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Jobs tight for law school grads
May 6, 2012, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
University of Texas law student Javier Perez-Afanador graduates this month knowing he must be ready to compete aggressively against hundreds of newly minted lawyers if he hopes to land a job.
He has heard the stories and the statistics: layoffs at the big law firms, more students graduating from law school each year than there are jobs, recent law school graduates being forced to work as temps while searching for paychecks in something other than the law.
Adding to the angst is a student debt load that for many law students often totals more than $100,000, according to Bloomberg Law. It has gotten so bad that graduates are suing law schools in New York, California, Illinois, Delaware and Florida, alleging that they misled them about the labor picture.
This less than rosy situation also may be contributing to a 16 percent drop in law school applicants, according to a recent analysis by the Law School Admission Council.
"I'm keeping my mind open," said Perez-Afanador, who expects to start his job search officially after he passes the bar exam in July. "I think every year they say it is getting better. People remain optimistic."
University of Texas law student Javier Perez-Afanador graduates this month knowing he must be ready to compete aggressively against hundreds of newly minted lawyers if he hopes to land a job.
He has heard the stories and the statistics: layoffs at the big law firms, more students graduating from law school each year than there are jobs, recent law school graduates being forced to work as temps while searching for paychecks in something other than the law.
Adding to the angst is a student debt load that for many law students often totals more than $100,000, according to Bloomberg Law. It has gotten so bad that graduates are suing law schools in New York, California, Illinois, Delaware and Florida, alleging that they misled them about the labor picture.
This less than rosy situation also may be contributing to a 16 percent drop in law school applicants, according to a recent analysis by the Law School Admission Council.
"I'm keeping my mind open," said Perez-Afanador, who expects to start his job search officially after he passes the bar exam in July. "I think every year they say it is getting better. People remain optimistic."
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'I needed to prove to myself that I was worthy'
May 13, 2011, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Diane Smith and Jan Jarvis
Not all college graduates are fresh-faced and headed for their first jobs.
Some wearing the cap and gown this weekend at area universities decided later in life to follow a dream, like 73-year-old Burlyce Logan of Denton, who found a far different atmosphere at the University of North Texas than in the late 1950s, when she first attended.
Barry Grubbs, a longtime factory worker, decided he needed a degree to further his career. And neurologist Mark Adams is picking up his third advanced degree, symbolizing the credo of lifetime learning.
Here are their stories.
Some wearing the cap and gown this weekend at area universities decided later in life to follow a dream, like 73-year-old Burlyce Logan of Denton, who found a far different atmosphere at the University of North Texas than in the late 1950s, when she first attended.
Barry Grubbs, a longtime factory worker, decided he needed a degree to further his career. And neurologist Mark Adams is picking up his third advanced degree, symbolizing the credo of lifetime learning.
Here are their stories.
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Couple couldn't go to Tarleton, so Tarleton came to them
December 17, 2011, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Graduation day
Students seriously injured in wreck receive diplomas in hospital room
FORT WORTH - Colt Price smiled when Shelby Thiebaud entered the room.
Friday was their graduation day from Tarleton State University, and the couple wore matching black caps and gowns. Thiebaud wore a ceremonial stole over her shoulders in Tarleton's traditional purple. A crowd of parents, grandparents, cousins and friends beamed with pride. Some snapped pictures. Some got teary-eyed.
"It is our lucky day," Thiebaud, 20, told Price, 22. "Look at us go."
The ceremony was held Friday in a trauma unit at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth - believed to be a first for the hospital and the university. Both graduates, who have been dating for two years, are recovering from injuries suffered in a wreck this month in Erath County.
Because of their injuries, they can't attend Tarleton's fall commencement ceremonies today in Stephenville. So university leaders brought the celebration to them a day early.
"Be bold. Be courageous. Be determined - even as you move forward in your recovery," university President F. Dominic Dottavio said.
Everyone chuckled when Dottavio added, "Wear purple."
Students seriously injured in wreck receive diplomas in hospital room
FORT WORTH - Colt Price smiled when Shelby Thiebaud entered the room.
