed the second time, and my mom is now in remission." Rosenthal said stories like Ayler's act as an inspiration to others. "It's great to hear survivor stories," Rosenthal said. "A lot of the racers will be wearing tags with survivors' names on them. Unfortunately, there will also be a lot of people wearing tags in memory of people that lost their fight with cancer." Ayler said her mother was lucky that she survived the disease. "My mother, luckily, caught the disease early, and doctors were able to treat it," Ayler said. "I just know that the race this weekend is going to be special for a lot of people. I know it will always be special to my mother and me." For more information about Saturday's race, log on to the Race for the Cure Web site at (http://www.tarrantraceforthecure.org).
Victor Drabicky
By Priya Abraham staff reporter The Tenure, Promotion and Grievance Committee will recommend more training and administrative support for department heads when it gives its report at the Faculty Senate meeting today. Sally Fortenberry, chairwoman of the committee, said a survey of department heads showed their biggest concerns were a lack of training for planning budgets and reviewing faculty, too much paperwork from the administration and not enough time to complete duties. "There's a frustration that you can only work so many hours a week and it never seems to get completed," said Fortenberry, chairwoman of the department of design, merchandising and textiles. "I could be at TCU in my office probably 14 or 15 hours a day and still not get (everything done)." The report recommends initial and periodic training for department heads, a yearly meeting with a consultant and the college dean to eliminate inefficiencies and increasing stipends from $3,000 to $6,000. An administrative assistant assigned exclusively to the chair was also recommended. Carol Thompson, chairwoman of the department of sociology and criminal justice, said the recommendation for greater administrative support is most important to her. She said her assistant is responsible for 21 faculty members, leaving work like planning fall schedules up to Thompson. "At least half of my time is spent doing administrative work," she said. "Even if I had my own assistant it would still be incredibly difficult. I would be happy with just half a person." She said because of the large workload, the teaching and research of department heads suffer. "It's a very important job," she said. "We're really the ones who keep the ship afloat. One of the reasons we might not be supported to a greater extent is because we rise to the occasion - we get it done." In other business, the Faculty Governance Committee will recommend in its report that the current level of interaction between the Faculty Senate and Board of Trustees remains the same. The committee contacted six comparable universities and found the interaction ranged from the senate chair as a voting member of the Board of Trustees at Southern Methodist University to having no contact between the two at Rice University. Other universities contacted were Tulane, Baylor, Vanderbilt and Duke. "Our level of contact at this point is very good (and) the atmosphere is good," said Clayton Brown, chairman of the committee. "This doesn't mean it won't change in the future - it's just right now things seem to be OK." TCU's Faculty Senate Executive Committee meets with the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees at all three board meetings. The senate chair also addresses the whole board at its meetings. The Faculty Governance Committee will also recommend three new senate committees be created to give faculty advising to the vice-chancellors of university advancement, student affairs and administrative services. Susan Adams, associate vice-chancellor and dean of campus life, will present proposed changes to TCU's sexual harassment policy. She said the policy has been edited for clarity and to meet current standards. The only major revision is that people may file a complaint "as soon as possible" instead of within four months, she said.
Priya Abraham
By Jaime Walker staff reporter Armed with letters of intent and colorful bulletin boards displaying the happy faces of students in their district, school district recruiters from around the state gathered Wednesday in the Student Center Ballroom, prepared to compete for job applicants the way TCU admissions officers bid for high school seniors. "We may not get anyone today, but the market is so competitive that we need to provide every incentive we can think of to bring people into the school," said Sue Sansom, associate superintendent of personnel for the Judson Independent School district. School districts in Texas are looking to fill 74,000 slots next year alone. But colleges and universities in the state will only produce 15,000 new, certified teachers, said Dale Young, director of Career Services for the School of Education. Unlike her friends in other fields, Laurie Smith, a senior education major, can say she will easily find a job. "School districts everywhere are crying for teachers, so it's really nice to know that wherever I go, I will be teaching," she said. "Although I may not make as much money as some of my friends, I will make a difference, and right now, my job is in high demand. What more can you ask for?"
Young said students who go through TCU to become certified teachers tend to have an edge over students from other universities. The teacher shortage makes TCU students even more desirable, he said. "At TCU, we don't just send our graduates out because there is a need," Young said. "We offer programing that prepares our students to be great, skilled professionals, and that puts them even further ahead of the rest." Sansom said she enjoys interviewing TCU students because she knows they are ready, both mentally and emotionally, to be teachers. "If there is one thing I know about most of these students, it's that they have what it takes to be outstandingly successful," she said. "They really want to be teachers, and they are skilled communicators." Sansom said not everyone is destined to be a teacher, but anyone who thinks they want to serve people should consider it. "Teaching is one profession where you know you will make a difference," she said. "If you want to impact others, teaching is it." Smith said her experiences in the School of Education gave her the tools she needs to be a teacher, but her own personal experiences were also a key factor in her decision. "I can't think of anything more rewarding than being a teacher," she said. "All of us have had those teachers we never forget and then the ones that we really wanted to. I want to be one of those that people remember." Although students wishing to major in education cannot enter the School of Education until they have completed 54 hours of core classes, once they do, they learn what it takes to teach in a variety of environments, Young said. "Our students are required to complete several hours of observations," he said. "We make sure to send them to all kinds of neighborhoods. That way, they can see not only what it's like to be in the classroom but can find out what interests them most." The School of Education also requires its students to take courses which are designed to help them understand the challenges of an increasingly diverse school population, Young said. "Our students are even more marketable because they have taken classes focusing on special education, English as a second language and teaching math and science," he said. "In fact, in some cases, recruiters offer salary bonuses for those skills." The school offers a 3-2 program, which is designed for students who are particularly interested in secondary education. It allows them to complete a bachelor's degree in a subject area and a master's degree in education in five years, he said. "We have 22 people in the program right now," Young said. "The great thing about it is that students get the best of both worlds." For Smith, who will be graduating in May, today's career fair was a great opportunity to experience the interview process, but she is looking ahead to the School of Education's Metroplex Job Fair on April 26. "From what I hear, that is the fair where some of us will leave with a job," she said. "I am keeping my options open but hoping for success in a couple of weeks."
Jaime Walker |
The average starting teacher salary is $32,000,
and it is rising each year, according to reports released online by the
National Education Association. With NEA research showing that more teachers
are retiring than at any point since World War II, educators nationwide
hope strong insurance programs, personal laptop computers and the good
time off will bring more college graduates into the field of teaching.
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