SMU News Feed

GOP-only in race for U.S. Senate from Tx

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:46:00 GMT

Summary: Cal Jillson, political scientist at SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, talks about the GOP focus on the U.S. Senate race in Texas.

By Ben Philpott

While Texans wait for the courts to determine most of the state's political races, the candidates for U.S. Senate have begun a campaign blitz in the run-up to this spring’s primary.

The Democrats aren’t considered to have much chance at winning the seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison. The front-runner in that primary is former state Rep. Paul Sadler.

"Sadler is going to be the Democratic nominee, but he's not going to have any momentum,” said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University. “He'll have a lot of trouble fundraising. And his name will be on the ballot; if you don't want to vote Republican, you'll vote for Sadler. But I don't think he'll be a factor in the race."

So as it's been for the last several elections, the action is in the GOP primary. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is leading the race, and he has name recognition across the state — and plenty of money

Meadows Museum exhibit features 15th-century tapestries

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:35:00 GMT

Summary: A set of four recently restored 15th-century tapestries, known as the Pastrana tapestries, will be on view at SMU's Meadows Museum through May 13.

A set of four recently restored 15th-century tapestries — known as the Pastrana tapestries — are now on view at the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University.

Created in the Tournai workshops in Belgium in the late 1400s, the masterfully woven and monumentally scaled textiles are among the finest surviving Gothic tapestries in existence. The tapestries commemorate the conquest of the North African cities of Asilah and Tangier by King Afonso V of Portugal—rare subject matter for the time, as most contemporaneous tapestries featured biblical or mythological subjects.

On view through May 13, 2012, The Invention of Glory: Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries will shed unprecedented insight into the tapestries’ rich history and provide a rare opportunity for U.S. visitors to see these artful textiles, which are as large as 14 feet wide by 35 feet long.

Commissioned by Afonso V, the Pastrana tapestries were created following the victorious Portuguese expeditions into North Africa. A visual compendium of the weaponry utilized, the tapestries display in detail soldiers, carracks, armor, cannon, and firearms, and were likely created based on oral and written descriptions of the battle. Featured exclusively at the Meadows Museum will be the armor of Duarte de Almeida, the standard-bearer for Afonso V, depicted prominently in one of the tapestries. Now housed at the Cathedral of Toledo in Spain, Duarte de Almeida’s armor is the only relatively complete example of period armor that can be directly related to Portugal.

Also included in the exhibition’s installation in Dallas will be 15th- and 16th-century maps lent by SMU’s DeGolyer Library. Together these historical documents not only relate the idea of how the geography of the world was understood around the time of the tapestries’ creations, but also establish a context for understanding the feats of exploration led by the Portuguese well before Columbus set sail.

“It is with the greatest pleasure that we bring these masterpieces to Dallas,” says Mark A. Roglán, director of the Meadows Museum. “When seen alongside our renowned collection of Spanish art, the tapestries add a valuable dimension to one’s understanding of the art and culture of the Iberian peninsula, offering an in-depth look at one of the earliest episodes in the age of discovery.”

Woven in brightly colored silk and wool threads, the tapestries were created by Flemish masters, and show the heroic nature of Afonso’s court and the chivalry of war, rather than the misery of battle. The tapestries have been preserved since the 17th century at the Collegiate Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Pastrana, Spain and likely made their way to Pastrana from Belgium as a gift from to King Philip II of Spain by Rui Gomes da Silva, prince of Éboli. The tapestries were preserved during the Spanish Civil War due to their status as cultural patrimony, and have recently been returned to their original

splendor following a two-year restoration. Their exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., last fall marked the first time that the four tapestries have ever been shown together in the U.S.

About the Exhibition

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Fundación Carlos de Amberes, Madrid, in association with the Embassy of Spain, the Spain-USA Foundation, and the Embassy of Portugal and with the cooperation of the Embassy of Belgium and the Embassy of Morocco in Washington, D.C. Generous financial support from The Meadows Foundation has helped to make the Dallas venue possible.

The conservation of the tapestries was undertaken at the initiative of the Fundación Carlos de Amberes, with support from the Belgian Inbev-Baillet Latour Fund, the Spanish Fundación Caja Madrid, the Region of Castilla-La Mancha, the Provinc -Guadalajara / Church of Our Lady of the Assumption.