Friday was their graduation day from Tarleton State University, and the couple wore matching black caps and gowns. Thiebaud wore a ceremonial stole over her shoulders in Tarleton's traditional purple. A crowd of parents, grandparents, cousins and friends beamed with pride. Some snapped pictures. Some got teary-eyed.
"It is our lucky day," Thiebaud, 20, told Price, 22. "Look at us go."
The ceremony was held Friday in a trauma unit at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth - believed to be a first for the hospital and the university. Both graduates, who have been dating for two years, are recovering from injuries suffered in a wreck this month in Erath County.
Because of their injuries, they can't attend Tarleton's fall commencement ceremonies today in Stephenville. So university leaders brought the celebration to them a day early.
"Be bold. Be courageous. Be determined - even as you move forward in your recovery," university President F. Dominic Dottavio said.
Everyone chuckled when Dottavio added, "Wear purple."
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UNT opens dining hall with vegan menu
August 23, 2011, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
DENTON - Has meat met its match at Mean Greens, the new University of North Texas vegan dining hall?
The 100 percent vegan eatery opened Monday - a day after students began moving back to the Denton campus. Organizers of Mean Greens aimed to create a vegan menu so colorful and mouth-watering that omnivorous students might even forget hamburger.
Vegan food isn't just about carrots and peas, said culinary operations chef Wanda White, who wants to change perceptions about the fare offered at Mean Greens.
Because vegans don't eat meat, eggs or dairy products, White spent most of the summer finding recipes that feature beans, nuts, seeds and leafy greens.
"We don't want to be stale to people," said White, who has cooked professionally for 30 years. "We want them to know that every day there is going to be something new."
The 100 percent vegan eatery opened Monday - a day after students began moving back to the Denton campus. Organizers of Mean Greens aimed to create a vegan menu so colorful and mouth-watering that omnivorous students might even forget hamburger.
Vegan food isn't just about carrots and peas, said culinary operations chef Wanda White, who wants to change perceptions about the fare offered at Mean Greens.
Because vegans don't eat meat, eggs or dairy products, White spent most of the summer finding recipes that feature beans, nuts, seeds and leafy greens.
"We don't want to be stale to people," said White, who has cooked professionally for 30 years. "We want them to know that every day there is going to be something new."
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Americans' influence likely to last in Panama With the canal turnover days away, Panamanians view U.S. departure with joy, worry
December 29, 1999, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
PANAMA CITY, PANAMA - Shania Twain's country-pop fills a bustling avenue where street merchants push perfumes, Pokemon toys and $10 T-shirts depicting U.S. wrestler Steve "Stone Cold" Austin.
Down the street, a Panamanian child swings a Toy Story 2 Happy Meal prize as she passes a vendor selling sausage on a stick. Blocks away, fishermen speak frankly about global economics from a sunny spot overlooking a skyline that resembles Miami's.
Days before control of the Panama Canal is officially transferred to the Panamanian government from the United States, much of the talk on the street ranges from Panama's renewed sovereignty to the indelible marks the United States has made on Panama's physical and cultural landscapes. Though the vestiges of imperialism will disappear with the handover of the canal, a U.S. lifestyle is pervasive here.
"Panama hasn't known another type of lifestyle other than the American lifestyle," one Panamanian government employee said. "They've always been here."
That's why many Panamanians have conflicting views of the U.S. departure.
To generations of Panamanians, U.S. control of the Canal Zone was an affront. Many are celebrating autonomy from the United States with a national holiday this week. Billboards and graffiti trumpet the occasion with sayings such as "The Canal is for Everyone," "The Canal is Ours" and "Sovereignty."
PANAMA CITY, PANAMA - Shania Twain's country-pop fills a bustling avenue where street merchants push perfumes, Pokemon toys and $10 T-shirts depicting U.S. wrestler Steve "Stone Cold" Austin.
Down the street, a Panamanian child swings a Toy Story 2 Happy Meal prize as she passes a vendor selling sausage on a stick. Blocks away, fishermen speak frankly about global economics from a sunny spot overlooking a skyline that resembles Miami's.
