Daily Toreador The
THURSDAY, FEB. 7, 2013 VOLUME 87 ■ ISSUE 85
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Program promotes global learning By SHANNON O’NEIL STAFF WRITER
The College of Education has implemented a new international program to involve doctoral students and technology to facilitate global learning. The Global Learning Program is designed to provide doctoral students at Texas Tech the opportunity to maintain a job and residence outside of Lubbock while participating in international issues. Walter Smith, Helen DeVitt Jones professor in the College of Education, is the founder and director of the Global Learning Program. He also teaches classes that coordinate with the program. According to a news release, doctoral students use technology like Skype and email to communicate internationally. Smith said it is good for the doctoral students as well as younger students to practice communicating
internationally to keep up with changing society. Doctoral students, he said, come from all over the country. One student in the program is from Jamaica and corresponds from her residence there. Smith said the doctoral students participate in a four-year online curriculum that educates them to become pragmatic researchers and global science educators. He said the goal of a global science educator is to work internationally to solve problems. According to the news release, doctoral students are involved in three different projects: the World Moon Project, video game design and creation of model lunar vehicles. Smith said the World Moon Project started in 2000. Children all over the world are instructed to observe the moon for six weeks and share their observations. GLOBAL continued on Page 2 ➤➤
Senior students nervous to search for future jobs
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Kingsbury announces first recruiting class as Tech football coach By MICHAEL SUNIGA STAFF WRITER
Wednesday marked college football’s national signing day, and the Texas Tech football team was able to secure 24 recruits under newly appointed head coach Kliff Kingsbury. The 2013 signing class will officially place Kingsbury’s stamp on the Red Raider football program, as the incoming signees are expected to be marquee players within a few years, if not immediately, Kingsbury said. “We want guys that can come in and help us right now,” Kingsbury said. “We would not recruit a guy if we thought he was a project.” The majority of the 24 recruits hail from Texas. Although Kingsbury said he looks forward to the prospect of seeing his new coaches at work, he saw the need to recruit players with raw talent, such as speed. “Speed is the one thing you cannot coach,” he said. “We are trying to be the fastest team in the Big 12.” One player Kingsbury said he was excited about was receiver Devin Lauderdale out of Bellaire. “He is one of those guys, like I said, with his speed, it is at a national level,” he said. “That is something that we really need here. I think the sky is the limit.” In recruiting, Kingsbury brought in another dual-threat quarterback, Davis Webb, a three-star prospect, according to Rivals, despite expectations of Michael Brewer taking the starting position. Going into 2013, Webb is ranked as a No. 3 quarterback prospect in Texas. Kingsbury had less time to recruit
PHOTO BY LAUREN PAPE/The Daily Toreador
TEXAS TECH COACH Kliff Kingsbury answers questions about National Signing Day during a news conference Wednesday in the Spike Dykes Team Meeting Room in the Football Training Facility.
than many of his Big 12 Conference rivals, as he was appointed the job immediately following Tommy Tuberville’s
departure at season’s end. SIGNING DAY continued on Page 7 ➤➤
College Town Hall website offers chance for interaction By ASHLYN TUBBS STAFF WRITER
Eric Lopez is becoming anxious as he nears his Texas Tech graduation. Initially, the senior sociology major with a criminology concentration from Allen had no concern about finding a job after obtaining his degree. “For the most part, I feel like I’ve done enough with my degree to have a pretty decent job based off my work ethic from my jobs I’ve worked previously,” he said. “People will vouch for me on my résumé and references.” His confidence is not as high now, though. “I’ve had friends who have actually gone eight months without having a job after they graduate, or even a year,” he said. “If it wasn’t for them, maybe I wouldn’t have that much of a concern.” Lopez is not the only one in this predicament. Another nervous senior is Brianna Berry, a senior electronic media and communications major from Pleasanton, Calif.
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“I wasn’t really anxious until I got a job interview, and then I felt the pressure,” she said. “But I kind of have faith that everything is going to work out in the end.” Many options to help calm these seniors’ nerves are provided by University Career Services. Jay Killough, director of the center, said it is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to help students prepare themselves for future careers by providing mock interviews, resume critiques, etiquette dinners and other tips to develop themselves professionally. “Those are the little things,” he said. “Coming into the career center early will help with that. Learning those strategies and skills is very important to the success of the job search.” A calendar of these events and other resources are found at careercenter.ttu.edu, such as the upcoming career fair the center will host March 25. JOBS continued on Page 3 ➤➤
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Students now have the opportunity to voice their opinions and ideas, and give feedback on legislation about higher education from their own homes. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board launched its College Town Hall Texas website Tuesday after a trial launch Friday. College Town Hall Texas is a website that will be used as an online community engagement tool the board created along with the vendor, MindMixer, said Dominic Chavez, spokesperson for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. “It basically allows the coordinating board to cast a much wider net to our traditional stakeholders,” he said, “and higher education administrators, faculty, but most importantly, the students as well as the general public, so that we can get input from all of them on the future of higher education in Texas.” The website, Chavez said, gives the board an opportunity to receive feedback on its actions in higher education as an agency and a state through a social
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media engagement tool. feedback whenever they can. The website is a tool to increase interThe senior staff of the agency, the action between the board and the Texas board and the commissioner will monipopulation, he said, since people cannot tor the website to see what feedback the always make the quarterly board meetings public is providing, along with collecting hosted in Austin. that information and “This is a tool that soliciting ideas they we think we can inthink will be helpful, vite a lot more parChavez said. ticipation from all The board, he said, corners of the state wants to encourage all of Texas to weigh stakeholders, especially in,” Chavez said, “so student stakeholders, that the board can to voice their opinions. see what again our “This tool is great traditional higher in as much as it’s not education stakeholdjust about, ‘Hey, here’s ers as well as the genwhat the coordinating eral public is thinking board’s doing tell us DOMINIC CHAVEZ about higher educawhether you like it or SPOKESPERSON tion and some of the dislike it,’ but this opTHECB policy initiatives that portunity where people we are pursuing at the can actually share their coordinating board.” own ideas in a very As the board starts to plan the goals interactive way,” he said, “where they can for the next 15 years in higher education, tell us, ‘Look, have you ever considered he said College Town Hall Texas will offer doing something like this?’” the board the ability for the general public WEBSITE continued on Page 2 ➤➤ to be engaged in the process by providing
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This is a tool that we think we can invite a lot more participation from all corners of the state of Texas ...
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By EMILY GARDNER
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ASHLYN TUBBS/The Daily Toreador
PEYTON CRAIG, A sophomore political science major from Houston, practices a mock interview Tuesday in the Career Center with Amy Bafford, associate director at the University Career Center, in preparation for future interviews.
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