The conservation of the tapestries received the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards 2011 http://www.europanostra.org/projects/65/.

About the Meadows Museum

The Meadows Museum is the leading U.S. institution focused on the study and presentation of the art of Spain. In 1962, Dallas businessman and philanthropist Algur H. Meadows donated his private collection of Spanish paintings, as well as funds to start a museum, to Southern Methodist University. The museum opened to the public in 1965, marking the first step in fulfilling Meadows’ vision to create a “Prado on the Prairie.”

Today, the Meadows collection of Spanish art—one of the largest and most comprehensive outside of Spain—comprises more than 125 paintings and sculptures and approximately 450 works on paper. The collection spans from the 10th to the 21st century, and includes medieval objects, Renaissance and Baroque sculptures, and major paintings by Golden Age and modern masters.

HOURS: Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Thursday until 9:00 p.m., Sunday 1:00-5:00 p.m. Closed Monday.
ADMISSION: $10 adults, $8 seniors 65 and over, $4 students. Free for museum members; SMU faculty, staff and students; and children under 12
LOCATION: Meadows Museum, 5900 Bishop Blvd., Dallas, TX 75205
CONTACT US: 214.768.2516 or send us an e-mail

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Resist final parting shot

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:19:00 GMT

Summary: The Rev. Dr. Frederick Schmidt, theology professor at SMU's Perkins School of Theology, talks about considering the legacy of final words.

Years ago Volkswagen ran a commercial that started with photos of a funeral procession—a long, black hearse followed by endless, shining limousines. In the background the voice of the deceased recounted the details of his last will and testament:

I, Maxwell E. Snavely, being of sound mind and body, do hereby bequeath the following: To my wife Rose, who spent money like there was no tomorrow . . . I leave 100 dollars and a calendar. To my sons Rodney and Victor, who spent every dime I ever gave them on fancy cars and fast women . . . I leave 50 dollars, in dimes. To my business partner Jules, whose only motto was spend, spend, spend . . . I leave nothing, nothing, nothing. And to my other friends and relatives who also never learned the value of a dollar . . . I leave a dollar.

Behind all of the limos, of course, was a young man driving a small black VW Beetle. As he weeps and smiles gently, the deceased concludes:

Finally, to my nephew Harold, who oft-times said, "a penny saved is a penny earned," and who also oft-times said, "Gee Uncle Max, it sure pays to own a Volkswagen" . . . I leave my entire fortune of one hundred billion dollars.

The script makes for great advertising. It's memorable. It targets an experience that everyone can imagine—even if they've never been there—and it draws a sharp, dramatic, and (the first time around) unexpected contrast. It even made its way onto a show called "The World's Funniest TV Commercials."

But what makes for good advertising doesn't necessarily make for good living, however. A last will and testament should not be a final word of judgment, an act of pique, an effort at exacting vengeance, or a last attempt to assert control over those we love. There is a difference between final, healing words and a parting shot....

Customers sold on JCP's new pricing?

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:04:00 GMT

Summary: Dan Howard, marketing professor at SMU's Cox School of Business, talks about J.C. Penney's new pricing plan.

By Charles Bassett

Plano, Texas — By now you've seen the J.C. Penney commercial with consumers screaming over sales ads and coupons.

Penney’s is doing away with the mailers and coupons. They're now offering in-store bargains year round.

Terry Van Vliet is sold on the idea.

"I am a working mother, wife, the whole nine yards, daughter to take care of. I can't shop on the weekends and if you buy on Mondays you're getting ripped off. Now I don't have to wait until the weekends,” she said.

The deals will come on three levels.

Red tag items indicate the everyday price. Items marked blue tags will be the best price for as long as the item is in stock.

And then there are month long values.

But shopper Lenora Wallace is skeptical.

"I think it will take getting some used to because you really don't know if you're getting a bargain. If you can't see the price reduction on there you really don't know if it's a bargain or not unless you see it somewhere else," Wallace said.

Management says the prices you see already include the discount.

"Generally it's 40 to 60 percent off what it used to be before because that's where we found most customers decided to make a purchase," said J.C. Penney Store Manager Chris Macfee.

