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Taxi Driver hauls Night Riders for Tuition Fare
CAMRON RUSHIN | Managing Editor

Dale Koplowitz’s tall, skinny frame leans against his yellow cab. In the cold February air, vapor rises from his disheveled, thinning hair.  To pass the time, he twirls a cigarette back and forth between his thumb and forefinger. The window is rolled down so he can hear his CB radio.

“Pick up at Century Plaza,” the dispatcher calls.

Koplowitz tosses his cigarette and jumps into his cab.

“Sixty-five wants that P.K.,” he radios back in cabbie lingo.

Koplowitz races off, hoping this next rider will be the one-- the one who has an important place to be and money is no object.

Koplowitz’s business cards read Dale Kaye because Koplowitz is too easy to butcher.

“Everyone calls me Dale Kaye and that’s what most people know me by,” he said.

 The 25-year-old Koplowitz dropped out of MSU last semester as a sophomore. He couldn’t afford to attend classes and handle living expenses for him and his girlfriend.

“I withdrew last semester because I had to pay the rent,” he said. “It came down to school or work.  Financial aid wasn’t near enough to cover living expenses off campus.”

His car inoperable, Koplowitz called a taxi to give him a ride to an interview. The driver told him he should get a job driving a cab.

For the past five months, he’s been driving a cab from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. 60 hours a week.

“For the late nights, you must always remember this,” he said cracking the top of his can of Red Bull.

During this time, Koplowitz has encountered some of Wichita Falls’ more eccentric residents.

“Three a.m. definitely brings out some of the stranger characters,” he said. “On the show ‘Taxi Cab Confessions,’ they have cabs in New York and L.A., but the same things happen here just on a smaller scale. Nothing I would send to the National Enquirer though.”

Koplowitz said airmen are the most fun.

“On Saturday when everyone is sauced, I have to make sure the ride isn’t too bumpy, because cleaning up a cab is no picnic.”

Many of his inebriated passengers try to make it to the window before they vomit. Sometimes they don’t.

“I’ve had White Russian all over the side of my cab,” he said laughingly.

When this happens, the passenger is charged a $15 cleaning fee and Koplowitz has to clean out his cab before picking up new riders.

One time Koplowitz picked up a man at his house about 4 a.m., drove him through the drive-thru at Taco Bell, then returned the man home.

“I get weird things like that every once in a while,” he said.

Another morning, a man who had been barhopping wanted to be dropped off at the bus station. The man told Koplowitz he was going to either California or New Mexico. Koplowitz drove by the bus station an hour later to find the man still standing there.

“He asked if I could give him a ride to Hobbs, N.M.,” Koplowitz said.

Koplowitz hauled the man to Hobbs, 320 miles, for $400.

“That was a long trip, and I had already been working for nine hours before we left. I didn’t get back until late the next day,” he said.

Koplowitz has even had people try to use drugs in his cab. He always asks these people to get out.

“Some people will try to proposition me with a big tip or drugs, if I will just drive them around and let them do whatever it is they’re into,” he said.

On rides home from the clubs, some people have attempted sex in the back of the cab.

“No one has ever had any article of clothing off, but I‘ve had some enthusiastic passengers,” he said.

“I had to learn to drive with the side mirrors. The rearview mirror should be cocked so I could see if anything funny was going on,” he said.

If things get too serious, Koplowitz said he would have to interfere. Though, he does get an eyeful every once in a while.

“Girls always like to show off their new piercing and tattoos,” he said.

There are certain dangers that go along with the business of cab driving.

“Recently, a couple of cab drivers had been robbed and stabbed,” he said.

“The guy who trained me, showed me a scar from when he was stabbed by a rider who kicked him out of his own car,” he said.

One of Koplowitz’s coworkers was driving when a man tried to stick a knife into him.

“My friend was a big guy, so he just got out of the cab and grabbed the robber by his neck and picked him up.”

The man was arrested and turned out to be the same guy who had robbed several other taxis.

“I’ve been fortunate enough not to run into anyone dangerous. Ninety-nine percent of people are just trying to go to work or home.”

Presidential Cab Company does do some checking to protect its drivers though.

“If a person doesn’t give a full address or a call-back number, the dispatcher usually filters them out,” he said.

Koplowitz has only been stiffed one time. To his embarrassment, it was a kid who cheated him.

“I picked up two kids at the Plex and took them home. The one kid said he would go to get money from his mom, and he left his friend for insurance.”

