The Rail

WINTER 2019

PERSON OF DISTINCTION Raise the bar, jump over it, repeat THE TEAL PUMPKIN PROJECT

A safe Halloween for kids with food allergies

‘OLD NEVER GETS OLD’ Classic cars in Austin County

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WINTER 2019

Publisher & Editor KAREN LOPEZ Managing editor JOE SOUTHERN

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

6 12 20 28 38 44

‘OLD NEVER GETS OLD’ Classic cars breathe new life into Austin County PCOS A hormone condition that causes painful effects in women PERSON OF DISTINCTION Raise the bar, jump over it, repeat THE 1974 HUNTSVILLE PRISON RIOT It's connection to Sealy THE TEAL PUMPKIN PROJECT A safe Halloween for children with food allergies THE CHANGING FACE OF COLLEGE Nontraditional is the new traditional

Contributing writers COLE MCNANNA ROXANNE AVERY JOE SOUTHERN CARRIE WARD VALERIE REDDELL CLAIRE GOODMAN Contributing photographers JOE SOUTHERN COLE MCNANNA Administration AMY LIEB Designer VICTORIA PARKER Produced by Sealy Publications Inc., publishers of The Sealy News.

193 Schmidt Rd. Sealy, Texas 77474 979-885-3562 For more information about advertising and distribution contact publisher@sealynews.com COPYRIGHT © 2019 The entire contents of this publication and its electronic version at sealynews.com are copyrighted

by Sealy Publications Inc. No material may be reproduced without the expressed written permission of the publisher.

Copyright © 2019 Sealy Publications Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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THE RAIL WINTER 2019

FAV

Five

1 3 4 5

TO SURVIVING HOME REMODELING

DON’T TAKE THINGS TOO SERIOUSLY Everything is a process and WILL NOT go at your pace. Expect the unexpected.

Goofy selfies and grandbabies are a wonderful outlet.

GET OUT OF THE HOUSE Go catch a game with a good friend. Go ‘Stros!

EXPECTATIONS Expect to go over your budget. If you expect to spend $8,000 on your bathroom remodel, guess what? You are going to spend $12,000. Or maybe that was just me.

THE RAIL WINTER 2019

5

ENVISION YOUR ENDRESULT

Here are some before and after photos of my recent master bathroom remodel. Yes, I did remove the bathtub completely and made a larger, open door shower. If you are only taking the time once a year to relax in the tub, then you don’t need it. The shower, on the other hand, I use every day. You’re welcome!

2

BREATHE

“Breathe, breathe, breathe.

Tomorrow is a new day.” The uplifting words from my friend and home designer Lisa Dupree.

She helped me get through the day to day stress of dust, dirt and strange men in my house for months.

‘OLD

NEVER

GETS OLD’

Classic cars breathe new life into Austin County

T

By Cole McNanna

hey only get better over time.

As new technology is developed every day, rendering previous technology practically obsolete, some of the old school tech continues to stand the test of time and deliver when called upon.

That’s what runs through the mind of Jeff McDaniel every time he turns the key on his 1959 Chevrolet Apache, the same model he drove throughout his high school and college days in Oklahoma.

“The new stuff today becomes old quick but the old stuff from back then seems like it never gets old. The old stuff never gets old,” he said.

It retains memories from the past and adds to the experience of owning a piece of history which can take you back in time to what McDaniel described as some simpler times.

“We did that back then where you’d stop and people looked at each other’s cars, so it makes me think of those days before the social media when you talked to people face to face,” he said. “You only kind of get that today because people will say, ‘Hey, what year is that?’ and you talk to them. It reminds me of the days when you had conversations with people and laughed with each other, you can laugh now, but it’s between a screen.”

Things got done in person and with bare hands, and the familial connection seemed closer than today with screen distractions getting in the way. Cars were worked on together; they were passed down to start a new chapter in its history.

That is going to be the case for Byron Burnett’s 1964 Ford F-100, which will soon go to the care of his daughter once it’s out of the friendly confines of the garage at Bumbera’s Performance.

“I have two daughters; Shannon (36), who lives in Austin, and Kristi (33), who lives here in Houston,” Burnett said. “Kristi, my youngest, is the one who went to Kenny Bumbera and told him if for any reason I was not able to claim Pearl, that Pearl was her truck.”

It was originally Burnett’s grandparents’ vehicle and his grandfather affectionately named the truck Pearl after his wife, and Burnett knew his time to enjoy the ride was close to running out.

“Pearl was purchased new in 1964 by my grandfather, Lee Alexander, from the Ford dealership in Grand Prairie, Texas,” Burnett said. “If I was going to enjoy driving Pearl again, I wanted to have time to do that. And

Sealy High School athletic trainer Jeff McDaniel drove the same 1959 Cheverlot Apache model all throughout his high school and college days and came back around to buy another one.

Byron Burnett had this 1964 Ford F-100 passed down to him from his grandparents and plans to pass it down to his children once it's out of the friendly confines of Bumbera's Performance.

secondly, I now know of a shop and a family that I could trust with something as important to me as is Pearl. This is a major renovation. As extensive as these upgrades would be, it had to be done by one that I could trust would be safe and dependable.

“My grandfather was a simple, working man who just wanted a simple work truck,” Burnett continued. “I did not want Pearl to have the appearance of a ‘Trailer Queen.’ Yes, updated with today’s modern conveniences and safety features but still the same work truck that my grandfather and grandmother relied upon for daily transportation.

“I wanted Pearl to remain the same work truck I rode in to school; the same work truck that hauled hay and cows, and the same work truck that hauled me and my cousins in her truck bed over the two-lane, black-top roads and through the open countryside of cattle and cotton,” Burnett said.

On top of that, he wanted to maintain the memories he made, not only with his grandparents, but with his own children as well.

“When Pearl went into long-term storage in my garage, the two girls, then 8- and 10-year-olds, would sit in Pearl’s cab and pretend they were on the open road on an adventure,” he recalled.

The garage it’s being worked on in has a close-knit family feel to it as well and that’s part of what sets them apart after nearly 30 years in the industry.

“There aren’t a whole lot of people that do what we do and there aren’t a whole lot of people that do it on such a broad spectrum that we do,” said Kendall Bumbera, the middle child of the next generation of Bumberas who handles all of the marketing and social media for the garage. “We can work on a 1900 Model A to 2019 Mustang. We’ll do everything and you have the family aspect of it too; your chances of talking to somebody who is blood when you walk in the door is pretty high and that means that we care and we’re happy that you’re here. So that personal touch sets us apart on the service side and then as far as what we can do on the vehicles, there’s not a whole lot that we don’t or can’t do.”

