(Archived) 12/13/98 Update

Robert Dunning, SHSU registrar, advises that all degree candidates should go by the Registrar's Office or call (409) 294-1061 between 9 a.m. and noon Friday (Dec. 18), to confirm completion of degree requirements.

Graduates are advised to report to the Health/Kinesiology Center one hour before their ceremony is scheduled to begin, or in the event of inclement weather, report to the coliseum floor for seating.

Dunning also suggests that commencement ceremony guests with disabilities, who would like to sit in special sections on the coliseum floor, should arrive at least 45 minutes before the ceremony is scheduled to begin and enter the coliseum through the east tunnel.

University police will direct guests with disabilities to a special parking area just east of the coliseum. Because space on the coliseum floor is limited, each guest with a disability should be accompanied on the floor by no more than one person.

This is the word from Michele Hewlett-Gómez, associate professor in language, literacy and special populations, who directs the UPBEATT program.

The program is designed to help relieve the nation's critical shortage of skilled bilingual educators. It combines academic training with a field-based mentorship in the Conroe, Cypress-Fairbanks and Aldine school districts, pairing veteran bilingual educators with students.

Hewlett-Gómez said that eight SHSU students who are now in the program will graduate this fall, and another six next spring, leaving room for a number of new recruits.

In addition to the program's administrative costs, UPBEATT funding from the Department of Education also pays for the student participants' tuition, books and for travel expenses to required seminars and conferences.

The donation was the result of the association's Distinguished Alumni Dinner auction, during which two airline tickets donated by Continental Airlines were bought by Ron Mafrige, an association board member and SHSU supporter in many areas.

Austin, who founded the organization in 1980 while serving as a U. S. Customs Service agent in Phoenix, Ariz., was presented the Distinguished Alumni Award at the dinner.

"The Alumni Association decided to support this program, in Tommy's honor, and to show that we are concerned with good causes other than our own," said Kathy Bowman, director of the SHSU Office of Alumni Relations.

Participating in the presentation ceremony in Houston, in addition to Austin, Bowman, and Mafrige, were Teri Andrepont, executive director of the foundation's Houston office, and Ray Greer, past president of the Alumni Association.

SHSU employees will take a large portion of their state-approved holidays between Christmas and New Year's. Employees will be off work from the end of work on Tuesday, Dec. 22 until the beginning of work on Monday, Jan. 4.

Employees of the campus post office will distribute mail on Dec. 23, 28, and 31.

Dorms open at 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 10 for the spring semester, with classes beginning Wednesday, Jan. 13.

Penny Hasekoester, who is coordinating the event, said that El Chico will donate a percentage of the bill for El Chico diners who tell their waiter or the cashier that they support the Department of Theatre and Dance.

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Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak Dec. 13, 1998 Please send comments, corrections, news tips to [email protected]