University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, September 6, 2002 Page: 1 of 8
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University Press
Friday, September 6,2002 A Four-Time Associated Press Texas Managing Editors Award Winner Vol. 79, No. 2
The Newspaper of Lamar University
LU, LIT campuses to hold 9/11 remembrances
LIT to honor local heroes with Sept. 11 event
Lamar Institute of Technology
Foundation will again salute the real
heroes when it holds its second annu-
al recognition on Sept. 11 at the
Harvest Club.
“The first event was so success-
ful,” said steering committee chair C.
A. (Pete) Shelton. "We decided to
have another event in 2002."
Shelton said all sponsors of the
event have agreed to join LIT in the
dinner. The Sabine Area Restaurant
Association, said Shelton, has agreed
to provide all of the food and the
Cooks T\vo Dozen will cook for the
event.
"September 11 was a natural
date for the event," said Robert
Krienke, president of LIT. "It will
mark the first anniversary of the
tragedies in Washington and New
York where so many fire fighters, law
enforcement personnel and rescue
people lost their lives.
"We’re doing this to salute our
own local heroes, but we want to tie
it into a commemoration of 9-11."
Again this year, uniformed per-
sonnel and their spouses will be
admitted free. More than 800 people
attended last year's event.
"It's a colorful event with offi-
cers in their dress uniforms and color
guards and other regalia," Shelton
said.
The event raised more than
$57,000 last year, which has helped
establish a scholarship endowment
for fire fighters, law enforcement,
corrections and emergency medical
workers. The LIT Foundation has
awarded the first scholarships in fall
2002. The recipients will be
announced at the event.
Shelton said the steering com-
mittee for the event has already
See HEROES, page 2
Lamar sets observance Wednesday
At noon Sept. 11, students, faculty and staff may gather to pay trib-
ute to the lives lost one year ago in terrorists attacks on the country.
The carillon in the Gray Library will chime, beginning at 11:45 a.m.,
calling members of the Lamar community to the Quadrangle for the
ceremony, W. Brock Brentlinger, assistant to the president, said.
The observance will open with Lamar’s band and choir filling the
air with patriotic tunes, he said. Student Government Association vice
president Brian Bean will deliver the invocation before remarks by
SGA president Josh Daspit and university president James Simmons.
The program will close with the playing of taps, Brentlinger said.
“All of this is to honor those who lost their lives on Sept. 11 and
those who tried to restore normalcy - the firefighters and emergency
crews that worked so hard to save lives and assist families harmed by
the event,” Brentlinger said.
Text by Cheri Coon
Engineer
gets down
to ‘business’
With a background including formal school-
ing in engineering and degrees from foreign
countries, Cuban-American Enrique (Henry)
Venta has joined Lamar as dean of the College
of Business.
Venta was on faculty at Loyola University in
Chicago for 23 years as professor, department
chair, and, since 1999, as the dean of the school
that serves 1,200 full-time and 275 part-time
undergraduate business students, 800 graduate
students and a full-time faculty of 63.
“It is very attractive to come to a place
where the livelihood of the community is tied to
the livelihood of the university,” Venta said. “We
can really provide infrastructure, both in the tal-
ent of students that we graduate — managerial
talent — and in resources like the Institute for
Entrepreneurial Studies and Small Business
Development Center.”
A self-described “big believer” when it
comes to giving students personal attention,
Venta sees Lamar’s smaller classes as “a real
plus.”
“Lamar University is a state school that
behaves in many ways like a smaller private
institution,” Venta said. “Class sizes continue to
be small and the personal attention that our pro-
fessors give to students puts us in a very com-
See VENTA, page 2
Enrique
‘Henry*
Venta
joins Lamar as
the dean of the
College of
Business.
Tubbs sees return as payback
Billy Tbbbs is a man who has
“been there and back again,” as
the saying goes. One of Lamar’s
most prolific alumni has once
again come home to Cardinal
country to dish out some “pay
back” to his alma mater.