The business started shortly after Kenny married Cheri in 1992 and they set up shop off Highway 6 and Memorial Drive for 20 years before moving to Katy for seven and ultimately ending up in Sealy, 6513 SE I-10 Frontage Road in April. All that moving around, however, did little to keep cars away from Kenny’s reputation under the hood.

“He started doing this whole thing and hanging out with the hot rodders 8

THE RAIL WINTER 2019

in the ’60s and ’70s on Westheimer and so he kind of became known as the carburetor guy,” Kendall said. “Then as those cars got older, and everyone else got older, people still have those cars and so he was the guy then when they were new and now he’s still the guy for those cars.”

That love of cars is being passed down the generations, much like the cars themselves.

“My dad founded the company with my mom, Cheri. Kristin is the oldest and we’re all five years apart,” explained Kendall. “She’s always worked for the company; she does all the books, the accounting and also does tuning on cars. Then I do all the marketing; all the social media and graphic design, I do all that. And then Boyd is the other Bumbera child, he is 21. He is the high-performance specialist so he basically he’s new school, and my dad is old school.”

Now, when one person brings through a specific model car, similar ones make their way out of the woodwork and swarm to the garage to get their work done there as well.

“It depends, any given week we can have all new ‘Vettes in here,” said Kristin, the eldest who is in charge of the books and accounting while mixing in some tuning and driving every so often. “It’s kind of weird because if you park a Volkswagen out front, we’ll have four Volkswagens show up.

Like the Cobra Kit car out there, we’ll have four or five of those. If it’s an old truck, they’ll be here. I guess people see it and then call a buddy.”

“That’s like the Bronco one, we did a Bronco build then three showed up,” Kendall added.

“So it depends, we always tell people you come this week, it’ll be different next week, there’s always a rotation,” said Kristin.

That rotation, however, brings a consistent type of person, and car owner, around although she added that has slightly changed since moving out of the hustle and bustle in the city.

“In Houston and Katy, a lot of people bought a classic because it was something that they remembered their grandpa having or they had as a kid or wish they hadn’t sold it. So they bought one kind of like it and they needed to put all this money into it to make awesome,” Kristin started.

“Out here, it’s probably the exact opposite; they did own it, they still own it, they maintained it, they or their grandpa has had it and then it got passed down to them. It has a whole lot more meaning which makes our job even more fun because we get to work on something that’s super sentimental and we get to pour just as much heart into it as the customer does.”

SEALY’S S EALY A Y S 13TH 133TH AN 13T ANN ANNUAL NU N UA U ALL A

Boo Bash Hosted by The Sealy News & Sealy Main Street Thursday, October 31st 5:00-7:30 pm The whole family is invited to Downtown Sealy for treats, games, costume contests, food trucks, live music and much more!

From Aaga to Grandpa, Don’t Miss a Moment.

SAVE THE DATE: BRAS FOR A CAUSE • Saturday October 26, 2019 • Starting at 9:00pm • Saddleback Saloon in Historic downtown Sealy HERE’S THE DETAILS • Donate a decorated bra to the Saddleback Saloon between Oct. 1 – 25.

• Meet your friends at Saddleback Saloon on Oct. 26 to watch our Austin County dignitaries models those bras for auction to raise money for a great Cause!

• Drink specials all night!

All proceeds go to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Breast Care with Memorial Hermann – Katy.

For more information contact Karen Lopez at 979-885-3562 or email publisher@sealynews.com.

Spring Mark Your Calendar for The Next Issue of The Rail Up to 50% off with Annual contract.

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THE RAIL WINTER 2019

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THE RAIL WINTER 2019

PCOS

A hormone condition that causes long-term, painful effects in women

By Carrie Ward

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P

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS, as it’s commonly known, is a hormonal imbalance that affects up to 10 percent of women in their reproductive years. According to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, PCOS is one of the most common causes of female infertility, yet awareness for this hormonal condition is only recently on the rise.

Lori Ham of Wallis said when she was diagnosed two years ago at the age of 40, she had never heard of PCOS, but she recognizes common PCOS symptoms when she remembers the severe menstrual period and painful cramping which kept her at home for days at a time as a teenager and young adult.

“Women’s health is often put on the back burner.

When I had these symptoms as a teenager and young adult, we treated the symptoms with birth control, but I never knew it was something more serious,” Ham said.

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THE RAIL WINTER 2019

According to Bellville Medical Center’s Dr. Shannon Juno, Board Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, a common first symptom of PCOS is frequently missed periods. PCOS is often present from the start of a women’s menstrual cycle in puberty but can also develop later in life in patients with substantial weight gain, according to MayoClinic.com.

PCOS affects all areas of the body, not simply the reproductive system and the list of symptoms are as varied as are the unique stories of the women behind the diagnosis.

When Anne* first heard she suffered from PCOS, she was 20 years old. In the same conversation, her doctor told her the devastating new that she would most likely never be able to get pregnant. PCOS causes infertility by producing elevated levels of the male hormone androgen, which prevents ovulation or the releasing of an egg by the ovaries each month. Androgen also causes excess facial and body hair, severe acne and thinning hair, which are common symptoms of PCOS. Lori’s diagnosis was both uncommon and unexpected because she had a hysterectomy years before, which removed her cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, but left her ovaries. At the time of her diagnosis, she was overdue for an annual gynecological exam and in an ultrasound discovered numerous cysts on her ovaries. Lori was diagnosed with PCOS right away. In researching it she learned that her thinning hair, low sex drive, acne, sleeplessness and even depression could all be traced back to PCOS. “I think talking about things such as low sex drive or pain during sex is important. It’s not fun, but it’s important to talk about all of it because it takes away the stigma and improves women’s health,” Lori said.

Anne says she experienced irregular periods, but nothing too alarming. In fact, she went to the doctor because she and her husband were planning a family. Instead she found out that she wasn’t ovulating.

As Anne said, tell her she can’t do something and she’s surely going to find a way to do it. That’s how she approached infertility. She took clomid, an ovulation-stimulating drug, before her first pregnancy and even though she was told during one cycle that she hadn’t produced any mature follicles and would not produce an egg that month, she did get pregnant. Years later through IUI (Intrauterine Insemination) she was able to conceive and carry another healthy baby.