Penneys struggled last year posting $143 million in losses in November.

Now in comes former Apple and Target executive Ron Johnson to lead the company.

The makeover is expected to save the company $900 million over the next two years.

SMU marketing expert Daniel Howard says the company has struggled to find its footing when competing with other stores like Macy's or Dillards.

But this new approach my very well work.

"So what J.C. Penney wants is a perception of higher quality merchandise and fair everyday pricing. It puts them in the unique competitive position. They've simplified things and I think it's going to be a winner," Howard said.

Engaged Learning Day

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:01:00 GMT

Summary: Learn more about connecting your education to the world around you and getting credit for your efforts.

SMU's Engaged Learning initiative will hold a series of events on Monday, February 13, aimed at encouraging students to take their learning experience beyond the classroom by tackling real world problems.

The day's activities will include an open house at the Engaged Learning office, workshops and presentations by students who are currently completing projects.

"We want students to ask themselves 'What do you care about?' and 'What are you going to do about it?' ” said Susan Kress, Director of Engaged Learning. "Answering these questions will hopefully inspire them to imagine and make a project happen, a project that links to their SMU education."

The day's schedule includes:

11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Open House
On the Garden Level of Clements Hall

2 p.m.

Workshop: Engaged Learning 101
On the Garden Level of Clements Hall
Everything you wanted to know about the program and taking the initiative.

3 - 4:30 p.m.

Student Presentations
in the Forum of Hughes-Trigg Student Center

Junior business marketing, photography and art history major Colby Kruger empowered young women to define "beauty" in their own way by teaching them photographic skills and developing a creative perspective.

Junior statistical science and mathematics major Michael McCarthy built an information database needed to improve home care services for veterans with spinal cord injuries.

Junior dance performance major Lindsay Abigail Sockwell served as a 2011 intern for Family Legacy Missions International, introducing music and dance to orphaned children in Zambia.

4:30 p.m.

Workshop: Make It Count
on the Garden Level of Clements Hall.
How to turn ideas, research, service or internships into an Unbridled Learning Project. Students may already be engaged in activities that could be ramped up to count as a project. And they can get credit on their transcripts for their projects.

5 p.m.

Information Table, Etc.
Flagpole
There will be a 3-sided 8-foot tower where students can post their answers to the question: "What do you care about?"

For more information, contact the Office of Engaged Learning at engagedlearning@smu.edu
or at 214-768-3223.

See a video about Engaged Learning at SMU.

Visit the Engaged Learning website.

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New SMU women's tennis coach named

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:40:00 GMT

Summary: Kati Gyulai has been named head women's tennis coach at SMU, Director of Athletics Steve Orsini announced today.

DALLAS (SMU) — Kati Gyulai has been named head women's tennis coach at SMU, Director of Athletics Steve Orsini announced today. Gyulai comes to the Hilltop after three-plus seasons as head coach at her alma mater, the University of Wyoming.

In the fall of 2011, Gyulai led the Cowgirl doubles team of Veronica Popovici and Simona Synkova to the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Synkova and Popovici qualified for the tournament after winning the USTA/ITA Mountain Regional Tournament in Las Vegas, going 5-0 en route to the championship.

In 2010-11, Gyulai and the Wyoming tennis team posted a 14-9 record, tying the school record for wins in a season. The team also won its quarterfinal match of the Mountain West Tournament, besting 50th-ranked San Diego State. Three Cowgirls earned All-MWC honors, as Popovici was selected All-MWC in singles, and Synkova and Kim van Ginkel were chosen for doubles. The Cowgirls were ranked in the Campbell's/ITA rankings four times during the season including a school-best mark of 68th on March 22. They finished the season 74th.

In 2009-10, Gyulai's team also posted 14 wins and finished third in the MWC. Alexandra Kovacs was named All-MWC in singles, while the team of Synkova and van Ginkel earned All-Conference honors in doubles. In her first season with the program in 2008-09, Gyulai led the team to an 8-16 record.

Gyulai returned to her alma mater after spending the previous two seasons as the head coach of both the men's and women's tennis teams at Louisiana-Lafayette (2006-08). She also served one year as an associate head coach (2005-06).