Koplowitz waited about 25 minutes, but the kid never returned. He knocked on their door but no one answered. He yelled that he was going to call the cops and finally the boy’s mother answered the door and said she had no money.

“I had to split the difference with the kid’s friend he left behind.  I’d hate to be that kid’s friend.”

Koplowitz said some of his best business comes when Graham Central Station closes.

“The cabs will be lined up in the row and people will jump in. The cabs just move forward as they get filled.”

The police, known as the “white cabs,” compete with the taxis when Graham’s closes, Koplowitz said.

“Driving a taxi is like being a bartender,” he said. He gets cash in hand every night, and the nicer he is to customers, the more tips he makes.

“Being friendly definitely makes customers more relaxed. The better they feel, the better the tip,” he said.

As Koplowitz scoots around town during the night, he wanders if he’ll ever have the chance to go back to school and work on his BCIS major.

“Cab driving is not compatible with school,” he said. “I work far too much to go back now. I can’t cut my hours down because then I couldn’t pay the bills. But I’d like to go back to school.”

So next time you need a ride somewhere, you might think about giving Dale Kaye a call. He definitely needs a big tipper to get back into school.

“I have to make enough money to get food on the …”Koplowitz said as he looked across his living room in his one-bedroom duplex. “Wait, we don’t have a table… I guess just to eat.”

 

Martin Luther King speaker regales audience
PAIGE DICKERSON | News Editor

 T. Leon Williams assumed the persona of Martin Luther King Jr. to highlight what he believes Dr. King would think of today’s society.
 Williams is a doctoral student at Union Institute in Ohio and travels the country giving speeches on racism, prejudice and multiculturalism. Drawing concepts from Martin Luther King Jr., Ghandi, and Henry David Thoreau, he spoke of “Shattered Dreams” in his speech Tuesday night.
 Preceding his presentation a portion of King’s “I have a dream” speech was shown to the audience of more than 65 people.
 He said, speaking as King, that the dreams of equality are shattering and work still needs to be done.
 “We have formed neighborhoods but not brotherhoods,” Williams said as King. “Children enter the world as objects and exit the world as subjects.”
 He urged students to practice inclusion instead of exclusion.
 “We have the power to commit errors, so we need to correct them as often as possible,” He said. “We are students majoring in disaster and minoring in bigotry.”
 He urged everyone to read “Where We Stand” by Bell Hooks to become better acquainted with class issues.
 “We are not free until all of God’s children are released from historical captivity,” he said. “We have gone from racism, to classism, to terrorism.”
 Following his speech, Williams conducted a question and answer session. While discussing “out-of-the-box teaching,” he said that we need teachers that understand the conditions students are living in. Out-of-the-box teaching requires teachers to relate to what their students’ living conditions are to make the subject matter meaningful through that understanding.
 He also said that the top 1 percent of Americans control 36 percent of business, and the next 9 percent runs 27 percent.
 “That means that the top 10 percent of the people are controlling over 63 percent of business,” he said.
 Another question related to what he believes King would have thought of racism today.
 “I think he would have seen more subtle racism. There are opportunities like we’ve never seen but there is always that glass ceiling,” Williams said.

Dropping Class can be Costly
Rachael Turner | For the Wichitan

A not-so-new policy promises to clampdown on MSU students who accept financial aid and fail to attend class.
 The “Return of Title IV Aid” policy (Title IV), developed in 2000, has a new addition that states, if a student “withdraws, is administratively withdrawn or voluntarily ceases attendance at all classes before completing at least 60 percent of the semester,” the student will be required to pay some money back to the lender or grant program.
 The rule applies to all students receiving a Federal Pell Grant, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Stafford Loan and Federal PLUS Loans.
 “At Midwestern, we give the students financial aid money up front,” Director of Financial Aid Kathy Pennartz said. “It’s not a new policy. The student is then expected to earn their money the whole semester by going to class.”
 In the past, the Financial Aid Office has had difficulty getting professors to report withdraws and absences. That is why the Financial Aid Office is encouraging professors to notify the office as soon as they know a student has withdrawn or dropped a class. Financial aid is also trying to educate students and professors on the subject.
 There are two categories to this policy, according to Sue Nelson, associate director of financial aid. One is for students who receive failing grades in their classes at the end of each semester. The second is for students who stop coming to class before the end of the semester.
 The problem is that the Financial Aid Office cannot always determine if students truly earned an F or if they simply stopped attending classes. That’s why it’s important for professors to provide a date of last attendance for these students.
 Last fall, 77 students on financial aid failed classes.
 “About 50 percent of those students had a recalculation of their financial aid because they didn’t attend all their classes beyond 60 percent of the semester,” Pennartz said. “The remaining 50 percent withdrew officially or attended at least once class beyond 60 percent of the semester.”
 Financial aid is adjusted even if a student skips out on one registered class.
 “If students are registered for 12 hours, and if one of those classes they never attend, their grant money is adjusted for nine hours,” Pennartz said.
 One way the Financial Aid Office shows accountability is by looking at the satisfactory progress of students each semester.
 Satisfactory progress is a chart that measures how many classes a student completed compared to how many classes a student registered for.
 If a student does not meet the required guidelines, he or she is put on probation for a year. If they fail to meet satisfactory progress again, they are on suspension and ineligible to receive financial aid, Nelson said.
 Some students have tried to beat the system, and some have succeeded for a short period. But, they either end up on probation or become unable to receive any aid. That is why reporting the absences is important, so more students will not be able to beat the system, Nelson said. 
 Many students are not aware that the Title IV policy exists. Out of the handful of students aware of the policy, many do not understand that it is state mandated. They believe that it is only a MSU financial aid policy.
 “I knew that if I ever dropped out of school I would have to pay money back, but that’s all I know,” senior Jennifer Evans said.
 Students with questions regarding the “Return of title IV Aid” policy should call the Financial Aid Office at 397-4214.

