Graduate Studies Magazine-Sam Houston State University

VOLUME 2 ■ FALL 2014

Distinguished R

eview

T h e Gra duate Studie s Mag azine

GRADUATE STUDIES

GRADUATE STUDIES

MESSAGES FROM THE PRESIDENT & DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES I hope you enjoy this volume of Distinguished Review: The Graduate Studies Magazine. Inside, you will find a wealth of information about graduate students at Sam Houston State University: their accomplishments, their cutting-edge research, and the impact they are having on the economy and workforce both here in Texas and beyond.

As I read through the articles, I was struck by the recurring motif of technological innovation.

Although our graduate student population is diverse, what unites them is their inventive use of technology.

It seems only appropriate that, like General Sam Houston, after whom our beloved university is named, our graduate students are pioneers, staking claims on the digital frontier. They are venturing into new territory in the fields of 3D printing, online education, and microbial research for criminal investiIn the 2013-2014 academic year, over 2,900 graduate students were enrolled in doctoral and master’s programs at Sam Houston State University. Our graduate student enrollment is now 15.4% of our total student body. Our students use state-of-the-art technology to produce groundbreaking research in areas such as Criminal Justice, Education, the Sciences, Humanities, the Social Sciences, and the Fine Arts. Students come to Sam Houston State University to engage in real world research that impacts the lives of others.

Sam Houston State University graduate students and faculty are active researchers who are dedicated to applied research and teaching. What our graduate students and faculty discover in their research solves problems in our own community and worldwide. Throughout this magazine, you will see a sampling of stories illustrating the effect our graduate students are having on the world around them through their research. From work 2

gation—to name just a few.

However, our graduate students are not merely observing the ways in which technology shapes industry and society; they are shaping the world around them with that very technology. I encourage you to delve into their stories and to learn more about graduate studies at Sam Houston State University by visiting shsu.edu/dept/graduate-studies/.

Eat ’em up, Kats!

Dana G. Hoyt President

on combating AIDS to transforming dance through aerial techniques to collaborating with NASA on everyday uses of new inventions, the research at Sam Houston State University is changing lives.

The Office of Graduate Studies at Sam Houston State University engages students in academic and professional development; enriches the education through access to cutting-edge technology and integration of hands-on, real world experiences; and empowers students to pursue their professional, academic and personal goals. At Sam Houston State University, students can dream and succeed.

Sincerely,

Kandi Tayebi, Dean of Graduate Studies & Associate VP for Academic Affairs

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Ga br

ver, M.A l u . in lC

Editor/Designer/Writer Weston Rose

story Hi

ie

Editorial Staff

Copy Editor Dawn Caplinger Contributing Writer Beth Kuhles Photographers Dr. Stephanie Bluth Brian Blalock Creative Assistant Jennifer McCaleb Special Thanks to Associate VP of Marketing & Communications Kris Kaskel-Ruiz

Graduate Magazine Renaming Contest Winner Gabriel Scott Culver, 22, graduated from Dallas Baptist University in 2012, where he majored in History and Psychology. Culver is halfway through a master’s degree in History at SHSU, and his research interests include the Antebellum South and the American Civil War. An aspiring academic, he plans to pursue a Ph.D. at Texas A&M after graduating with his M.A. Culver submitted the winning title for the Graduate Studies magazine, Distinguished Review, during the Spring 2014 semester.

Director of Marketing & Communications Bruce O’Neal Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications Steven Keating Associate Director of Communications & PIO Julia May Communications Manager Jennifer Gauntt Assistant Director of Creative Services Amy Bass Wilson Photography and Graphics Coordinator Brian Blalock

BOARD OF REGENTS THE TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM Donna N. Williams, Chairman..................................... Arlington

Vernon Reaser III................................. Bellaire

Ron Mitchell, Vice Chairman............................... Horseshoe Bay

Rossanna Salazar....................................Austin

Charlie Amato...........................................................San Antonio

William F. Scott.............................. Nederland

Dr. Jaime R. Garza....................................................San Antonio

Anna Sandoval, Student Regent.............Alpine

Kevin J. Lilly...................................................................Houston David Montagne.......................................................... Beaumont

Brian McCall, Chancellor......................Austin

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Distinguished Review: The Graduate Studies Magazine Sam Houston State University ■ shsu.edu/dept/graduate-studies/ ■ Fall 2014 ■ Volume 2

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CONTENTS

How Sweet It Is (To Be Employed)

Q&A with Computing Science master’s student James Taylor on landing his dream job

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Enrollment numbers soar

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Vicious Cycle

Continent in Crisis

Graduate students work to prevent the spread of AIDS

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28

Dancing on Air

Decomposition 101

Aerial dancer Alicia Carlin explores unconventional settings with dance

Daniel Haarmann discusses his work at the STAFS facility

17-20

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In the 2013-2014 academic year, SHSU graduate students were awarded for their teaching, research, and creative endeavors

Q&A with award-winning Instructional Technology Specialist Amanda Shippey

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Defying Gravity

How a graduate student in Business Administration is bringing space-age technology down to earth

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Graduate Student Growth

How a Ph.D. candidate in Criminal Justice is bringing sex trafficking to a screeching halt

Graduate Studies Awards Banquet

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24

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21st Century Teacher ExCELs

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National Book Awards at Sam

Sam Houston State University had the honor of hosting National Book Awards finalists Téa Obreht, Lucie Brock-Broido, & Gene Luen Yang in Spring ’14

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Q & A Office of Graduate Studies: Tell us

about your background. Are you from Texas originally?

Taylor: I grew up in a military family, so we’ve lived all over the United States and spent a year in Africa, too.

My family and I lived in Texas for two years, but that was way before I had even started elementary school, so I don’t think that counts. My dad retired from the military in 2000, and he and my mom live in Kentucky. They spend most of their time nowadays working on their strawberry farm.

Office of Graduate Studies: Where

did you attend college for your undergraduate degree, and what was your major?

Taylor: I attended Brigham Young University, receiving a major in Spanish Teaching with minors in ESL and Business Management.

My time at BYU was very transformative, and I am thankful for that experience. I also participated in BYUSA (similar to SHSU’s student government) as a student body vice president. One difficult thing for

How Sweet It Is (To Be Employed) Meet James Taylor. No, not the 70s singer/songwriter.

This James Taylor’s mother claims she named him after an apostle, “but I’ve seen her vinyl collection,” Taylor jokes. Taylor is a graduate student and teaching assistant in the Department of Computing Science at Sam Houston State University. He was recently hired by Udacity–an online education company based in Mountain View, California–two semesters before graduating with his master’s degree. Even more surprising, he didn’t apply; Udacity found him through LinkedIn. Read the following Q&A to learn more about how Taylor landed the career of his dreams. me as an undergrad was figuring out what to study. There were so many different subjects I was interested in that choosing just one was quite difficult.

Office of Graduate Studies: Why

study Computing Science?

Taylor: I’ve often been quite envious of people who knew exactly what vocation they wanted to pursue in life and have spent their entire lives pursuing with passion. I positioned myself with my undergraduate degree to pursue a career in education administration, and while that is a great career path, I eventually realized that it wasn’t what I was truly passionate about. I realized that since I have one shot at this life, I wanted to follow my passion.

After much introspection, I discovered that the answer was right in front of my face—my iPhone. I had spent inordinate amounts of time researching it online, learning about the components inside of it, and what it could do. But most of all, I had been extremely impressed with the software that was written for it. I suddenly knew that I wanted to be a

part of that. Studying computer science, therefore, became the vehicle to pursue my passion.

Office of Graduate Studies: What

about the master’s program at SHSU appealed to you?

Taylor: I began my search for a graduate school while living in The Woodlands, TX in 2012. I set up an appointment with Dr. Peter Cooper, Chair of the Computing Science department, and he talked with me

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about what SHSU had to offer and what I had to do to be admitted.

Choosing a school after that discussion became one of the easiest decisions of my life. SHSU had what I wanted and offered me a way to achieve it.

Office of Graduate Studies: How

would you describe your experience in graduate school thus far?

Taylor: In many ways, I would describe my experience in graduate school as liberating. Coming to school every day knowing that what I was learning would allow me to do something I am passionate about was freeing. Starting out, I felt like I was figuratively thrown into the deep end of a pool—I needed to spend lots of time studying in order to rise up to the level of performance that was expected of me. As time progressed, I became more confident in my skills. An unintended consequence of coming to SHSU was also the opportunity to engage in the wonderful campus community. I joined the Latter-day Saint Student Association (LDSSA) and quickly made friends there. I had numerous opportunities to take advantage of so many resources on campus that helped me navigate graduate school.

