Today@Sam Article
Update For Month Of July
June 30, 2016
SHSU Media Contact: Tammy Parrett
- Museum To Host Bear Bend Wednesday Events
- Change To Off-Campus Dialing Coming Soon
- Study Abroad Students Featured On French Television
- Alpha Chi Omega Donates $11,000 To SAAFE House
- New Lowman Student Center Director Named
- Study Tests Hot Spot Deployments Success
- Today@Sam Seeks Experts, Story Ideas
Museum To Host Bear Bend Wednesday Events
The Sam Houston Memorial Museum is known for being a great place to visit when you want to learn about the history of Gen. Sam Houston and his family. However, it also provides guests unique opportunities to experience aspects of “old-fashioned living” firsthand.
Each Wednesday in July, visitors will be treated to various activities through the museum’s Bear Bend Wednesday program between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bear Bend Cabin, on the museum grounds.
On Wednesday (July 6) historical interpreter Ronnie Johnson will lead 20-30 minute nature walks around the museum grounds and duck pond to identify trees, shrubs and flowers that are in bloom.
Museum staff will lead flower pounding, the Cherokee art of hitting flowers and leaves with a hammer until you have art, on Wednesday (July 13).
With embroidery and needlepoint on Wednesday (July 20), visitors can learn how handkerchiefs and other items have been decorated throughout history using a needle and thread and try their hand at making a bookmark using embroidery and cross-stitch techniques.
The museum will host its last Bear Bend Wednesday event of the summer on Wednesday (July 27), where participants can design and create their own ragdoll or cornhusk doll.
Demonstrations are free. Guests who also wish to visit the museum will be charged $5 for adults and $3 for children. All SHSU students receive free admission to the museum.
For more information, contact the museum education department at 936.294.3153.
Change To Off-Campus Dialing Coming Soon
In collaboration with local law enforcement, Sam Houston State University’s Division of Information Technology will change the process for placing off-campus calls from a university line.
Beginning Aug. 15, individuals must dial 8, rather than 9, to reach an outside line. This applies to both local, off-campus and long distance calls.
The change is designed to reduce the number of accidental calls made to 911. During accidental calls, most callers simply hang up when the error is realized, causing 911 operators to follow up by phone or sometimes dispatch emergency responders.
These practices are consistent with 911 laws that require verifiable contact and confirmation that the caller is OK with allowing the 911 call center to disregard the call.
Dialing 911 from a campus phone will continue to work in case of emergencies.
For more information on the upcoming change, contact IT@Sam at 936.294.4357.
Study Abroad Students Featured On French Television
Sam Houston State University students currently studying abroad in Quebec recently were featured on the national French news station Radio Canada, where they discussed the experience of studying abroad.
SHSU established a partnership with the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, through which SHSU students were the first students from Texas to study abroad at the university.
“As a student of French, it is always important to be exposed to the standard, but when you live in a French-speaking region, you must actually learn two different standards–the everyday language and the academic standard,” said French professor and chair of the SHSU Department of Foreign Languages Leif French, who helped to establish the partnership with UQUAC.
“SHSU definitely made its mark in Quebec and attracted quite a bit of attention from the media, since it was the first time they had ever received students from Texas,” he said.
The article and accompanying video can be found online at bit.ly/28MPIvE.
For more information on the SHSU-UQAC study abroad partnership, contact French at 936.294.1442.
Alpha Chi Omega Donates $11,000 To SAAFE House
Through a number of fundraising events, the Sam Houston State University chapter of Alpha Chi Omega sorority was able to donate approximately $11,000 to the SAAFE House, a local shelter for victims of sexual assault and abuse.
Because AXO’s philanthropy focuses on domestic violence awareness and prevention, it’s always made sense to partner with Huntsville’s SAAFE House, according to chapter adviser Gloria Buchanan.
“The girls hosted numerous local events to raise money for the organization and participated in national fundraising opportunities as well,” Buchanan said. “It’s inspiring to see how the community comes together to support the cause.”
The sorority raised $6,000 by hosting their annual flag football tournament and by participating in events such as the Mary Kay Facebook like contest, Kendra Gives Back events, and by selling T-shirts.
