Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone a
Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year!

The library is closing at 5pm on December 23rd. It will reopen at 8am on January 4th.

While the library is closed, remember many library resources are available from home!

Check out the library's web site at http://www.tarleton.edu/library

Mr. Dennis G. Hunewell

Hunewell...a familiar name heard often around campus...Hunewell dorm, Hunewell bandstand, Hunewell ranch...

Fifty years ago this month, December 19, 1959, Tarleton benefactor Dennis Hunewell died, leaving the bulk of his estate to Tarleton. His obituary in the Stephenville Empire Tribune stated that he came to Stephenville in 1920 and in accordance with Dean Davis' publicity strategy, began an extensive recruiting effort! His program used the military band extensively to familiarize the name of Tarleton State College in every corner of the state! Virtually every county in Texas provided Tarleton State College with students as a result of Mr. Hunewell's vigorous campaign.

When Hunewell arrived at Tarleton the small band consisted of 9 members. They didn't know any marches, nor had they performed in public. Dennis Hunewell built a great military band that performed all over the state and won many awards for their expert marching, including several victories in the San Antonio "Battle of the Flowers", the most prominent contest of the 1920s and 1930s.

The Tarleton Military Band also performed concerts for the Tarleton community. The graduating classes of 1926, 1927, and 1928 helped raise the money to build the original Hunewell bandstand which was located in the area where the Tarleton Center stands today. The Hunewell bandstand provided a stage for the bands of Dennis Hunewell for over 30 years. It was torn down in 1963 when the student center (now the Tarleton Center) was built . The Alumni Association built the replica that stands today in Heritage Park.

After his retirement in 1942, Dennis Hunewell moved to his 1,200 acre ranch southeast of town. He raised registered hereford cattle. It was at his home on the ranch where he died of pneumonia at the age of 83.

For more detailed narratives about Hunewell and the Tarleton military band see:

Dick Smith Library Cross Timbers Historic Images Project:

http://lib01.tarleton.edu/libimages/collections/tcollection/TAN00036.html

http://lib01.tarleton.edu/libimages/collections/tcollection/TAN00032.html

Stephenville Empire Tribune, January 12, 1960

Guthrie, Christopher E., John Tarleton and his Legacy

Fun with RSS

What is RSS?

RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, allows you to stay updated on web content that changes regularly, such as a blog. Instead of jumping from site to site, you can keep your updates, or "feeds", in one place.

How do I use RSS?

To read an RSS feed, you will need a feed reader such as My Yahoo!, Google Reader, Microsoft Outlook, or Bloglines.

Why use RSS?

You can stay informed while saving time. For example, here's some tech-related information I received today using RSS:

• The iPhone now supports live video streaming
• Changes to Facebook's privacy controls
  
• Why the magazine industry wants its own app store

More information on RSS:
Youtube video: "RSS in Plain English."

Top Ten Tuesday - 10 Christmas Party Games

Want to do something fun for Christmas this year? Here are 10 of the best Christmas games to play with family or at the office according to Lifescript.com and PartyGameIdeas.com.

1. Night Before Christmas Memory Game

Type the story from the book on a sheet of paper, but leave some blanks every so often.

(e.g. "When what to my ______________ eyes should appear, but a ________________ sleigh and ___________ tiny reindeer").

Have your guests fill in the blanks to the story. Then collect the results and review. The person who gets the most right should get a gift or prize, but then have some fun and have the person who got the most wrong read the story and stop at every blank, where the host can add in the funniest answer from the group. This way everyone can get a laugh out of the answers. Best for groups under 20 people.

2. Santa’s Hat
You can start this game as guests enter the party. As each person enters the room, hand them a Santa hat and instruct them to keep it on until they see you take yours off. Once everyone is wearing a hat, mingle and engage in conversation until everyone starts to forget about the game. Once your guests are distracted, quietly remove your hat and wait to see who catches on and does the same. The last guest to have his hat on is the loser, and can be the one to start the next round.

3. North Pole Two-by-Two
A perfect ice-breaker for all ages, Two-by-Two is a loud game that will get everyone laughing. The rules are simple enough for even the youngest guest to understand. Everyone stands in two parallel lines facing each other. Each person in one line is given a piece of paper with a “North Pole” animal on it. Matching pieces of paper are given to each person in the opposite line. After being given a few minutes to think, at the word “go,” everyone acts like their assigned animal – flapping their wings, stomping their hooves, waddling like a penguin – and tries to find their “mate” on the opposite side of the room. The main rule to this game is no talking!

