Happenings: Farewell, Falls Hall

Falls Hall formally decommissioned by President Trauth, students, staff

By Billi London-Gray

Former residents in front of Falls Hall, Feb. 28.

Beside the chain link construction fence and amidst the beeps and grinding sounds of bulldozers, a crowd of former residents, students, staff and faculty gathered on the Concho Green at Texas State University to say farewell to Falls Hall.

To commemorate the building and the people who have called it home, the university hosted a decommissioning ceremony and reception February 28. The residence hall, which opened in 1966, has housed an estimated 10,000 Texas State students during its 45 years of service.

“It’s wonderful to think about the fact that Falls Hall has seen five decades of Texas State history,” Texas State President Denise Trauth said in her opening remarks. “She’s performed a great service for our university, building a sense of community among her residents, forming lifelong friendships among them, and connecting them to the university.”

Happenings: Financial Planning for Bobcats

Money Savvy Cats program aims
to educate students about finances

The last time anyone checked, more than eight out of 10 college students had a credit card — and an unpaid balance.

The average senior, according to statistics compiled by Sallie Mae, will graduate with more than $4,000 in credit card debt, on top of any student loans. The average debt carried by college students is $3,173, almost double the figure from 2004.

Only 17 percent of students pay off their entire balance every month; 22 percent pay just the minimum.

Those are just some of the reasons the Texas State financial literacy program, Money Savvy Cats, was established.

Money Savvy Cats is launching its spring series of programs with a session on credit cards called “How Credit Really Works,” Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the LBJ Student Center, room 3-5.1.

The program’s primary mission is to improve the financial well being of Texas State students through education about personal finance, money management and credit management.

The program is presented by students for students, as a way to provide unbiased information about finances and identify financial options. Money Savvy Cats also has a Facebook fan page.

Here are the topics for this spring:

• How Credit Really Works, Tuesday, 5:30-7 p.m., LBJSC 3-5.1
• Why is My Credit Report Important? Wednesday, March 30, 6:30-8 p.m., LBJSC 3-13.1
• Relationships and Money Management: What should I consider? Monday, April 18, 5:30-7 p.m., LBJSC 3-3.1

Texas State Updates: Bobcats in Baseball

Goldschmidt, Field, Miller invited
to major-league training camps

Miller

Three former Texas State baseball players are working out with their major-league teams this spring as they prepare for the upcoming season.

Paul Goldschmidt, Thomas Field and Matt Miller are “non-roster invitees,” which means they are practicing with their organization’s major-league players this spring but are not officially on the major-league roster.

Typically, teams have anywhere from 20-30 non-roster invitees early in spring training, then gradually send the players back to their projected minor-league teams as workouts and exhibition games progress.

Alumni: Lonny Alexander

Texas State grad receives two awards
from Southern Texas PGA

By Britney Munguia

Lonny Alexander at the STPGA banquet.

The Southern Texas Section of the Professional Golfers Association of America recently honored Texas State University-San Marcos graduate Lonny Alexander with two awards: 2010 Player of the Year and the Harvey Penick Teacher of the Year.

The player of the year award recognizes Alexander’s region-leading point total, which qualified him to participate in the PGA Tour’s Shell Houston Open this spring. This will be his fourth time to participate in the tour event.

The Harvey Penick award honors Alexander’s dedication and teaching style as a golf pro. The award is named for longtime Texas golf pro and teacher Harvey Penick.

Both awards were presented to Alexander at the 43rd annual STPGA Awards banquet, which was held in Marble Falls earlier this month.

Alexander, who lives in New Braunfels, graduated from Texas State in 1996 and became a professional golfer that same year. Alexander serves as the instructor for all beginning-level golf classes at Texas State. He is also the director of instruction at the Onion Creek Club in Austin.

Happenings: The End of Falls Hall

University marking the end
of Falls Hall dormitory on Monday

By David King

Texas State will have a ceremony for the decommissioning of Falls Hall on Monday, beginning at 2:30 p.m.

Falls Hall, from the University Star.

The ceremony and a reception will take place outside the construction fence on Concho Green, adjacent to Butler Hall.

The program will include a reading of the history of Falls, filling a time capsule and ringing the carillon once for each decade the hall was in service. The time capsule will be kept in the University Archives.