 
Regents to ponder business building, room and board hike
Jason Palmer | Staff Reporter

The Board of Regents will vote on another cost increase Friday during their first meeting of the year, but tuition is not on the table.
Possible room and board increases, along with final approval of the business building construction and renovations to D.L. Ligon Coliseum highlight BOR committee meetings on Thursday before going to a final vote on Friday.
President Jesse Rogers said he was especially “eager to get full approval” to move ahead with the new College of Business Administration building should the BOR approve the project funding and bond sales.
The estimated construction costs of the project will reach almost $19 million, including $2 million for utilities and service tunnels that run beneath the campus.
Some of the building funds will come from private donors but $15.7 million will be sold as bonds against future Higher Education Assistance Funds allocated to MSU.
Those bonds must be approved by the Texas Bond Review Board and will be submitted on May 20.
“Having this building doesn't make us a greater university,” Rogers said. “But it does give us the chance to have greater resources for our students.”
Demolition of the Music and Music Education Building would begin on September 2 and a ground-breaking ceremony for the 87,000 square foot building would take place one month later.
The new facility is tentatively scheduled for completion on Jan. 31, 2006.
“(The building) would be a very practical building,” Rogers said. “And it would be a very fine addition to the other buildings on campus.”
The BOR will also vote on cost increases for students living on campus.
All of the room and board costs will likely to compensate for renovation costs (in the case of Killingsworth Hall) and the increases in food costs along with the Consumer Price Index.
A semi-private room in the renovated Killingsworth will cost $70 more per semester during the 2004-2005 school year.
At a 6.19 percent increase, it represents the largest jump in any room configuration on campus.
Virtually all of the other room rate increases are between $20-$30 per semester.
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Keith Lamb said the increases were “interestingly one of the smaller increases we have seen in a few years.”
The cost of a 10, 14 or 19 meal plan will rise accordingly if the BOR approves the increases.
The new pricing for a 14-meals per week plan would rise to $1,145 per semester and is the largest jump in cost.
The 19-meal per week plan will rise in cost by 3.12 percent, while the 10-meal per week plan would jump 3.06 percent.
“All of the cost increases are actually very modest compared to other schools our size,” Rogers said.
Another step in the renovation project will move ahead full steam if the BOR approves the funding.
The roof in D.L. Ligon Coliseum is slated for renovations as soon as graduation programs are completed this May.
Since opening in 1969, there has been very little work to keep the Coliseum updated with city codes.
Rogers said the dome “was one of the hardest used buildings on campus.”
The roof has leaked for years and the old piping is in need of replacement. To get to the piping, the roof will be torn away and replaced as well.
The building would be updated to current city fire codes with this renovation.
Costs are approximated just over $5 million for the entire phase of the renovation and expected to be completed on August 1, 2004.
Other items on the committee agendas include discussion of potential land purchase and donations, the completion of the Sikes Lake Project, signing an agreement for MSU to assume control of the Wichita Falls Museum and Art Center and President Roger's request for funding to run the Academic Support Center.
The committee meetings, all of which are open, begin at 1:30 p.m. Thursday and the official BOR meeting at 9 a.m. Friday in the Board Room in the Hardin Administration building.

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