Daily Toreador The
FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014 VOLUME 88 ■ ISSUE 156
Tales of Texan foster care abuse sound ‘like prison’ AUSTIN (AP) — A legislative committee looking to improve the state’s foster care system is hearing from Texans who told lawmakers of abuse and trauma in the foster homes where they grew up. Some choked back tears Thursday during emotional testimony before the Texas House Select Committee on Child Protection. Committee Chairwoman Dawnna Dukes even said what she heard sounded “like prison.” The state’s 17,000-child foster system has been under scrutiny since seven children died of abuse or neglect in fiscal year 2013. This year, only one such youngster has died. But officials are investigating the July 6 drowning in Lake Georgetown of two siblings in foster care, ages 4 and 6. A recent review found child protective caseworkers only spend 26 percent of their job meeting with youngsters and families.
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Tech recognized for workplace
Texas governor’s startup fund is not all it seems AUSTIN (AP) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry has distributed $205 million in taxpayer money to scores of technology startups using a pet program designed to bring high-paying jobs and innovation to the nation’s second most-populous state. But a closer look at the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, one of Perry’s signature initiatives in his 14 years as governor, reveals that some of the businesses that received money are not all they seem. One actually operates in California. Some have stagnated trying to find more capital. Others have listed out-of-state employees and short-term hires as being among the jobs they created. A few have forfeited their right to do business in Texas by not filing tax reports. An Associated Press review of the program found that some of the same companies credited with creating a share of the program’s 1,600 new jobs have actually stalled and in some cases blamed Perry’s office for their struggles. Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history and a possible 2016 presidential candidate, has for several years travelled the country extolling the strength of the Texas economy and bragging about his efforts to bring new investment to the state, including the tech fund. On Thursday, he awarded $6 million from a similar incentive program to Charles Schwab Corp., with the expectation of creating 1,200 jobs.
PHOTO BY JACOB SNOW/The Daily Toreador
JOSEPH NEVAREZ, A senior communication design major from Austin, hands a drink to Alexander Zapata, a senior sociology and psychology major from Corpus Christy, on Thursday at Sam’s Place Poolside. Texas Tech was recognized for its excellence in the workplace.
By KAITLIN BAIN
Tech Human Resources said the positive teaching environment begins at the top. “We consider our employees our most valuable asset,” she said, “and we’re fortunate to have visible and approachable leaders who engage with faculty and staff across campus.” The survey was administered for The Chronicle by ModernThink LLC, Boyer
said, and has been conducted since 2008. He said a random sample of faculty and staff members from the 92 participating universities were asked to complete a 60item engagement survey and their results were compiled and used to record the results.
Closed West Texas detention center considered for housing immigrants
New HSC school moves to Abilene
Staff Writer
The Chronicle of Higher Education recognized Texas Tech’s excellence in the workplace, along with 92 other universities in its annual survey. The survey analyzed issues related to
By KAITLIN BAIN Staff Writer
Littlefield, Texas, 40 miles northwest of Lubbock currently houses a closed detention center that is being considered as a holding facility for unaccompanied children. Seth McKee, assistant professor of political science, said this issue has been viewed recently as a humanitarian crisis because the children of undocumented migrants become orphans when their parents are deported or go back to their original countries. “This involves the massive abandonment of illegal immigrant children at the U.S. border with Mexico,” he said. “These instant orphans are left with no place to go.” According to an article from the Associated Press, the center was built about 15 years ago but is now being considered
workplace quality, faculty and staff engagement and institutional culture that can be found in daily headlines, Richard Boyer, survey supervisor said. Tech excelled in one of the categories surveyed, teaching environment, according to the survey results. Jodie Billingsley, managing director of
as a place to temporarily house migrant children as a way to generate a new revenue stream. Randy Neugebauer, U.S. 19th district representative, issued a statement concernNEUGEBAUER ing his opinion on the proposal. “Over a year ago, I sent a letter to ICE regarding the Littlefield facility,” he said. “Since then, this problem has escalated into a real crisis and the situation on the ground has chanced entirely. This year, the number of illegal minors entering the United States is expected to at least triple. The Obama administration has increasingly shown they cannot be relied on to secure the border or enforce our existing laws. Last
