Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: While new parole guidelines have been enacted in Texas since 1999, their effectiveness and predictability have not been assessed. This paper examined5,712 inmates who were released on parole based on the parole guidelines between September 2001 and August 2003. Following up to five years, the paper assessed the reliability of the parole guidelines by seeking relationships between the parole guideline scores and success on parole. The paper also tried to create a new parole guidelines by adding recommended variables to enhance the predictability of the Texas parole guidelines.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: No one believes that all the parolees are fully rehabilitated and will not commit a crime again. No one believes that the treatment programs provided by correctional systems are effective enough to hinder future crimes. Reviewing Texas parole guidelines and other elements that affect recidivism will give us a more detailed look at the reliability of the guidelines and effectiveness. In this paper, I will analyze the reliability of Texas parole guideline by using the variables that 1) Texas Parole Guidelines adopt, 2) Texas Parole Guidelines do not adopt. If possible, the endeavor to find real causes of recidivism will be made in the paper.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study examines the trends and spatial patterning of auto thefts in the Cameron and Hidalgo counties of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Specifically, the study examined auto thefts in four cities, Brownsville, Edinburg, McAllen and Pharr. The four cities with a population in excess of 500,000 people have been experiencing a high volume of auto theft, perhaps due to their unique geographic positions as border cities. The study would examine how much auto thefts occurred each year between 1995 and 2005, the socio-environmental/spatial conditions or predisposing factors that contribute to auto theft, the times the thefts take place, outlets for stolen autos, and the socio-demographic background characteristics of the suspects, such as age, gender education, and nationality. Moreover, the study would examine the types of stolen vehicles, the involvement of foreigners, such as the Mexican police, as well as mafia/gangs and organized criminal elements. Several theories and perspectives, including the hot spot, hot products and the routine activities and social ecology would inform the study. The study would utilize appropriate statistical methods to analyze the data which would be acquired from the local police departments of the four cities and the Texas Automobile Theft Prevention Authority. The data would be supplemented with mailed questionnaire and personal interviews of local police personnel and politicians. The economic costs of each stolen vehicle, the political fallout of the increasing auto thefts between the USA and Mexico, the policy implications of the study, as well as prevention strategies would be discussed.

Publication Type: Session Presentation
Abstract: Some of the major issues of the profession today are being actively researched in Texas colleges and universitites. By means of this roundtable, some of these areas will be examined. Culture and language as described in the ACTFL standards will serve as the unifying theme in the presentations, as we consider investigations of approaches to working effectively with heritage speakers in our classrooms, facilitating students' advancement with interpersonal comunication in the classroom, conducting effective study-abroad programs, and growing in cultural proficiency through the study of literature.

Publication Type: Invited Paper
Abstract: Established in 1943, the Texas Good Neighbor Commission (TGNC) was an informal committee tasked with improving conditions for Mexican-Americans as part of a national campaign of Pan-Americanism, a policy of non-intervention and developmental aid with Latin America. Its earliest efforts included adopting a long-range educational program that revised history textbooks to more accurately reflect the contributions of “Latin-Americans”, a strategically euphemistic term deployed to represent the ethnic Mexican population. By examining the role of Spanish-language teachers and civic leaders within the TGNC, I argue that cultural institutions, particularly those run by women, were crucial to changing the socio-political landscape of Texas during World War II. By employing and re-appropriating the discourse of Pan Americanism, both Anglo and Mexican-American women played key roles in articulating cultural representations of Mexicans that directly challenged social and legal discrimination. Moreover, their work engendered a culture of reform that fostered forms of public participation for women and youth previously unexamined.