Parent Newsletter April 2007
Dr. Dawn Remmers, Director, University Advising and Student Success, University of Texas at Arlington
Research shows that people who read tend to be more flexible in their thinking and more open to new ideas. They also have a better chance for a successful, fulfilling adult life. ( Source: Benefits of Reading; family.org ).
As the inaugural year of UT-Arlington’s OneBook program approaches an end, those of us involved in the program can see what a success it was for the University as well as for the students who participated. Reading IS fulfilling!
Now, as we celebrate books and the library in this edition of the Parent e-Newsletter, I’d like to announce the book chosen for the upcoming Fall term. It’s a book that will introduce students to life in Poland before and during World War II. Titled MAUS – Working Through the Trauma of the Holocaust, by Art Spiegelman, the book will be read by all first year students who enroll at UT Arlington for Fall 2007.
Students will study, discuss, and write about this book in their first semester English composition classes, freshman seminars, and selected other classes. Their shared experience with the book will include related co-curricular events and activities and an essay competition. If possible, there will be an on-campus visit by the author.
The OneBook program offers students a way to connect with other students on campus. It also provides the foundation for UT Arlington Conversations.
UT Arlington Conversations is designed to extend the benefits of the freshman common reading program to the entire UTA community. A theme or issue drawn from each year’s OneBook selection will provide the focus for various “conversations”: events and activities. The theme for this fall will be prejudice. If your student would ever like to propose a book for the OneBook program, please refer him or her to the OneBook website www.uta.edu/uac/one-book.
I encourage you, as parents, to read this book as well. It may promote an interesting conversation the next time you visit with your student.
TIME FRAMES
by Brenda S. McClurkin, Manuscript Collections Archivist in Special Collections, University of Texas at Arlington
For three years, the treasures of Special Collections have been highlighted in a weekly feature in the Sunday edition of the Arlington Star-Telegram. Located in the Arlington (BB) section, Time Frames regularly spotlights a photograph, map, or document from our collections. The column provides an opportunity to share Special Collections’ extensive holdings with an audience of over 67,000 households in Arlington, Dalworthington Gardens, Grand Prairie, Kennedale, Mansfield, and Pantego, Texas.
City of Arlington, TX (1921); Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Texas at Arlington
This collaborative effort evolved from an article written by O. K. Carter about Special Collections’ acquisition of J. W. Dunlop’s Photograph Collection in October, 2003. Manuscript archivist, Brenda McClurkin, proposed the feature to Carter who enthusiastically presented the suggestion to newspaper executives. The new column was born and took its name from the headline of a second article on the Dunlop photos done by Carter’s colleague, L. Lamor Williams. McClurkin coordinates Time Frames content in conjunction with her fellow Special Collections staff members. Kevin Lyons, Assistant Metro Editor of the Arlington Star-Telegram, takes it from there.
A broad spectrum of subjects has been selected for Time Frames, drawing from all aspects of the collections. These have been as far-ranging as the frontispiece of the Cabeza de Vaca’s Relación y Comentarias, 1555; a 1721 map published in Juan Antonio de la Peña’s Derroterro de la Expedición en la Provincia de los Texas…; the March 24, 1836 issue of the Telegraph and Texas Register reporting the fall of the Alamo; original 1837 parole documents of Mexican Army officers taken prisoner at the Battle of San Jacinto; 1839 Republic of Texas currency; a slave manifest for the steamship Portland that sailed to Galveston in mid-July, 1850; a 1911 invitation to a Fourth of July celebration sponsored by the American Colony of Mexico City; 1915 sheet music celebrating the battleship U.S.S. Texas; a Neiman Marcus ad for ladies’ “Palm Beach Styles” from the December 1919 issue of Beau Monde: Dallas’ Pictorial Weekly; and a photo of the debris from the Roswell UFO crash in July, 1947.
Gen. Ramey, Commander of the Eighth Air Force (left), and Col. Dubose, Chief of Staff, are shown here with materials from the mysterious crash that occurred in the desert near Roswell, NM in July, 1947. For Worth Star Telegram Photograph Collection
A concerted effort is made to link the Time Frames topic to a historic or current event. As an example, the first article was a two-part series which appeared on November 17 and 23, 2003, and commemorated the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It featured four Fort Worth Star-Telegram photographs of Kennedy’s visit to Fort Worth before his arrival in Dallas and Lee Harvey Oswald’s funeral. Holidays have been acknowledged with photos of an Easter egg hunt at Arlington State College in the mid-1950s; Amon G. Carter hosting his traditional Thanksgiving meal for Star-Telegram newsboys in 1941; and two small boys riding the Leonard’s Department Store monorail during the Christmas season of 1949.
