The
Honors Voice
April 25, 2007
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opportunities AND
DEADLINES: |
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Honors College Graduation Banquet:
The banquet this year will take place May 11th, 7:30
p.m., at the Lubbock Civic Center. Graduates will
receive a free ticket for themselves and one other free
ticket for a relative/significant other.
Additional tickets may be purchased for $20.
Please RSVP to Sharon Yeates at
sharon.yeates@ttu.edu
or by phone at 742-1828 by May 4th
If you have e-mailed an RSVP or
phoned one in and haven't heard back from Sharon, call
or e-mail her again to make sure she has received your
RSVP.
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Job Opening--Student Activities Leader--A Paid Position
The Honors College
Student Activities Leader will partner with staff,
students, and faculty to develop and facilitate service,
social, and academic events for the Honors community.
12-15 hour work week; $10/hour.
Major
Responsibilities Include:
- Originate
and plan social, service, and academic activities to
develop an active, cohesive Honors community
- Lead a
peer group of Honors students in event and activity
planning and execution
- Advertise
and recruit participants for Honors events
- Serve as
primary facilitator for student events
- Partner
with FYE classes to generate tradition and and
cohesiveness in first-year students (maintain
cohesiveness for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years)
- Monitor
student web initiatives (blogs, facebook
groups, etc.)
- Execute
other duties associated with Honors activities as
specified by Honors College Staff.
Student
Activities Leader Application
Application deadline is April
27th.
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Job Opening--Student Assistant Needed for the Forum
A part-time
position is available for students interested in working
evening hours in the Student Forum next fall. Applicants
should have enough computer knowledge to do minor
trouble-shooting and must be willing to work two
evening, 5-10 p.m., September-May, when classes are in
session. The position pays $6.00 per hour and
applications may be downloaded
here.
Contact Sharon Gillett if you have questions about the
position.
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Spend June 2008 in Tuscany! Start planning and saving
now! More information to come soon.
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NEWS AND UPCOMING
EVENTS: |
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Congratulations to Honors Students
Completing This Year's Passport Program!
These students
spent the spring semester either 1) working 10-15 hours
a month in a community service agency or 2) attending a
wide variety of events on campus. These 16 students
embraced the idea of a life-long commitment to
betterment--whether it was bettering the Lubbock
community or the TTU campus. These "ambassadors"
represented the Honors College well while taking charge
of their own education. Please join us in congratulating
the following students:
Lisa Anderson,
Lisa Atkins, McKellan Binkley, Robby Bishop, Kristen
Breckenridge, Tiffany Bunag, Joseph Bush, Brittany Chan,
Natalie Chavarria, Sarah Giles, Lorena Hickman, Holly
Lambert, Kelly O'Neill, Katie O'Rourke, Kayla Odie,
Karee Welker, and Katy Wright.
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Phi Kappa Phi New Grant Program Announced
Phi
Kappa Phi has begun a new grant program
entitled the Emerging Scholar Award, a $250
scholarship. You are eligible for it if you
meet the following criteria:
-
You have a cumulative grade point
average of at least 3.75;
-
You have a minimum of 30 semester hours
(excluding AP, Credit by Exam, or
transfer credit);
-
You have earned not more than a total of
60 hours (excluding AP, Credit by Exam,
or transfer credit).
You
will need to access the scholarship
application packet at the following website:
http://www.phikappaphi.org/Web/Scholarships/emergingscholar.html
The
deadline is June 30, 2007.
If
you are interested in applying and would
like some help in preparing the application,
contact Dr. Marjean Purinton, Assistant
Dean, University Honors College, at 742-1828
or
marjean.purinton@ttu.edu
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Current Events Discussion, Friday, April 27,
2007, Noon, Honors Forum
Friday’s
topic
will
be:
Evaluating
Stephen
Prothero’s
Thoughts
and
Ideas
on
Religious
Education.
There
is
only
one
link
this
week
(see
below),
so
please
take
the
time
to
read
it
so
we
can
have
a
good
discussion.
I
will
be
the
facilitator
this
week.
We’ll
meet
from
12-1
p.m.
in
the
Student
Forum
of
McClellan
Hall.
Lunch
and
drinks
provided.
Hope
to
see
you
there!
Joel
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-03-07-teaching-religion-cover_N.htm
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So, You Want Recycling at Texas Tech? Grassroots
is recycling on TTU Arbor Day, April 27th!
Come show your
support for the Grassroots recycling initiative this
Friday, Arbor Day, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. between the
SUB and the library. We will have giant recycle bins
for all your plastic bottles, aluminum and paper. Having
lunch in the SUB? Save your bottles and cans and take
them to the bins in the courtyard. Help celebrate Arbor
Day by showing the administration the need for a campus
recycling program.
