2 | February 2, 2011

Opinion The Rambler | www.therambler.org

Pets on campus would require compromise

mum, and pets spayed or Manson also worked for Loui-
neutered. siana State University in Shreve-
Stephan Moritz Also, students who plan port, where they do allow pets in
Staff writer to bring their pets should on-campus housing.
srmoritz@mail.txwes.edu have to agree to complete a She said there, the dogs could
formal training course, and be no more than 20 pounds and
a new pet-friendly dorm there is a $300 pet deposit.
would have to be used only There are some students who
by students who wish to oppose the idea of having pets in
Fort Worth is quickly becoming live with or around cats and dogs. the dorms.
one of the biggest dog-friendly “I would do it, but it’s more im- Phillip Blocklinger, senior ex-
communities in the country. portant just to have the option,” ercise science major, said he is
Texas Wesleyan University said Lynsay Buell, freshman busi- against it.
could join the forefront of this ness and mass communications “I think dogs are noisy, espe-
movement by changing its poli- major. cially when students leave for
cy regarding dogs in on-campus Buell, who also plays on the class or to go out,” Blocklinger
housing. volleyball team, has five dogs at said. “I think they would tear up
According to their websites, her home in Ponder, Texas but the room.”
Texas Christian Universiy and would like her youngest puppy Dogs can certainly have this
the University of Texas at Arling- to come live with her in the West reputation follow them because
ton do not allow pets other than Village apartments. proper dog training is still an
fish. “I love living with my team, but emerging concept.
Not only would allowing pets I’d love just as much to have my The average dog owner does
in the residence halls at Wesley- puppy,” Buell said. not sign up for a training class on
an make living on campus more Sharon Manson, director of res- the first trip home with the pup.
comfortable for some students, idence life, lives on campus with If more owners were aware of
the policy could generate more her two dogs, Max and Mollie. the need for proper training,
popularity for the school and Each of her dogs is a Canine Good dogs would have a much better
thus, more revenue. Citizen as well as a Therapy Dog. reputation.
However, there are certain as- They have completed extensive Requiring students to take a for-
pects of the potential policy that formal training, and are an im- mal training class will reduce the
would need to be included. portant part of Manson’s life. amount of damage the pets cause.
The best situation would in- “If there was a choice between It would also get the dogs on track
clude a $500 pet deposit, weight the dogs and the job, I would’ve to becoming Canine Good Citi- Stephan Moritz | Rambler Staff
limitations of 30 pound maxi- chosen the dogs,” Manson said. zens just like Max and Mollie.

Super Bowl more about money than football

Hotel rates are criminal
and the cost of parking and
Barry Grubbs game tickets made me furi-
Opinion editor ous.
bgrubbs@mail.txwes.edu In the past five super
bowls, hotel rates on aver-
age have more than doubled
from the same week in the
previous year, and generally
So, you think you want to go to averaged more than $300 a night.
the super bowl this year. You better With just a little online research, I
be loaded, because Super Bowl XLV was able to discover the average rate
is projected to be the most expensive for rooms available since the match-
football game in history to attend. up was set on conference champion-
What I am really saying is that it ship weekend is more like $512. Most
will be the biggest rip-off in NFL his- of the rates will have doubled or tri-
tory. pled by the time this newspaper goes
There will still be 11 men on each to print.
side of the football at kick-off. As a Once you swallow the high price
matter of fact, the only difference of the room, you will be sickened to
between this game and any random learn that game parking can range
NFL contest you might have attended from $105 minimum to $1,250 for
before is the price you pay to be a part tail-gaters. Yes that is what it will cost
of it in person. to park your car for three hours at
Meisa Keivani Najafabadi | Rambler Staff
Cowboys Stadium. these are for one seat to see two teams
If you still have money in your play one football game. If money is
pocket after you get parked, you not an issue, you can get a suite for
might be surprised to learn that avail- yourself and your friends. The suites
able tickets will cost you between range from $165,900 for field suites to
$2,435 for nose bleed seats to $9,500 $603,900 for VIP suites. Wow.
in section C-134. I have said nothing about the cost of
To put the prices in perspective, airfare, meals and extras. Maybe visi-
you should know that tickets to the tors will rent a car while they are here.
first Super Bowl in 1967 cost $6. Yes, If so, you can count on spending
another $325 to $380 for four days
use of a full-size car.
There may be some other miscel-
laneous expenses for the average
super bowl fan, but my budget was
busted as soon as I arrived at the
$500 a night hotel.
The economy is down right? Obvi-
ously, not everyone is suffering equally.
Let’s face it — the super bowl is not
available to the average hard-working
sports fan. The NFL does not remem-
ber how loyal you were during the
regular season.
The league and the local greedy
hoteliers will make sure that only the
elite can see it live. Next season the
prices will rise again, and there is no
telling how high.
This situation is an insult to the av-
erage fan on a budget.
The good news is you still have
time to get your new flat screen up
and running before kick-off.