Photographic images are particularly eye-catching, with local Arlington and Fort Worth history as favorite themes. The J.W. Dunlop Photograph Collection is often the source of historic images of Arlington citizens, buildings, businesses, schools, street scenes, and events, while the archive of the Fort Worth Star- Telegram is a treasure of Fort Worth and early Texas images. The Basil Clemons Photograph Collection has been tapped for its photos of 1920s store window displays, circus performers, and various other aspects of life in the oil boom-town of Breckenridge.
UTA history has not been overlooked. Images of Carlisle Military Academy football team, 1904-1908; the 85 year history of the student newspaper, The Shorthorn newspaper; Arlington State Colleges’s successful bids for the Junior Rose Bowl championships in 1956 and 1957; UTA Olympic gold medalist swimmer, Doug Russell; and a 1982 homecoming bonfire have all been highlighted. Current events at UTA have also been publicized to encourage public participation – President Spaniolo’s investiture; a Libraries exhibit featuring Formula SAE race cars; the Garrett Cartographic History Lectures; and Special Collections exhibitions have all been touted. Even President Spaniolo’s political campaign button collection was featured in October 2004 during the special presidential campaign.
Response to Time Frames has been very positive. Readers frequently say they clip articles to keep or mail to others. Many Time Frames readers have found their way to Special Collections to use our materials or view exhibitions. Others have found loved ones (or themselves!) pictured in featured photographic images and have called to order a print of the image. Retired Tarrant County Judge Tom Vandergriff, had the opposite experience. He called about a photo of the gathering held at the B&B Cafe in Arlington celebrating his inaugural election as mayor in April 1951. Judge Vandergriff knew he had been at the B&B that evening, but he was not included in the picture!
Time Frames continues to be a way for Special Collections to reach out to the public and demonstrate the depth of the collections that they may come, use and enjoy. Pick up a Sunday Arlington Star-Telegram and become a regular Time Frames reader yourself!
It’s the BIG EVENT!
UT Arlington’s annual day of community service and outreach initiative is this month. UT Arlington students, administrators, faculty, and staff will be among the four hundred volunteers that are expected to volunteer this year in an effort to engage and mobilize volunteers throughout the community.
UT Arlington will be partnering with the City of Arlington’s Strong Neighborhood Initiative, the AIDS Outreach Center, the Arlington Public Library, Mission Arlington, the Salvation Army of Arlington, the UT Arlington Campus Cat Coalition, and others.
“The Big Event” is held in association with the University of Texas System “United to Serve” campaign and the City of Arlington. It takes place Saturday, April 14th from 8am to Noon.
For more information, or to register, visit The Big Event website.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!
UT Arlington’s Women’s Basketball Team
Southland Conference Winners (16-0)
The UT Arlington women’s basketball team set a school record with 24 wins when they defeated Stephen F. Austin for the Southland Conference Championship last month.
The win solidified a spot in the NCAA Tournament where the team lost in the first round to Texas A&M (58-50) on March 17th.
The Southland Conference win tied the league for consecutive wins (19).
by Lynne Von Roeder, M. Ed., Academic Advisor, University of Texas at Arlington
The focus this month is on the library so to contribute to the theme, I am recommending some print and online resources that might be helpful to you and your student. In this day and age of unlimited information, trying to weed through the bad and find the treasure can be difficult. Hopefully you will find these helpful as you communicate with your student along the way.
Fishing for a Major – What you need to know before you declare Students Helping Students. 2005
Guidebook written and edited by college students.
Do What You Are : Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type—Revised and Updated Edition Featuring E-careers for the 21st Century (Paperback)
by Paul D. Tieger (Author), Barbara Barron-Tieger (Author); April, 2001
Ready or Not, Here Life Comes
Author: Dr. Mel Levine, January 2006
One of America’s top learning experts shares how today’s society makes it hard for kids to grow in to productive adults. Dr. Levine’s latest book focuses on the way in which we need to go about preparing kids for the real world and career success.
Letting Go: A Parents’ Guide to Understanding the College Years, Fourth Edition (Paperback)
by Karen Levin Coburn and Madge Lawrence Treeger; April, 2003
The Ultimate College Planning Calendar for High School Students (and Parents Too!) by Marilyn J. Kaufman, Christine J. Robinson, and Rebecca S. Stoughton (Calendar – Dec 20, 2005)
Some helpful websites:
- What can I do with Major In??
