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Vol. 5, no. 2 Winter 1999 A PUBLICATION FOR THE FRIENDS AND ALUMNI OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO In this issue John Miller Morris crosses academic boundaries ❖ Brackenridge lecturer unearths new ideas Nevil Shed’s past lives ❖ John Phillip Santos’ family history ❖ ITC photo archives a vision of the past Commanche Camp on Shady Creek, chromolithograph by T. Sinclair after Heinrich Mollhausen, 1856 EXPLORATION AND IMAGINATION Features 8The language of discovery Sometimes it takes more than one academic discipline to understand a place. John Miller Morris’ award-winning study of El Llano Estacado combines history, linguistics, geography, biography and old-fashioned legwork to produce a breathtaking work of scholarship. A rare painting of the 1857–58 “Pope’s Wells” encampment on the mar- gin of the southern Llano Estacado, signed H.S. Sindall. Color photo of oil painting courtesy of Dan Hynes, Hynes Fine Art. 10 1998–99 Report on Philanthropy Our annual listing recognizes the generosity of friends, alumni, faculty, staff, businesses and foundations who contribute to UTSA’s educational mission. 18 Library holds keys to Texas past The Institute of Texan Cultures library houses a treasure trove of historical photographs, books and ephemera where family, city and regional history can be found. Keepers of the archives. From left, Alice Sacket, librarian; Kendra Trachta, library director; Tom Shelton, photo archivist; and Chris Floerke, program coordinator (not pictured) field requests from around the world for use of images from Texas’ past. Departments 3 In the Loop Welcoming President Romo; Brackenridge professor visits; Sombrilla, Winter 1999 Reading Place opens at Downtown Campus; and other Vol. 5, no. 2 campus news. Editor 6 Campus Scene Lynn Gosnell What longtime UTSA staff member has played on a Art director legendary NCAA Championship team? Thelma Ortiz-Muraida Contributing editor 20 Alumni News Sarah Nawrocki Communication major Crystal Ragsdale ’96 offers advice to Contributing writers students coming up in the program—get to work! Stephen J. Cross Elizabeth Green 21 Roadrunner Sports Wendy Frost Volleyball team wins Southland Conference; check out Sarah Nawrocki the Roadrunner men’s and women’s basketball schedule. Rick Nixon Photographers 22 Calendar Mark McClendon Revealed—a snowball’s chance in South Texas; important John Poindexter campus dates and more. Editorial office: MS 2.01.10 University of Texas at San Antonio 6900 North Loop 1604 West 23 Other Voices San Antonio, TX 78249-0619. A new department dedicated to writing and writers. Sombrilla is published quarterly for alumni and This issue we offer a brief excerpt of John Phillip Santos’ friends by the University of Texas at San Antonio. memoir about growing up in San Antonio. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sombrilla c/o Office of University Publications 6900 North Loop 1604 West San Antonio, TX 78249-0619. © 1999, UTSA In the Loop A formal welcome Ricardo Romo was installed as the fifth previously served as vice provost for president of the University of Texas at San undergraduate education at the Antonio during a convocation Oct. 11 in University of Texas at Austin. the University’s Convocation Center. Mark Yudof, president of the University Chancellor Cunningham presents the As part of the installation ceremony, of Minnesota and former provost of the medallion to President Romo. Romo received the University of Texas at University's presiden- “From my grandparents, Austin, delivered the tial medallion from keynote address. I learned about the UT System Chancellor “As we approach the William H. Cunning- power of imagination. new millennium, it’s a ham. UTSA faculty Their vivid and exciting time of retrospection and representatives of and introspection for stories about the Mexican regional universities individuals as well as and colleges partici- revolution, the great university communities,” pated in the ceremony. depression and the home- said Yudof. “With Dr. “Thirty years ago a Romo at the helm, new vision was born, front during two world UTSA is poised to devel- Tim O’Sullivan, son-in-law, daughter Ana when the promise of wars, sparked my own op a new vision for this hope and opportunity university based on his Romo, and son Carlos Romo helped make interest in history.” the convocation a family event. was made to the citi- own moral compass.” zens of South Texas Ricardo Romo Romo received his of receiving a first- doctorate from the class university for San Antonio,” Romo University of California at Los Angeles, said. “We, with all of your support, his master’s degree from Loyola intend to keep that promise.” Marymount University and his bachelor’s A nationally respected historian, Romo degree in education and history from UT is best known for his book, East Los Austin, where as a track star he became Angeles: History of a Barrio, which the first Texan to run the mile in less than chronicles the assimilation of the Latino four minutes. population in Southern California. Romo Harriett and Ricardo Romo have supported each other’s academic careers during more than 25 years of marriage. 