“I feel very blessed. Yes, I have PCOS, but I have two healthy children. I don’t have a lot of the symptoms that a lot of other people have,” Anne said.

Dr. Juno says that PCOS has been diagnosed for years but is seeing a rise in cases because of an increase in awareness and while not all cases are caused by weight gain, an increase in obesity in the United States has also led to more diagnoses. The exact cause of PCOS is unknown, though genetics, excess insulin, low-grade inflammation and elevated levels of the male hormone androgen may play a role.

As the name states, polycystic ovaries are often a common symptom. Cysts form when numerous small fluid-filled sacs develop on the ovaries. This prevents ovaries from functioning regularly and releasing eggs. They cysts can also be extremely painful.

Every other year, Anne says she experiences painful cysts and visits the doctor for a checkup, but she has not had any additional complications because of the cysts.

Lori also has cysts but hasn’t experienced the intense pain some women feel.

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THE RAIL WINTER 2019

In addition to the immediate signs and symptoms, PCOS can increase the risk of serious, long-term health issues such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, endometrial hyperplasia and even endometrial cancer or cancer of the uterine lining.

There is no cure for PCOS, but treatment can ease some of the symptoms and long-term effects. Women who do not want to become pregnant are often prescribed combined birth control containing both estrogen and progestin. It regulates the menstrual cycle, decreases androgen levels and reduces the risk of endometrial cancer.

Metformin is also given to women with PCOS to treat insulin resistance, a condition where the body’s cells do not respond to the effects of insulin. This causes the level of glucose in the blood to rise, which in turn triggers the body to produce more insulin to move the glucose into the cells. This leads to weight gain and diabetes.

“I can run and exercise all day and lose one pound. I can lose that little just laughing,” Lori said about the difficulty of losing weight with PCOS. Anne says that metformin and birth control help her manage PCOS. Lori’s doctor prescribed metformin and has discussed surgery to remove her ovaries and hormone therapy as options when the symptoms become painful or interfere with her life.

Because the symptoms of PCOS can change over time, both women also get regular check-ups and keep in communication with their doctors to manage PCOS. PCOS is a serious condition but can be treated. If you would like more information, please visit WebMD.com or MayoClinic.com *In an effort to maintain Anne’s privacy, we used an assumed name and not her real name throughout this article.

WINTER 2019 THE RAIL

15

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THE RAIL WINTER 2019

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THE RAIL WINTER 2019

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NEW RELEASES FOR THIS WINTER

Frozen II

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

DECEMBER 2019

NOVEMBER 2019

Terminator: Dark Fate

JANUARY 2020

Jumanji: The Next Level

The Informer

Bad Boys for Life

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Cats

The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle

PERSON OF DISTINCTION

RAISE

PERSON OF DISTINCTION

THE BAR,

JUMP

OVER IT,

REPEAT

By Cole McNanna

I

t’s hard to avoid the cliché “Continues to raise the bar,” when describing the path of Clayton Fritsch’s pole vaulting career.

The 2017 graduate from Sealy High School twice qualified for the state meet in Austin which helped him secure a roster spot with the Sam Houston State Bearkats where he became the first in school history to earn All-American honors in both the indoor and outdoor circuits in the same year.

Before his sophomore year was over, he left the country for the first two times in his life to represent USA Track and Field at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) U-23 Championships in Queretaro, Mexico, and the Pan-American Games in Lima, Peru, where he medaled in both meets.

That makes two his lucky number: Two trips to the state meet in high school, two All-American bids and two international medals after just his second year of college.

The weight all of those titles together is certainly significant and Fritsch noted on his way back from his first taste of international competition, a gold medal from the NACAC Championships along with the meet record, that it may take a little bit to realize he was truly living his dream.

“On the way back was when I was really starting to think about

it; waiting on the plane I was just super happy to go and compete for USA, that’s always been a dream and to win the meet was that much better,” he said in an interview last July. “Even not having a coach there (and still getting those results) really brought a lot of confidence knowing what I can do.”

His event coach maintains that despite all of that success, Fritsch remains level-headed and one of the best teammates you could wish for.

“Ask anything of him, he’s going to get it done,” said Bearkats’ jumping coach Cutter Bernard. “He’s one of the guys that you can count on; if I’ve got something going on between cross country meets, recruiting, whatever, it’s like, ‘Hey, Clayton, I need this to get done,’ and he’s rocking and rolling. We’re excited and blessed to have him here.”

Although it might not have exactly been like a love at first sight, head coach David Self elaborated on when it clicked in his mind that Fritsch needed to be on the campus of Sam Houston State.

“I had a chance to watch him jump, and he’ll remember this, we were at Katy Tompkins and here comes this kind of tall, lanky guy and he’s got two poles with him and I thought, ‘This is the guy that Cutter told us about?’” Self recounted. “Then he goes down the runway, he plants the pole and I’m like, ‘Well, OK, there’s a little

PERSON OF DISTINCTION

ability here,’ and I think he won that day and I remember texting Coach Bernhard going, ‘Yeah, this guy’s got it.’”

It was only a matter of time before he got to learn more about Fritsch and it became increasingly evident that he was going to find success in Huntsville.

“I had a chance to chat with him briefly at the meet and I got to meet Mom and Dad and when you meet the parents you get a pretty good idea of what you’re getting into as far as the person. Being a small-town guy myself, I was kind of like, ‘OK, I bet he’s probably baled hay before,’” Self added.

“We’re a pretty blue-collar team and I had a chance to spend a pretty good amount of time with him on his visit. Through more talking with Mom and Dad, we just knew that he was kind of guy that we wanted our program.”

Luckily enough for the coaches, Fritsch felt the same way and decided to make Sam Houston his next home, but it wasn’t solely based off of the athletic aspect.

“The biggest (schools) were Sam Houston and Incarnate Word. I talked to a few other schools but those are the ones I went on visits with,” Fritsch said.

“What it really came down to was, my mom kind of put this in my head, she asked ‘Where would you want to go to school if you didn’t have track and field?’ Before I even thought about coming here for track and field it was one of the schools on my list of if I didn’t go anywhere, I’d go there. They have my major, they have my minors, it fit in well and I have friends and people from Sealy that are here, so it’s been a pretty comfortable decision.”

Seeing some familiar faces every so often certainly never hurts but there’s a fire that burns inside of him which was sparked during his playing days in Sealy that has made him want to be part of the legendary company people think of when inquiring about that town on I-10 between Houston and San Antonio.

