Dr.
Brian Taylor, assistant professor
of chemistry, presented a paper at the 225th
American Chemical Society National Meeting
held in New Orleans in March. The paper, titled
"Spectroscopic and Electrical Properties
of Ground State NaH: Extrapolation to the
Complete Basis Set Limit," was presented
in the Division of Physical Chemistry Section
and also was presented by invitation in the
SCI-MIX Section.
In
the Division of Chemical Education Section,
Randa Gates, junior chemistry
major, presented a paper titled "Comparisons
of Helium Metal Hydride, Helium Metal Halide,
and Argon Metal Hydride ab Initio Potential
Energy Surfaces." The paper was co-authored
by Dr. Taylor.
Sean
Butler, junior chemistry major, presented
a paper titled "The Design and Synthesis
of a Macroindicator as a Sensitive Colorimetric
Sensor for Incorporation into Responsive Polymeric
Coatings for Surface Decontamination."
The paper was co-authored by Dr. H.
Neil Gray, associate professor of
chemistry, and Scott Brown,
junior chemistry major.
Gates
and Butler presented their research papers
at the Undergraduate Research Symposium on
April 11 at Baylor University.
The
research was funded by the UT Tyler Faculty
Research Committee and The Welch Foundation
of Houston.
The UT
Tyler journalism department, along with the Tyler Morning
Telegraph and the Longview News Journal, received the top Freedom
of Information honor for a collaborative survey about government
compliance with the Texas Public Information Act. The Texas Associated
Press Managing Editors honored the collective effort during its
annual conference held this year in South Padre Island.
A class taught
by UT Tyler journalism lecturer Vanessa Curry
learned about open record laws and then conducted a field survey
to check how government entities and law enforcement agencies
handled requests for public documents. Curry expanded the survey
to include 125 entities in 14 counties with the assistance of
reporters from both newspapers. The findings were published in
both newspapers.
Curry's writing
contribution included two articles: "Study finds problems
with law enforcement and open records" and "Media Members
Find Files More Accessible." Students who participated in
the survey included current UT Tyler graduate student Jeanie
Carter, an editor on The Patriot staff.
The award
marks the second time APME has recognized Curry's efforts involving
open records. In 1998, Curry won the Freedom of Information award
for an investigative report on criminal activity at Rusk State
Hospital.