Office of Graduate Studies: As a

teaching assistant, what do you do?

Taylor: I administer the Programming Fundamentals I labs for the Computing Science Department. Every day, I present a programming assignment to be completed by the students in that lab based on the topic that they are discussing in lectures. I spend the majority of my time working one-on-one with students, helping them develop the programming skills necessary to complete their assignments. It has been rewarding not only to help students learn how to program, but also to refine my skills.

Office of Graduate Studies: In

April, you received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award from the Office of Graduate Studies and the Professional & Academic Center for Excellence (PACE). Congratulations! How did it feel to be nominated by your students for this award?

Taylor: Thanks! I viewed the nomination as an indication that I might be doing my job right! That someone would go out of their way to make such a nomination is very fulfilling because that is one indication that what is happening in the labs has benefited those students.

Office of Graduate Studies: Udac-

ity recently offered you a job. Can you tell us a little about this company and how you discovered 6

the job opening?

Taylor: Udacity is a fairly new company in Silicon Valley that offers computer science courses online. I was contacted by Udacity via LinkedIn. They said they had seen my profile and that, because of my undergraduate degree in education and my experience as a Computer Science teaching assistant in graduate school, I seemed like a good fit for the company. They searched me out, flew me to California for interviews, and offered me the job.

If it weren’t for my experiences here at SHSU, I would not have had this opportunity. I’m indebted to SHSU for this experience—just don’t tell the Bursar’s Office that!

Office of Graduate Studies: What

will you be doing at Udacity?

Taylor: I will be helping students and professionals who are taking Udacity’s various computer science courses. It really feels like my seemingly unrelated undergraduate and graduate studies have come full circle.

Office of Graduate Studies: What

is your ultimate career goal?

Taylor: To be happy. And for me, happiness is being productively engaged in something I am truly passionate about.—Weston Rose •

Continent in Crisis: Graduate Students Work to Prevent the Spread of AIDS

Devison Banda’s transformation from Zambian cattle herder to professor may have seemed unlikely, but those who know him aren’t surprised by his dedication and thirst for knowledge.

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n the eastern part of sub-Saharan Africa lies the landlocked country of Zambia, which emerged independent of colonial rule in 1964. That same year, Sam Houston State University alumnus Devison T. Banda, like his country, was born.

His passport reads January 1, 1964, although the exact date of his birth is unknown. The month and day are given by the government to all persons whose parents do not record their date of birth.

As Dr. Corliss Lentz, associate professor of Political Science at Sam Houston State University and Banda’s mentor, explained, “For rural farmers, a calendar is meaningless.

His mom said that on the day of his

birth, it rained. Well, it probably rained for 4 or 5 months.”

In Zambia, the practice of not recording your child’s birth date is “very common,” according to Dr. Lentz.

Raised in an isolated village comprised of thatched grass-roof huts, not unlike the kind featured in National Geographic, Banda was herding cattle by age 5. He paints a vivid picture of village life in a developing African nation during the latter half of the 20th century: “Your source of water is a stream.

If you are a bit privileged, you may have a shallow well. When I did my primary school, that was the environment. If at night you must read,

then you must use a candle—that is, if you can afford one. You have to make use of the day because in the evening you cannot do homework.”

At that time, primary schools in Zambia required a tuition payment.

His parents were unable to afford the tuition needed until he was 12 years old; he was 24 in high school.

“When I went to boarding school, that was the first time to be in a house with electricity. We would wake up in the night and turn the light on and off, on and off, just to get used to how it worked. All of that was because my parents didn’t know how to read and write,” Banda said.

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With hurdles the size of Mount Kilimanjaro blocking his path, Banda may have seemed an unlikely doctoral candidate, but his determination to succeed enabled him to defy the odds.

To say that Banda is unique among graduate students at SHSU is an understatement. He is the first student in Political Science to arrive at SHSU with an earned doctorate. In fact, his official title is the Rev. Dr. Devison Banda.

“From his culture, he’s one in a million. For a village boy to become a Ph.D., that doesn’t happen,” Dr. Lentz said.

In 1988, Banda traveled to South Africa to study theology because his native Zambia had no option then for those in pursuit of higher education. There, he earned a master’s degree, focusing on the New Testament, and later a Ph.D. In 1993, he was ordained as a clergyman, and from 2000-2009, Banda served as president of the seminary where he had studied.

You may be wondering what brought him to Sam Houston State University. Banda visited Texas in 2002 where he met Dr. Lentz through her church in The Woodlands, TX, which has a partnership with his seminary in Zambia.

“Somebody asked me if I would take him and some other people down to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center,” Dr. Lentz said.

Eight years later, in 2010, Dr. Lentz traveled to Zambia on a Fulbright scholarship in order to conduct research on people infected with HIV/AIDS and teach public administration courses at the University of Zambia. She rented a house two or three houses down from Banda on the campus of the theological college.

“We were good neighbors,” Dr. Lentz said.

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Banda in front of It was during this time that Banda expressed a desire to study in the U.S. to Dr. Lentz.

“I wanted to do a sabbatical leave, but I decided instead of pursuing research in the New Testament, I should do something different. The issues of leadership appealed more; that’s how I applied for the master’s in Political Science,” Banda said.

His hardships were far from over, however. Just as his father was unable to make the necessary tuition payment, Banda—himself a father of seven—could not pay for classes out of pocket. Thanks to anonymous donors in San Antonio, he was eventually able to finance his education.

Still, there were other issues to sort out in terms of his visa, finding a place to live, and transportation.

Here, Dr. Lentz stepped in.

“He lived with me for the first 6 months. He would come to campus with me during the day because he was my Teaching Assistant. At night, he would take my car because all of our classes are down at The Woodlands Center,” she said.

In time, Banda acquired a car and moved in with other friends.

After graduating in December 2013, Banda returned to his home-

the University Motto. land to continue in his role as professor of the New Testament at the seminary. He hopes to utilize his training in public administration by introducing new classes in leadership and social realities specific to Africa at the theological college, but his days there are numbered.

The mandatory retirement age in Zambia currently stands at 55; Banda turned 50 years old this year. When he retires from the seminary, Banda plans to use the skills he honed during his time at SHSU. “My dream is to do a project in a rural area that combines aspects of poverty alleviation and economic empowerment, the focus being orphaned children and widows,” he said.

Like so many other African countries, Zambia struggles with its colonial past, decades of dependency on foreign aid, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Culturally, the husband is in charge of the family’s financial wellbeing, but many men have died during the HIV/AIDS crisis, leaving their wives vulnerable because they do not know how to budget.

Banda intends to use education

as an instrument of positive change.

“The whole aim is that if they are empowered, they can take their children and themselves to school. The fact that I started school myself at 12 and am getting my second master’s degree at close to 50 means that age is not a factor as far as education is concerned,” Banda said, a bright smile on his face.

Dr. Lentz has faith in Banda’s future project.

“One of the things that I think is positive in Zambia is its adherence to the 2000 Millennium Goals that the U.N. put out,” she said.

“One of the goals was that every child in the world would have access to a Grade 7 education by 2015.

Zambia has exceeded that. The fact that Zambia has made significant gains in education ought to make his work easier. He can at least have pamphlets and books the students can take home. Zambia is also trying to improve the education system so that it will expand to Grade 9 and ultimately to Grade 12. They are putting a lot of money and resources into that expansion. In fact, 17% of their last budget was spent on education.”

Perhaps the most imminent challenge Zambia faces is meeting the needs of a rapidly growing population. Through a program established

by former President George W. Bush, Zambia began receiving medication for HIV/AIDS in 2005. Since then, life expectancy has skyrocketed from age 36, in 2000, to age 59, as of 2010. Population growth has put a strain on already limited resources, like clinics.

“You have clinics that were established when the population of Zambia was around 7 million, and they have not expanded. They have remained the same when the population is now plus or minus 13 million,” Banda said.

Infrastructure is another problem.

People, many of them infected with HIV/AIDS, have to walk upwards of 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) to reach a clinic in order to receive medical treatment. Many people walk because they cannot afford bus fare.

“Some have to cross streams. If it is the rainy season, they are cut off,” Banda said.

Because the trek to the clinic is so long, they stock up on medication for about 3 months, but managing a disease like HIV/AIDS in Zambia presents difficulties.