Days before control of the Panama Canal is officially transferred to the Panamanian government from the United States, much of the talk on the street ranges from Panama's renewed sovereignty to the indelible marks the United States has made on Panama's physical and cultural landscapes. Though the vestiges of imperialism will disappear with the handover of the canal, a U.S. lifestyle is pervasive here.
"Panama hasn't known another type of lifestyle other than the American lifestyle," one Panamanian government employee said. "They've always been here."
That's why many Panamanians have conflicting views of the U.S. departure.
To generations of Panamanians, U.S. control of the Canal Zone was an affront. Many are celebrating autonomy from the United States with a national holiday this week. Billboards and graffiti trumpet the occasion with sayings such as "The Canal is for Everyone," "The Canal is Ours" and "Sovereignty."
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Panama celebrates its control of canal U.S. Formally Cedes Control
January 1, 2000, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
BALBOA HEIGHTS, Panama - With a quick, diplomatic exchange of signatures just before noon here, the United States ended its control of the Panama Canal yesterday.
Excitement built among Panamanians as a large clock in the Balboa neighborhood of the former Canal Zone ticked off the seconds until noon - the exact time that a treaty between the two countries stipulates that responsibilities for administering the waterway would be handed to Panama.
When the clock struck noon, thousands chanted, yelled and released balloons into the rainy skies. Many carried Panamanian flags and portraits of former military dictator Omar Torrijos Herrera as they broke through a line of national police and ran up the hill on which the canal administration building is located.
"It's a new beginning, a new era," said Martin Torrijos, son of the deceased dictator and a onetime presidential candidate for the Partido Revolutionario Democratico, or Revolutionary Democratic Party.
More than two decades ago, Omar Torrijos Herrera and U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed the treaty for the transfer of the historic waterway. During the transition period that ended yesterday, the Central American country has been assuming official control of the land, waters, and civilian and military bases needed to run and defend the canal.
"You can feel the sense of importance," said Sheila Mills, a 32-year-old Keller resident who went to Panama with 20 family members, including her father-in-law, John Mills, a former secretary of the Panama Canal Commission. With the transfer, the agency will be called Autoridad Del Canal de Panama, or Panama Canal Authority.
BALBOA HEIGHTS, Panama - With a quick, diplomatic exchange of signatures just before noon here, the United States ended its control of the Panama Canal yesterday.
Excitement built among Panamanians as a large clock in the Balboa neighborhood of the former Canal Zone ticked off the seconds until noon - the exact time that a treaty between the two countries stipulates that responsibilities for administering the waterway would be handed to Panama.
When the clock struck noon, thousands chanted, yelled and released balloons into the rainy skies. Many carried Panamanian flags and portraits of former military dictator Omar Torrijos Herrera as they broke through a line of national police and ran up the hill on which the canal administration building is located.
"It's a new beginning, a new era," said Martin Torrijos, son of the deceased dictator and a onetime presidential candidate for the Partido Revolutionario Democratico, or Revolutionary Democratic Party.
More than two decades ago, Omar Torrijos Herrera and U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed the treaty for the transfer of the historic waterway. During the transition period that ended yesterday, the Central American country has been assuming official control of the land, waters, and civilian and military bases needed to run and defend the canal.
"You can feel the sense of importance," said Sheila Mills, a 32-year-old Keller resident who went to Panama with 20 family members, including her father-in-law, John Mills, a former secretary of the Panama Canal Commission. With the transfer, the agency will be called Autoridad Del Canal de Panama, or Panama Canal Authority.
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Tarrant students take to the streets
March 26, 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
ALEX BRANCH and DIANE SMITH
Fueled by a frenzy of text messaging and radio and television reports, hundreds of Tarrant County students walked out of their schools Tuesday to protest proposed changes in federal immigration laws.
Throngs of students waving Mexican flags and chanting slogans converged on downtown Fort Worth. Police officers in patrol cars and on horseback struggled to keep them on sidewalks.
Some students with cellphones said they had received this text message: "Latinos, Tuesday is the day 4 u 2 wear ur white shirt 2 let them know we are against law HR 4437. Pass 2 all Latinos."