“This is more of a pay back,”
said Tubbs. “Lamar has done a
lot for me. They’ve given me the
pleasure of 15 years of employ-
ment. I got my (athletic) scholar-
ship and education here, and I
am trying to give something
back. I love Lamar, and it’s kind
TUBBS TIMELINE
1954 — BA from Lamar 1980 — NCAA sweet 16
1959 — MA from SFA 1980 — OU head coach
1960 — Returns to Lamar 1985 —* NCAA elite eight
1960 — LU assistant coach 1986 —1989 NCAA 16
1971 — SWU head coach 1990— NCAA finals
1976 — LU head coach 1994 — TCU head coach
1979 — NCAA 1st round 2002 — Lamar’s new AD
of like a part of my family. So it’s as a fifth-year scholarship athlete
great to be back and I’m excited with a bachelor’s degree in physi-
about it.” cal education and earned his mas-
Tubbs graduated from Lamar ter’s degree in education at
Stephen F. Austin in 1959. In 1960,
Tubbs returned to Lamar with a
different agenda than playing
ball.
He transformed Cardinal
basketball into a program of
NCAA caliber in the span of
four years as head coach and 11
previous seasons as an assistant
coach to Jack Martin, Lamar’s
head basketball coach at the
time (Martin was made director
of the career center and is now
retired). Tubbs was recruited by
Oklahoma University to coach
Text by Chris Williams 1 Photo by Andy Taylor
LAMAR CAMPUS THREE-YEAR CRIME STATISTICS
Source: Lamar University/Federal Bureau of Investigation
LU CAMPUS
1999
r
2000
2001
Murder
i
a
0
0
Forcible
1
0
0
Sex Offenses
Non-forcible
0
2
0
Sex Offenses
Robbery
1
2
2
Aggravated
0
0
0
Assault
Simple Assault
7
15
2
Burglary
5
12
9
Theft
145
106
96
Motor Vehicle
Theft
3
5
!
4
Arson
0
0
1
TOW.
, Jr
J
162
il__
L
142
L
114
J
H
Arson
!
rr
r
0
n
1
1
Alcohol Arrests
1
6
7
Drug Arrests
2
12
8
Weapons
0
2
1
Arrests
Disorderly
1
4
3
Conduct
Burglary
0
1
5
Assaults
0
2
0
Forgery
0
0
1
Other Arrests
8
13
25
TOTAL
12
L
40
51
L
UPillustration/Eatrick Gurski
Campus crime down to new lows
Lamar PD reports lowest crime rate in three years
Jenny Achilles
UP editor
“I’m happy about the low crime
rate,” Dale Fontenot, Lamar chief of
police, said. “It’s the lowest it’s been in
three years.
“We had 114 reported offenses for
2001 — 51 arrests. For 2000 it was 142
(reported arrests). So we’re real proud
of that figure there,” he said.
These statistics are listed in the
police department’s new “Safety
Report” brochure. The report also lists
telephone numbers and safety tips. The
back of the brochure has a color-coded
map that shows parking lots, campus
buildings, the shuttle route and the loca-
tion of emergency telephones on cam-
pus.
Lamar installed new emergency
telephones on campus during the spring
semester.
These are numbered, so anyone
looking at the map should be able to find
the nearest location, Fontenot said.
“We’ve got two (telephones) in
Cardinal Village, in each new lot there. I
think we have a total of 27 all around
campus,” he said.
The crime rate on campus during
the past summer was down, Fontenot
said. He attributes this to an increase in
public school summer programs for stu-
dents.
“These area schools are putting on
more summer programs for their stu-
dents. So we don’t have the influx of kids
out of school, with nothing to do, coming
onto campus.”
He attributes the overall drop in
crime to an increase in patrol staff.
“You’re seeing more officers out
patrolling,” he said.
The department has added five new
officers since Jimmy Simmons became
Lamar president, he said.
“We’ve got officers assigned to
Cardinal Village full-time and officers
assigned to Brooks-Shivers full-time,”
he said.
“We have two community service
officers assigned to the academy stu-
dents over there at Cardinal Village
II...at night,” he said.
Fontenot also said that other pre-
ventive measures are helping lower the
crime rate.
“We’ve got more people on campus
calling in suspicious activity,” he said.
“That’s helped a lot.”
The police department presents
crime prevention programs on campus
for students, faculty and staff, he said.
Officers watch for ways to prevent
crime as well. If they see a purse lying
around, they will encourage the owner
to lock it up and to take the key with
her.
“Offices are open, people milling
around. It’s real easy for somebody to
just reach down and get a wallet, or a
purse, or whatever,” he said.
“Same with vehicles: leaving vehi-
cles unlocked with your purse on the
front seat. You’re just asking for trou-
ble.
“It’s all positive that I see. Every-
thing looks real good,” he said.
y
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Achilles, Jenny. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, September 6, 2002, newspaper, September 6, 2002; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth501020/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed March 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.