Accident won’t prompt more safety plans
Measures taken last year improved pedestrian
safety, officials say
By Elise Rambaud
staff reporter
After a student was hit by a car Tuesday morning in the crosswalk of Stadium Drive, university officials and Fort Worth traffic engineers said no immediate pedestrian safety measures will be taken on Stadium.
Vehicle and pedestrian interaction on University Drive has been curbed with the addition of a new 25 mph pedestrian speed zone, right-turn restrictions from Bowie and Princeton streets to University, advanced pedestrian warnings and more visible crosswalks.
Unlike University, students crossing Stadium face four lanes of continuous traffic, without a median or crossing signal.
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Sarah Kirschberg/CO-PHOTO EDITOR
Tim Salas, a sophomore business major, crosses Stadium Drive on his way back from a class Wednesday night. A student was hit while crossing the street Tuesday, and questions have arisen regarding the safety of pedestrians on campus. |
Edd Bivin, vice chancellor of administrative services, said four-way stops and crosswalks were placed between Bellaire and West Cantey streets after Stadium was evaluated by the Fort Worth Traffic and Public Works Department last year.
Efforts to break down traffic on Stadium have been sufficient and effective, Bivin said.
Tuesday’s accident occurred when a car turning north onto Stadium hit a student as she was crossing from the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum parking lot to the Rickel Building. She was taken to Harris Methodist Hospital and was released the same day.
The student’s identity was not made available by the Fort Worth or TCU police departments and Mike Russel, associate dean of Campus Life, would not release her name.
Don Mills, vice chancellor for Student Affairs, said pedestrian safety on Stadium has not been a problem in the past. Two incidents of pedestrian/auto injury on University have been reported in the past two years.
In October 1998, Nancy Grieser, coordinator of housing assignments, was injured when she was hit by a pickup truck turning left off of Princeton onto University.
“The changes made to University Drive have been a positive action and a great improvement to the safety of pedestrians,” Grieser said.
J.C. Williams, assistant chief of TCU Police, said just because a crosswalk or a signal is provided doesn’t mean students will use them.
“Patrolling officers frequently see preoccupied students that are not paying attention to oncoming traffic (when) crossing the street,” he said.
Meghan Foster, a sophomore psychology major said drivers and pedestrians have a responsibility to ensure safety.
“Sometimes students crossing the streets are just as reckless as speeding drivers,” Foster said.
Jamie Tindall, a sophomore kinesiology major, said people won’t get hit if they are careful.
“We’re in college,” she said. “Do we really need someone to hold our hands before we cross the street?”
Elise Rambaud
e.j.rambaud@student.tcu.edu
Enhancing expectations
TCU to offer higher learning for educational
leadership
By Erin Munger
staff reporter
TCU will join the ranks of Stanford University and Columbia University, New York, when it creates a new program to allow students to graduate with an MBA and Ph.D. in educational leadership.
Sam Deitz, dean of the School of Education, said he is joining with Robert Lusch, dean of the M.J. Neeley School of Business, to create a program that will prepare students for positions such as school superintendents and heads of educational systems.
“A lot of school districts have recently hired people with a business education for managerial positions,” Deitz said.
Deitz said he foresees an elite four-year to six-year program that will
have no more than five students admitted a year. He only knows of two
other universities that have such a program, Stanford and Columbia.
“We’ll take the middle of the country,” Deitz said.
Deitz said the program will begin with a board of 10 advisers that will help formulate the curriculum.
Fort Worth Independent School District Superintendent Thomas Tocco and William Weitzel, chief executive officer for Oklahoma City public schools, are two advisers involved in the project, Deitz said.
By tying the business and education aspects together, a specialization in the field is created, he said.
“I think the program will bring in a new kind of person who looks specifically at being an educational leader,” Deitz said.
He also said large city school systems are having problems finding superintendents, and this program will give them a direct source to pull from.
The liaisons between the M.J. Neeley School of Business and the School of Education are Mike Sacken, interim chairman of educational foundations and administration, and Tonia Florence Walker, a faculty member of the School of Education. Walker offers informative views to the project, because she had experience in the similar program at Columbia, Sacken said.
He said he has his first meeting with the MBA program office today, where he plans to suggest a program that will begin with a normal MBA program and incorporate doctoral work in educational leadership after about three semesters. His program idea requires summer school and doctoral work for one year after the MBA portion of the program is complete.
Sacken said the program will allow the schools to concentrate on all the areas that overlap between the fields of education and business.
“A graduate of this program might work as a superintendent or someone who sets policies for school systems,” Sacken said.
Deitz said all the work on the program will be done this year, but he does not think the program will be ready for student admission next fall. Since the MBA program only begins in the fall, the combined MBA and Ph.D. program will not begin until the fall of 2002.
In addition to the program with the business school, Deitz said he and the faculty of the School of Education plan to integrate the school with various other programs on campus.
The School of Education’s recently developed vision statement projects a way in which virtually every program on campus could enhance their experience by participating in programs in the School of Education.
The school’s new mission statement — to develop effective, ethical educators with a passion for learning — also serves as a guideline for future projects.
To accomplish both the mission and vision statements, the school needs
a new complex, Deitz said.
He said the projected education complex would ideally have updated technology
that would enable a better learning, teaching and researching environment.
