Minority students focus of admissions’ goals
Minority, transfer enrollment up in TCU’s largest freshman class

By Erin Munger
staff reporter

Minority freshman and transfer enrollment increased by 26.4 percent this fall, increasing their representation from 15.5 percent of new students in 1999 to 18.3 percent in 2000, according to Institutional Research.

Don Mills, vice chancellor of student affairs, said one way TCU is increasing minority numbers is by targeting ethnically diverse high schools in the Fort Worth area.

“It is our feeling that as we acquire minority students, TCU will pass to others by word of mouth,” Mills said.

Documents from Institutional Research also show that 246 students or 16.48 percent of entering freshmen are minority students for the fall 2000 semester, compared to 196 students or 13.74 percent last fall and 157 students or 11.24 percent in the fall of 1998.

This year’s freshman class of 1,493 students, the largest in TCU history, grew by 67 students since last fall and 76 students since fall 1998, according to documents from Institutional Research.

TCU saw about a 12 percent increase in minority student applications this fall, said Cornell Thomas, special assistant to the chancellor for diversity and community at TCU.

Transfer enrollment for the fall 2000 semester is 440, up 64 students since last fall and 121 students since fall 1998, according to Institutional Research. The documents from Institutional Research also show that 108 students or 24.55 percent of the transfers are minority students, compared to 84 students or 22.34 percent last fall and 52 students or 16.3 percent in the fall of 1998.

The final count of retained students, including minority statistics, will be ready in November according to Susan Campbell, director of Institutional Research.

Campbell said the November date is necessary because the department is short staffed. Recently, her co-worker of several years left her with an assistant who has only been there for three weeks, she said.
Campbell did give an estimate of 7,780 students for the overall head-count.

Jim Atwood, assistant to the dean of admissions, said the admissions goal for freshmen was 1,450. Admissions had a waiting list of about 150 potential students, and only a few of those were admitted, Atwood said.

“Unfortunately, we can’t admit every good student,” Atwood said.

He said that the goal for next year will also be about 1,450.

“The quality of transfer students is going up with the number of transfer students,” Atwood said. “They are coming in with an average of 3.5 GPAs.”

Staff reporters Michael Davis and Emily Ward contributed to this story.

Erin Munger
erebm@netscape.com

Different recruitment strategies considered to increase diversity

By Emily Ward
staff reporter

Going above and beyond current recruitment strategies is the key to increasing future minority enrollment and diversity on the TCU campus, said Raymond Brown, dean of admissions at TCU.

TCU reached another high this fall in its minority numbers for the freshman class, but each new year the percentage of minority students is not guaranteed to stay constant or grow, he said. Minority enrollment has to keep increasing as it has for the past few years, he said.

There is no silver bullet — no one thing — that will help attract more minorities to this university, so TCU will focus on several little improvements in recruiting these students, Brown said.

A labor-intensive mentor program is one device Brown said he hopes to implement in order to encourage more minority students to consider TCU.

In this program, a volunteer minority student enrolled at TCU is paired with a prospective TCU student who is also a minority. After prospective students are contacted by letter and phone, they can visit campus, stay overnight with their mentors and even attend classes to get a feel for what college life is like.

By this spring, TCU minority students will be contacted about volunteering for the program, he said.

Programs like this, however, are not the only thing TCU needs to attract more minorities, Brown said. It’s vital for prospective minority students to see that TCU is more diverse than meets the eye, he said.

“I am a firm believer that diversity has to do not only with the color of a person’s skin,” Brown said. “But I am also a big believer that those with different colors of skin provide a lot of the diversity at TCU.”

Although TCU may not always appear to be a diverse community, different beliefs, thoughts and perspectives are what help contributes to the university’s wide variety of people, said Cornell Thomas, special assistant to the chancellor for diversity and community at TCU.

“I think diversity is where everybody can be themselves and benefit TCU by sharing their different perspectives,” Thomas said.

Diversity is not one-dimensional, Thomas said. To some people, differences can come from religion, race, disabilities or regional backgrounds, he said, but it is really about differences in perspectives.

Various intercultural organizations and programs offered at TCU help make it a more diverse community, said Darron Turner, director of intercultural education and services at TCU.

From the Organization of Latin American Students to the Word of Truth Gospel Choir, international and minority students have many opportunities to get involved and share their perspectives, he said.

Emily E. Ward
e.e.ward@student.tcu.edu

House promotes, educates students on voting process
Booth in Student Center provides registration information for students

By Kristina Iodice
staff reporter

Two hundred thirty-seven students have registered to vote or asked for more information as the House of Student Representatives’ voter registration campaign enters its last day. The House is sponsoring a table with voter registration cards and absentee ballot information from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in the Student Center.