Vending customers What do you think about

Keorah Strain
Opinion editor
kcstrain@mail.txwes.edu
Most of the time when we
buy food from restaurants,
grocery stores and fast-food
places we don’t take the time
out to examine or view expi-
ration dates on the items we
buy or eat.
We are so trusting that we
put our health in the hands
of the manufacturer, believ-
ing what we are consuming
is safe.
So many are clueless and
need to open their eyes and
realize that the food market is
not as safe as we want it to be.
We must take responsibil-
ity for our own health and
be more cautious of what we
consume. I guess the question
is whether we are concerned
enough with contaminated
and expired food products
and our lives.
After personal experiences
with bad foods, I have found
myself constantly checking
every single thing I consume.
I will either smell it, examine
should read labels
before snacking
it or do a taste test before eat-
ing the whole thing. I have
a very weak immune system,
so I am careful to make sure
that I am giving my body the
proper nutrition in order to
remain healthy.
Although I make the effort
to check my foods, I some-
times forget. Two weeks ago
I bought donuts and a bag
of Cheetos from the vending
machine on the third floor
of Wesleyan’s administration
building.
I just wanted a quick snack
to relieve my hunger. When
I first bit into one of the do-
nuts, it had a bitter taste, so I
quickly spit it out.
I bit into a second donut
and that same bitter taste
conquered my mouth. I then
noticed the donuts had what
appeared to be spider webs
on them.
If that was not shocking
enough, I found that my bag
of Cheetos had an expiration
allowing pets in the dorms?
“ I think pets should be in the dorms because it teach-
es a good sense of responsibility”
date of February, 2007. - Kayla Mason, junior,psychology
This is why I cannot stress
enough how important it is to
be careful what you eat. Ob- “ I think that small pets in the dorm are O. K.
viously, the university needs I can definitely see why they wont let dogs in.”
to take the responsibility - Ashlie Sivley, freshman ,religion
for making sure all vending
machines on campus have
snacks that are safe to eat.
This was not such an iso- “ I don’t think you should be allowed to have pets in
lated case on campus. About the dorms. I have really bad allergies.”
a week after I had this expe- - Ben Tatner, freshman,theatre
rience, I learned that another
student bought the same ex-
pired donuts from the same “ I think pets aren’t allowed in the dorms because they
vending machine. are loud, and they might be distracting to roommates”
How many more incidents - Arturo Calderon, freshman,chemistry
will we have before university
officials realize that expired
food in their vending ma-
“ I think pets should be allowed because people have
chines is not acceptable?
really special relationships with their pets.”
This issue needs to be han-
- Brittany Adelstein, freshman,theatre
dled immediately. As a stu-
dent at Wesleyan, I admit this
is a great campus with only
a few errors that need to be “ Pets should not be allowed in the dorms because
corrected. The vending ma- they tend to be destructive.”
chine issue is one of them. - Lisa Wilks, Payroll specialist

The Rambler
Shauna Banks, editor-in-chief
Barry Grubbs, opinion editor
Eliana Mijangos, sports editor
Meisa Keivani Najafabadi, photo editor
Stephanie Mejia arts & entertainment editor
Jonathan Resendez, multimedia editor
Erica Estrada, graphic designer/cartoonist
Wendy Moore, faculty adviser
Dr. Kay Colley, faculty liaison
Member of the Texas Inter-
“We are not afraid to follow the truth ...
collegiate Press Association,
wherever it may lead.”
Associated Collegiate Press,
— Thomas Jefferson
Student Press Law Center,
Address all correspondence to: College Media Advisers and
College Newspaper Business
Texas Wesleyan University
and Advertising Managers.
The Rambler
1201 Wesleyan St.
Opinions expressed in The
Fort Worth, TX 76105 Rambler are those of the indi-
twurambler@yahoo.com
vidual authors only and do not
(817) 531-7552 necessarily reflect the views of
Advertising Inquiries:
the Texas Wesleyan community
(817) 532-6525 as a whole.
R ambler Contribution
Please send all news briefs to
twurambler@yahoo.com. Sub-
missions due by noon Friday
to see brief in the following
week’s issue.
Letters to the editor: The
Rambler, a weekly publication,
welcomes all letters. All submis-
sions must have a full printed
name, phone number and sig-
nature. While every consider-
ation is made to publish letters,
publication is limited by time
and space.
The editors reserve the right to
edit all submissions for space,
grammar, clarity and style.
Letters to the editor may be
subject to response from editors
and students on the opinion
page.