Banda believes that the solution to these problems lies in equipping people with basic skills through education. Listening to him speak, one feels inspired. In addition to his humanitarian work, Banda and his

wife have adopted 4 children, besides their 3 biological children. His favorite just may be the youngest, a 3-year-old boy whose mother was HIV positive.

“We got him when he was 11 months old; that’s when his mother died. He was in bad shape. In fact, everyone thought he was going to die, too. We were concluding that he had the virus, so we took care of him and put him on a diet. Then, he peaked. So far, all of the tests show that he is negative,” Banda said.

Not only are Banda and his wife raising their seven children, but they are also financially supporting the son of one of the reverends at Banda’s seminary who passed away 3 years ago. Banda’s second-born suggested the family intervene after the reverend died. Not wanting to detach the boy from his family, Banda and his wife sent him to school like one of their own, but encouraged him to remain at home with his family. The boy, a promising student, plans to become a medical doctor.

“We know what it means to help someone who is not related to you— just to give them a future. I think it means something,” Banda said.

A group of children wait for medication.

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After graduating in May 2014 with her M.A. in Health, Margaret Maseko, like Devison Banda, returned to her homeland. In Malawi, she plans to implement an educational program for teenagers and young adults aimed at preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. In fact, Malawi and Zambia are neighboring countries; Maseko and Banda even speak the same language: Chichewa. Read more about Maseko’s courageous fight against this virulent disease.

For Margaret Maseko, healing the sick is a calling her whole family has answered.

The seventh of nine children, Maseko watched from a young age as her father, Dr. Peter Maseko, a clergyman and clinical officer, established and developed Pothawira Christian Organization, a combined church, orphanage, school, and clinic. In 2012, Maseko’s eldest sister, Dr. Anne Alaniz, an OBGYN specializing in oncology, became the first person in Malawi to introduce an HIV/AIDS prevention program with the help of HIV specialist Brad Gautney and his organization, Global Health Innovations.

Maseko was born in 1988 in Zimbabwe, where her father, Peter, was 10

studying at a seminary. A year later, Peter finished his theological studies, and the family settled in Salima, a rural village in Malawi. According to Maseko, her father was determined to help the community, and the decision to serve the rural population was deliberate.

“Normally, when people build hospitals or private clinics, they do it in the city, but that doesn’t benefit the rural community. That’s why he thought it would be better for us to establish this organization for the people of our village. All his life, my dad has wanted to do his own thing. He struggled working for other people. The problem is people are corrupt. Everybody is benefiting themselves instead of benefiting the

community. He wanted to use his resources to help other people, not just himself,” Maseko said.

Gradually, Peter expanded the church to include an orphanage, school, and clinic—a project years in the making. The orphanage currently houses 108 children whereas the clinic serves approximately 300 patients daily. Clearly, Pothawira Christian Organization is a tremendous asset to the Manganga village and surrounding areas.

“I remember recently there were two girls—orphans—living with their grandmother. They were not able to attend school because they had to beg to support themselves.

Eventually, the grandmother realized that she couldn’t let these children sit

around; she decided to bring them to the orphanage, and they had to walk 20 miles just to get there,” Maseko said.

Most of these children have lost one or both parents to the ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic. To give these orphans a family, the Maseko family recruits local women to work as surrogate mothers. Every surrogate mother is assigned to roughly 7 orphans. In addition to running the church and orphanage, Peter serves as a clinical officer, performing many of the same procedures a doctor would, but his lack of medical expertise makes healing his ailing community problematic.

Malawi suffers from a shortage of doctors. This shortage is the result of “brain drain”—a phenomenon in which economically impoverished countries lose their most talented and highly educated citizens to wealthier nations that are willing and able to pay more for their services.

Malawi’s sole medical school produces only 7 doctors a year, and most of these physicians flee to the United Kingdom, the United States, or Australia in search of more money.

“There are no doctors. It’s a 1/60,000 ratio, meaning for every 60,000 patients in Malawi, there is only one doctor to serve them. In Salima, the one running the hospital is actually a clinical officer, so if a special procedure needs to be performed, doctors from the city have to be called in,” Maseko said.

“My dad works with three nurses, but he feels handicapped because he doesn’t know everything about being a doctor.”

Enter Dr. Donna Ivy. The Maseko family met Dr. Ivy, a physician from Fort Worth, TX, when she volunteered at the Maseko family’s clinic in 1992. Moved by Peter’s passionate crusade to restore health in his community, Dr. Ivy

Over there, the disease is everywhere, but educating young people will change things. I could have a great impact. ~ Margaret Maseko encouraged him to come the U.S., offering to sponsor him as he finished medical school.

“He felt like he had too much work to do in Salima, but he told Dr. Ivy that his daughter, my eldest sister Anne, dreamed of going to medical school and if she stayed in Malawi, she might not be able to do that. Instead of sponsoring my dad, Dr. Ivy sponsored Anne. Now she’s an OBGYN. I worked for Dr. Ivy as an interpreter while she was in Malawi, and she sponsored me when I came to Texas as well,” Maseko

explained.

Maseko studied for two years at Weatherford Community College in Fort Worth, TX before transferring to Missouri Baptist University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology.

Meanwhile, her sister Anne had a chance encounter with HIV specialist Brad Gautney, who is the President and Medical Director of Global Health Innovations, a nonprofit organization committed to preventing the spread of AIDS across the world.

In addition to its work in Malawi, Global Health Innovations currently has projects in Kenya, Ghana, Liberia, and Haiti. Gautney had been searching for a foothold in Africa for some time before meeting Anne. He sent Anne back to Malawi to develop the program at Salima District Hospital as well as her father’s clinic nearby.

“Since it started in 2012, it has had a great impact on Malawi,” Maseko said.

A village woman smiles for the camera.

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A young Malawian girl running gleefully.

“They are using it in one hospital right now, but Brad’s deciding on implementing it in other places.

They are testing babies born from HIV-positive mothers. If the babies are HIV positive, they start treating them earlier to increase their chances of survival. They are also tracking them. They have an online system, which compiles data like their birth names, the date of birth, when the mother has come to get medication for them, everything. The whole process. This has been so good because this information wasn’t kept before.

HIV-positive mothers would come to the hospital, have babies, and no one was following up.”

Although Maseko was determined to become a doctor, learning about the impact her family was already having on HIV/AIDS made her reconsider her decision. Should she apply to medical school and wait seven years before having an impact, or should she join in the fight against AIDS now?

Ultimately, she decided to research graduate programs in Texas, and the description of the M.A. in Health at 12

SHSU piqued her interest. Here was a degree she could use back home.

“I was thinking of picking something that would add value to what I’ll be doing in Malawi. I’m glad I

picked the program because I have learned so much from it,” Maseko said.

At SHSU, Maseko learned about how health issues affect communities and how to implement programs to resolve these issues. One project she worked on was the development of a stress-alleviation program aimed at international students.

“We are trying to make sure international students are less stressed because they face so many issues when they come here—being from a different country, in a different culture. We had to come up with our mission statement and goal.

The program teaches you practical methods of implementing programs like this. After I finished this project, I felt like I could go in and do this by myself,” Maseko said.

In addition to her work on the stress-alleviation program for SHSU international students, Maseko completed an internship in January at

HIV, the AIDS virus (yellow), infecting a human cell.

Photo courtesy of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Life: Magnified series.

Park Manor, a nursing home in The Woodlands, TX. Maseko worked with the administration at Park Manor to learn the ins and outs of running such a facility.

Now that she has returned to Malawi, Maseko is in the midst of developing a curriculum to teach teenagers and young adults about HIV/AIDS preventative measures as well as helping Global Health Innovations maintain its digital re-

cords. Maseko’s curriculum is greatly needed to raise awareness in places like Malawi where traditional medical treatments and sometimes even superstition are more respected than Westernized medicine.

“We don’t have a specific curriculum for just HIV to teach students.

It’s put in other subjects like science, but it’s not focused like we need.

Over there, the disease is everywhere, but educating young people will

change things. I could have a great impact.”

In a sense, she already has. Malawi has seen a 10% reduction in people infected with HIV/AIDS in the past 2 years. Maseko’s family has contributed to this victory in no small part. As Maseko begins to educate young people on how to avoid this devastating disease, let’s all wish her: “Godspeed.”—W.R. •

A Malawian girl draws water, a scarce resource, from a well in Salima.

