"The measure of a Life is its Service."
Boris E. Mason, supervisor for the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center, will discuss his career path on Tuesday (Feb. 23), as part of the College of Criminal Justice’s “Real Talk with CJ” lecture series.
The lecture, sponsored by the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, will be held at 2 p.m. in CJava, located in the Criminal Justice Center.
Mason attended both Texas College in Tyler and Texas Southern University in Houston before earning his bachelor’s degree in business and marketing from Franklin University.
While in college, he began working for AT&T and was assigned as a member of the AT&T federal systems specialty division, where he worked for the government security in the AT&T fraud protection and surveillance department.
He spent four years at Dawson State Jail as a corrections officer, before transferring to Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center as a supervisor.
Currently at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center, he manages both pre-adjudication and post-adjudication programs for the youth, such as the Short Term Adolescent Residential Treatment program, a 60-day residential treatment program for youth who are court-ordered to participate that develops the desire and skill set to more effectively comply with the conditions of probation and in the long term, to develop the life skills necessary to more effectively deal with their daily problems, pressures and challenges.
Mason said his goals are to deliver a system of intervention to young persons and families in Dallas County, teach discipline and, above all, provide them with a reliable support system.
For more information, contact Candice Williams, College of Criminal Justice undergraduate coordinator/adviser, at 936.294.1702.
Rice University associate professor of physics and astronomy Tom Killian will discuss his National Science Foundation-supported research on ultracold neutral plasmas on Tuesday (Feb. 23).
The physics colloquium lecture, “Watching Ions Dance Near Absolute Zero,” will be held from 3-4 p.m. in Farrington Building Room 107.
Killian's research group studies ultracold neutral plasmas and ultracold atomic gases, experiments that start with laser-cooled and trapped neutral strontium.
“Laser-cooling is a powerful technique for producing and trapping atoms at temperatures as low as one millionth of a degree above absolute zero,” Killian’s research description on the Rice Web site said. “Under these exotic conditions, matter behaves in fundamentally different ways, and the exploration of this regime teaches us about the basic laws of nature and lays the foundation for powerful new technological advances, such as ultra-precise clocks or quantum computers.
“Little is known about plasmas in this new regime,” he said. “In addition to satisfying fundamental curiosity, experiments may shed light on the physics of dense plasmas in thermonuclear devices or the cores of gas giant planets.”
Among the advances the field has produced in the last decade are the creation of Bose-Einstein condensates and quantum-degenerate Fermi gases, the study of ultracold chemistry, and a host of high-tech applications.
In addition the NSF funding, Killian’s work also is supported by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation.
For more information, call the physics department at 936.294.1601.
University groups are invited to send representatives to a meeting on Thursday (Feb. 25), to discuss a campus-wide effort to provide pre-approved health kits for Haitian earthquake relief.
The meeting for “Bearkats for Haiti” will be in Lowman Student Center Room 315 at 4:30 p.m.
Organizers include Rick Carpenter of the Sam Houston Press, John Yarabeck of the Dean of Students’ Office, and Max Adams of the campus Wesley Foundation.
For more information, contact Carpenter at jrcarpenter@shsu.edu or 936.294.1858.
The typical college student spends more than $900 on alcoholic beverages each year.
To help students understand the impact of drinking and drugs on their finances and the importance of budgeting, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Initiative and the Student Money Management Center will host “Money, Money, Money—Can you afford the HIGH?” on Monday (Feb. 22).
The event will be held at 11 a.m. in the Lowman Student Center Theater.
“College students spend money on a variety of things, books, apartment clothes and alcohol and drugs,” said Lisa Joyner, ADAI assistant. “Alcohol is a costly addiction, you can lose your life and you can spend thousands of dollars a semester on moments of fun.”
Participants can also learn safe alternatives to alcohol use and how to be safe, “because in a split second, the decisions you make could take you away from your ultimate goal while you are in college, which is that ‘academics comes first,’” Joyner said.
“Money, Money, Money—Can you afford the HIGH?” is part of the ADAI’s Six Weeks of Alcohol Awareness Training program, which allows students to earn prizes by attending events that accumulate as students attend more programs.
For more information, contact Rosanne Keathley, ADAI coordinator, at 936.294.1171.
Approximately 200 fifth graders from the Aldine school district in Houston will receive lessons from Sam Houston State University faculty members in areas such as chemistry, earth science, biology and astronomy for the second Science Saturdays at Sam on Feb. 27.
From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day, students will attend seminars with lessons and experiments presented by Tom Chasteen, chemistry professor; Renee James, physics professor; Brian Cooper, geology professor; and Joan Hudson, associate professor of biology.
Students also will go to the Health and Kinesiology Center for entertainment and lunch.
The semiannual event is part of Project MSSELL, a National Science Foundation-funded research project, and is designed to introduce non-native English-speaking students to the college setting while applying science in a fun way, according to Beverly Irby, College of Education associate dean for graduate programs and principal investigator for the grant.
“The objective of this grant is to improve science achievement and academic English proficiency for students whose first language is Spanish by implementing a variety of enhanced instructional methods,” said Marla Slaughter, MSSELL Project graduate research assistant.
The SHSU School of Music will present a soloist from the U.S. Army Band, as well as another “heavenly” band performance beginning Monday (Feb. 22).
That day, Willis native Lauren Veronie, a U.S. Army Field Band euphonist, will perform a mix of arrangements and original works for the instrument at 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall.
Earlier in the day, Veronie will direct a masterclass for students in the euphonium studio at 4:30 p.m. in Music Building Room 201.
“We are extremely proud of Lauren Veronie,” said Robert Daniel, adjunct professor of tuba. “She is a local gal, Willis High School graduate in the class of 2002, who has succeeded in getting this coveted professional playing position.
“Even though she received her formal training at the University of North Texas, she did attended various events at the School of Music while she was going to school in Willis,” he said.
The Army field band is the official touring ensemble of the U.S. Army based in Washington, D.C. An active duty organization known as a premier band, positions within the U.S. Army Field Band are filled through competitive auditions advertised nationally.
“Each of the different military bands (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines) are all assigned a different part of the country each year,” Daniel said. “As a result, the field will have the opportunity to play in this area once every four years.”
Both the recital and masterclass are free.
On Sunday (Feb. 28), the symphonic and concert bands will bring “the most wondrous objects in the heavens” to Earth as it showcases Greg Danner’s “Nebula” during a performance at 7:30 p.m. in the Criminal Justice Center’s Killinger Auditorium.
The concert also will feature a number of late 19th and 20th century works, including Louis-Gaston Ganne’s “Father of Victory March,” Charles Carter’s “Overture for Winds” and Thomas Duffy’s “Crystals”
Admission is $10, $5 for SHSU students and senior citizens and free for SHSU faculty and music students.
For more information, call the School of Music at 936.294.1360.
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SHSU Media Contacts: Bruce Erickson, Julia May, Jennifer Gauntt
Feb. 19, 2010
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Brian Domitrovic, assistant professor of history, appeared on Book TV (C-SPAN) May 1-2, speaking about his recent book "Econoclasts: The Rebels Sparked the Supply Side Revolution and Restored American Prosperity" (www.econoclasts.net).
Houston Chronicle education writer Jeannie Kever recently turned to Regents Professor of English Paul Ruffin for his views on university presses moving toward "digital books" as opposed to traditional ink-on-paper."We're fulfilling the ancient role of the university press, and that is to produce books," said Paul Ruffin, the Texas poet laureate for 2009 and director of the Texas Review Press at Sam Houston State University. "I don't want to give up the book because it is an art."
Monday, May 3
Tuesday, May 4
"The measure of a Life is its Service."