3 In the Loop Interim no more — DOE grant to Bailey appointed boost math and new provost science skills Guy Bailey, who has served as interim provost UTSA has received an $800,000 grant from the since June 1998, was appointed to the permanent U.S. Department of Education to fund its new position of provost and vice president for academic Upward Bound Math Science program. The pro- affairs on Nov. 5. The appointment by President gram will help secondary students in South Ricardo Romo was effective immediately. Texas attain the math and science skills neces- As provost, Bailey has responsibility for all acad- sary for success in college. Guy Bailey emic programs at UTSA,including leadership for “Our goal is to help students recognize and academic planning, the administration of the academic budget, academic policy devel- develop their potential to excel in professional opment and implementation and all matters directly affecting the faculty. math and science occupations,” said Rita Bailey, who joined UTSA as dean of graduate studies and associate vice president for Cortez, TRIO program coordinator. research in 1997, is the author or co-author of more than 70 books, monographs and Upward Bound Math Science will target first- articles in the fields of sociolinguistics and dialect geography. He is also a professor in generation college students from Eagle Pass, Del the Division of English, Classics, Philosophy and Communication. Rio and Uvalde. Before coming to UTSA, Bailey was dean of liberal arts and professor of English at the UTSA is also seeking approval to include San University of Nevada at Las Vegas. He also has served on the faculties of Memphis State, Antonio–area students in the Upward Bound Oklahoma State and Texas A&M universities. Math Science program, Cortez said. Some students in the academic-year program will qualify for a Summer Residential Program in which they live on the UTSA campus and Proposition 17 passes; participate in the Prefreshman Engineering Program. Intensive PREP curricula includes math UTSA among beneficiaries and science, computer technology, scientific research, study skills and career development. It may not have been the most exciting item on the Nov. 2 ballot, but Proposition 17’s University and high school faculty as well as passage signaled good news to students enrolled in the University of Texas System and graduate students will serve as academic the Texas A&M University System. resources and mentors. Proposition 17, which will generate an additional $30 million from the Permanent TRIO programs were established by Congress University Fund, was approved by more than 60 percent of voters statewide. The vote to help low-income, first-generation Americans means the fund’s investment managers can take advantage of broader investment enter college and graduate successfully. They strategies and increase the proceeds available for programs and facilities at PUF are funded under Title IV of the Higher institutions. Education Act of 1965. UTSA will be eligible to receive several million dollars a year in new capital funds. UTSA TRIO programs include Upward Plans call for using the funding for new facilities, equipment and library materials, Bound, the Educational Talent Search and the thus reducing the potential financial burden on students. Ronald E. McNair Scholarship program. Fall enrollment breaks record . again The news is beginning to sound like a broken Census-day tallies for fall 1999—taken on Texas A&M University to accept the upper 10 record, but enrollment continues to increase the 12th class day—showed 18,606 students percent of all graduating high school seniors at UTSA. taking 193,564 semester credit hours, a gain in Texas. of 209 students over last fall. “UTSA’s freshman pool, without question, “The increase reflects greater numbers of included students who opted for one of these transfer students, which are up nearly 10 per- institutions this year,” Brown said. cent,” said John Brown, interim associate vice Total enrollment for the UTSA Downtown president for enrollment services. Campus grew by 135 to 3,092 students, Enhanced recruitment efforts, more degree about two-thirds of whom also take classes at program offerings and innovative programs the 1604 campus. for student success and retention are also part Although UTSA continues to attract the of the equation, he added. majority of its students from Bexar County,