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Dancing on Air

Aerial dancer Alicia Carlin (pictured above, center) explores unconventional settings with dance. She often compares her work to Cirque du Soleil when people ask her what she does for a living. But aerial dance is much more than circus tricks. Carlin uses motion to elicit meaning. s a graduate teaching asprogram is really fun!” Carlin said. in the Houston Grand Opera’s rendiLike so many artists, Carlin want- tion of Leoš Janáček’s The Cunning sistant and M.F.A. student ed to perform from a tender age— Little Vixen. in Dance, Alicia Carlin is three, to be specific. A bunhead “Usually for an opera, the dancers taking dancers at SHSU to new (Translation: ballerina), she worked are background characters, but for heights—literally. this particular opera, every person Carlin, an aerial dancer in the vein with a pre-professional company throughout high school. had a character. I wasn’t just a dancer of Cirque du Soleil, is more artist “There are some studios for comin the show; I was listed as the Dragthan acrobat. Rather than dazzling petition, for fun—but then there are onfly Mom,” Carlin said. audiences with a series of tricks, she also pre-professional ballet studios to Eventually, Austin, TX beckoned. strives to make motion meaningful. train you for the professional world.

While participating in a Ballet Along with her fellow graduate stuThe place I was at was called Payne Austin Summer Workshop, Carlin dents in the Department of Dance, Academy of Performing Arts in The heard about the Blue Lapis Light she was recruited by the faculty for Woodlands, TX. It’s run by Jim and Company through a friend and ather unique talents.

Bridget Payne, and they are some of tended a show at the Federal Build“Everybody in the group brings the most amazing teachers,” Carlin ings. something special. Nobody is the said.

“People were repelling off the side same. One graduate student is a After high school, Carlin earned of the building and flying around. contemporary dancer. Another is hip her B.F.A. in Dance at Sam Houston Meanwhile, I was sitting in the auhop. We’ve also got flamenco and folklorico. My aerial stuff. Having so State University in 2006. Soon after, dience, thinking that someday I had many different people adding to the Carlin landed a principle dancer role to do this. After the show, I talked to

A

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the director. She said that they were having an audition the next week, so I showed up, got in, and started performing with them,” Carlin said.

Exactly a year after attending the Blue Lapis Light performance, Carlin was swinging through the air in the same show with downtown Austin aglitter beneath her. It’s easy to see how she became hooked.

Carlin performed with Blue Lapis Light for the next five years, in time becoming an instructor for the company.

In addition to repelling off buildings, she learned how to use aerial fabric—sometimes called aerial tissue or silks—which is a cascading swath of cloth tied to a rig point. Aerial dancers wrap themselves in the fabric and unfurl in a spiral of artistry and grace.

“As long as you have wrapped yourself properly, you are going to land and the cloth is going to catch you. You can also lock yourself in at certain levels,” Carlin explained.

Her experience as a teacher with Blue Lapis Light led her to do an exchange program with McCallum Fine Arts Academy, a performing arts school in Austin with strong ties to the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas. McCallum graduates have gone on to study at Julliard, Yale, Harvard, and Stanford— to name only a handful. Carlin taught McCallum students the art of aerial dance, which culminated in a spectacular show to commemorate the opening of their new theater.

However, Carlin’s priorities began to shift around this point. The life of a dancer—or any artist—is exhausting. Performing, teaching, and having to hold down four jobs just to keep it all afloat while raising her son made Carlin long for stability.

“I always maintained a good relationship with the dance department.

We have an annual concert, the

Alumni Reunion Concert, and while I was away, I came back almost every year for it. I brought an aerial piece each time. Around 2011, the dance department started actively recruiting me,” Carlin said.

In January 2012, Carlin started her M.F.A. During her first semester, Carlin taught aerial dance on her own time. By her second semester, she had a teaching assistantship.

In the Department of Dance, undergraduates need a certain number of hours in dance technique, which involves ballet, modern, and jazz.

Because of Carlin, students can now get credit for aerial technique.

Currently, she has a full-time assistantship, and in addition to teaching aerial technique, she subs for Dance History and Ballet.

Two aerial dancers hang in the balance.

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Alicia Carlin’s and Travis Prokop’s thesis concert poster.

“It’s interesting too that not just dance majors are wanting to take my class,” Carlin said. “The musical theater majors are almost more excited than the dance majors because if they can add aerial dance to their résumés, it just adds a whole other level of competition. I cap the classes at 18 students, and people are kind of fighting to get in. I have 6 cloths hanging in the theater, and I like to keep it at 3 people per cloth. That way I don’t have to worry about too many people doing too many things at once.”

Even President Hoyt got in on the action. Both she and Nancy Gaertner, the wife of former President James Gaertner, attended one of Carlin’s classes in the Performing Arts Center, which is named after the Gaertners.

“The president is really strong.

She could actually do a few things!

I didn’t recognize her at first. She showed up in her yoga gear with her hair in a ponytail. Both she and Mrs. Gaertner were pretty excited,” Carlin said.

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If teaching and studying weren’t enough, Carlin also performs with VauLT/Gyrotonics, a Houston-based company directed by Amy Ell of Spring St. Studios. A former warehouse, the location has been converted into a space for artists of all walks: a theater group, painters, musicians, and of course aerial dancers. Ell teaches a variety of aerial yoga, as well.

“Amy made a piece called Thread, and we toured it in New Mexico at the Piñasco Theater. We were invited there by Wise Fool, a circus arts company based in Santa Fe,” Carlin said.

VauLT also took Carlin and company to Quito, Ecuador through a cultural exchange program in connection with the U.S. Embassy.

Surprisingly, aerial dance is widely popular in Ecuadorian universities.

“We arrived in Quito in March 2012 on Easter day. Everyone was wearing these purple robes and we got there in the middle of this big festival,” Carlin said.

Later that year, in June, VauLT catapulted Carlin across the Atlantic to Letterkenny, Ireland, which just happens to be home to an aerial

community and consequently the Irish Aerial Dance Festival hosted by a company named Fidget Feet.

“We got there and people were like, ‘What are you doing in Letterkenny?’ Because it’s not a popular tourist destination,” Carlin said.

“Performing in Ireland was a dream come true for me. My family on my mom’s side has roots there.

My grandma and grandpa were the first in their families to be born in the U.S.” Certainly, Carlin’s aerial dance has flown her to exotic locales. The question is where will it take her in the future. In March 2014, Carlin completed her thesis concert, entitled Nuance, alongside fellow M.F.A. candidate Travis Prokop, and she is slated to graduate in December 2014.

“I’m hoping I can keep my classes going here. I think the department is interested in it enough that they don’t want the classes to stop all of a sudden. I would also like to keep performing with VauLT. I’m just planning on doing whatever comes up,” Carlin said. ­—W.R. •

Dancers in midair during Carlin’s thesis performance.

Graduate Studies Awards Banquet On April 17, 2014, the Office of Graduate Studies, in partnership with the Professional & Academic Center for Excellence and the College of Education, hosted its first Graduate Studies Awards Banquet to honor the nominees and recipients of the 2013-2014 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards and the 17th Annual Graduate Research Exchange. The Office of Graduate Studies also presented scholarships in the amount of $1,000 to the Scholarship Drawing winners at the Graduate Research Exchange as well as the winner of the Graduate Magazine Renaming Scholarship Contest, Gabriel Culver.

Dr. Jaimie Hebert, Provost, welcomes guests to the first Graduate Studies Awards Banquet.

Slimane Aboulkacem (far right), a Fulbright Scholar from Algeria, and his guests show off his certificate from the Graduate Research Exchange.

Alissa Fleahman (left) and Colleen Warren (right), graduate students in Psychology, smile for the camera.

Students from the School of Music set the tone of the evening with some cool jazz.

Prasopsuk Pinto (middle), doctoral student in Literacy, receives the award for Most Creative Research, from Dr. Kandi Tayebi, Dean of Graduate Studies (right), and Kaley Plunkett, Director of Operations in the Office of Graduate Studies (left).

Outstanding Teaching Assistant nominee Julio Medina López (left) and fellow graduate student, Ramsés León Espinosa (right)–both from the Department of Foreign Languages–enjoy a light meal before the ceremony begins.

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Nominees and recipients of the 2013-2014 Graduate Studies Awards.

Recipients of the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards (L-R): Ruwan Chamara Karunanayaka, M.S. in Statistics; Kaylee Kerbs, M.S. in Agriculture; James Taylor, M.S. in Computing Science; and Leann Huddelston, M.F.A. in Dance. Not Pictured: Katherine Gaskamp, M.A. in History.