"We are here for family," said Marco Flores, a 16-year-old sophomore at South Hills High School. "This country is composed of immigrants. If we hurt this country, we have only hurt it by making it money."
Authorities called the protests mostly peaceful and reported only a handful of arrests and citations.
One serious injury was reported in Dallas, where an SUV full of students rolled over the hand of an 18-year-old student on her way to a protest, severing it, police said.
A Fort Worth student was arrested after he pushed an officer from her bicycle, a Fort Worth police spokesman said. She was not seriously injured. Two other teenagers were arrested after becoming unruly and resisting officers’ orders, the spokesman said.
In Dallas, where Tuesday’s protests made national headlines, city officials shut down the elevators at City Hall after protesters entered the building. Outside, young people jumped into the reflecting pool as police officers formed a barricade.
The walkouts came a day after similar ones in other U.S. cities, where thousands protested the House bill that would make it a felony to be in the country illegally. It also proposes building fences along portions of the U.S.-Mexico border.
At the end of Tuesday night’s regularly scheduled school board meeting, Superintendent Melody Johnson reviewed the day’s events. School officials respect students’ desire to protest, she said, but skipping class is unacceptable.
"We don’t condone the walkouts," Johnson said. If there are walkouts today, buses will not be provided to return students to their campuses, she said.
ALEX BRANCH and DIANE SMITH
Fueled by a frenzy of text messaging and radio and television reports, hundreds of Tarrant County students walked out of their schools Tuesday to protest proposed changes in federal immigration laws.
Throngs of students waving Mexican flags and chanting slogans converged on downtown Fort Worth. Police officers in patrol cars and on horseback struggled to keep them on sidewalks.
Some students with cellphones said they had received this text message: "Latinos, Tuesday is the day 4 u 2 wear ur white shirt 2 let them know we are against law HR 4437. Pass 2 all Latinos."
"We are here for family," said Marco Flores, a 16-year-old sophomore at South Hills High School. "This country is composed of immigrants. If we hurt this country, we have only hurt it by making it money."
Authorities called the protests mostly peaceful and reported only a handful of arrests and citations.
One serious injury was reported in Dallas, where an SUV full of students rolled over the hand of an 18-year-old student on her way to a protest, severing it, police said.
A Fort Worth student was arrested after he pushed an officer from her bicycle, a Fort Worth police spokesman said. She was not seriously injured. Two other teenagers were arrested after becoming unruly and resisting officers’ orders, the spokesman said.
In Dallas, where Tuesday’s protests made national headlines, city officials shut down the elevators at City Hall after protesters entered the building. Outside, young people jumped into the reflecting pool as police officers formed a barricade.
The walkouts came a day after similar ones in other U.S. cities, where thousands protested the House bill that would make it a felony to be in the country illegally. It also proposes building fences along portions of the U.S.-Mexico border.
At the end of Tuesday night’s regularly scheduled school board meeting, Superintendent Melody Johnson reviewed the day’s events. School officials respect students’ desire to protest, she said, but skipping class is unacceptable.
"We don’t condone the walkouts," Johnson said. If there are walkouts today, buses will not be provided to return students to their campuses, she said.
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Rite of pasage Eighth-grade promotion ceremony is a moving experience for students and their families
May 27, 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Promotion night is a big event for eighth graders ready to start high school.
FORT WORTH - Steve Ayala is doing a funny dance to Pomp and Circumstance.
The 14-year-old is snapping his fingers and swaying from his spot in the front row of the Meacham Middle School auditorium. His classmates are spiffy in ties and colorful gowns more common at proms.
The girls get pretty and the boys tuck in their shirts on eighth-grade promotion night.
"It's like a formal," Ayala said. "All the parents are going to be here. There are some sixth- and seventh-graders who are going to be cheering for us."
When the auditorium opens, it's standing room only. Mothers, fathers, grandparents and siblings bring balloons and bouquets. Some students from Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School break out in applause whenever eighth-graders walk away with awards in English, music or math.