Falls Hall will be razed on March 7. The space will be used for the new performing arts center, which will feature a 400-seat theater and a 300-seat recital hall as well as rehearsal spaces, staging areas, classrooms and a lobby.

The dormitory opened in 1966, at the height of a building boom at the university. It opened at the same time as Buckner Hall, which now is the site of McCoy College. Also under construction during that same period were Sterry Hall, Jackson Hall, an addition to the Jones Dining Hall and what became the J.C. Kellam Administration Building.

Distinguished Alumni: Bryan Wildenthal

Wildenthal served at Texas State,
was longtime president of Sul Ross

Bryan Wildenthal

Bryan Wildenthal graduated from Texas State University in 1925 and was named the school’s financial auditor. He continued in that position as he completed a master’s and a doctorate in economics from the University of Texas in Austin.

He became the university’s business manager, and served in that role until he was named a professor of economics in 1940.

During World War II, the native of Cotulla was general assistant to the secretary of the American Red Cross, serving in the Pacific.

He returned to Texas State after the war and resumed his position as professor.

In 1950, Wildenthal was appointed president of Angelo State College in San Angelo, and he held that position for two years. He then served as president of Sul Ross State University in Alpine from 1952 until his death in 1965.

The Bryan Wildenthal Memorial Library opened at Sul Ross three years later.

He was named a Texas State Distinguished Alumnus by the Alumni Association in 1974.

Faculty: Jean Laman

After 37 years, retrospective celebrates work of retiring art professor

Jean Laman

Jean B. Laman’s artistic career is woven across nearly half a century of experience. From her first group exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art in 1966 to her 37-year tenure on the faculty at Texas State University-San Marcos, Laman has created a lasting legacy both through her work and through her students.

“Jean B. Laman: Points of Departure,” a retrospective of her work, will open Thursday at Gallery II in the Joann Cole Mitte Building on campus. The show will examine Laman’s work and explorations in celebration of her upcoming retirement from the Texas State faculty in May. Mitte Gallery director Mary Mikel Stump will curate the show.

Around Campus: Texas State Blood Drive

FREE COOKIES! Texas State
to host blood drive on campus

Texas State University will be hosting a blood drive on campus Wednesday, March 9, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in JC Kellam, room 1100. Blood will be collected by the Blood Center of Central Texas and will benefit patients needing transfusions.

According to the Blood Center’s website, “Donating blood is safe, simple and it saves lives.” If you’ve never donated blood before, the Blood Center has provided a step-by-step description of the blood donation process.

Step 1: Sign-in and Interview
Bring a photo ID and know your Social Security number. When you sign in, you will be asked to read some information. Next, in private, you will complete a short survey about your medical and travel history. To ensure the safest possible blood supply and be FDA-compliant, all screening questions must be asked of all donors at each donation.

Around Campus: Disc Golf

Texas State Disc Golf takes flight to national tournament

By Billi London-Gray

Texas State Disc Golf, one of the newest sports clubs on campus, is headed to the 2011 Collegiate National Disc Golf Tournament in April.

The tournament, which will include 36 teams from colleges around the nation, will be held April 14-17 at the Hippodrome Disc Golf Complex in North Augusta, S.C.

Texas State senior Stephen Allen, the founding president of Bobcat Disc Golf and now Texas State Disc Golf, will be attending the tournament with three other members of the team: junior Mark Olden, junior Stephen Schmidt and senior Zach Jansen, who won the 2010 Central Texas Long Distance Drive contest with a 497-foot throw.

Presidents Day

Celebrate Presidents Day with LBJ

Lyndon Baines Johnson, class of 1930.

Presidents Day, celebrated the third Monday in February, is a day to remember past American leaders, and perhaps also find a good sale. Officially known as Washington’s Birthday, the federal holiday was created by an Act of Congress in 1879 to commemorate the nation’s first president, George Washington, who was born Feb. 22, 1732.

We’ll expand our observance today and remember President Lyndon Baines Johnson, a member of the Texas State University class of 1930. The following notable quotes are from speeches made by Johnson, both before and after he became president of the United States in 1963.

You can also find more LBJ links and videos on the Texas State Blog.

Remarks at Gettysburg, Pa., on civil rights

May 30, 1963

Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men’s skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact. To the extent that the proclamation of emancipation is not fulfilled in fact, to that extent we shall have fallen short of assuring freedom to the free.