Brought to you by
the Grassroots Organization
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Natural History and Humanities (EVHM) Invites You to
Attend a Celebration of the Natural World
Ten students
enrolled in Professor Kurt Caswell's course EVHM 3350:
Backpacking the Southwest will present projects based on
their research and experiences in Grand Gulch, Utah.
This program is free and open to everyone!
When:
Tuesday, May, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Where: English 106
Program:
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Vision Fasting in Grand
Gulch |
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nonfiction by Nathan
Reynolds |
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Of What is Past, or Passing, or to Come |
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photographs by Mark
Pennington |
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People of a Lost Culture |
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rock art by Rebecca Downey |
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Print and Oil |
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brushed photographs by Chad
Reynolds |
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Winding it Down |
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a collage book by Erin
Hoelting |
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Canyonlands |
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pottery by Suzanne Bauguess |
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Exposure to Light |
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Holga photographs by Caitlin
Grann |
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From Gallup to Junction |
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poetry by Alexander
Natarajan |
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In Search of Nothing |
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a documentary film by Eric
Braden & Kelly Adkins |
Many thanks to
the Department of English for providing a space for this
event!
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Dr. James R. Clopton,
Professor of Psychology, Honors Professor of the Year,
2004
By Dee
Wood-Lane
Dr. James (Jim) Clopton came to Texas Tech in 1976 after earning his
B.A. in Psychology in 1968, his M.A. in 1970, and
his Ph.D. in 1974, all from the University of
Kansas. He had a full-time practice as a clinical
psychologist for two years prior to coming to Texas
Tech. He teaches both graduate and undergraduate
students. Graduate instruction includes practicum
and research supervision and teaching the first-year
course on psychotherapy. Undergraduate instruction
includes supervising students who are working on
individual projects and teaching courses in the
Honors College (HONS 3303 and the Honors section of
PSY 1300). His clinical interests include
supervision and consultation regarding psychotherapy
and personality assessment. His current research
interest is eating disorders.
Dr.
Jim Clopton is so courteous and accommodating that he
volunteered to come to my office for his interview
rather than the other way around. This is but one
example of how considerate and accommodating Dr. Clopton
is on a daily basis. A familiar sight in McClellan Hall
at the Friday Current Events lunch discussions, he is
quiet, always helpful and someone that people instantly
feel comfortable around. Since he is a
psychologist, none of these great traits should come as
a surprise because people are his specialty, after all.
Nonetheless, Dr. Clopton is one of those rare finds in
that he is consistently pleasant, no matter where
you meet him. I enjoyed getting to know him better and
I know you will too!
When asked what
advice Dr. Clopton would most like to give students,
he immediately responded, “Get involved! Don’t be
afraid to take risks! Try something, even if you’re not
sure it will work out.” Dr. Clopton’s life reveals
clearly that he takes his own advice. For instance, Dr.
Clopton was initially a math major, but one semester he
took a general psychology course because it was
available to his schedule. He completely fell in love
with psychology and changed his major from mathematics
to psychology shortly thereafter. He has loved
psychology ever since.
Other ways Dr.
Clopton has taken risks that have been successful
involve him moving to Texas from Kansas and becoming a
Professor at Texas Tech University. Dr. Clopton lived
in Kansas his entire life until moving to Lubbock in
1976. He assumed he would be in Kansas forever. While
he was still working on his doctorate’s degree, he was
told he should consider an academic career. Clopton
wasn’t interested in academia at that time, but later,
when presented with unforeseen changes and
opportunities, he decided to take a stab at it. Taking
the risk to try something different landed him in
Lubbock, Texas. Obviously, his life changed radically
at that point and he very soon realized he wasn’t in
Kansas any more.
When Dr. Clopton
earned his Ph.D. in Psychology in 1974, he entered a
full-time practice, working primarily with children.
His practice was very busy and stressful and after two
years, he decided he might like to try something
different. Coincidentally, during those same two years,
Clopton and his wife survived extremely harsh winters in
Kansas and decided they would like to live somewhere
with warmer, milder winters. Being a clinical
supervisor appealed to Clopton so he began searching for
possible positions around the country. He applied for
three different positions plus a faculty position (doing
supervision in the training clinic) at Texas Tech. Soon
Tech invited him to Lubbock to interview. At the time,
he wasn’t even sure where Lubbock, Texas was located.