4. Make a Rack (for Reindeer, that is!)
In this game, teams are given a paper bag with the following items:

- One unused pair of pantyhose, a five-inch hole cut in the tummy panel, and feet cut off
- Red ribbon and a red bow
- 14 small balloons

Put five minutes on the clock. One member of the team volunteers to be the reindeer. She slips the pantyhose on her head, with face showing through the hole that has been cut in the tummy panel. The team blows the balloons up and slips them through the open end of the pantyhose until they resemble antlers. The ribbon is used to close the hole and decorate the antlers; the bow can be used on the nose for a Rudolph effect. The team that makes the best antlers within the five-minute time period wins.

5. Gift Wrap Twins
This is a game for teams of two, regardless of age. Each team stands side by side, and has their inside hands tied together. The person on the left has his right hand tied to the left hand of the person next to him. Each team is given a box, wrapping paper, ribbon, scissors and tape. With only one hand each, they have to completely wrap the package and tie it with a bow. The team that wraps the package correctly and quickest wins.

6. Right and Left Gift Game
This game requires some preparation, but can be really funny to play. The host has to write a story that is a few minutes long and contains the words “left” and “right” many times.

Here is an example:

Mr. Right said that his left hand was hurting.
“Your right hand?” said Mrs. Right.
“No, my left hand,” said Mr. Right.

All of the party participants stand in a circle, holding a small wrapped gift. These can either be small gifts that each person has brought, or wrapped party favors. As the host reads the story, each time the words “right” and “left” are read, the players pass the gift they are holding in that direction. When the story is done, the player gets to keep the gift he or she is holding.

7. Fast Unwrap
You will need:

- One prize wrapped in many layers of gift wrap or newspaper
- One Santa or elf hat
- One pair of gloves or oven mitts. The bigger and bulkier the better!
- One die. You can use two dice if there are a lot of people.

Set the wrapped prize in the center of the room. Participants gather in a large circle around the gift. The first person rolls the die. If she rolls anything but a six, she quickly passes the die to the person on her left. If she does roll a six, she runs to the gift, puts on the hat and gloves, and begins opening the prize one layer at a time. The next person who rolls a six jumps into the center, takes the hat and gloves and continues the unwrapping. The person who unwraps the last layer of paper gets to keep the prize.

8. Burst the Balloon
Divide the group into two teams. One team has a red balloon tied to their ankles and the other team gets a green balloon tied to their ankles. At the word “go,” the players scramble to try to pop the other team’s balloons. When a player’s balloon is popped, he is out, and has to sit on the sidelines until the game is over. The last team with an unpopped balloon wins.

9. Gift Swap
The adult version of the Secret Santa game has a twist at the end. After number one has chosen a gift and unwrapped it, number two chooses and unwraps a gift. Number two can then choose to swap gifts with number one. Each guest then chooses a gift and decides to swap until all of the guests have a gift and a chance to swap. At the end of the game, number one can choose to swap with any of the other guests.

10. Christmas Carol Pictionary Relay

Team members race to receive the name of a Christmas Carol which they must get their team to recognize and then sing. The first team to have all team members complete the task wins. Based on the number of Christmas Carols you come up with not all players may get a chance to draw out the name of a song. The goal is however that everyone would have a turn. (Adjust game as needed.)

Divide group into teams. Each team sends one person up to the host who gives them the name of a Christmas carol. Then the person returns to group and in the manner of Pictionary tries to get the group to guess the name of the carol by DRAWING ONLY. As soon as the group knows the song, they must sing it as a group until the host gives the thumbs up sign (10 – 20 seconds). Once they get the thumbs up, the team sends a new person for another song. Play continues until one group completes all their songs.

Here are some Christmas Carols to get started. Remember there cannot be any duplicate carols.
- Jingle Bells
- Deck the Halls
- Here Comes Santa Claus
- Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
- Silent Night
- Joy to the World
- Away In a Manger
- We Wish You A Merry Christmas
- Up On the Housetop

Do you have an excellent game to play that wasn't mentioned above? Tell us about it.

Air Raid Pearl Harbor X This Is Not A Drill

Today is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and commemorates the sixty-eighth anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The events of that day would become a seminal event in American history. America lost some of her innocence that day. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt rightly called this a "day that will live in infamy". Archives play a role in our remembrance of Pearl Harbor and World War II. The image is a broadside created in 1942 by Allen Sandburg issued by the Office of War Information in Washington D. C., and is courtesy of the U. S. Naval Historical Center. The quotation is from Lincoln's Gettysburg address.

The National Archives (NARA) has digitized many of the images and documents related to Pearl Harbor and World War II. By searching NARA's Archival Research Catalog (ARC) for digital copies at: http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/BasicMultimediaSearchForm one can find images of the attack and its aftermath. Included are the familiar images and those of battleships that had rolled upside down due to damage being righted. Documents include the famous Air Raid Pearl Harbor X This is not a drill radio message. The Library of Congress American Memory Today in History page http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec07.html
has numerous links to documents and sources. These sources include man on the street interviews that were conducted on December 8, 1941 to capture the public's initial reaction to the bombing. The Library of Congress also has a Veteran's History Project that preserves oral history interviews with World War II veterans' and those of latter wars .