“There are other guys out there; Ricky Seals-Jones is out there making it in the NFL and stuff. I always looked at that Eric Dickerson sign on the football field and thinking, ‘I want to be that guy sometime,’ where you’ve made Sealy proud,” Fritsch said. “You’re doing what you do for a town and you have the support that they have given me and I just, I’m in debt to them always.

“Sealy just has a big place in my heart, for sure,” he continued. “I could see myself going back there in a few years and settling down because that environment is what I like. I could see myself raising a family there. I mean, Sealy’s just a great town, honestly, and to have all the friends and family and family friends there, it’s good to know that those people have your back and you have their back.”

However, all of this could have just been an afterthought had Fritsch’s eventual high school jumping coach sat on his hands and let an opportunity to help him out pass by.

“I remember going to a track meet early on, my son was a couple years younger than him,” said Jeff Brandes, who owns and operates Visual Promotions in Sealy as his day job and coaches pole vaulters on top of that. “I was watching some of these kids and I saw (Clayton) walking across carrying a pole and I noticed his Mom was with him, it might have been seventh grade, eighth grade year. I saw him jump a few times and I thought that kid might have some potential, but I didn’t think too much of it other than the fact that I remember sitting back talking with my wife saying, ‘Should I or shouldn’t I?’ not real certain. Finally, I got the nerve I talked to his Mom and said, ‘Hey, who’s working with you guys? And would you like me to come out sometime?’”

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THE RAIL WINTER 2019

The Fritschs accepted and before long a strong connection was made.

“I remember I went out and they were real opening and welcoming to it,” Brandes said. “I started working with them a little bit and I said, ‘If you like it, I can come back. If not, I’m cool.’ And we seemed to hit it off real well, I think after about two or three times he started calling me coach and I felt comfortable.

“Then he started trusting me and I think what’s very important in any athlete-coach relationship is you have trust, especially when your life’s dangerous in some cases,” he continued. “Once we gained that trust with one another, I realized that he’s got quite a bit of potential but I never knew exactly how much potential because our time was limited between baseball, football, basketball, a lot of different things; which all those things are really good but it was hard to identify exactly that one sport.

“I did feel like there was something there and I knew that if he could continue trusting in me and we could work together and he would even forgive me for some of my coaching mistakes that I made along the way then I knew that he could do something special,” Brandes said.

Another person who concurred with that thought might not have been hands-on with the team in terms of coaching but certainly had an added stake in how the athletes performed.

Oscar Ortiz, assistant athletic trainer and assigned to the track and cross country teams Fritsch’s first two years, marveled at the quality of his work ethic at such a young age.

“For him to be as hard-working as he is at 18, 19 years old is just amazing,” he said. “He’s definitely got that drive to hopefully be part of an Olympic team in the near future, whether it be 2020 or 2024. I can definitely see that

PERSON OF DISTINCTION

happening, I hope it does and I’m going to follow him whether I’m with him or not.”

Coach Bernhard agrees that the Olympics are certainly on the table and although that may be a loud statement to make at this juncture, he has faith in Fritsch.

“Looking ahead, he’s kind of shown me that nothing’s impossible to an extent,” said Bernhard. “I agree with him in the fact that Tokyo 2020 is definitely on the map. That’s a bold statement to make but I think he has proven that it’s legitimate.

“I mean, you’re five centimeters under an Olympic standard, last time I looked, he was in the top 30 in the world,” Bernhard continued, referencing Fritsch’s 24th-place world rank and No. 4 slot in the country as of Sept. 17, 2019. “As crazy as it sounds, it’s legitimate. There are guys that made Olympic teams that are far less jumpers than he is so it can be done now, it’s just what we do we have to do to get it there.”

After that, the professional ranks could be the next-highest bar Fritsch will look to clear, an aspect he’s already thinking of.

“That ‘pro’ word, I want that title, I think that’d be cool to have and carry around,” he admitted. “My cousin made for a little bit, so to kind of follow like him and then try to do a little bit more (is the goal right now).”

Coach Self agrees that there is a real possibility that happens although he tries not to allow everyone to think that way when signing up to be a Bearkat.

“Guys that are jumping this high at 19, 20 years old seriously have to start thinking, ‘OK, I can do this and make money,’” Self said. “That’s one of my spiels in our recruiting process; I tell people, ‘You’re probably not going to make money in track and field, you’re here to get a degree and you’re here to 23

THE RAIL WINTER 2019

compete, that’s really your two big things.’ Some farm factory for professional track, that’s not who we are as a program but he’s in a position now where 5.76m (18 feet 10.25 inches) has won multiple Olympic gold medals. It’s kind of one of those things where he’s doing it in the U.S., any other place in the world he’d (probably be an Olympian).”

Whether it does happen or not, Brandes knows this was all meant to be.

“Yeah, it’s a big deal but he’s the right man for the job,” he said of Fritsch’s international and possible Olympic career. “He’s well rounded and he’s modest, he doesn’t take advantage of the situation, he’s gonna take an inch and he’ll ask for a little more when he can. He’s gonna represent our community very well, which he already has, and he’s still got a lot ahead of him.

“You got to set your goals high, they have to be measurable, attainable, and they have to be a challenge,” Brandes continued. “For him to get (to the Olympics), it’s going to be a challenge and it’s obviously measurable and it’s attainable. But it’s gonna take a lot of work between now and then and a lot of determination just like for everyone, so, can he get it done? If he puts in the work and effort and stays with it he can get it done.”

At the end of the day, Fritsch describes himself as a simple young man with lots of faith in the Lord, willing to ride the wave He’s got planned for him.

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THE 1974 HUNTSVILLE

PRISON

RIOT

By Valerie Reddell

As the lunch hour came to an end July 24, 1974, it seemed to be a normal summer afternoon in the Walls Unit in downtown Huntsville. That normalcy halted suddenly as the back to work whistle blew in the yard. The official name of the complex is the Huntsville Unit, but the red brick structures that has detained Texas convicts since 1854 is more commonly known as The Walls. When that whistle blew, inmate Fred Gomez Carrasco fired a shot into the ceiling of the library on the third floor of the Walls educational complex. There were 80 people in the library and the adjoining classroom at the time.

O On that signal, Ignacio Cuevas removed a length of chain hidden in the leg of his prison whites. He used the chain to wrap around the library’s door handles. While Cuevas barricaded the door, Carrasco began removing the hundreds of rounds of ammunition that had been taped to his leg.