“Since June 2014, Alpha Chi Omega has donated more than $24,000 to the SAAFE House,” Buchanan said. “They also hosted their 24th annual ‘Hugs and Pampers’ drive, which, through the years, has raised tens of thousands of donated toys, feminine products, cleaning supplies, and baby items.”
New Lowman Student Center Director Named
Sam Houston State University recently named Robert Webber as director of the Lowman Student Center.
Before coming to SHSU, Webber served as the director of the Lane University Center at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. There, he transformed the student center operation, expanded and renovated the building, creating an award-winning student training and development program, and increased revenue by 1,000 percent.
Originally from Maryland, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana State University in student affairs and higher education and a Master of Arts degree in historical studies from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
“When I came to Huntsville for the interview, I fell in love with the town, the university and the people I met, and I became even more excited about the opportunities that the LSC would provide,” Webber said. “Ultimately, I came to Sam because it just felt right and I knew I would be able to build and create here.”
He hopes to be able to challenge the LSC staff and work to build a model of service that exceeds the needs of our campus community.
“I want the LSC to be the event and programming destination on campus. I want students, faculty and staff to feel welcome and engaged in the LSC,” he said. “I hope to build an infrastructure that is known for its commitment to technology, customer service and professionalism.”
Study Tests Hot Spot Deployments Success
Hot spot policing is most successful in reducing street crimes in small area with the highest crime rates through long-term concentrated patrols, according to researchers in the Sam Houston State University College of Criminal Justice.
In an article published in Justice Quarterly, a team of researchers in the SHSU Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice worked with the Houston Police Department to measure the effectiveness of concentrated patrols in areas throughout the city. The team included Distinguished Professor of criminal justice Larry Hoover, professors of criminal justice William Wells and Jihong Solomon Zhao, and associate professors of criminal justice Yan Zhang and Ling Ren,
While hot spot policing generally is recognized as a successful strategy in crime-ridden neighborhoods, the team wanted to identify the components of the program that proved most effective.
In Houston, the study was based on 13 areas of different sizes, 112 hours of patrol a week by two patrol cars, and interventions lasting between four to 24 weeks. It was designed to measure optimal lengths of deployment periods.
The study found that only two of the 13 areas showed a significant reduction in crime based on the duration of the concentrated patrol. These areas were relatively small, ranging from 1.24 to 1.96 miles, and experienced some of the highest crimes rates in the city.
“These findings do not indicate that concentrated patrols at crime hot spots will not make a measurable difference,” Hoover said. “The evaluation was intended to test the minimal amount of concentrated patrol necessary to impact crime rates. The two beats where crime was definitely reduced represent that minimum.”
“Houston Enhanced Action Patrol: Examining the Effects of Differential Deployment Lengths with a Switched Replication Design,” is available at tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07418825.2014.915339.
Today@Sam Seeks Experts, Story Ideas
Are you an expert in a topic might be of interest to reporters? Or even a unique topic? Would you like to have your research interests highlighted or discuss your expertise with reporters seeking interviewees?
The university Communications Office is collecting information and story ideas for its ongoing projects, including the online SHSU Experts Guide, the SHSU home page and Today@Sam.
The SHSU Experts Guide was established as a resource for the media, who turn to university experts lists for potential interviewees for news stories. Faculty who are interested in being a part of the university's database of experts can submit their biographical and personal information, as well as their areas of expertise, through the Experts Guide Submission Form available online at shsu.edu/dept/marketing/experts/submit-info.html.
Other story ideas, both news and features on faculty or student research and accomplishments can be sent to today@sam.edu or jenniferg@shsu.edu. For news stories, please include the date, location and time of the event, as well as a brief description and a contact person.
All information, including news story ideas and update items for Today@Sam, should be sent a minimum of a week in advance of the event in order to make necessary contacts and write a story. Feature story ideas for the SHSU home page ("sliders") should be sent a minimum of two months in advance.
To see a full list of the Today@Sam submission guidelines, or to access submission forms for news and feature stories or hometown releases, visit shsu.edu/~pin_www/guidelines.html.
For more information, call 936.294.1836.
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