The complex would also be centered around children, incorporating the Rise School, Starpoint School, gifted children and an on-campus day care center with the undergraduate and graduate programs, Deitz said.
The complex is one of the top priorities among new buildings to be constructed after the Student Center, Waits and Milton Daniel halls and the Rickel Building are renovated.
Erin Munger
erebm@netscape.com
Speaker tries to remove stereotypes about religion
By Yvette Herrera
staff reporter
Awais Mazhar, president of the Muslim Student Association, said Sunday’s lecture by Imam Warith Deen Mohammed will remove certain stereotypes that students might have about religion.
Mohammed, leader of the American Muslim Society, will encourage the audience to fight prejudice in religion at 1 p.m. at Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium.
“(We) have to understand that society is not only black and white,” Mazhar said. “There is also a little bit of gray that we sometimes miss.”
The lecture, “Commonalities: A World View in Contemporary Comparative Religions,” is free.
In addition to leading 200,000 Muslims in America, Mohammed is a president of the World Conference on Religion and Peace. He has worked with religious leaders from around the world, including Pope John Paul II in 1999 at an Interfaith Conference with over 100,000 spectators.
Mohammed attended the Seventh World Assembly of the World Conference on Religion and Peace in Amman, Jordan last year, where he addressed racism issues facing the world.
Yushau Sodiq, associate professor of religious studies, said Mohammed’s lecture is important for all religious groups to attend because of the fighting in the Middle East and local racism in our community.
“We still have racism everywhere,” said Sodiq, faculty adviser of the Muslim Student Association.
Although MSA is not directly involved with Sunday’s lecture, the 10 members will attend.
Mazhar said TCU students don’t openly discuss religion.
“(Students) are blind about religion,” said Mazhar, a senior computer science major. “They’re more concerned with the color of your skin.”
Valena Brown, a freshman pre-major, said she plans on attending the lecture.
“I believe it’s important to accept all people and not hate
anyone for what they believe in,” Brown said.
The events are sponsored by the mosques Masjid Hassan Al-Islam, Dallas
Masjid of Al-Islam and Southwest Region masaajid.
Muhsin Shaheed, coordinator of the event, said the idea for racism in religion came about during a city council meeting when a discrimination act against gays was passed.
“We have to accept the fact that there is still racism in our community,” Shaheed said. “This event will show all religions coming together to fight racism.”
He said a variety of religious groups, as well as age groups, will attend the lecture on Sunday.
“Religion is the place where racism can stop,” Shaheed said. “By directly speaking to different religious groups about racism, we can prevent racism within them.”
Yvette Herrera
yvebex@yahoo.com
Going Global?
International Foundation sponsors student-led
forum
By Yvette Herrera
staff reporter
Globalization is closer to home than most people think.
A student-led discussion on the benefits and drawbacks of economic globalization, where countries’ economies are increasingly dependent upon one another, is being sponsored by the International Foundation at 8 p.m. today in the Student Center Lounge. The discussion, “Why Are They Rioting?” will address some of the reasons behind anti-capitalism protests all over the world, including recent demonstrations in Prague, Czech Republic.
The discussion will start with presentations from members of the International Foundation, which will lead to group discussion among the audience and a panel of members from the International Foundation. The presentations will cover current events concerning globalization, the roles of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization and the riots in Washington D.C., Seattle, Australia and the Czech Republic.
Trupti Desai, the president of the International Foundation, said the discussion will be a learning experience for students. Sometimes American students get so caught up with what’s happening in their everyday lives that they forget about international issues, she said.
“This will give students a chance to educate themselves about outside issues,” Desai said.
Economic globalization is only beneficial to the powerful economic countries and the elite and powerful in poorer countries said Samuel Rose, director of education and development for the foundation and a junior social work major. He said globalization not only affects third world countries, but it can also produce economic hardship in countries such as the United States.
Desai, like Rose, said the people who profit from economic globalization receive many benefits. However, there are other groups that feel the negative impacts of globalization, she said.
For example, Desai said, labor unions across the country are worried they might be out of jobs if the United States does decide to actively participate with the World Trade Organization.
The most recent anti-capitalism protests took place less than a month ago in Prague outside the offices of the IMF and the World Bank. Over 60 people were injured, as 10,000 activists smashed windows of a McDonald’s and a Mercedes-Benz dealership and screamed “smash the IMF”.
However, some people think globalization is not only a positive way of dealing with worldwide issues, but it is also a reality. James Riddlesperger, chair of the political science department, said we live in a world where our economies and political systems are linked.
“Globalization gives us a chance to learn about and appreciate other cultures,” Riddlesperger said. “The scary thing about it is that we sometimes have to confront things that we’re not familiar with.”
The foundation started last year with about 30 students who are actively
interested in international issues.
Rose said even though the organization was founded last year, there hasn’t
been any forums for students outside of the organization to attend.
Members from the foundation have been planning this event since last month. During the foundation’s meetings, members discuss current issues from around the world, and Rose said they wanted to open up one of their meetings to everyone.
The discussion will be organized in a manner in which everyone can participate, said John Singleton, the faculty advisor for the foundation.
Desai said the Student Center Lounge is a good place to have the discussion because it will bring in more students.
“It’s hard to draw in crowds because it’s such a broad subject and people don’t think it’ll affect them,” Desai said.
Yvette Herrera
yvebex@yahoo.com