Carrasco was serving a life sentence for the shooting of a San Antonio police officer. The four gunshot wounds he sustained during his capture in July 1973 got him a spot in the Walls Unit, which was officially classified as medium security. He recruited Cueves and Rudolfo Dominguez to join him in the riot because he knew the two Latinos would follow his orders without hesitation.

Cuevas was serving a 45-year murder sentence. Dominguez was in the midst of a 15-year sentence. In a psychological profile of the trio, Dominguez was described as “near-psychotic.” He was the least intelligent and most volatile of the three.

In the investigation that followed the siege, administrators said that the Walls Unit actually operated as a maximum security facility, despite its classification, since many of the most dangerous inmates in the prison system often were brought to Walls for medical treatment.

But many still wonder if the whole ordeal would have been avoided if Carrasco had been housed at the Ellis Unit.

The former drug lord was assigned to light custodial work in the chapel under the supervision of the Rev. Joseph John O’Brien. O’Brien described Carrasco as a pear-shaped man who didn’t look tough or act mean — and certainly “did not appear to be the classic desperado,” in a 2001 interview with William T. Harper, author of “11 Days in Hell.”

Outside the Walls, Carrasco was widely known as perhaps the largest heroin dealer in South Texas.

Another eight to 10 inmates were also in the library when Carrasco took them hostage.

The guns used in the siege were smuggled in by a trusty that came under the control of Carrasco’s gang through a series of bribes and threats.

Lawrence James Hall was a houseboy in the home of an assistant director for the prison system.

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Hall emptied a one-gallon can of peaches from the commissary and refilled it with ammunition. Getting guns inside the prison was trickier.

The trusty hollowed out a large ham and placed one .38 pistol inside. Two more .357s were hidden inside a box of spoiled meat. Since Hall frequently went through the gate between the prison and the administrator’s house, guards were convinced when the odor of rotting meat wafted out of the box. They didn’t bother searching all the way down to the bottom of the box where the handguns were hidden.

The three captors couldn’t control 80 hostages, so 65 were released in groups of five. That left 12 prison employees and four inmates on the third floor. Four of the hostages were women.

The employee hostages included: Aline House, Ann Fleming, Linda Woodman, Julia Standley, Von Beseda, Novella Pollard, Anthony Branch, Ron Robinson, Bertha Davis, Glennon Johnson, Father O’Brien and officer Bobby Heard.

House, Fleming, Woodman and Standley typically had lunch together outside the prison on Wednesdays. They had just returned from the weekly outing when Carrasco kicked off the riot. Two other female librarians, Naomi Rogers and Doris Thompson, were off that day. A third had decided to quit her job that morning — but other staff members didn’t know that yet, Harper said in his book.

Phyllis Fox normally would have been at work in the education center, but she happened to be visiting another unit. That staff shortage prompted House to call Fleming over to the Walls Unit to discuss a book order.

So she was at the Walls Unit, instead of her usual assignment at the Goree or Ferguson units.

Bruce Noviskie had been working at the prison for two years when the siege began. He said the Walls had a “country club” atmosphere — for a prison anyway.

TDC Director W.J. Estelle Jr. negotiates on the telephone, surrounded by other members of the “Think Tank” who worked to manage the crisis inside the library. From the left are FBI agent Robert Wiatt, TDC interpreter Ben Aguilar, Carrasco’s attorney Ruben Montemayor, public information officer Ron Taylor and Captain G. W. Burks of the Texas Rangers. PHOTO BY TDCJ

In a telephone interview, Noviskie said he and his coworkers didn’t have many confrontations with convicts.

He felt almost at home inside the Walls Unit. His father was the chief deputy for the Austin County Sheriff ‘s Office. Noviskie grew up in the living quarters of the jail. He said he had many encounters with Carrasco prior to the standoff, and he never caused any trouble.

“It was pretty safe for the employees and the inmates,” Noviskie said.

He and Lt. Wayne Scott were in the upper yard when the whistle blew.

Inmates had to either go back to work, or to the housing area. Scott would eventually become the executive director of TDC. “An inmate who walked up to Wayne and I said there was an inmate in the education center with a knife,” Noviskie said. “Wayne and I started up the ramps. We got to that last ramp that goes into the education building when another officer saw that the doors were chained shut.

“The three of us proceeded toward the doors. I recollect that the doors were a little bit ajar,” Noviskie said.

“I could see the chains from the outside. With the July sun, the doors were somewhat tinted,” he added.

“We were 10 to 15 feet from the door when Fred Carrasco stepped in front of the door. I could see that he had a pistol in his hand, and his arm was at a 45-degree angle across his chest,” Noviskie said. “His arm was distinctive against that white uniform.”

“He started shooting through the door at us,” Noviskie said.

The former correctional officer remembered there wasn’t much room to escape.

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“With three grown 20-year-olds on a seven-foot wide ramp, there was no place to go but up or down.”

As the trio retreated down the ramp, Noviskie said Scott stepped on his hand.

When the warden met with them in the front office, the three were asked if they were hurt.

“I told them my hand hurt a little where Wayne stepped on it. Then Molly, the warden’s assistant, pointed out that my foot was bleeding. That’s when I felt the pain from the gunshot. It was very superficial. We were very lucky,” Noviskie said.

Scott’s uniform shirt had a bullet hole in it after they retreated, but he wasn’t injured. Noviskie was sent to Huntsville Memorial Hospital where he was treated and released.

“I tried to come back to work after that, but Warden Husbands and (TDC Director) Jim Estelle told me to stay away,” he said.

He went back to work a few days later but remained on the day shift.

“On the night it all went down, my shift was over,” he said. “I didn’t know anything until the shootout came on the news.”

Noviskie said he knew all the hostages, especially Beseda.

“Carrasco was always being sent back to San Antonio on bench warrants. It was my responsibility to get him dressed in ‘free world’ clothes. Then I took him to the warden’s office where they processed him out.

“I knew the Father well, too. When he took on the role of hostage, that left someone else out. Father O’Brien, Bob Wiatt, the Texas Rangers and several others stepped up during that riot. I don’t think they got the praise they should have. I know the way they handled it — I never thought twice about my safety.

If they had let the inmates leave, it would have been a different story.”

“A lot of people sacrificed so much,” Noviskie said. “My injury got me some recognition, but my foot was just in the wrong place. Fred could have seriously injured any of us. He just wanted to make a statement. I don’t think I was a target. He just wanted to make a statement that he was in charge.”