Recipients of the Graduate Research Exchange Awards (L-R): Poorna Wansapura, M.S. in Chemistry (Best Research); Cassandra Atkin-Plunk, Ph.D. in Criminal Justice (Most Impactful Research); and Prasopsuk Pinto, Ed.D. in Literacy (Most Creative Research). Not Pictured: Richard Lewis, Ph.D. in Criminal Justice (Best in Presentation).

Graduate Research Exchange Runners Up (L-R): Rebecca McCullough, M.S. in Forensic Science (Runner Up in Most Impactful Research) and Colleen Warren, M.A. in Psychology (Runner Up in Most Creative Research). Not Pictured: Chelsea Branch, M.A. in History (Runner Up in Best in Presentation), and Ann Theodori, Ed.D. in Literacy (Runner Up in Best Research).

Scholarship Drawing Winners (L-R): Teja Raghavendra, M.S. in Computing Science; Lisa Macallister, M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction; and Subash Kumar Saladi, M.S. in Computing Science. Not Pictured: Cassandra Schield, M.S. in Forensic Science.

The Office of Graduate Studies staff (L-R): Tinotenda Chabaya; Dawn Caplinger; Lorie Freeman; Weston Rose; Dr. Kandi Tayebi, Dean of Graduate Studies; Dr. Stephanie Bluth; Kaley Plunkett; Jennifer McCaleb.

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Outstanding Teaching Assistant Nominees

The Office of Graduate Studies, together with the Professional & Academic Center for Excellence, solicited nominations for the 2013-2014 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards from undergraduate students as well as faculty and staff in September 2013. By November 2013, 26 graduate student teaching assistants had been nominated. Of those nominees, 18 submitted the required portfolio for consideration. Take a look at our nominees below. The five winners of the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards are featured on page 18.

Cassandra Atkin-Plunk, Ph.D. in Criminal Justice

Cindy Botero, M.S. in Biology

Chris Foster, M.A. in English

Paige Harris, Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology

Leann Huddelston, M.F.A. in Dance

Ruwan Chamara Karunanayaka, Kaylee Kerbs, M.S. in Statistics M.S. in Agriculture

Brett Gardner, Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology

Katherine Gaskamp, M.A. in History

Julio Medina L贸pez, M.A. in Spanish

Ashley Meyer, M.S. in Biology

Christina Nieuwoudt, M.S. in Mathematics

Nathan Ridings, M.F.A. in Creative Writing

James Taylor, M.S. in Computing Science

Ajjima Utaravichien, Ed.D. in Literacy

Poorna Wansapura, M.S. in Chemistry

Hayley Wechsler, Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology

Jun Wu, Ph.D. in Criminal Justice

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17th Annual Graduate Research Exchange On March 5, 2014, the Office of Graduate Studies and the College of Education hosted the 17th Annual Graduate Research Exchange. A record number of graduate students participated, representing the following colleges: College of Business Administration, College of Sciences, College of Fine Arts & Mass Communications, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, College of Education, and College of Criminal Justice. Winners in the four categories of Best Research, Most Impactful Research, Best in Presentation, and Most Creative Research received iPad Airs.

Runners up in those four categories received SHSU blankets. The winners and runners up are featured on page 18.

Take a look at the some of the photos from the Graduate Research Exchange below.

Fifty-seven graduate students participated in the 17th Annual Graduate Research Exchange.

ShatĂŠ Bedford-Edwards, M.F.A. in Dance.

Presentation: Essence of the Danced Divine: An Exploration of Spirituality in Aesthetic Dance.

Lance Umlang, M.S. in Biology.

Presentation: Effects of Acclimation Temperature on the Critical Thermal Limits of the Tawny Crazy Ant (Nylanderia fulva).

Dr. Jerry Bruce, Interim Dean of the College of Education, presents recipients of the Graduate Research Exchange Awards at the Graduate Awards Banquet on April 17, 2014.

Kyle Ferrell, M.S. in Agriculture.

Presentation: Peer Review: Development of an Efficient Tool for Effective Feedback.

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Peyton Gandy, M.S. in Forensic Science.

Presentation: Aggressive Behavior and Sequence Polymorphisms in Genes Related to Monoamine Regulation.

Defying Gravity: How a graduate student in Business Administration is bringing space-age technology down to earth Julian Garcia, a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Project Management, describes how graduate students in the College of Business Administration remain on the cutting edge of technology.

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n an age of fiscal austerity, policymakers attempt to relieve strains on the economy by reducing funding to institutions like NASA. To stay afloat, NASA has put significant energy into copyrighting inventions originally designed for spaceflight in the hope of finding an earthly use—and students like Julian Garcia are helping to make this possibility a reality.

Garcia was selected as one of three graduate students from the College of Business Administration to interview astronaut Dr. Don Pettit in October 2013 through a video conference coordinated by Dr. Pamela Zelbst, Garcia’s mentor.

“NASA needs ways to still fund and operate. Dr. Pettit has provided two patents and one unpatented invention. We’re working on the unpatented idea. Our goal is to take his invention for the space shuttle and adapt

it for everyday use. How can we take those inventions and ideas and apply them on earth? How can we market them here? Can we find a beneficial use? These are the questions we’re trying to answer,” Garcia said.

Dr. Pettit’s unpatented invention is a silicon-based glue that turns to glass when heated. He invented it in response to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster that claimed the lives of the seven crew members on board.

The glue works as an emergency patch. If the space shuttle were damaged by debris, an astronaut could use the glue to patch the hole and safely reenter earth’s atmosphere. Luckily, the glue has never had to be used in outer space.

But Dr. Pettit’s patent is only one way graduate students in Business Administration are turning technology into profit.

“Innovation changes the way business is done,” Garcia 21

Garcia explaining how a 3D printer operates. said. “I’m hoping it’s for the better, but 3D printing and RFID technology have people concerned about security issues. And what are you going to do with the jobs? Still, you need people to run the systems, to fix and maintain them. Business is always trying to evolve and do things better, faster, and more efficiently.”

One resource Garcia uses to keep up in the Information Age is the Huntsville Area Technology & Business Complex (HATCH), located on the periphery of Sam Houston State University’s main campus. HATCH houses emergent technology like 3D printers. Garcia’s younger brother, Victor, works at HATCH as a graduate assistant, focusing on the challenges 3D printers present to copyrighted material. With access to a 3D printer, anyone could produce virtually any three-dimensional object as long as he or she has the measurements.

Similarly, Garcia has volunteered to take part in a project using RFID technology in a jewelry store. RFID technology is an acronym for Radio Frequency Identification. The easiest way to understand it?

“Toll tags,” Garcia said. “You have a toll tag on your windshield, you go through the lane—that uses RFID technology. Do you know how people just wave their ID card and they get into the dorm? That’s RFID technology.”

Pretty soon, Garcia claims, grocery stores will no longer need cashiers or even cash registers. Customers of the future will stride into supermarkets, stuff their bags full of goods, and leave without stopping to pay—because they already have. Simply by walking out of the store, their items will have been charged all at once, their debit cards scanned, and the funds deducted from their bank accounts.

To understand how Garcia found himself on the forefront of business innovation, one has to look no further than his background. Born in Houston and raised in Dallas, Garcia modeled his work ethic on his late fa22

ther’s, a Coca-Cola employee for 41 years.

After graduating from high school in 2002, Garcia joined the Marine Corps and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan for 2 years, where he underwent cold-weather training on Mount Fuji. He was later sent to Iraq on a 6-month tour.

“In Okinawa, we’re not there for Iraq; we’re there for North Korea, that area. A tour of Iraq is normally anywhere from 12-15 months, but they needed some augments, so I was sent over,” Garcia explained.

Honorably discharged in September 2006, Garcia acclimated to civilian life while searching for his career path. Stints as a car salesman and a day laborer convinced him, along with his family, to return to school.

He enrolled in the Bryan/College Station branch of Blinn College for a year before transferring to SHSU. Initially drawn to SHSU for the Criminal Justice program, Garcia changed his major to business. But Garcia couldn’t quite see his career’s destination.

Eventually, he decided to change his major from general business to management.

“People always tell me I have leadership skills. In the military, I was an NCO Corporal, which is military rank E4. I’ve led marines, so why not be in management? But I still didn’t know what to do after that. Just because you have a management degree, what are you going to do with that? Where are you going to be? I didn’t have that overall vision,” Garcia said.

He decided to take matters into his own hands by joining the Phi Chi Theta fraternity, a professional business organization. Here, he met the woman who would become his wife, Anna Hainey. He proposed to her on the Great Wall of China during a study abroad trip with Dr. Milo Berg.