About 250 eighth-graders were promoted in a ceremony Thursday night at Meacham.
Promotion is not as big as a quinceañera - a 15th birthday bash common among Latino families - but for many Hispanic students, it has a unique place. This educational rite of passage is especially important for families in which parents and grandparents didn't finish high school or go to college.
Bittersweet moments are captured with the click of cellphone cameras. Technology teacher Troy Edwards has an old school tradition: He ties ties for the boys. Girls worked meticulously to capture glamour. But the anticipation of the evening fades too quickly into musings about the past.
"We can't wait to get out of Meacham, but still it's going to be sad," said Miriam Posada, 14.
Promotion night is a big event for eighth graders ready to start high school.
FORT WORTH - Steve Ayala is doing a funny dance to Pomp and Circumstance.
The 14-year-old is snapping his fingers and swaying from his spot in the front row of the Meacham Middle School auditorium. His classmates are spiffy in ties and colorful gowns more common at proms.
The girls get pretty and the boys tuck in their shirts on eighth-grade promotion night.
"It's like a formal," Ayala said. "All the parents are going to be here. There are some sixth- and seventh-graders who are going to be cheering for us."
When the auditorium opens, it's standing room only. Mothers, fathers, grandparents and siblings bring balloons and bouquets. Some students from Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School break out in applause whenever eighth-graders walk away with awards in English, music or math.
About 250 eighth-graders were promoted in a ceremony Thursday night at Meacham.
Promotion is not as big as a quinceañera - a 15th birthday bash common among Latino families - but for many Hispanic students, it has a unique place. This educational rite of passage is especially important for families in which parents and grandparents didn't finish high school or go to college.
Bittersweet moments are captured with the click of cellphone cameras. Technology teacher Troy Edwards has an old school tradition: He ties ties for the boys. Girls worked meticulously to capture glamour. But the anticipation of the evening fades too quickly into musings about the past.
"We can't wait to get out of Meacham, but still it's going to be sad," said Miriam Posada, 14.
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A season of song Christmas has student choirs spreading comfort and joy
December 23, 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH — A choir of teens stands in a circle in the rotunda at the Tarrant County Courthouse.
Their voices drift above a spiraling stairwell toward transfixed onlookers. Eyes start to glisten as the students sing:
"Peace on earth."
"Good will toward men."
"Jesus Christ is born."
Smiles flash as the song ends. The singers shout, "Merry Christmas, everyone! ¡Feliz Navidad! Happy Hanukkah!"
They are the Singing Chaparrals of O.D. Wyatt High School, who, along with other choirs in school districts like Arlington and Keller, are performing throughout the county this holiday season.
"They’re awesome," someone whispered at the courthouse, where the Chaparrals have marked the holiday season for 15 years.
Under the leadership of longtime director Jewell Kelly, the high school has built a tradition as a choir powerhouse.
The holiday season is often a time when choir programs can put their talents on display. Choirs sing to crowds at government offices, hospitals, malls, airports, banks and schools.
"The beauty inside the singer is a magnet to the beauty inside another person," Kelly said.
FORT WORTH — A choir of teens stands in a circle in the rotunda at the Tarrant County Courthouse.
Their voices drift above a spiraling stairwell toward transfixed onlookers. Eyes start to glisten as the students sing:
"Peace on earth."
"Good will toward men."
"Jesus Christ is born."
Smiles flash as the song ends. The singers shout, "Merry Christmas, everyone! ¡Feliz Navidad! Happy Hanukkah!"
They are the Singing Chaparrals of O.D. Wyatt High School, who, along with other choirs in school districts like Arlington and Keller, are performing throughout the county this holiday season.
"They’re awesome," someone whispered at the courthouse, where the Chaparrals have marked the holiday season for 15 years.
Under the leadership of longtime director Jewell Kelly, the high school has built a tradition as a choir powerhouse.
The holiday season is often a time when choir programs can put their talents on display. Choirs sing to crowds at government offices, hospitals, malls, airports, banks and schools.
"The beauty inside the singer is a magnet to the beauty inside another person," Kelly said.
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