“That walk was the longest I have ever taken in my life,” O’Brien told author William T. Harper after the siege ended.

Husbands and Molly Stanley began burning up the phone lines, summoning TDC officials, Texas Rangers and others to Huntsville. Sharpshooters lined the roof of the hospital, 100 yards across the yard from the library. Officials also huddled to consider breaching the library building itself.

That plan was complicated by terra cotta Spanish tiles on the roof and the eight-inch thick masonry walls built on a frame of reinforced concrete. That construction also tended to magnify sounds — a factor that jangled the nerves of the hostages and their captors over the ensuing days. The third floor could only be accessed through a single entryway. Five inches of concrete separate each of the three levels of the building.

A single mistake in construction did give the “good guys” one advantage.

Thirty minutes after the standoff began, O’Brien walked to the third floor library wearing black plants, a white T-shirt and handcuffs. What the convicts didn’t know was that the key to the handcuffs was in O’Brien’s pocket.

Hostage Linda Woodward was forced to act as Carrasco’s spokesman, media reports show. Carrasco demanded to be set free in exchange for sparing the lives of the hostages. He hoped Cuban dictator Fidel Castro would allow him to live on a sugar cane plantation.

He further demanded three walkie-talkies, three bulletproof vests and helmets with visor as well as weapons, ammunition, tailored suits and Nunn Bush shoes.

Five hours after seizing control of the library area, Carrasco released Father O’Brien with a list of demands. He set a one-hour deadline to provide the listed items. Prison officials sent in food, but did not comply with the other demands.

Throughout the siege, Estelle and Husbands employed delay tactics and subterfuge.

Prison director Jim Estelle had an ironclad policy that he stated to every employee and contract worker.

“If I ever come to a gate and you have any reason to suspect that I’m under duress or have been taken hostage and I order you to open the gate — if you open that gate you’ve done two things: You’ve signed my death warrant and you’ve been fired.”

Carrasco offered to trade 50 inmates for 15 pairs of handcuffs and a TV. Officials agreed to the trade, knowing that the TV would never work. When Carrasco discovered the TV was useless so far from Houston, he demanded a technician come connect it to cable. FBI agent Bob Wiatt pointed out that no technician wanted to risk becoming the 13th hostage.

Off the prison grounds, roadblocks were set up around the prison to divert the curious as well as anyone who might attempt to come to Carrasco’s assistance. DPS put helicopters on standby alert.

Carrasco told O’Brien his plan, and the priest passed it on to prison officials. The 10 civilian prison employees and one guard would remain hostages. Four inmates would stay, but the other 56 would be released in groups of five.

The four who came to be identified as “inmate hostages” were: Enrique (Henry) Escamilla, 40, who was serving five years for theft.

Martin Quiroz, 26, who had two months remaining on a two-year sentence for drug possession.

Steven Ray Robertson, 25, serving 15 years for rape.

Florencio Vera, 29, serving 10 years for burglary, was at the Walls Unit recuperating from a colostomy.

The civilian captives described the four as fellow hostages and praised their efforts to help — even though they were in awe of Carrasco.

The inmates then went to work fortifying their position and using the hostages as a human shield.

Correctional Officer Bobby Heard managed to squeeze his 6-foot-2, 230pound frame into the crawl space above the library’s false ceiling of acoustic tile. The inmates ultimately found him and labeled him “Number One.” The captors kept him chained in the doorway until the female hostages convinced Carrasco to allow the hostages to take turns at the doorway post.

As Carrasco’s various deadlines came and went, the hostage leader would fly into screaming rages. The inmates had hidden food from the prison commissary throughout the library. Canned peaches, pears, canned meat, and Vienna sausages were placed behind books. They remained suspicious that Estelle would slip tranquilizers into the food.

It appeared to the hostages that the takeover was planned in great detail — the actual escape was not. Family members of the hostages gathered in the administration building where Windham staffers and community members did what they could to make the families’ wait bearable.

Hostages were allowed to call their families, but the content of those calls was scripted by the captors and often rehearsed. For the next 10 days, most of the communication between the captors and prison officials were handled through Carrasco’s attorney Ruben Montemayor.

Montemayor explained that no weapons would be delivered, and tried to convince him to put down his weapons and surrender.

When O’Brien carried messages back to prison officials, he also brought intelligence. Officials used any opportunity to stall each time Carrasco made demands. When he demanded clothing, they intentionally bought items that would not fit.

When hostage Glennon Johnson was forced to sit in the library doorway, he appeared to suffer a heart attack. Carrasco wanted the warden to send a doctor, but officials demurred. Finally, four inmates pushed a stretcher up the ramp. They moved the hostage the prison hospital and he was transferred to Huntsville Memorial.

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Elizabeth Yvonne Beseda

Judy Standley

Aline House learned from that and faked a heart attack to win her release.

Another one of the inmates burst through the glass doors and escaped, suffering severe cuts in the process.

Several times a day for each day the siege continued, the captors would threaten the hostages, often saying “I’m going to shoot you in 20 minutes.”

On the 10th day a summer thunderstorm knocked out power to the prison. In a breakthrough, Carrasco agreed to free all but four of the captives in exchange for an armored car they hoped to use in an escape.

Carrasco made it a point to move the hostages around the library each time O’Brien went to meet with the warden. Eventually, hostages and their captors settled into a routine.

After the siege, Woodman said it seemed like Carrasco had been waiting for something to happen. Prison officials theorized that the original escape plan called on Carrasco’s wife or other supporters to come to the rescue. But no one came.

For the first few days, Carrasco had the four male hostages sitting in the shattered doorway.

At about 6:15 p.m. Aug. 2, 1974, Carrasco released Linda Woodman and she spent three hours talking with prison officials.

Woodward was forced to act as Carrasco’s spokeman, media reports show.

Carrasco demanded to be set free in exchange for sparing the lives of the 12 people being held in the library/classroom complex.

The Trojan Taco

Carrasco selected Father O’Brien to go inside the makeshift shield alongside the inmates. He told the women to choose three from among the group. Ann Fleming said all the women volunteered.

Father O’Brien later explained that strategy was to maximize the number of survivors.

“If there was to be a shootout, we’d rather having it in the yard than in the library,” he said.

The three that ultimately went inside the shield had grown children — a criteria the women decided on themselves.

Construction on the improvised shield began on Day 4. Each day Carrasco presented new demands or altered prior ones. Prison officials stalled on each round of demands, asking for clarification or deliberately misinterpreting the demand.

