University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 7, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 29, 2004 Page: 1 of 6
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Lamarissimo!
Get the scoop on the upcoming season of Lamar’s 15th year
for program. See page 3.
She’s ‘Abel!
Outside hitter Molli Abel4 spiked
for hum! field. See page 5.
“The culture of the campus is changing— Kevin smith
Enrollment figures hit record high *
Course credit hours continue to rise as students move into dorms
By MARK SHOW
UP Editor
Lamar University’s official fall
enrollment figures, reflecting student
enrollment on the 20th class day, have
capped out at 10,804 — an all-time
record for the school. These students are
taking a total of 119,983 course credit
hours this fall.
Until 1990, Lamar Institute of
Technology enrollment figures were
counted as part of Lamar University’s
enrollment total. Enrollment figures for
Lamar State College-Port Arthur and
Lamar State College-Orange were in-
cluded in Lamar’s enrollment figures
until 1983, Kevin Smith, associate vice
president for academic affairs, said.
“It’s safe to say that for the four-year
university, this is record enrollment.
Without a doubt, this is the largest enroll-
ment at Lamar since we separated from
the two-year campuses,” Smith said.
The increase at Lamar has been the
result of a number of combining factors,
Smith said. Simply put, enrollment
increases because the university is bring-
ing in more students, he said.
One of the key factors contributing
to Lamar’s growth is the number of ffrst-
time-in-college students, Smith said.
“We have seen growth in our first-
time-in-college freshmen population,
and we are recruiting students from out-
side the three-county primary market of
Lamar University,” he said.
The three-county-market Smith is
talking about is the area in and around
the Golden Triangle, which includes
Jefferson, Hardin and Orange counties.
“We are attracting more students
from Harris County and down the Gulf
Coast than we have in the past,” Smith
said, “and to attract those students we
have to have a nice place for them to
See ENROLLMENT, page 2
125.000
120.000
115.000
110.000
105.000
100.000
95,000
LAMAR UNIVERSITY COURSE CREDIT HOURS
FALL 2001 FALL 2002 FALL 2003 FALL 2004
UPgraphic/Mark Show
Police Academy seeks applicants
LIT program prepares correctional officers for ‘serious business’
By DREW LYNCH
UP Staff Writer
The Regional Police Academy
at Lamar Institute of Technology
is accepting applications for its
spring basic police officer course
and its night academy.
Cadets must apply and be
accepted to LIT and provide a
transcript of high school and col-
lege grades, Harry Wood, LIT
director of public information,
said.
In addition to passing the
entrance exam, cadets must also
pass a physical and a drug screen-
ing as well as a criminal history
check.
“If you’re shoplifting candy
bars, you really don’t need to
become a police officer,” said
Mike Denham, assistant director
of the academy.
This is a very serious business,
Denham said, and is designed for
those who have researched this
field and are dedicated to becom-
ing an officer, as opposed to some-
one signing up on a whim.
While physically demanding,
the training is also intensively aca-
demic, Denham said. Adjunct
instructors from the surrounding
police departments teach most of
the classes, he said. Cadets receive
16 hours of college credit but real-
ly earn about 24 hours, he said.
“What you study in a criminal
justice course all semester you
would learn in about a week here,”
Denham said.
The course follows the basic
guidelines mandated by the state
of Texas and ranges over a variety
of topics, he said — “...from
firearms to the mechanics of
arresting, as well as the penal code
to driver training, we study the
usual stuff you think of in a police
academy.”
Unusual to the LIT program
is the physical training, he said.
“Cadets engage in 40 to 50
hours of physical training that is
not a part of the curriculum man-
dated by the state of Texas,” he
said.
In addition to the physical
training, cadets also engage in full-
contact boxing.
“It gives them the experience
of actually beirtg^ punched,”
Denham said. “Most students have
never been in a fight, and tfifess.
will be fights out on the street.”
Once a cadet finishes the
training, he or she must pass the
250-question state-licensing exam
See ACADEMY, page 2
UPBrad Costick
Students perform at their first day of weapons drills at LIT’s Regional Police Academy class. The instructor inspects the barrel of
the cadet’s firearms to ensure that the chamber is empty.
Ford Park
lends a hand
to truckers
Lamar Institute of Technology has
signed a new contract with Ford Park on
Interstate 10, which LIT administrators
call a “win-win partnership.”
The new contract will allow the LIT
professional truck-driving program to use
facilities at the entertainment complex.
In September, students enrolled in
LIT’s Professional Truck Driving Aca-
demy began “behind-the-wheel” training
at Ford Park.
“The academy’s three 18 wheelers,
complete with LIT logos and graphics, are
now very visible to motorists using the
Interstate 10 corridor,” Jerry Campbell,
interim director of Institute of Technolo-
gy’s workforce training department, said.
Marlon Hartman, program coordina-
tor for the driving academy, said that LIT
is winning from its new-found visibility at
Ford Park.
“We’ve already had recruiters, who
have spotted our moving billboards at
Ford Park, pull up and offer our students
employment,” he said.
Previously, LIT conducted “behind-
the-wheel” training, including basic
maneuvers such as backing, on a parking
lot adjacent to Cardinal Stadium off
Martin Luther King Drive.
“The new contract with Ford Park
gives LIT’s driving students a lot more
See TRUCKS, page 2
Chu, Andrews honored for Piper Professor awards
By BILALAH WALLACE
UP Staff Writer
Faculty members Hsing-wei Chu and
Jean Andrews, Lamar’s most recent recipi-
ents of the Minnie Stevens Piper Professor
Award, were honored with a reception
Monday in the University Reception Center
on the eighth floor of Gray Library.
The two professors were honored over
the past two years — Chu for 2002 and
Andrews for 2004. Honorees receive certifi-
cates of merit, gold pins and a $5,000 hono-
rarium.
Chu is a professor of industrial engineer-
ing, and Andrews is a professor of communi-
cation disorders and deaf education, Louise
Wood, media specialist, said.
“In being honored as Piper professors —
Andrews in 2004 and Chu in 2002 — they
joined an elite group of educators recognized
for outstanding achievement in the teaching
profession in Texas colleges and universities.”
The Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation
presents 10 of the awards each year.
Wood said that honorees receive certifi-
cates of merit, gold pins and an honorarium
of $5,000 each.
Chu has been a faculty member since
1979, Wood said.
He has received support for projects
totaling $1.5 million, including grants from
the Environmental Protection Agency, the
National Science Foundation and the
National Aeronautics and Space Adminis-
tration.
Andrews is an authority on deaf children
and literacy and has been recognized as a uni-
versity scholar and distinguished faculty lec-
turer.
Chu and Andrews are the 10th and 11th
Lamar recipients of Piper awards in the 46-
year-history of the program, Wood said.
“Lamar is a great place to work,” Chu
said. “It consists of many great leaders.
Receiving the award made me feel lucky and
good.”
“I hope this award will continue to
attract good students to Lamar and recognize
Lamar as a great learning institution,”
Andrews said. „
UPMike Tobias
Hsing-wei Chu and Jean Andrews converse during a reception honor-
ing both for receiving Piper Professors awards.
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Show, Mark. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 7, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 29, 2004, newspaper, September 29, 2004; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500897/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.