At Hainey’s insistence, Garcia took an Operations Management class with Dr. Zelbst, where he got his first

Freshly printed SHSU awards.

taste of Project Management. When Dr. Zelbst anworks as a graduate assistant. nounced that she would offer a class in Project Manage“I would think of myself as a secretary for the profesment the following spring, Garcia immediately signed sors. They have work to do, so sometimes they need help up. grading, making copies, or even doing some research,” “The military ingrained in me processes, rules. There Garcia said. are certain ways to do things. You can be more efficient Garcia also serves as a COBA ambassador. He is the if you follow protocols. You’ll need to change them— face of the college at events, where he assists in setting there’s a learning process—so you still need to have an up these functions, greets donors, and ushers guests to open mind, but it’s a set guideline. Anybody can walk their seats. One benefit is that he is able to network with in and be able to follow these guidelines if they’re done businessmen and women across Texas. right. That’s Project Management in a nutshell,” Garcia In addition, Garcia has received a number of prestiexplained. gious scholarships. He is a Victor E. Sower scholar, an With only one class in Project Management under academic scholarship awarded to exceptional students in his belt, Garcia again took the initiative to learn more the field of Management, and he also received the Kimabout this field by securing bro-Winston scholarship, an internship at PROS, a a financially substantial big data company based in award totaling $14,000. downtown Houston, where In Fall 2013, Garcia was his older brother, Dominic, awarded another scholaran alumnus of Texas A&M, ship from the Texas Busiworks. PROS was named ness Hall of Fame. one of the Houston Chron“It’s an entrepreneurship icle’s Top 100 Houston scholarship,” Garcia said.

Companies and made the “The university can nomiHouston Business Journal’s nate 5 students. Only one list of Top Technology is chosen. I had to write Employers. PROS counts essays, and I interviewed Hewlett-Packard, Southwith two people. One owns Outside the Huntsville Area Technology & Business Complex. west Airlines, and O’Reilly a law firm; the other gentleAuto Parts among its clients. man is high up in his organization. He knew a lot about At PROS, Garcia ciphered through hundreds of proce- Project Management. When he asked me what I wanted dural documents: prioritizing, organizing, and categoriz- to do, that was a tough question because the field is diing them. Thereafter, he created presentations and tests, versified. You could be in any industry. The possibilities training over a hundred employees on the company’s are endless, and it’s very lucrative.” implementation process.

Garcia emerged from these interviews with newfound “My brother says he can still see the effects of my confidence. He and several other students are working to work, which is very uplifting,” Garcia said. “It was just start their own company. really nice to get a taste of what Project Management “When I was applying for the Texas Business Hall can bring. If a company has already created a document, of Fame scholarship, I didn’t even think of starting a but the employees don’t know where to find it in the company. Entrepreneurs are people trying to acquire the system, that’s a problem. Oftentimes, a former employee skills to open their own businesses. Fortunately, everywho created a document takes the saved document when body has those skills,” Garcia said. he or she leaves, and then the company has to recreate Clearly, Garcia has thrived during his time at SHSU. it. It’s not efficient. They’re just reinventing the wheel Now he is determined to find his niche in the oil and gas because they either don’t have access or it’s not updated. sector in Houston.

Now, the company is working on having a central loca“Oil and gas is a major player in Houston, and you tion for high-level artifacts like these.” have to at least consider them,” Garcia said, although he After graduating with his Bachelor of Business Admin- would also love to return to PROS. istration degree, Garcia entered the graduate program in One thing is certain: Wherever Garcia ends up, he is the College of Business Administration, where he also sure to succeed. ­—W.R. • 23

Graduate School Growth Over the past five years, graduate student enrollment at Sam Houston State University has soared, thanks to our excellent faculty, graduate programs, and support services. The enrollment of underrepresented groups, such as African Americans and Hispanics, has also steadily risen, and this diversity has added to rich tapestry of Bearkat culture.

Graduate Enrollments 2009-2013 3000 2900 2800 2700 2600 2500 2400 2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800

Fall 2009

Fall 2010

Fall 2011

Fall 2012

Fall 2013

Underrepresented Graduate Student Enrollment 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50

Fall 2009

Fall 2010

Fall 2011 African American

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Fall 2012 Hispanic

Fall 2013

Vicious Cycle:

How a Ph.D. candidate in Criminal Justice is bringing sex trafficking to a screeching halt

by Beth Kuhles Move over, Veronica Mars! There’s a new crime-fighting heroine in town, and her name is Tasha Menaker. A Ph.D. candidate in the College of Criminal Justice, Menaker strives to end violence against women, specifically sexual assault.

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A

s a Las Vegas native, Tasha Menaker grew up seeing the prevalent sex trade in Sin City. It was, however, a young girl who walked out of the desert who demonstrated to Menaker the real harm of prostitution and solidified her mission in life.

At her farewell party before leaving for graduate school at Sam Houston State University, Menaker watched a girl in the sheer yellow dress, with stilettos in hand, be turned away by several people outside a local bar and grill before petitioning Menaker and her friends for assistance. It was then Menaker noticed the woman had been stabbed in the back, blood streaming down to the edge of her dress. As the girl spoke with police, she revealed she was a 17-year-old youth who had been victimized by a “john.”

This experience underscored Menaker’s decision to make fighting violence against women her life’s work. Menaker has researched violence against women since 2005, and as a Ph.D. candidate and Doctoral Teaching Fellow at the College of Criminal Justice, she focused on issues of sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and sex trafficking.

In the spring, she is offered a Special Topics course on Sex Trafficking in the U.S. The class focused on the domestic side of sex trafficking, including males and females in the sex trade, sex buyers, pimps, madams, and other traffickers. The course addressed the criminal justice and social service responses to sex trafficking, as well as the culture, causes, and consequences of the sex trade. Menaker hopes that this class is a first and much-needed step in promoting awareness about sex trafficking among SHSU students.

Growing up in Las Vegas, sex trafficking was everywhere, from radio 26

ads for strip clubs to locals handing out flyers advertising girls for sale on the Las Vegas Strip. According to Menaker, the streets of the Strip are littered with these ads, often giving tourists the misperception that prostitution is legal in Las Vegas.

“I saw the problem, but didn’t realize the extensive harm to women and girls involved,” said Menaker. “It’s everywhere there. The sexual objectification of women is widespread. It is pervasive.”

As an undergraduate majoring in psychology and criminal justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Menaker had many research opportunities related to prostitution and violence against women. She came to Sam Houston State University for her master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, which she earned in 2010, and opted for a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice because of the diverse opportunities in the field. She graduated in May 2014 and hopes to use her skills to provide empirically supported, direct services to female survivors of violence.

Along with her dissertation chair and mentor Dr. Cortney Frank-

lin, Menaker has published several peer-reviewed articles in academic journals, including the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Violence Against Women, Child Abuse Review, Victims and Offenders, and Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice. Her research has focused on culpability attributions toward commercially sexually exploited girls; trauma and posttraumatic growth among victims; victim credibility and the use of forensic evidence in sexual assault investigations; and the intergenerational transmission of intimate partner violence. She has recently been invited to submit a manuscript to the Journal of Crime and Justice for a special issue on sex trafficking.

For her doctoral dissertation, Menaker examined data collected this summer by scholars at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to identify factors that distinguish girls with and without a history of involvement in the sex trade, including physical and sexual victimization, mental and physical health concerns, and social bonds such as family attachment and community involvement.

While the average age of entry into the sex trade is 14, Menaker has spoken to prostituted girls as young as 12, and there are documented cases of girls being commercially sexually exploited at 9-years-old and younger.

“These are girls who are legally unable to consent to sex, yet they are often treated as delinquents for their involvement in the sex trade,” said Menaker.

“Adult women in prostitution also continue to face stigmatization and criminal charges, although they

generally enter the sex trade as youths, and experience significant violence at the hands of pimps and sex buyers. It is critically important that both adult women and girls in the sex trade receive appropriate services.”

With regard to commercially sexually exploited girls in the U.S., Menaker stated, “They are very resilient. They are girls with great potential who have been in some bad circumstances.

Most experienced multiproblem family dysfunction, including parental criminality and substance abuse,

and extensive physical and sexual abuse. Many run away to escape adverse home environments and engage in prostitution as a means of survival. They get involved with drugs to cope with abuse and prostitution as a way to make money to survive on the streets.”

In May 2014, Menaker graduated and is currently using her psychology and criminal justice degrees to serve women – in hotspots like Las Vegas or Houston, anywhere she can be of service.

“Las Vegas is an excellent place to do this work and so is Houston,” said Menaker.