The Oregon State Archives has on online exhibit that features the experience of the Willamette University football team at Pearl Harbor http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/exhibits/pearl/football.htm . The team was in Hawaii to play a post-season game. They had played the previous day and were waiting for a sightseeing tour of the island when the attack occurred. I will not tell the whole story, but the team was inducted into the Army and placed on sentry duty, and did make it back to Oregon.

So as we remember those who gave all today remember to search the archives for their stories.

Tarleton Thursdays: The Trogdon House

The Trogdon House

Yesterday we had snow flurries, and tomorrow we are supposed to have snow flurries! The undated photo above shows the Trogdon House with snow. Ten years ago yesterday another event occurred.  The Minutes of the meeting of the Texas A & M System Board of Regents, December 2, 1999 ,state: "The Hall of Presidents on the campus of Tarleton State University is hereby named the 'Trogdon House,' in honor of Dr. and Mrs. William O. Trogdon."

Built in 1923 to serve as the residence of the college's chief executive officer, the structure was originally called the Dean's Home. Dean J. Thomas Davis designed the house, and it was built by local carpenters and Tarleton students at a cost of $8,000. The Tarleton students working on the construction for 25 cents to 62 1/3 cents per hour, earned enough money to pay for their fees the following semester.

Three Tarleton presidents and their families, J. Thomas Davis, E.J. Howell, and W.O. Trogdon, lived in the home continually throughout their presidencies - from 1923 until 1982. After President Trogdon retired, the home was named the Hall of Presidents and used for offices. The dedication ceremony unveiling its Texas Historical marker was held October 14, 1989.

Our current President, F. Dominic Dottavio and his wife Lisette, are in the process of bringing the home back to life - family life! When the renovations are complete they will move into the home, and once again the President of Tarleton State University will live in the center of campus.

Tips for Final Exams

Common Mistake 1: Cramming (all nighters or studying one subject too long)

Why it doesn’t work: Mental exhaustion - Cramming for hours and hours makes you tired and you won’t be able to remember or retain the information long-term.

Better Approach:
• Break your study times up into small chunks of time of an hour with breaks in between.
• Avoid burn-out by mixing it up. – Review one subject, then after breaks switch to another subject for the next hour.
• Boost energy and concentration by varying your methods of studying. Mix in reading, reviewing notes, studying with a partner, using notecards, and making new notes. Don’t overdo it by forgetting to take breaks and rest in between study sessions.

Common Mistake 2: Assuming that you know the material very well when you only have a basic understanding of it.

Why it doesn’t work:
Skimming the textbook or just relying on notes may not prepare you enough to fully understand the information and you may find yourself in trouble come test time.

Better Approach:
• Do a self-test of the material. Make-up your own questions or have a classmate quiz you on potential test questions.
• Say it in your own words. If you can't write a definition, a theory, etc... in your own words, you probably need more review of the material before taking the test.

Common Mistake 3: Trying to be make-up a whole semester worth of information in one week.

Why it doesn’t work:
Skipping out during the semester on classes or reading assignments can come back to bite you at finals. You can end-up digging yourself into a hole making it impossible to study productively because there is just too much information and too little time.

Better Approach:
• Attend class regularly and take just 15 minutes a week during the semester to review materials you covered in class. This will help you understand the concepts better and give you a leg-up when reviewing for your finals.
• Put yourself in a position where you are reviewing - not learning for the first time.

Common Mistake 4: Wasting valuable time by studying unproductively.

Why it doesn’t work:
Its human nature to avoid doing things we don’t like, for instance studying for exams. So sometimes we may waste time by discussing last night’s TV with our well intended study group or reading but not really comprehending the material. We don't realize how much time is wasted by not paying attention to whether or not we are actually getting anything out of study time.

Better Approach:
• Check yourself every half hour to make sure that your staying on track and comprehending the material. If you find yourself off-track, change your strategy like finding a study partner from class and talking through the material or talking to your instructor about any questions you have.
• When you feel that your mind is starting to wander or that you are too tired, don't push yourself into continuing to study. Take a break and pick it back up when you are able to be productive again. Long stretches of constant studying after your brain has stopped absorbing material is a waste of time.

Common Mistake 5: Ignoring your health for the sake of study time.

Why it doesn’t work:
Not getting enough sleep or eating properly in order to spend every available minute cramming for a test can wreak havoc on your health. Taking good care of yourself will allow for better concentration and retention of the material.

Better Approach:
• Get some sleep the night before the exam. Your brain needs a chance to rest and re-energize itself.
• Eat a healthy snack or meal before your exam. It will help you function better and avoid your blood sugar from dropping.

GOOD LUCK!!