On Day 10, after considerable discussion, the convicts released Linda Woodman.

Woodman was allowed to explain the convicts’ exit plan to officials, including details from the Trojan Taco’s test run. Carrasco initially planned to have six hostages inside with the three inmates, but there wasn’t enough room.

The next test had four hostages with Father O’Brien in the rear, facing outward.

O’Brien was given the job of being the “brakeman” as the contraption went down the ramp.

The soggy, crumpled “Trojan Taco” built by the inmates inside the library came to rest at the bottom of the ramp. The warden ordered staff to burn it immediately after the siege ended. PHOTO COURTESY HUNTSVILLE PRISON MUSEUM

Cuevas would be in the front with Novella Pollard. Carrasco would be in the middle with Beseda, Dominguez would be behind them with Standley. A pair of improvised explosives would be taped to each side of the shield.

After officials were briefed, FBI agent Bob Wiatt suggested using fire hoses.

Once the shield was toppled, the SWAT team members could jump in and physically subdue the convicts.

“We were all tired of this crap and ready to get it over with. We were sick of waiting,” said Jim Willett, a correctional officer at the time the siege. “Sick of serving inmates their meals in the housing quarters. Sick of having to eat our meals in the sultry heat. Sick of 12-hour shifts. Tired of the heat. Tired of no days off.”

Willett remained with TDC long after the seige. He was warden of the Walls Unit during the busiest period in history for the Execution Chamber. After retiring from the state, he ran the prison museum.

The captives made final phone calls with their families. Beseda joked about driving the armored car. Standley joked about running the armored car through the take-out window at a restaurant.

“I’ll see ya’ll soon,” Standley said.

Nearly all the hostages sent out instructions for their funeral, wills or other final bits of personal business. Even the optimistic Father O’Brien didn’t think he would survive the ordeal.

“I was resigned,” O’Brien said. “To me it was over. I was dead.”

Carrasco sent a note to his attorney itemizing amounts of money confiscated from each of the hostages. He instructed Ruben Montemayor to reimburse them.

Carrasco also sent out a note to the hostages’ families saying all of them would be released unharmed.

The showdown

After dark on Aug. 3, the inmates used an improvised shield made of two rolling chalkboards covered with thick law books to exit the library.

Eight hostages were handcuffed to the blackboards, with librarian Julia 33

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Standley, 43, and teacher Elizabeth Beseda, 47, inside the makeshift structure that was described as a “Trojan Taco” in media reports at the time.

As the convicts and their hostages made their way down the zig-zagging ramps, 13 state and federal law enforcement officers sprayed the shield with fire hoses.

Carrasco died of a single gunshot wound to the head from a .357 Magnum pistol, the same type gun Carrasco was carrying. Justice of the Peace J.W. Beeler ruled his death a suicide.

“But we will never know if they killed themselves or each other,” Beeler said.

“You’ll have to draw your own conclusions.”

Beeler also said Carrasco and Dominguez killed the two female hostages handcuffed to them before turning the guns on themselves.

“We know if we’re taken hostage in the penitentiary, we’re legally dead,” Father O’Brien said after the standoff ended. “I think he’s a very, very sick — a very, very vicious man, and I think the world is better off that he’s not in it anymore.”

The siege ended in a hail of gunfire. Pools of blood splattered the ramp that was the only way in or out of the library. Explosives experts worked their way through the library looking for any improvised explosives that may have been left behind. Only the metal frames of the library doors remained — the glass panes had been shattered by bullets. The “Trojan Horse” remained at the foot of the Y-shaped ramp.

Carrasco and his two accomplices spent two days building the wedge-shaped shield.

The front had a hatch that could be raised or lowered with a length of electrical cord.

Justice of the Peace J. W. Beeler witnessed the shootout that ended the siege and held the inquest for the four people who died.

Beeler told the media that Mrs. Standley had been shot four times in the back at point blank range. Mrs. Beseda was shot in the chest.

Another hostage, Ann Fleming, told her husband that the convicts fired the first shots. Her husband later advised reporters that his wife had no experience with guns, and was not able to discern whether the shots come from within the shield or outside it.

TDC Director Jim Estelle said Father O’Brien was shot by Cuevas.

Estelle was certain that several shots were fired within the contraption before his officers returned fire.

Cuevas was not injured in the shootout. Already serving 45 years for murder, Cuevas was charged with capital murder and was executed inside the same prison unit on May 23, 1991.

Media reports published on Aug. 5 listed Father O’Brien as being in fair condition at Huntsville Memorial Hospital.

Two other inmates, Martin Quiroz, 27, of Houston and Florencio Vera, 29, of San Antonio were also in fair condition.

Where are they now

Bob Wiatt died Aug. 13, 2010, in Bryan at age 84.

Linda Woodman became the warden of the Gatesville Unit when it housed female inmates and became the first woman to supervise a male inmate work crew. She died in January 2011.

Father O’Brien recovered from his wounds and continued to minister in the Rio Grande Valley Until 2001. He died Sept. 22, 2005.

Lawrence James Hall, the inmate who smuggled in the guns and ammunition, was already serving a life sentence as a six-time loser. He got another life sentence for his role in the siege and murders. He died in prison on April 6, 1993. Hall was 57.

Seventeen years after the siege ended, Ignacio Cuevas — the lone inmate to survive — was put to death May 23, 1991.

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Veteran and Family owned business. Founded in 2017, Shire Distilling Co. was founded on three core values: Honor, Integrity, and Continually Seeking a Better Spirit. We believe quality locally-sourced ingredients make a superior spirit and we are driven to be the best craft-distillery in the South.

shiredistilling.com 505 Bains Street Suite 303 Brookshire, TX 77423

Winter White Cosmopolitan 1.5 oz. Shire Ice (Premium Vodka) 1 oz. Cointreau 1/2 oz. St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur 1/2 oz. Fresh Lime Juice 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup 1.5 oz. White Cranberry Juice Garnish 3-4 Frozen Cranberries Mint Sugar (rim of martini glass)

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THE

TEAL PUMPKIN PROJECT

THE TEAL PUMPKIN PROJECT PROMOTES A SAFE HALLOWEEN FOR CHILDREN WITH FOOD ALLERGIES

By Claire Goodman

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M Mark and Laura Acosta’s life changed in 2016 when their son Owen, then eight-months-old, took his first bites of food. Within a few moments, Owen began vomiting violently, and he broke out in hives all over his body. Owen survived, and he was diagnosed with severe food allergies. He tested a positive allergy for seven out of the top eight allergens.