week, after visiting the detention center at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland, I stated that my position regarding these illegal minors is that they should not be housed in Littlefield, Texas, or anywhere else in the United States. They should be returned to their home countries.” While this is a change from his previous stance, McKee said he does not believe this will affect Neugebauer’s reelection campaign as he is adapting to his constituents and base party support. There are positives and negatives associated with the facility, as with most decisions, he said, including the protest activity that might be generated if the Littlefield facility is reopened and the employment opportunities that would be possible if it was reopened. IMMIGRANTS continued on Page 2 ➤➤
Texas Tech Terry Scholarship recipients announced
Magic Match — Page 2
INDEX Crossword.....................2 Classifieds................3 Sudoku.......................4 EDITORIAL: 806-742-3393
The Texas Tech Honors College announced 51 recipients of Terry Scholarships. This makes Tech the fastest-growing university in the scholarship foundation’s history, according to a Tech news release. More than 600 applications were sent this year, according to the release. This year’s class has been awarded a total of $1.7 million. “Texas Tech is one of the fastest growing schools in the history of our program,” Ed Cotham, president of the foundation, said in the release. “Every time we visit the campus we are amazed at the worldclass facilities and the energetic faculty and staff. We continue to be impressed with the students and look forward to a long and successful partnership with the university to develop the future leaders of Texas.” Howard and Nancy Terry established ADVERTISING: 806-742-3384
the Terry Foundation in 1986, according to the release. Recipients of the scholarships include: Steven Le and Hayley Brownlow from Sweetwater; Karen Yang from Katy; Elizabeth Mata and Samantha Gonzalez from Lamesa; Melissa Peña from Mission; Aly Cario and Giuli Dimarco from The Colony; Rosa Bailey from San Angelo; Veronica Araiza from Carrollton; Marco Padilla and Lizzy Hill from Dallas; Miguel Vega from Denton; Alissa Payne from Sanger; Kirsten Shaw from Mason; Monica McGee from Fruitvale; Rachel Myers from Wills Point; Micah Nehring from Waco; Bamma Strohmeyer from Stephenville; Elizabeth Parrish from Whitehouse; Whitney Thoms from Sundown; Lindsey Milner from Harper; Emily Bryan from Azle; Lexie Shaefer from Garden City; Karli Kuhler and Ochakachon Johnson
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from Amarillo; Payton Casssidy from Gainesville; Kaeli Faires from Grand Prairie; Nicole Polito from North Richland Hills; Ryan Robison from Hutto; Ryan Conner from Paris; Tate Leatherwood from Florence; Casey A. Williford from Somerville; Derek Baker from Savannah; Devonte Oree from Arlington; Neiba Jimenez from Abernathy; Daniel Martinez from Cypress; Robert Villareal from Corpus Christi; Gerardo Perez from El Paso; Michael Ruiz, London Allen, Dwayne Klassen, Zach Michaels and Henry Gaus III from Lubbock; David Olivera from The Woodlands; Ricky Huitema from Pittsburg; Jereamy Riggs from Duncanville: John West from Aledo; Kristina Hahn from Georgetown; Hannah Johnson from Tyler; Shasta VanMeter from Guthrie; and Sarah Abbott from Seminole. ➤➤editor@dailytoreador.com
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WORKPLACE continued on Page 2 ➤➤
By KAITLIN BAIN Staff Writer
Tedd Mitchell, Texas Tech Health Sciences Center president and Robert Duncan, Tech system chancellor, announced Monday the school of public DUNCAN health that will be built in Abilene. Mitchell said he has had the idea since he arrived at Tech in 2010, because Tech is the only school in the state of Texas that has a health sciences center but not a school of public health. “So what does a public health officer do,” he said. “Clinicians take care of individuals, public health officers take care of populations.” Public health officers conduct a variety of research to ensure the people of a population are safe, he said, such as testing the water supply to make sure it is clean and ensuring food supplies are kept safe. “For example, people out here in West Texas, we know that cancer death rates are higher than they are in the eastern part of the state,” he said. “We have some ideas as to why that might be the case: harder access to care, longer distances to travel to get care, and things like that. Public health officers are the ones that are going to do the investigation.” There were several steps that had to be taken before being able to announce the school, he said, including researching with accrediting agencies, evaluating what faculty and staff will be needed from the school as well as visiting with donors that might be interested in donating to get the school up and running. HSC continued on Page 3 ➤➤ EMAIL: news@dailytoreador.com