During the spring of 2008, Gyulai led the women's team to a 16-8 mark overall and an ITA national ranking of 64th during the spring season. On the men's side, Piotrek Banas achieved an ITA singles ranking of 40th and was named first-team All-Sun Belt Conference. In the spring of 2007, the Louisiana Lafayette women's program reentered the ITA national rankings at No. 73 and finished the year with a 13-9 mark. Gyulai spent the 2005-06 season as the associate head women's coach and helped lead the team to a No. 73 ranking nationally and a 14-6 record. The team was ranked as high as 51st during the spring. It marked the first national ranking in the history of ULL women's tennis.

Prior to ULL, Gyulai spent the 2004-05 campaign at New Orleans as an assistant coach, helping the team to a 14-4 overall record. During the 2003-04 season, Gyulai served as an assistant coach with the men's and women's teams' at the University of Texas-Pan American.

Gyulai was a two-year letterwinner for the Wyoming tennis team (2002-03) and earned her bachelor's degree in international studies with a concentration in Eastern Europe in 2003. She was named to the Mountain West Conference Academic All-Conference teams and was a member of the honor roll in 2002 and 2003. Gyulai was also a recipient of the Cowboy Joe Athletic Club Rendel Family Athletic Scholarship.

Gyulai is a native Hungarian but was raised in Transylvania, Romania. She received her Master's in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette in December 2007. She holds her USTPA Professional 1 certification, was named the 2010 Intermountain College Coach of the Year and is fluent in several languages.

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Texas' relevance to GOP race

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:14:00 GMT

Summary: Cal Jillson, political scientist at SMU's Dedman School of Humanities and Sciences, talks about Texas' role in the GOP race.

By Dave Mongomery

AUSTIN -- With the Texas primary date tied up in a legal battle over redistricting, no one is sure what impact Texas voters will have on the outcome of the Republican presidential race. But that's not stopping Alice Linahan from making calls and rallying the troops.

Linahan, a Tea Party activist in Argyle and one of Rick Santorum's three state coordinators, has been busily laying the groundwork for a potential primary battle in Texas. "We don't know if Texas will come into play with the delay, but it's looking like it could," she said. "What we're doing is preparing."

With Gov. Rick Perry out of the race, Texas supporters of the GOP's final four -- Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Santorum -- are mobilizing in case the nation's second-largest state assumes a marquee role in the selection of the nominee.

While many experts believe that Texas will be irrelevant by the time of its primary, others say it's far too early to automatically dismiss Texas and its huge prize of Republican delegates....

Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said Texas "is unlikely to play a major role" since Romney is beginning to look more and more like the nominee and could soon build an insurmountable lead....

Exonoree's story

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:04:00 GMT

Summary: Rick Halperin, director of the Embrey Human Rights program at SMU's Dedman School of Humanities and Sciences, talks about death penalty cases in Texas.

By Leslie Minora

As "the death chaplain" at Huntsville prison, Reverend Carroll Pickett has counseled 95 prisoners, one at a time, on the day the state has scheduled to end their life. Death by lethal injection, the chaplain found, is not a quiet exit. It's torturous. It's not fool-proof. And there's no guarantee that everyone put to death is guilty.

"That cruel and unusual punishment starts the minute they walk in the death house ... It's not painless. It is not painless," Pickett said last night at SMU, where was joined for a panel discussion by death row exonerees Anthony Graves and Clarence Brandley. (Brandley also spoke at an SMU death row exoneree panel last year).

"There are botched executions. I've been there. I saw it," Pickett said.

He supported capital punishment when he started his job in 1982, but death after tortuous death wore away at him. "This one young man, they tried and they tried and they tried, and they couldn't find a place to put a needle in that would flow properly," he said.

The man had abused drugs enough to know how to effectively tap into his veins. He was permitted to sit up and demonstrate the most effective way to put him to death. His instructions worked, the lethal liquids flowed, and his life drained. After 45 minutes of being stuck with needles, "he just wanted the pain over," Pickett said. ...

Across the United States, 3,200 people are currently on death row; Texas has put the most people to death "out of any jurisdiction anywhere in the world," said Dr. Rick Halperin, SMU human rights program director.

"The death penalty is not an act; the death penalty is a process ... of psychological torture that either can conclude in an execution or can conclude in a release," Halperin said. He added that the death certificates filled out when prisoners pass away have several options under "Cause of Death," and that a specific box is checked when a prisoner is purposefully put to death: homicide.