Owen’s condition is far from unique: approximately one in 13 children in the United States have an allergy to at least one stimulus. Of those children, 30 percent are allergic to more than one food type. The reactions to these allergies are life-threatening and often fatal if a child goes into anaphylaxis.

Owen is now four-years-old and thriving, but his parents have had to make major alterations to their lives to keep Owen safe. They still want to make sure he has a happy, normal childhood, but they have to maintain constant vigilance over him and the food to which he is exposed. As a result, Halloween is one of the most difficult times for a the Acostas. In addition to the dangers of ingesting an allergen, Owen is contactreactive. “Even reaching into a bucket to grab a treat is not an option,” Laura explained.

While the Acostas were researching ways to help Owen deal with his allergies, they learned about the “Teal Pumpkin Project”. Facilitated through Food Allergy Research and Education, the Teal Pumpkin Project is a national campaign intended to raise awareness of food allergies and promote inclusion of all trick-or-treaters throughout the Halloween season. The goal of the project is to create a safer, happier Halloween for people with food allergies.

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Laura Acosta (left) and Liz Powell visit schools to discuss Teal Pumpkin Project with children.

Owen Acosta

For the Teal Pumpkin Project, people put out a teal pumpkin at their front door to indicate that they have non-food treats available. It helps parents and children know which houses will have safe alternatives for children with allergies.

The project encourages people to give out non-food items to trick-or-treaters, such as small, inexpensive items purchased from dollar stores, party supply stores, or online shops. The Teal Pumpkin Project advises, “These low-cost items can be purchased and handed out to all trickor-treaters, or made available in a separate bowl from candy if you choose to hand out both options. Nearly all of these items can be found in a Halloween theme or festive colors.”

When the Acostas learned about the Teal Pumpkin Project, they immediately embraced the movement and began to spread awareness of the project. They enrolled Owen in Foundations Academy Preschool because of the school’s commitment to enable children with allergies to be included in as many activities as possible. While Owen was enrolled in the school, the Acostas met Liz Powell, whose son, Andy suffers from serious food allergies.

Powell and Acosta now work together to promote the Teal Pumpkin Project for the community. They distribute information about the Teal Pumpkin

Project to parents to spread awareness and to educate the community on the reality of food allergies. The mothers hope that promoting awareness will result in more families participating in the project and offering non-food alternatives to trick-ortreaters.

Acosta and Powell plan to continue to spread awareness of food allergies through the project. For more information on food allergies and the Teal Pumpkin Project, visit www.foodallergy.org/ education-awareness/teal-pumpkinproject.

From left, Laura Acosta and her son, Owen, work with Liz Powell and her son, Andy to spread awareness for food allergies.

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THE CHANGING

FACE OF COLLEGE

By Roxanne Avery

N Nontraditional is the new traditional when it comes to the demographics of today’s college student body.

For the past several years colleges and universities have experienced a paradigm shift in the average age of students. Research reported by Stamats, a higher education marketing agency, shows as few as 16 percent of college students today fit the traditional mold: 18-22 year-olds who enroll in college directly from high school, are financially dependent on parents, are in college full-time, do not have major life and work responsibilities (full-time job or dependents) and who live on campus.

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) reports that 47 percent of all students currently enrolled in colleges and universities 25 years of age or older.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has identified seven characteristics common to nontraditional students. They: • Do not immediately continue education after graduation from high school; • Attend college only part time; • Work full time (35 hours or more per week); • Are financially independent; • Have children or dependents other than a spouse; • Are a single parent; and • Have a GED, not a high school diploma.

Seventy-five percent of all undergraduate students now have at least one of these characteristics and are considered nontraditional.

Reasons for this include people who are learning new skills after being laid off from a job, coming off of active duty in the military, wanting to change careers or obtain an advanced degree.

With many obligations outside of being a student, colleges and universities are creatively accommodating the needs of nontraditional students. If they do not, according to Jamie Merisotis, president 46

THE RAIL WINTER 2019

of the Lumina Foundation for Education, (because) it takes longer for a person to work to get the credential, it is less likely the person will actually achieve it.

Adult students learn differently and don’t just memorize. By offering online, evening and weekend classes, colleges and universities are assisting nontraditional students with insecurities such as failure, cost and whether they can balance all the activities in their lives along with academic studies.

An interesting finding by The National Student Satisfaction and Priorities Report, is that 67 percent of adult learners and 74 percent of online learners rate their level of satisfaction with their college experience as “satisfied” or “very satisfied.” Only 53 percent of traditional students could make this claim.

Another key finding from The Priorities Report is that the majority of online learners would re-enroll in their current program if given the chance to make a change. At 75 percent, this group showed the most enthusiasm for its current situation. Full-time, four-year public and private school students (most likely traditional students) indicated a likelihood of re-enrollment at 59 and 56 percent respectively.

The Priorities Report surveyed 683,000 students from 970 colleges and universities in the United States and found the reason nontraditional students are so much happier in school than traditional students is because they can register for classes without conflict, feel they receive value for their tuition costs, have instructional quality, an unbiased faculty and receive helpful feedback from educators and advisors.

Online education is the answer for students whose life circumstances make full-time, brick-and-mortar college attendance impossible. Opening this valuable door makes college more convenient, accessible and accommodating. To accommodate nontraditional students, colleges and universities are offering services such as financial aid, advising or tutoring after-hours (instead of the typical 9 to 5) and offering childcare for student-parents as well as additional parking for commuters.

College enrollment in the United States began taking a downward trend in 2010 and continues to fall every year. Traditional students are saying they are not satisfied with getting what they wanted out of their college experiences, but online classes are achieving exactly that goal.

USA Today reported that older students are the new normal at college because of the recession and new technology. New degrees and certifications can translate to higher paychecks and different lifestyles for their families.

According to the NCES, of the 17 million Americans enrolled in undergraduate higher education: • 1 in 5 is at least 30 years old; • About half are financially independent from their parents; • 1 in 4 is caring for a child; • 47 percent go to school part time at some point; • A quarter take a year off before starting school; • 2 out of 5 attend a two-year community college; and • 44 percent have parents who never completed a bachelor’s degree.

With all these changes around colleges and universities, there’s one more thing that needs to change … implement a new phrase for nontraditional students because today, they are the new normal.

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