Scott Hinze, a junior radio-TV-film major, said students lack interest in voting.

“They don’t think any election will affect them directly,” Hinze said.

He said it would be too late to register for the elections if he didn’t register this week. It is important to vote but not voting also sends a message to elected officials, Hinze said.

Encouraging voter registration educates students to be responsible citizens, said Brian Casebolt, the Academic Affairs Committee chairman for the House of Student Representatives. Over 100 students registered to vote and inquired about the absentee ballot option Monday, the first day the House sponsored the table in the Student Center.

The Academic Affairs Committee wants as many people as possible to register and get information, Casebolt said.

Casebolt said he is excited about the turnout so far. Students are actively seeking more information from House members, he said.

“Voting is not only our Constitutional duty, it’s a right that should be used as an instrument to tell those who represent us whether they are or are not doing the job we initially elected them to office to do,” he said.

Casebolt said the college generation is politically apathetic, but students could accomplish a lot collectively, he said.

The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18 in 1971. The argument was if students were old enough to fight and die in the Vietnam War, they were old enough to vote, said James Riddlesperger, chairman of the political science department. Ever since the voting age was lowered, the lowest voter turnout has consistently been the 18 to 21 age bracket.

“College students don’t feel they have as big a stake in government as older citizens,” Riddlesperger said. “They are not yet in the habit of voting.”

He said the only other age bracket with lower voter turnout rates is 85 years or older.

“The health of the government is no stronger than the interest people show in it,” Riddlesperger said.

Politicians have adjusted to the fact students don’t have a high voter turnout, he said. Since students don’t vote, they are not targeted in campaigns.

“It is not my job to be a cheerleader for voting,” Riddlesperger said. “People should see voting as an expression of support for self governance.”

It is an essential part of democracy that the public participate, he said.

In November, election polls will be set up across the street from TCU in the University Christian Church, Casebolt said.

Kristina Iodice
k.k.iodice@student.tcu.edu

Bill to restructure SGA executive portion tabled Proposal to change secretary, vice president positions

By Kristina Iodice
staff reporter

After 45 minutes of debate over a bill to change the structure of the executive portion of the Student Government Association Tuesday, House of Student Representatives voted to table it for further discussion next week.

The bill was introduced to House Sept. 26 by Cye Fischer, a senior history major and Tom Brown-Pete Wright Residential Community representative. Following procedure, the bill was tabled to the Elections and Regulation Committee to read carefully and make sure everything was in order, said Brian Becker, chairman of Elections and Regulations. Committee members then approved the bill and presented it back to House.

Melissa Nabors, director of programming and development for Programming Council, spoke in favor of the bill. PC serves students just as much and is more visible than House, she said.

“I’ve seen SGA at its best and at its worst,” Nabors said. “The new proposal gives (PC) autonomy and equality in SGA.”

According to the proposed organizational chart, the secretary position would be eliminated and the vice president positions in House and Programming Council would be changed to Executive Directors. A new executive office, the SGA Vice President, would be the eyes and ears of the president for PC and House. The president would then have more freedom to focus on external issues like communicating with the administration, Fischer said.

This bill creates the best opportunity for more autonomy and power, and better communication between House and PC makes SGA a little better organized, said SGA Secretary Jason Cordova.

Nabors said miscommunication within SGA makes it hard to accomplish things. With a central vice president, communication should improve, she said.

Election requirements would also change under the new bill. GPA requirements for executive positions in SGA will increase from 2.5 to 2.75. All executive officers are currently required to have 30 hours completed except for the SGA president, who is required to have 60 completed hours, Becker said. Under the new bill, the president must have junior standing and all other executive officers must have sophomore standing, as defined by the university at the time of elections, he said.

Sara Donaldson, vice president of House, said she didn’t like the fact that the bill was presented to House in such a short time frame.

“This is too big an issue to address lightly,” Donaldson said. “I question why it is such an issue to get it passed before the election.”

House reorganized and refined its responsibilities last year. Larry Markley, director of the Student Center and House advisor, said a bill proposing additional structural changes needs more time.

“This has not given the reorganization the opportunity to work or not to work,” he said.

Fischer said he believes the changes are straight forward and for the better. The changes reorganize SGA and not House, he said.

“If we have a better idea of the big picture (then) the student body benefits,” Fischer said. “I hope everyone does take the time to read through it and ask questions.”