His father took him to the airport to fly to Lubbock for
the interview and on the way, he asked Clopton, “Where
is Lubbock?” Clopton replied that he thought “it was a
suburb of Dallas.” He was quite surprised when he
realized Lubbock was 350 miles away from Dallas! (By
the way, many non-Texans make this same error. Lubbock
is somewhat out of the mainstream in terms of
geography.) Clopton’s interview went well and he hired
on as an assistant professor to begin teaching in the
Fall Semester of 1976. He and his wife, Nancy,
originally intended to live here for only a couple of
years. They didn’t know it, but they were in Lubbock
for the long haul--31 years so far and counting!
It is truly a
wonder that the Cloptons decided to stay, considering
their first year in Lubbock. It was memorable because
it was a particularly windy and sandy year. Sandstorms
were so overwhelming that Clopton recalled having to dig
sand out of their front yard in order for their grass to
grow and survive. Despite the rough weather, however,
the Cloptons liked Lubbock and Texas Tech. They
especially liked the people and were particularly
impressed with the faculty, who were bright, active, and
welcoming.
Clopton likes
teaching Honors classes because, he says, “I always get
great students!” He enjoys the fact that the Honors
experience is similar to a small college because faculty
members get to interact with the students in a wide
variety of ways. For instance, Clopton teaches a First
Year Experience class each year as well as Honors
seminar classes. He is also very active in the Friday
Current Events Discussions, where students, faculty and
staff come together to discuss and share their views
about current world events. In addition to these
activities, Clopton has served as a research mentor in
the Undergraduate Research Fellowship program. Through
all these different avenues of interaction, Dr. Clopton
feels he gets to know Honors students better than he
does non-Honors students and has opportunities to
develop a rapport with them which is very gratifying.
He noted that many times in a large university, the
hierarchy is such that faculty-student interaction
doesn’t take place so he very much appreciates the
opportunities for more student interaction, which his
Honors involvement affords him.
His wife, Dr.
Nancy Clopton, recently retired from her position in the
Department of Physical Therapy at the Health Sciences
Center, but Clopton states that he has no plans to
retire any time soon. He truly loves his work so much
that he wants to keep doing it as long as it is fun for
him. Faculty members usually take development leaves
for research and writing purposes. Dr. Clopton has
never taken a development leave because he didn’t want
to give up any of his classes. He genuinely loves
teaching, even more than research. He really enjoys
teaching undergraduate classes, especially Honors
classes, because of the interaction with the students
and the open honesty found in undergraduates. He noted
that different people like teaching different ages. For
instance, a friend of his teaches junior high students,
and Clopton says he could never teach that level. Some
faculty members at the university level don’t like
teaching undergraduate students, but they are Clopton’s
favorite students. Secretly, they’re his first love
when it comes to his duties at Texas Tech.
In Dr. Clopton’s
“off hours,” he likes to read long books (current
favorites are Team of Rivals and Jonathan
Strange and Mr. Norrell). He also likes to
take long walks with a close friend who was his freshman
roommate at the University of Kansas. In the coming
summer, he will be traveling to Portugal and Spain with
his wife. I have to admit, it sounds like the advice he
gives to students has worked for him, doesn’t it?
Perhaps his life is his greatest lesson, “Get involved!
Don’t be afraid to take risks! Try something, even if
you’re not sure it will work out.” I’m certainly glad
he followed his own advice and landed here in Lubbock,
aren’t you?
In May 2004, Dr. Clopton
was named Honors Professor of the Year. One of his
nominators, a student, said the following:
“In Fall 2003, the
Honors College offered a new seminar – “Narratives
of Mental Disorders.” … That class quickly became my
favorite, and now looking over the last four years
of my education, I can say that it was one of the
best I was ever in. The professor, Dr. James
Clopton, was also one of the best professors I have
had and has become very much a mentor even since the
class ended.
Dr. Clopton went out of
his way to encourage students to participate in the
class. Not all of us were psychology or social
science majors, but he helped us find ways to relate
what we learned to our other classes and our
everyday lives. The class was writing-intensive, and
we always knew that he actually read the assignments
– offering criticism and praise and always helping
us to become better.
On a more personal note,
I rarely feel comfortable enough with a professor to
visit with him or her after the class has ended, but
with Dr. Clopton I enjoy stopping by his office to
just say hi, or to talk to him about what I’m
planning for graduate school. Many professors ask
their students to come by their offices, but with
Dr. Clopton I knew he meant it.
Early in this semester,
I faced a problem with collecting letters of
recommendation for graduate school. With less than a
week to spare, I asked Dr. Clopton to write the
letters – which he did, overnight, and had ready for
me the next day. I was accepted into Loyola
University in Sociology. Although the letter
certainly helped to get me accepted, Dr. Clopton’s
support was far more important. His belief in my
abilities gave me the courage to take a risk and
pursue my future.”
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