University Press February 22, 2018 by University Press

UNIVERSITY PRESS

The Newspaper of Lamar University

Vol. 94, No. 17 February 22, 2018

Vive la conversación Language lab offers coffee, laid-back atmosphere to learn Spanish Sierra Kondos UP staff writer

UP photo by Sierra Kondos

Rebecca Newell, Spanish and English major, talks with mathematics major Jorge L. Montero- Vallejo in the Language lab in preparation of her study abroad trip to Spain this summer.

Students looking to improve their conversational Spanish language skills need look no further than LU’s language lab. Jaime Retamales, visiting assistant professor of Spanish, hosts, “Café Y Conversación,” Wednesdays from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. in 113 Maes Building. “The targets are the students of Spanish that want to improve the language,” he said. “We have about six students every Wednesday, but it is open for everyone that wants to have oral practice — it doesn’t matter if they are in our program or not.” Retamales said he created the activity because he felt students do not have enough time for oral practice in the classroom. “The students need an environment

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

without the pressure of grades,” he said. “I would like that the students engage in a conversation like they have with friends. Everybody can participate in talking about normal topics like family and school or their future-plans. The student will decide if he or she needs clarification or correction, not me.” Rebecca Newell, junior English and Spanish major, said she utilizes the extra time to prepare for her study abroad trip to Spain. “I have been attending the ‘Café y Conversación’ sessions since last fall,” she said. “It is incredibly helpful to have an on-campus opportunity to improve my Spanish outside of class. The language lab is such a welcoming place to practice Spanish, and Dr. Retamales always attends to help all students improve their Spanish-speaking skills. See CAFÉ, page 2

Pannu’s REDtalk to discuss ‘Power of Grit’ Sierra Kondos UP staff writer

Refining future of Lamar Charlton-Pollard High School (now a part of Beaumont Central). Briscoe’s determination to enThe following story is excerpted roll at Lamar was not easily extinfrom a story which ran in the University Press in 1983, contributed guished, for contrary to a 1955 Beaumont Enterprise report that by Kirkland C. Jones. Briscoe had returned to an allThe first effort to integrate black college in Tennessee and had Lamar State College of Technology later entered the army, other was an unsuccessful bid in 1951 by newspapers have Briscoe still in James R. Briscoe, a black youth Beaumont during the fall of 1965. who had been reared in Beaumont, On Oct. 4, 1956, the Houston Post the son of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred reported that he he was “one of Briscoe, Sr., and a graduate of three Negro students who slipped through pickets (at Lamar) …to attend classes.” Briscoe, along with several other students, was eventually stopped by pickets, a group of outside agitators, and, as a result, he filed an assault suit against one of the alleged agitators. On July 28, 1955, about one year after the 1954 Supreme Court decision declaring racial segregation in schools unconstitutional, and four years after Briscoe’s first attempt to enroll, a larger, more calculated effort to integrate Lamar Tech was made when seven black students, accompanied by four prominent Beaumont citizens, all officers of the National Association for the Advancement These photos were taken in the fall of 1956, of Colored People, presented tranwhen pickets tried to stop the integration of scripts of their academic credits to the Lamar campus. Photos courtesy of the Lamar’s registrar and formally applied for admission. Beaumont Enterprise. FROM THE ARCHIVES

“ …a 1949 legislative act had created Lamar State College and had designated it a co-educational school for white students” These students were given college catalogs, but were told that their admission would depend on decision from Lamar’s resident, Dr. F.L. McDonald. The seven students’ transcripts and application blanks were returned to them stamped “ADMISSION DENIED” because of certain “existing policies” of the college. This decision followed a Board of Regents meeting on Aug. 23, 1955, during which regents denied them admission. The board gave two reasons for this action: 1) a 1949 legislative act had created Lamar State College and had designated it a co-educational school for white students; and 2) the school was already overcrowded, for expansion plans had been determined by the 1949 legislation. The regents did state this

College students often find balancing life overwhelming and find it difficult to focus on the goal of completing their degree. Jasdeep Pannu will offer some help win that regard with her Redtalk, “You Can Do it: The Power of Grit,” Wednesday at 3 p.m. on the sixth floor of Gray Library. “I will be talking about my personal struggles that I have went through until this point,” the LU assistant professor of mathematics said. “It was hard to come to this country and establish my identity here. What I want students to learn from this, is that they will go through different struggles in life and not to give up their dreams.” This is the second time Pannu has presented “The Power of Grit.” “I participated in a career showcase held at the Pick Elementary School in Auburn, Ala. in March 2014,” she said. “The goal of this career showcase was to motivate third, fourth and fifth graders. I was apprehensive if I would be able to successfully motivate them. I was amazed to see the effect of my speech on these young ones. They found my speech motivational and mailed me cards later as a token of appreciation.” Pannu broadened her lecture to suit Lamar University staff and students. “I see my students struggle and drop out of school — international students having problems settling in a new country and culture, or just native students having a difficult time,” she said. “I established my identity and began my career here. I had come from a whole different world, and I gave up for a while, but I didn’t forget why I needed to come back. I remembered why I had to leave my country. I did not what to be dependent on someone else. I wanted something that was my own.” Pannu’s said her lecture is relatable to anyone who is having a hard time dealing with the pressures of life and college, and provides insight on what can be achieved when one focuses on their dreams. For more information, visit www.lamar.edu/ redtalks.

See HISTORY, page 5 Jasdeep Pannu