Royce Bodiford of Odessa attended his 50th college reunion (Class of 1958)

AWARD
>> Carver Early Education Center pre-K student Adalee McCullough was recently presented with the Star Student of the Month Award. The award is for academics and all around good student. Her teacher is Imelda Tarango. Her parents are James and Allison McCullough and Nickole Owens. Her grandmother is Janet McCullough.

>> Bobby Fierro was presented the Kiki Camarena Award during the Dia de los Muertos Lunch Oct. 31 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church hall.  The event was hosted by LULAC Council No. 4451, Hispanic Heritage of Odessa, JC's Ballroom and Southside Catholic Churches.
Fierro was recognized for his achievement in the drug prevention effort with the Ector County Independent School Student Assistant Services where he has been a counselor for 18 years. The event is part of the Calendar for Cultural Programs for Hispanic Heritage of Odessa.  

PUBLICATIONS
>> Veronica Dye Johnson of Odessa has recently published her first book "GIANTS: Legends of the Oil and Gas Industry."
Though technically a nonfiction book, GIANTS has all the entertaining elements of a novel. The book profiles the men and women of the oil and gas industry, such as, Ernest Angelo, David H. Arrington, Ace Barnes, Arlen Edgar, Joe Gifford, Jim Henry, Diana Davids Hinton, Harvey Page, Dick Saulsbury, Angie Sims, Don L. Sparks, Nick Taylor and Clayton Williams Jr.
Johnson spent six years attaining a bachelor of arts degree in painting from the University of Dallas and an master of arts degree in art history from Texas Christian University. She had fully expected to spend the rest of her life lecturing in art museums, but a fateful return home to Odessa introduced her to her husband and to a new career path as a writer.
Since then, Johnson has penned nonprofit grants, art reviews, humor columns, documentary scripts, advertising copy and magazine features and currently she is a creative writer for Ha! Publishing.
Copies can be ordered at www.hapublishing.com or by calling 550-5998.

>> ALPINE An article by Kathy K. Stein, director of the Sul Ross State University Academic Center for Excellence, was recently published.
Stein's article, "El Paso's College Readiness Initiative: Cooperation at Work," appears in the Fall 2008 edition of the NADE Digest (Vol. 4, No. 1).
Her article describes the collaborative efforts of the University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso Community College and the El Paso area independent school districts to better prepare high school students for college and to bridge the K-16 Gap.
In addition, Stein has been appointed national conference exhibits coordinator by the Executive Board of the College Reading and Learning Association. She will be responsible for inviting publishers and organizations to exhibit at the national conference and soliciting sponsorships for various conference activities. She will serve a three-year term.

>> ALPINE Steven Platt, Sul Ross State University assistant professor of biology, published a paper on Morelet's Crocodile in the Journal of Zoology of London.
Platt, Thomas Rainwater, J. B. Thorbjarnarson and S T. McMurry published "Reproductive Dynamics of a Tropical Freshwater Crocodilian: Morelet's Crocodile in Northern Belize," in the Journal of Zoology 275, published earlier this year.
 "The paper is one of several publications resulting from an on-going, long-term study of Morelet's Crocodile that Rainwater and I have been conducting in Belize," Platt said. "We initiated fieldwork during the summer of 1992 and our work in Belize continues today. Prior to our research very little was known about the biology of Morelet's crocodile, which until recently was regarded as endangered owing to intensive over-hunting for skins."
Pratt said uncontrolled skin hunting began after World war II continued until the late 1970s, and by the early 1980s Morelet's crocodile was approaching extinction in Belize. Populations have since recovered following a ban on hunting and skin trading, and Morelet's crocodile is now relatively common, even being found in drainage ditches in Belize City, the nation's largest metropolitan area.

SCHOLARSHIP
>> ALPINE Sul Ross State University senior Jesus Hermosillo of Presidio is this year's recipient of the Charles and Julia Matthews Scholarship.
The scholarship is awarded from a scholarship fund established in the Texas State University System by Charles Matthews, TSUS Chancellor and his wife Julia.
The scholarship is awarded annually to a student in a particular department. This year's recipient comes from the mathematics and computer science department.
Hermosillo, who is a mathematics major, received a $1,000 scholarship, and is the third recipient of the award. He plans to graduate in December with his mathematics degree.

REVIEW
>> ALPINE Donald Callen Freed, Sul Ross State University associate professor of music, reviewed two books for the November issue of Choral Journal.
Freed reviewed "Singing: The First Art," by Dan Marek, published by Scarecrow Press; and "Bassini's The Art of Singing," by Stephen F. Austin, published by Plural Publishing.
For more information, contact Freed, 432-837-8216 or dfreed@sulross.edu.