- Bureau of Labor and Statistics Occupational Handbook. Lots of great information and includes forecasted growth for careers and salary information.
- Onet – Another great source of occupational information
- UTA Counseling Services – All types of resources for choosing a major.
by Liz Hannabas, Coordinator of Advisor Outreach, University of Texas at Arlington
This is the first edition of the Parent e-newsletter where the decision was made to focus the majority of its contents on one department. The UT-Arlington Library offers so much to the campus and the student body that it seemed appropriate to do so.
As it turns out, our chosen Maverick of the Month also comes from the halls of the library. She admits, when she first joined UT-Arlington she didn’t plan on staying more than a couple years, but as luck would have it (for UT-Arlington) she is now approaching her 10th anniversary!
Mary Jo Lyons, Coordinator for the Information Literacy department at the library is a very busy person. “Instruction, instruction, instruction – last semester my staff held almost 300 library instruction sessions; we are very busy in this arena. My hope is that first-semester students have at least one session with us.”
The Information Literacy department teaches essential library skills for undergraduate students and manages the Library’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Program. The department hosts physical tours of the Library, offers open seminars, presents course related instruction, and creates interactive online instructional tools. The GIS Program promotes spatial literacy and geographic analysis through a growing collection of geospatial datasets and collaborations with faculty to integrate GIS projects into their courses and research.
The library is now participating in several new initiatives on campus, according to Lyons. “These (initiatives) are exciting for us, as libraries are not historically associated with these types of initiatives, including Summer orientations and other Admissions event, Welcome Week activities, College Learning Team, First-Year Integration Team, Residential Learning Communities Advisory Board, OneBook/Conversations Team and others.”
Lyon’s ambition to branch out across the campus and teach all students about the library shows her Maverick spirit, as she has defined it – “A Maverick to me is someone who is engaged in and excited by learning. He has an innate curiosity and unyielding determination.”
In 2005, Mary Jo received the Library’s STAR (Super Talent Appreciated and Recognized) Award which recognizes outstanding achievement, performance or service to the Library. This month the University Advising and Student Success office would like to recognize her “STAR POWER” once again. Congratulations, Mary Jo on being our Maverick of the Month!
THE LIBRARY IS A GREAT PLACE TO VISIT!
No Reservations Needed at the Paper’s Due Drop Inn
by Gretchen Trkay, Information Literacy Librarian, University of Texas at Arlington
Picture this . . . the story you are about to hear takes place on a typical urban university campus. A confused and busy student, facing a deadline for a research paper, stands at a crossroad. One brightly lit, well-paved, and familiar path leads to wikipedia.com and CNN.com. The other path, unknown and occasionally difficult to navigate, is guarded by Boolean operators and requires secret passwords, but holds the promise of great rewards. Just as the student prepares to follow the easy path, a flashing sign appears on the horizon beckoning them down the unfamiliar path. The sign reads, “Paper’s Due Drop Inn: No Reservations Needed.”
“Point of need” – the library literature is riddled with this phrase. Efforts to reach students at their point of need, that crossroad on the information highway, have materialized as satellite library locations, Ask-a-Librarian virtual reference services, online instructional materials, and roving reference programs. I asked students where a good place for open, one-on-one research assistance sessions might be, thinking they would say the University Center or an academic building. With all sincerity a student asked, “Why not the library?” The wisdom of this suggestion was reinforced by the interruption of several instruction sessions, and on one occasion actually being hunted down in the basement Ladies’ Room by students needing help with their research. Students who had attended library instruction sessions, even though they were given information about library reference services, my phone number, email address and instant messaging username, seemed to identify the library classroom as the place to go when they had an information need.
The services available at the Paper’s Due Drop Inn are similar to those offered as part of traditional term paper clinics. Typically students ask for assistance with narrowing a topic, creating research strategies, identifying appropriate research tools, accessing materials not available at UT Arlington Library, and citing. The Paper’s Due Drop Inn differs from term paper clinics and other one-on-one research assistance programs in that the service is offered consistently throughout the semester. Students are also not required to make an appointment. As long as they show up at the library classroom, B20 Central Library, between 4 pm and 6 pm Monday through Thursday they will receive one-on-one help with their research.
During the first two semesters of the program, usage of the service more than doubled. Approximately 80 visits were made during the fall ’05 semester, while during the spring ’06 semester visits totaled 173. A majority of students utilizing the Paper’s Due Drop Inn have been in a class that came to the library for an instruction session. This is not surprising as instruction sessions are the primary means for promoting the service.