Grant Hewitt, a freshman political science major and Moncrief Hall representative, said the bill was a good piece of legislation but spoke against the bill during the meeting.

“We need to make sure the present system works and make sure we’re doing the right thing,” he said.

Sarah Burleson, a senior political science major, was the vice president of House last year. She said there is a huge demand on the president’s time and everyone has the best intentions for the students at heart.

“I think it remains the president’s job to be the liaison between the branches, and one vice president could distance the president from the rest of SGA,” Burleson said.

Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Don Mills said the way House and SGA are organized is up to the students.

“Students really need to look at the structure of House and make their own decisions known to the (university) administration,” he said.

If House approves the bill by a two-thirds majority vote the bill will be presented to the student body for a vote, Cordova said. The student body also needs to approve the bill by a two-thirds majority. If the bill passes it will take effect for the upcoming SGA elections, Cordova said.

“I don’t want to see another year passed without improvements,” Cordova said.

Kristina Iodice
k.k.iodice@student.tcu.edu

Cooper speaks on depression
Says support, help is needed

By Michael Davis
staff reporter

Andrea Cooper encouraged an audience of about 900 in Ed Landreth Hall Auditorium Tuesday night to offer shelter, patience and encouragement to those suffering from depression.

Cooper is the mother of Kristin Cooper, the Baker University student who committed suicide New Year’s Eve 1995 as a result of her rape-induced depression. The speech was titled “Kristin’s Story: A mother’s account of acquaintance rape and depression.”

Erin Munger/STAFF REPORTER Andrea Cooper delivers “Kristin’s Story: A mother’s account of acquaintance rape and depression” last night in Ed Landreth Hall Auditorium.

“If only Kristen had reached out for help I know she would be alive today,” Andrea Cooper said.

Andrea Cooper, a Delta Delta Delta alumna, is sponsored by the Tri-Delt and Alpha Chi Omega sororities, who will fund 20 of her speaking engagements. She began speaking to individual chapters in her home state of Colorado in 1998.

Cooper has dedicated much of her time to speaking at colleges around the country in an attempt to raise awareness of rape and encourage victims of depression to seek help. She said she hopes to speak at 56 colleges this year.

“There are two choices you can make if something bad happens,” she said Monday. “You can crawl into a hole or try to make a difference. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.”

During the speech, she said men must be prepared to deal with and help support women who have been raped because one in four college women are victims of rape or attempted rape.

“Unfortunately, you may be the only contact to help your friend,” she said. “Men, you can help the women in your life so much. You can’t force people into counseling, but you can go in and ask a professional how to help them.”

Andrea Cooper said people should also fight the stigma of counseling.

“People object to taking an (anti-depression) pill,” she said. “There is nothing wrong with it.”

Andrea Cooper said she was relieved to see Kristin’s car in the driveway as she and her husband arrived home from a New Year’s eve party at around 2 a.m.

“I was surprised,” Andrea Cooper said. “When we walked in the house all the lights were on, and the music was just blasting.”

She found Kristin slumped over in front of the stereo, Andrea Cooper said.

“As I got close it looked like she was not breathing,” Andrea Cooper said. “I felt a horrible panic. I walked over to her, and I saw a gun between her legs.”

Andrea Cooper believed Kristin had committed suicide because her boyfriend had broken up with her. They later discovered she had been raped after police analyzed Kristin’s journal.

“She never named the man, date or place in her journal,” Andrea Cooper said.

She never confided in her parents because she feared their reaction, Kristin wrote in her journal.
“My mom would get hysterical and my dad would kill the guy,” Kristin wrote.

Without Kristin’s testimony, the police were unable to file charges against the man. But Andrea Cooper did write the man a letter after discovering his identity through Kristin’s friends.

“I hope it made a difference in his life,” she said.

Andrea Cooper said her daughter exhibited classic signs of depression. Kristin was irritable, unable to sleep, her grades dropped and she suffered from chronic aches and pains.

“If she was living at home, I would have realized it,” Andrea Cooper said. “But Kristin was able to mask her depression for the short periods she was home.”

Neilson Arbour, a junior finance major, said he wished everyone could have heard the speech.

“Of all the speakers I have seen (at TCU) she is one of the top three,” he said. “Nobody wants to talk about it (depression).”

Laura Umstatd, a junior biology major, said the presentation was frightening because it could happen to anyone.

Andrea Cooper described her college presentations as emotionally draining.

“It is difficult to relive the event over and over, but it is also healing,” she said.

Michael Davis
m.s.davis@student.tcu.edu

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