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The specific information provided in this paper offers a descriptive history regarding the attempts of Southern Methodist University (SMU) to be "modern" through tracing the institution's movement from one playing field to another. Like other southern universities, SMU started football and built an on-campus stadium of concrete and steel believing their legitimacy as an institution could be enhanced through providing football as a product for consumption. However, SMU is unique among many of its contemporaries because soon after building an on-campus facility, it decided to move off campus in the pursuit of greater name recognition and revenue. Collectively, such efforts were recognized as helping to make SMU the "educational surprise of the decade, if not the century," following its opening in 1915. The modernization of SMU football stadia involves construction and renovation of facilities from Armstrong Field (1915) to Gerald J. Ford Stadium (current). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the role opioid overprescribing has played in the current overdose crisis, reducing the supply of prescription opioids available for misuse has gained widespread support. Prescription monitoring programs (PMPs) have been identified as a tool for achieving this goal, but little is known about how to promote PMP use to prescribers. This paper describes the process of developing a health communication campaign to support the adoption of the Texas PMP. After formative research, message development and concept testing, a range of campaign concepts and messages were tested and final recommendations determined. The messages and lessons learned have utility beyond Texas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, I use survey data from high school students in Texas to examine the magnitude of peer correlation in college preferences and choices. In this survey, respondents (and their classmates) recorded their preferences for attending specific colleges, and a follow up survey recorded their college enrollment decisions. This paper uses this information to present the first empirical examination of whether individuals who report preferences for “popular” colleges are more likely to attend their preferred college. The rich data set allows the use of often unavailable information such as distance to college, and the construction of the “popularity” variable allows the use of school-level fixed effects. Results indicate that individuals with 10 percentage points more classmates with matching college preferences are 3 percentage points more likely to enroll in their preferred college. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A cold-formed steel framed shear wall may fail in shear buckling of the sheathing, local buckling or distortional buckling of the framing member under compression forces or connection failures. An unusual distortional buckling mode on boundary studs under uplift forces was recently observed in a shear wall test program conducted at the University of North Texas. It was found in monotonic pushover shear wall tests that the flanges of the boundary studs undertaking uplift forces were distorted at the bottom area of the studs near the hold-down. This paper presents the test program and analysis of the unique distortional buckling mode. The paper also provides procedures for predicting the distortional buckling strength of the boundary studs, as well as the construction details to mitigate the damage by this unexpected distortional buckling mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile technologies such as iPhone apps make it possible for learners to freely access course content management systems, library Web sites, as well as reference services from anywhere, anytime. This paper reviewed the current status of mobile learning and suggested possible factors influencing the use of mobile apps in online learning. The author also surveyed graduate students on the use and non-use of the Blackboard Mobile app. The survey yielded promising results for understanding mobile learning and provided suggestions on mobile app design as well as how libraries can expand their services to support a new generation of mobile learners. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, five female scholars of color utilize the method oftestimonio(testimony) to document their individual lived experiences as members of a three-year long research and writing collective. This collective served as a space of liberation from the dominant discourses and practices the women were experiencing in the academy. Eachtestimoniopresents themes related to: shared struggles, friendship, trust and vulnerability, a sense of give and take, and their commitment to each other and the group. It is hoped these reflectivetestimonios(testimonies) contribute to the existing literature citing the benefits of such collaborations among female scholars and also encourages and guides other female academicians to develop their own research and writing collectives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The question "How heavy can an atomic nucleus be?" is a fundamental problem in nuclear physics. The possible existence of island(s) of stable super-heavy nuclei has been an inspiring problem in heavy ion physics for almost four decades. This paper is focused on the experimental search of Super/Hyper Heavy Elements (SHE/HHE) conducted at the Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University. A novel experimental idea and experimental set up introduced for this research will be presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In light of the recent bans on affirmative action in higher education, this paper provides new evidence on the effects of alternative admissions policies on the persistence and college completion of minority students. I find that the change from affirmative action to the Top 10% Plan in Texas decreased both retention and graduation rates of lower-ranked minority students. Results show that both fall-to-fall freshmen retention and six-year college graduation of second-decile minority students decreased, respectively, by 2.4 and 3.3 percentage points. The effect of the change in admissions policy was slightly larger for minority students in the third and lower deciles: fall-to-fall freshmen retention and six-year college graduation decreased, respectively, by 4.9 and 4.2 percentage points. Moreover, I find no evidence in support of the minority “mismatch” hypothesis. These results suggest that most of the increase in the graduation gap between minorities and non-minorities in Texas, a staggering 90%, was driven by the elimination of affirmative action in the 1990s. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In June 2002, Texas A&M University Medical Sciences Library (MSL) implemented an ILLiad-based document delivery system named deliverEdocs. Not only are electronic articles borrowed and loaned via interlibrary loan channels, patrons may also request PDF copies of older materials available only in hard copy in our library. This hugely popular service, with 2625 currently registered users, increases resource utilization, and saves time and effort for patrons. During fiscal year 2004, as many as 7092 articles were borrowed on behalf of Medical Sciences Library (MSL) users. In addition, MSL delivered 18,539 items to their desktops. While deliverEdocs has received rave reviews from users, it has not been without challenges. Technological problems remain a problem for geographically distant clients. Providing electronic delivery has had significant impact on staff, especially in redesigned workflows, position descriptions, and user expectations for rapid turnaround times. This paper describes the background, the service, challenges and successes, costs, and patron satisfaction among MSL's users at the university and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology has developed and implemented new criteria for accrediting engineering technology programs in the United States. The new criteria, Technology Criteria 2000 (TC2K), have changed the way that engineering technology programs conduct their business. In order to survive in the future, each program has to develop a strategy to meet the new requirements specified in the TC2K. The Department of Engineering Technology at Texas Tech University has developed a program assessment portfolio (PAP) to assess the department performance toward the attainment of TC2K Criterion 1. This paper presents 12 assessment methods within the PAP. Particularly, it demonstrates how to develop and implement one of the assessment methods, pre- and postcourse assessment, to a senior-level course. Data collected from the implementation has been analyzed and results indicate that pre- and postcourse assessment provide valuable information regarding student learning. Furthermore, the information can be used to continue improving effectiveness of teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Librarians at Northwest Vista College, a new community college, speculated that keeping faculty members informed about the library and its various resources would result in more instructors sending students to the library for library instruction and, ultimately, it would result in more students who were familiar with and comfortable using the library. This paper describes the librarians' comprehensive faculty outreach effort, which involved putting on special workshops for faculty, creating online forms, and Web links on the library Web page, and taking every opportunity to increase contact and collaboration between librarians and other faculty and staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on several acquisitions in the collections of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. The Collections' College Baseball Hall of Fame has acquired the complete print archive of the "Collegiate Baseball Newspaper". The library also acquired the papers of Theodore Fujita, creator of the Fujita Scale which classifies tornadoes by intensity.