Student Research Day

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:02:00 GMT

Summary: Friday's annual event promotes the research efforts of students from accross the campus.

SMU graduate students — and a limited number of undergraduates — present results of research they have been working on at SMU at Graduate Student Research Day on Friday, February 10.

Sponsored by SMU's Office of Research and Graduate Studies, the annual event will be held in the Ballroom of Hughes-Trigg Student Center from 2 to 5 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

On display will be a wide range of research efforts that seek to foster communication between students in different programs, give students the opportunity to present their work in formats they will use as professionals, and to share with the SMU community and others the outstanding research being done at the University.

The students's research will be illustrated on posters, and they be available to discusss what they are seeking to understand and how they are going about it.

Among the projects at the event are:

Psychology student Vanessa Rae Stevens (under Professor Alicia Meuret) is studying whether people with tattoos and body piercings are also prone to intentional self injury by cutting, scratching, burning, etc.
Psychology student Grant Holland (under Professor George Holden) is studying recordings of interactions between mothers and their children with an eye toward better understanding the effects of tone-of-voice on behavior at bedtime.
Statistics student Holly Stovall (under Professor Lynne Stokes) is examining how to more precisely measure success in teaching programs for No Child Left Behind.
Earth sciences student Mary Milleson (under Professor Neil Tabor) is using core samples taken from Dallas's White Rock Lake to gain a better understanding of how the growing urbanization of the area over the last 100 years is affecting the lake.
Computer science student Ruili Geng (under Professors Jeff Tian and Liguo Huang) is researching how to make the performance of the web and cloud computing more dependable.
Physics students Bedile Karabuga and Mayisha Zeb Nakib (under Professor Jodi Cooley-Sekula) are examining a specific technique for identifying dark matter.

For more information, contact the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at 214-768-4345 or smugrad@smu.edu.

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Digital legacy

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:56:00 GMT

Summary: Peter Vogel, adjunct faculty at SMU's Dedman School of Law, talks about creating digital storage for estate information.

By Pamela Yip

The digital evolution now has reached estate and financial planning. One of the most important aspects of estate planning has long been to tell your loved ones where to find copies of your will, power of attorney and financial contacts.

That’s still true. What’s changed is where people store their important information and documents, and that’s increasingly online.

Unfortunately, most people don’t consider what would happen if they died and no one knew how to access the information.

“We often plan for physical assets, but many do not have a plan in place for digital assets,” said Rick Salmeron, certified financial planner at the Salmeron Financial Network in Dallas.

“Digitalization has changed the way we run our lives,” he said. “As a result, it has changed the face of estate planning. Death in the digital world has made dying a lot more complicated.”

If people die without leaving directions on how to access their online life, “that life may become inaccessible,” Salmeron said.

“Heirs simply may not know of the existence of each and every online bank and investment account,” he said.

Allen residents Blaine and Shelia Thomas have embraced “digital estate planning,” and share one master password that gives them access to their bank and credit card accounts and important documents.

“One of the biggest troubles my wife and I had was we manage joint accounts, and frequently passing user names and passwords in email and storing the stuff in a spreadsheet is a risk,” Thomas said.

He said his method gives him peace of mind.

“In the past, a lot of people had a very small fireproof safe that they put in their closet, and wills and passports and whatever would go in there,” he said. “But documents can be stolen. I feel they’re important enough that having a record of them in a digital format and having them in this location provides me this ease of mind.”

Now Thomas wants to go a step further.

“I want to take this content and write up a simple procedure, put that procedure on a USB stick, password-protect it and give it to a family member,” he said. “And if anything bad were to happen, when you open that thumb drive, there are some files on there and it will be organized. File No. 1 says, ‘Go do this’ and when you’re done with that, File No. 2, says, ‘Go do this.’”

If you’re like the Thomases and have stored much of your personal information and documents online, make things easy for your loved ones. Here’s how to start:

List your cyber assets

“Most individuals do not have a central repository of passwords and log-in information for the various and sundry sites they use and where they keep assets on the Internet,” said attorney Peter Vogel, who teaches a course on electronic commerce law at the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University....