Let’s go back to our student at the proverbial crossroad on the information highway. It is my goal that the Paper’s Due Drop Inn allows for the extension of library instruction to students at their point of need. Along with this goal, it is my hope that this service will make the path to quality sources of information easier to navigate and less intimidating. Positive anecdotal feedback from students indicates that this is so.
For more information, please contact Gretchen Trkay (gtrkay@uta.edu) or Diane Shepelwich (dianec@uta.edu).
UT Arlington Library: Here to Help
The staff of the UT Arlington Library is here to help our students succeed in reaching their academic and professional goals. The Library staff work diligently to provide the services and resources necessary to support the research, teaching, and learning of our students, faculty and staff. The Library holds 1,144,133 volumes, 36,358 electronic and print serial subscriptions, and provides access to a variety of advanced technologies offering the opportunity for students to expand their knowledge, skills, and abilities.
The UT Arlington Library consists of the Central Library, the Science and Engineering Library located in the basement of Nedderman Hall, and the Architecture and Fine Arts Library on the first floor of the Architecture Building. The Library also has several electronic libraries offering access and individualized service at several locations around campus including the Social Work Complex, the Business Building, the Fort Worth Riverbend campus, and the newest electronic library at the Fort Worth Santa Fe complex located in the historic Santa Fe building in downtown Fort Worth.
The most valuable resource of the Library is the expert staff that provides the services, purchases the materials, maintains the technology, presents the instruction sessions, and provides individualized research assistance to our students ensuring that they develop into knowledgeable consumers of information and life-long learners. Following are just a few of the many services available to our students:
Research Consultations
Individual Research Consultations are available, by appointment, for UT Arlington undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff. Meet with a reference or subject librarian to identify useful sources, learn to search databases effectively, or just get started in the library.
Reference IM
IM the Library! Instant messaging reference is now available. No need to remember our buddy name, simply click the “Live Help” link on any Library webpage. We’re available during the hours in which the Reference Desk (located in the Central Library, 2nd Floor) is open, Monday-Thursday 8am – midnight; Friday 8am – 6pm; Saturday 9am – 6pm; and Sunday 10 am – midnight.
Digital Media Studio
The Digital Media Studio located in the basement of the Central Library is a facility for students and faculty to integrate multimedia into their teaching, research, and learning. The high-end PCs and Apple computers in the DMS, along with a multitude of software for multimedia creation and editing, have become very popular with students and faculty.
Information Commons
The Information Commons desk on the first floor of the Central Library marked its first anniversary in fall 2005. The IC desk is the first point of contact for users of the Central Library and is designed to provide directional and quick reference assistance to students. The IC desk is staffed 93 hours a week to serve the informational needs of our students, faculty, and staff.
Geographic Information Systems
GIS aids in the management and analysis of geographically referenced data. GIS allows the user to link location or spatial data with tabular data in order to see relationships and patterns. The GIS Librarian, Josh Been, offers instructional seminars each semester and individualized assistance to help users manage and complete their GIS projects.
The UT Arlington Library is a dynamic learning environment offering spaces for students to gather and study or just hang out. The Central Library has a coffee shop, Java City, which offers a variety of drinks and snacks. Additionally, students will find comfortable seating areas, group study rooms, and individual study carrels throughout the Library. The fifth floor of the Central Library is reserved for quiet study while other floors offer the opportunity for collaborative work providing a variety of environments to fit the study and research needs of our users.
The staff of the UT Arlington Library is here to help and to continue to fulfill our mission to foster and promote quality learning, teaching, and research for the university and its communities. For further information, please visit our website.
Come see the current exhibit at UT Arlington’s Gallery.
On display through April 21st is the work by artists Gaspar Enriquez and Joseph Havel. Enriquez is an El Paso native who produces large airbrush paintings that document Chicano sub-culture in a straightforward, realist style. Havel, based out of Houston, creates lyrical sculptures using everyday fabrics such as shirts, sheets and curtains.
Havel will be speaking Wednesday, April 12th at Noon in the Fine Arts Building, Room 148. Click here for gallery hours.
Also this month, Arts Week Art Competition. Showcasing UT Arlington student’s art April 17-19th. Come view submitted artwork for free in the Bluebonnet Ballroom. Click here for more information.
Finally, last day of classes is May 4th!
View the academic calendar often. The calendar will provide class schedules for all upcoming terms and will also include registration, add/drop dates, census and a final exam schedule. The featured events calendar can inform you and your student about upcoming sporting and musical events as well.
Want to find it all in one spot? Click on the full calendar link and you’ll find both the academic and featured events combined.