Daily Toreador The
TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015 VOLUME 89 ■ ISSUE 128
Confederate symbols at Texas schools scrutinized EVADALE (AP) — Some Texas school districts have come under scrutiny for having Confederate symbols that backers say stand for tradition but critics say support racism. The crest for schools in the Southeast Texas town of Evadale (EE’-vuh-dale) has a Confederate flag and the words “Rebel Pride.” Superintendent Gary Fairchild said last month that the crest is part of the school’s history and won’t be changed unless the district gets complaints. Fairchild didn’t immediately return a message for comment Monday. The president of the Fort Worth chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference wants all Confederate symbols taken down. The Rev. Kyev Tatum says the symbols have a negative impact on children of color. Hundreds of people rallied Sunday to keep the rebel name associated with Richland High School in North Richland Hills.
Visions of the Past
Texas Tech to house collection of historic manuscripts By SHASHIDHAR SASTRY Staff Writer
The Remnant Trust, an Indiana-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has a collection of manuscripts including first and early edition works dating as far back as 3,000 B.C. Following the recent partnership, the collection will be housed at Texas Tech and anyone interested will have access to read and examine these documents. An exhibit of select items will also be on display at the Museum of Texas Tech University. “We now call Lubbock our home,” Kris Bex, president of The Remnant Trust, said. “We’ve relocated our collection of over 1,300 original and first-edition documents and manuscripts that deal with the ideas of liberty and dignity.” The distinguishing characteristic of The Remnant Trust is its policy that allows peo-
Food companies could be prosecuted for outbreaks WASHINGTON (AP) — Following a deadly listeria outbreak in ice cream, the Justice Department is warning food companies that they could face criminal and civil penalties if they poison their customers. “We have made a priority holding individuals and companies responsible when they fail to live up to their obligations that they have to protect the safety of the food that all of us eat,” Associate Attorney General Stuart Delery said in an interview with The Associated Press. After years of relative inactivity, the administration has stepped up criminal enforcement on safety cases. In the most high-profile case, a federal court in Georgia last year found an executive for the Peanut Corporation of America guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, wire fraud and other crimes after his company shipped out salmonella-tainted peanuts that sickened more than 700 and killed nine in 2008 and 2009. Delery, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, wouldn’t say whether the government plans to pursue charges against Texasbased Blue Bell Creameries, which recalled all its products and shut down production earlier this year after listeria in the company’s ice cream was linked to illnesses and three deaths. A Food and Drug Administration investigation found that Blue Bell knew that it had listeria in one of its plants for almost two years before the recall.
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ple to actually use the documents, Bex said. The Remnant Trust’s vision is to provide the opportunity for individuals to hold, examine, read and discuss manuscripts, according to The Remnant Trust website. However, such use of the books raises concerns of wear-and-tear or deterioration, Bex said. “Yes, all those things are going to happen. I don’t think that we take a necessary risk, but we do take a risk,” he said. “Our board believes and I believe that we are willing to put that at risk if we can get people to talk about these ideas.” The documents in the collection include one of the three known copies of the Dunlap printing of the Declaration of Independence from 1778, first edition of the King James Bible from 1611 and the first public printing of the Emancipation Proclamation from The New York Times in 1862. TRUST continued on Page 2 ➤➤
PHOTOS BY DUNCAN STANLEY/The Daily Toreador
LEFT: THE MUSEUM of Texas Tech University, in partnership with The Remnant Trust, opened an exhibit Friday to show original works from authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Paine and Harriet Beecher Stowe. RIGHT: A FIRST edition printing of John Locke’s “Some Thoughts Concerning Education” sits on display at The Remnant Trust exhibit at the museum.
Lubbock Lake Landmark hosts Archaeology in Action
Texas Tech team prepares to produce Alaska documentary By MICHAEL CANTU Staff Writer
Gay parents in Texas want both names on birth certificate DALLAS (AP) — Several same-sex couples in Texas who now by law can marry are pushing for birth certificates to be changed to allow the names of both parents, not just mother and father. The Dallas Morning News reports that the move, after the U.S. Supreme Court last month cleared the way for gay marriage, would allow for a birth document no matter for what kind of family. A spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services says that officials are reviewing the court’s decision to determine if changes must be made to birth certificates, among other forms and records. According to a nonpartisan think tank at a California university, around 9,200 same-sex couples are raising children in Texas.
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“This is the one day a year that visitors and the general public can go down into the excavation site where they are doing the actual digging, talk to the crew chief and learn about what they have recovered,” Susan Rowe, education program manager at Lubbock Lake Landmark, said.
Political agenda-free and fueled by the interest of scientific research, Texas Tech’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences Chair of Pedology David Weindorf is going to help produce a documentary on the effects of climate change in Alaska. Making a yearly trip to Alaska to help teach a course with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Professor Chien-Lu Ping, Weindorf had created the idea of professionally documenting the research of the two universities. Called the Arctic Soils Field Tour, both instructors bring students along with professionals in the field of soil science to tour all around Alaska to analyze different features of the Alaskan soil, Weindorf said. But with the imminent retirement of Ping, Weindorf realized the research and information that Ping had done would potentially go unrecognized, even forgotten, he said. Brainstorming ideas to make the research go mainstream, the notion of producing and filming a documentary was conceived. “So I came up with this idea, I thought, ‘You know we ought to find some way that we can videotape him talking about all of this stuff in the field,’” Weindorf said. “But then I thought, ‘You know, just video tape it, why don’t we do it right? Let’s make a real documentary film about it.’”
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PHOTO BY JAY CRAIN/The Daily Toreador
KATHERINE EHLERS, SENIOR crew chief from Lubbock, educates one of three tour groups Saturday of the archaeological dig taking place at Lubbock Lake Landmark.
By JARROD MILLER Staff Writer
On Friday, the Lubbock Lake Landmark hosted Archaeology in Action Family Day to introduce visitors to Lubbock’s historical archaeology. Starting at 9 a.m., Lubbock Lake Landmark staff, researchers and volunteers gathADVERTISING: 806-742-3384
ered to provide exclusive tours of the excavation sites and research facilities. Visitors were guided to sites usually closed off to the public. Though the sites were slightly muddy from recent rain, visitors could interact with the excavation crew or simply watch them work. In addition to the tours, special exhibits were set up for children, and the facility’s normal exhibits were open to the public.
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