“They are both hotspots for sex trafficking, and practitioners in these cities are doing a lot of innovative work in addressing this problem. I am happy to work in any capacity where I can make a positive change.”

•

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Decomposition 101

Daniel Haarmann, a graduate student in the College of Science, is a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. He doesn’t smoke a pipe or wield a magnifying glass. Instead, his trademark look consists of a hazmat suit and helmet. Read more about Haarmann’s research on cadaver decomposition at the STAFS facility below.

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icture it: It’s mid-July in Huntsville, Texas. You’re awake at 5:00 a.m. to avoid the scorching heat of the day. As the morning ripens, clouds of droning flies distract you from your work. You hunch over a dead body, a Q-tip in your gloved hand. Worse than the heat and the flies is the stench, for as a biologist working in the field at the Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science (STAFS) facility, your task is to take bacteria samples from the skin of cadavers left to decompose in nature.

For some people, this scenario may seem like the ingredients of a nightmare, but it’s just another day in the life of graduate students like Daniel Haarmann, 31, who is pursuing his master’s degree in biology.

Over the past 20 years, forensic entomology—the 28

study of how insects aid in the decomposition process— has received widespread press. Popular television shows like CSI and Dirty Jobs have shown a general audience that scientists can determine how long a body has been left in an area because of the life cycle of certain insects inhabiting the cadaver.

Less is known about the role bacteria play in forensic investigations, although the tide is beginning to turn.

In Fall 2013, the STAFS facility, along with forensic entomologist Dr. Sibyl Bucheli, was featured in an NPR article entitled “Could Detectives Use Microbes to Solve Murders?”

“Not too many people have looked into how bacteria are involved in cadaver decomposition,” Haarmann said.

body is produced by bacteria and may be drawing in“We did some initial studies a few years ago to see if sects,” Haarmann said. there is a change in the bacterial community and thereSTAFS is a state-of-the-art facility, the first of its kind fore a reason to investigate further. There does seem in Texas, and remains only one of four willed-body foto be a shift in the community of bacteria present. My rensic facilities worldwide. A second STAFS facility was advisors have a three-year grant. This is our first year into the grant, which is a seasonal study. We are studying opened at Texas State University in San Marcos, which like SHSU is part of the Texas State University System. cadavers left out in February (Winter), April (Spring), The body donation program was established by Dr. Joan July (Summer), and November (Autumn). The plan for the following two years is to do the same thing. Particu- Bytheway, forensic anthropologist and director of the STAFS facility. larly at Sam Houston, we are looking at the bacteria on In 2010, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office the skin.” reached out to Dr. Bytheway for help solving the murIn the last few years, many studies with the Human der of Deborah Applegate, a New Caney woman who Micro Bio project have shed light on the fact that was bludgeoned to death and whose body was burned a different areas of the body like the intestinal tract or month later by Robert Hinton II. Dr. Bytheway cracked the nostrils contain specific communities of bacteria, the case wide open.

Haarmann explained. For example, there seems to be a Considering the gruesome nature of Applegate’s case, dividing line between left and right hemispheres, so the the question remains: bacteria found on your How do graduate students left elbow have more in like Haarmann cope with common with the bacteria handling dead bodies day found behind your left ear in and day out? than they do with your “We get asked that right elbow. question a lot. As a bi“Our questions are if you ologist, it’s a matter of start out with a very dismentally partitioning it. tinctive bacterial commuI’m an animal lover, too. I nity, do you see a similar don’t like to kill things, but progression pattern? As the when I have to take a class body decomposes, do you and dissect stuff, it’s just a see something that could matter of mentally preparbe predictive? If it can be Haarmann on the main road within the Center for Biological Studies. ing myself by saying, ‘Well, I predicted, can you add that have to do this because this is into the applicable process to help identify how it may what I chose to do,’” Haarmann explained. have been present on the body?” Haarmann said.

Even so, Haarmann says that everyone involved at Research conducted at the STAFS facility is a collabthe STAFS facility has the utmost respect for those who orative effort. SHSU partners with Baylor University to donate their bodies to science, as well as their loved sequence the bacteria samples, and collaborators from ones. Without this generous donation, groundbreaking Boulder, Colorado study soil gathered from the site. research like Haarmann’s would be impossible.

Moreover, faculty, graduate students, and a handful of “It is something you have to respect,” Haarmann said, undergraduates hailing from the departments of biology “and that is something they do very well at the STAFS and chemistry as well as the College of Criminal Justice facility. Once a year or so, they actually hold a vigil, and work in tandem.

Whereas biologists collect insects and bacteria for anal- the families are invited. Relatives are given the option to show up if they want. The ceremony honors the families ysis, Criminal Justice students learn to identify the sex, age, and stature of potential murder victims. Meanwhile, and the people who actually donated their bodies. It is something you take seriously.” chemists capture gases emitted from decomposing flesh Haarmann should know. He has worked at STAFS for examination. facility since its inception in 2009.

“They’re actually swabbing for bacteria at the site “Almost from the very beginning, I was helping with where they are sampling the gas to see if it is predictive the sampling. When other people left, there were openof the gas and what kind of relationship they may have. ings, so I was pretty much at one point the main person It’s generally thought that the gas from a decomposing 29

doing the sampling on top of my original thesis,” Haarmann continued.

Haarmann’s original thesis was born out of his work in Dr. Aaron Lynne’s lab. Haarmann transferred to SHSU from Lone Star College as a junior. In the biology department, undergraduates can serve as teaching assistants. Haarmann was assigned to Dr. Lynne’s Microbiology lab.

Initially, Haarmann planned to become a pharmacist, so the summer after he graduated with his B.S. in Biology, he approached Dr. Lynne for a letter of recommendation. To strengthen Dr. Lynne’s endorsement, Haarmann offered to work on any projects Dr. Lynne might have, but for the first two weeks, there weren’t any projects to be had.

Undaunted, Haarmann showed up daily to wash Petri dishes and tidy up the lab. Slowly, projects began to trickle in.

“One of them was developing what’s called a Cass-auger, which is a very specific growth plate for bacteria that will actually test to see if bacteria have a particular molecule that steals iron,” Haarmann said.

“The other summer project was screening about a hundred or so salmonella strains for antibiotic resistance genes. That was in collaboration with some other people from another school, actually spending hours a day doing Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) work on salmonella—running gels and seeing what antibiotic resistance genes are present.”

Both of Haarmann’s summer projects resulted in publications: “Use of Blue Agar CAS Assay for Siderophore Detection” in the Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education in May 2011, as well as “Characterization of Antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium isolates from food animals in the U.S.” in Food Research International in March 2011. As of October 2013, Haarmann also published “The Living Dead: Bacterial Community Structure of a Cadaver at the Onset and End of the Bloat Stage of Decomposition” alongside Drs. Lynne and Bucheli in the Public Library of Science (PLOS).

As Haarmann’s responsibilities at the STAFS facility expanded, he changed his thesis topic to align with his sampling work. Haarmann’s new thesis topic investigates the effects freezing has on cadaver decomposition, more specifically how it affects the bacterial community.

“Previous studies on a pig model show that if you freeze the body for so long and then decide to put it out, it decomposes slightly differently, depending on how long you froze it. There are all kinds of studies for forensic application that have shown this even with the insects 30

Haarmann beside the STAFS sign. that show up. We were lucky this year: We actually got three fresh bodies throughout the year, which we don’t normally get. And usually we don’t find out until later.

We get them within days,” Haarmann said.

The implications of Haarmann’s research are far reaching. Not only could his study help to pinpoint murder victims who have been purposefully frozen before relocation, but also his work might help to identify the effects freezing could have on a body left in, say, an icy lake during winter.

Now in the process of writing his thesis, Haarmann is laying the bricks for the next bend in his career path. His plan? To get a Ph.D. “I’ve had my eye set on that since I decided to go the master’s route. After I graduate with my Ph.D., I would love to get a job at a university, teaching and researching,” Haarmann said.

He hopes to stay in Texas, where research in forensic science is burgeoning. In fact, the College of Criminal Justice at SHSU was recently approved by the Higher Education Coordinating Board to offer a Ph.D. program in Forensic Science. It will be the first program of its kind in Texas.

But Haarmann will likely graduate before the Ph.D. program is implemented. One possibility would be for Haarmann to attend Baylor University, which would allow him to continue his research on bacterial communities.

Haarmann wagers that forensic science research will continue to grow in Texas.

“There are dinner table ideas where people talk about the Texas State System we are a part of, which actually runs down I-10 with other schools in our system. Opening up similar STAFS facilities at the other universities in our system would hit the other regions—you would get a gradient across Texas,” Haarmann said.

It is important to observe decomposition in various

ecosystems because each region has unique insect, plant, and bacteria life. For example, data gathered at a site in Southeast Texas is not necessarily applicable in Maine.

By adding more sites like the STAFS facility at SHSU, scientists will be able to compare results from similar regions.

Thanks to the pioneering work of faculty members like Drs. Lynne, Bucheli, and Bytheway, as well as graduate students like Haarmann, Texas is quickly emerging as a leader in forensic science research. ­—W.R. •

Haarmann in a hazmat suit outside the Body farm.

31

Q & A Office of Graduate Studies: Can you tell us a bit about your background?

Shippey: I was raised in a suburban town just outside of San Antonio.

I grew up riding horses and raising animals for stock shows through FFA and 4H. I graduated from Texas State University in 2009 and went straight into teaching elementary school. I have adored my last five years in the classroom. When I am not teaching or studying, I try to build a better community around me by volunteering my time with the Junior League of San Antonio.

I also love to travel and spend time with my family.

Office of Graduate Studies: Why did you decide to pursue a master’s degree?

Shippey: Technology incorporation and spreading my knowledge of this teaching method have always been passions of mine. I met Dr. Kimberly LaPrairie, the graduate advisor 32

21st Century Teacher ExCELS In September 2013, Amanda Shippey, now an Instructional Technology Specialist at North East Independent School District in San Antonio, was nominated for the KENS 5 News ExCEL Award for her work as a 2nd Grade teacher at Rahe Bulverde Elementary. The ExCEL award honors San Antonio area teachers who display classroom excellence. Having earned her master’s degree in Instructional Technology in August 2014, Shippey is currently working to bring her district into the Digital Age.

of Sam Houston State University’s Instructional Technology program, at a technology teaching conference (TCEA). She discussed the program and how it works. After speaking with her, I knew achieving my master’s degree was the next step in my professional career. I signed up for classes the following fall.

Office of Graduate Studies: You are currently enrolled in the M.Ed. program in Instructional Technology. How would you describe your experience in the program?

Shippey: If you would have asked me what a “21st century teacher” or a “Digital Native” was a year ago, I would have looked at you with a funny face and shrugged my shoulders. Now, I use these terms almost daily. In fact, I am helping my district implement professional development to teach these terms to others. The program has helped me to achieve this. I am a much better teacher for it, and my students benefit greatly. Since the program is

so small, my cohorts and I are very close. We support each other and collaborate consistently. Our professors not only know us by name, but they also know our background.

They are our biggest cheerleaders. I am not going to lie to you—working a full-time job and going to graduate school has not been the easiest thing I have ever done. However, the support and success I have had with the program makes that struggle so much easier.

Office of Graduate Studies: Congratulations on being named KENS 5 ExCEL Award winner! Tell us about that experience.

Shippey: Thank you! The KENS 5 SACU ExCEL experience was one of the highlights of my professional career. I was honored and a bit shocked to represent Comal ISD. The district spans more than 589 square miles, and in my opinion, houses some of the most wonderful teachers. The reporters at KENS 5 and the staff at SACU have been some of the most

generous groups of pro-teacher and pro-education individuals I have ever encountered. My class of second graders loved being movie stars for a day. I hope this experience will be one that they will never forget.

Office of Graduate Studies: What does it mean to be teacher in the 21st century?

Shippey: Students need to be able to communicate, collaborate, think critically, and be creative to thrive in today’s society. A 21st century teacher fosters these abilities by allowing students to drive their own learning and take ownership of it. The 21st century classroom needs to look different than the 20th century classroom.

We need to take the necessary steps to ensure changes are being made so students can get the appropriate skills to help them thrive.

Office of Graduate Studies: In your opinion, does technology encourage or impede learning?

Shippey: I wish I could shout “TECHNOLOGY ENCOURAGES LEARNING” from the rooftops.

Our students are practically born with smart devices in their hands.

Students in today’s classroom have been defined as “Digital Natives” because growing up in a digital world is normal to them. Technology is one of their primary languages. Giving them outlets to speak their language only encourages learning.

Office of Graduate Studies: What is your ultimate career goal?

Shippey: Once my master’s degree is complete, I want to seek out opportunities to educate others using technology integration and 21st century teaching methods. I want

educators to know how vital it is for us to change the way our classrooms look. I hope to give them the skills necessary to make the changes.

Office of Graduate Studies: What would you say to others considering pursuing an M.Ed. in Instructional Technology?

Shippey: I would highly encourage others to pursue an M.Ed. in Instructional Technology from Sam Houston State University. Dr. LaPrairie, Dr. Shannon, Dr. Rice, and Dr. Koptelov have been such wonderful professors. I attribute a lot of my successes to this degree. I feel like I am a much more knowledgeable educator because of it. ­—W.R. •

33

National Book Awards at Sam

(L-R) Harold Augenbraum moderates a discussion on literature between Lucie Brock-Broido, Gene Luen Yang, and Téa Obreht.

S

ince 1950, the National Book Awards have celebrated some of the finest examples of American Literature, honoring literary luminaries such as William Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, Marianne Moore, and Jonathan Franzen. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Dr. Amanda Nowlin-O’Banion and the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing, Sam Houston State University became a chapter in the story of the National Book Awards earlier this spring.

On March 31, 2014, three National Book Awards finalists gathered in the James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center to read excerpts of their work and participate in a 34

Q&A session moderated by Harold Augenbraum, executive director of the National Book Awards. An audience of over 400 people—including students, faculty, and community members—was in attendance. The finalists were novelist Téa Obreht, poet Lucie Brock-Broido, and graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang.

Named one of the twenty best writers under forty, Obreht read a selection from her debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife. Obreht’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Harper’s.

Brock-Broido read a handful of poems from her 2013 collection, entitled Stay, Illusion, which was published by Alfred A. Knopf.

Brock-Broido is a recipient of a

Guggenheim Fellowship and director of Poetry in the School of the Arts at Columbia University.

Meanwhile, Yang shared a portion of his graphic novel Boxers & Saints.

His previous graphic novel, American Born Chinese, became the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award and the first to win the American Library Association’s Printz Award. Moreover, Yang teaches at Hamline University as part of their M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. He has also worked in television as a writer for Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender.

In addition to reading from their work, the authors ventured out into the university and the community.

Both Brock-Broido and Obreht held craft workshops for creative writing undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of English while Yang visited Huntsville Intermediate School in conjunction with the National Book Foundation’s BookUp Program.

“It’s important to us that these events are not merely sequestered at the university, but that they extend outward into the community,” Dr. Scott Kaukonen, director of the M.F.A. program, said.

“There are readers and booklovers everywhere, people of all ages and experiences. We want this to be an event that stretches across interests and academic disciplines.”

It was through the BookUp Program that Dr. Nowlin-O’Banion became connected to the National Book Awards. Having previously worked with BookUp during her time at Texas A&M University in Bryan/College Station, Dr. Nowlin-O’Banion launched a new Book-

Gene Luen Yang reads from his graphic novel, Boxers & Saints.

Up site in Huntsville, TX at the Boys & Girls Club of Walker County in January 2011.

“We had a fantastic turnout from the start, with fifteen to twenty

(L-R): Nick Lantz, Lucie Brock-Broido, Dr. Scott Kaukonen, Dr. Amanda Nowlin-O’Banion, Dr. Michael Demson, Gene Luen Yang, Téa Obreht, & Harold Augenbraum.

students attending each week. At the end of the semester, the kids said they couldn’t wait until fall to get ‘more cool books!’” Dr. Nowlin-O’Banion said.

Huntsville was chosen for a new BookUp site because many families here had been particularly hard hit by the recession. And the goal of BookUp is to get books into the hands of kids in need.

“We want this program to raise the hopes of the kids in our community while helping them become better readers. As every book lover knows, a good novel opens up the world,” Dr. Nowlin-O’Banion said.

Currently, she is working to make the National Book Awards at Sam an annual event. The next National Book Awards at Sam event is slated for March 23, 2015 and will be sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs, the Office of Graduate Studies, the College of Humanities & Social Sciences, and the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing in the Department of English. ­—W.R. • 35

Office of Graduate Studies SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY Bobby K. Marks Administration Bldg., Suite 203 Box 2541 1806 Avenue J Huntsville, TX 77340 Phone: 936-294-2408 Email: gradstudies@shsu.edu