More Computers Available Monday-Wednesday This Week

The Library Instruction Classroom on the main floor of the library is open for student use Monday through Wednesday this week (November 30 through December 2) from 7AM until 10PM. This gives you 33 additional computers to work on your papers and projects, and 172 available throughout the entire library, including the laptops.

Video Lectures from Top Colleges

As final exams hurry toward us, everyone is going to be busy reviewing the semester's work, looking over their class notes, locating study partners, participating in help/review sessions, and trying to remember it all. To help prepare for finals, you can also listen to lecture notes from other universities.

Guy McDowell at MakeUseOf lists 5 Great Sites with Free Video Lectures from Top Colleges where learners can listen to lectures from universities such as MIT, McGill, Oxford, and more.

Top Ten Tuesday – 10 things to do while on Thanksgiving break

Yeah! It is almost break time. I'm very excited for the time off. I thought I would post a list of ten things that I consider a must "to do" over the Thanksgiving break. Please post a comment and share your feedback and ideas on how you plan to enjoy the holiday!

• People – visit your friends and family
• Food – indulge in both cooking and eating
• Give – Share the holidays with those who need it, donate to a homeless shelter, serve in a food line, etc.
• Shop – get a head start on the Christmas season
• Research and homework – remember library resources are available 24/7 from anywhere!
• Decorate – time to deck the halls
• Football – it is a Thanksgiving tradition
• Desserts – more pies and cakes please
• Travel – be careful on the roads; there is lots of traffic
• RELAX - get ready for the hectic end of the semester

Post a comment and share your ideas on how to celebrate Thanksgiving!

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

Professor C.H. Hale

"A grand old man of Erath County education," Charles Haynes Hale was born November 14, 1869, in Corinth, Arkansas. He was the son of James Thomas Hale and Elizabeth Watson Hale. After coming to Texas in 1883 with his parents in a covered wagon and living in Bell County two years, the family settled in Flatwoods, now Huckabay, in 1885. He attended rural schools, Add-Ran College (now TCU), and earned three degrees, BS, BA, and MA. He was conferred an honorary Doctor of Law degree by TCU in 1953.

C. H. Hale watched the growth of Tarleton College from one wood building to a fine institution. In 1920, after the barracks had been built to house male students, the beds failed to arrive. Students slept on the floor without complaint. Dean Davis sent a bed to the faculty adviser, Charley Hale, but he declined it, stating that "if the boys can sleep on the floor, so can I."

Another incident Professor Hale was involved in was perhaps the first hazing incident in the dormitory. Upon hearing a noise outside his room, he went to see what it was and found two football players at each door. Other seniors had marched freshmen barefooted to the cemetery. He convinced the students to confess to Dean Davis. The students fully expected to be punished, but Dean Davis just insisted that each student sign a pledge that he would not participate in such hazing practices again.

Professor C. H. Hale taught in a classroom for 55 years and lectured an hour a day for several years after retirement. He stated that Tarleton is the finest college in Texas, with the greatest faculty he had ever had the fortune to meet and that the people of Stephenville and of Tarleton made his every day a full and happy one.

Charley Hale died February 3, 1969, just 9 months shy of his 100th birthday. If you went to Tarleton in the 1960s you will remember seeing Professor Hale walk to the campus post office every morning. In the winter he always wore a long dark overcoat and was very distinguishable on campus.

The J-TAC article above tells about the large birthday celebration that was held in honor of Professor Hale's 90th birthday....50 years ago this month.

(Stephenville Empire Tribune, February 7, 1969)

(J-TAC, November 24, 1959)

(King, Golden Days of Purple & White, p.134)

Looking for my Grandfather

In my last entry, I talked about how to arrange and preserve your family archives. This time I will give you some sources for finding out more about your family. These are by no means all of the resources available to those researching their family. For information about ancestors who fought in the Civil War a good starting place is the National Park Service's Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/index.html . Here you can find information about what unit they were in and information on the unit. The Texas General Land Office Searchable Texas Land Grant Database allows you to see if family members have received a Texas land grant. The grants in the database go back to the Texas Republic. http://www.glo.state.tx.us/archives/landgrant.html

The Texas State Archives and Library Commission genealogy page at: http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/genfirst.html offers links to several searchable databases. One of those that are helpful to genealogists is the County Records on Microfilm http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/local/index.html The majority of the counties in Texas have had their records microfilmed. The microfilm is held at various depositories throughout the state and can be borrowed through Inter Library Loan (ILL), if you cannot visit the repository. Just click on the link above for a list of counties, and then click on the county you are interested in for a list of the records and where the microfilm is held. When requesting microfilm through ILL you need to provide the name of the county, the roll number, and the title of the roll.

Other databases at the Texas State archives site are listed below:

• Index to Confederate pension applications http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/pensions/index.php
• Confederate Indigent families lists (1863-1865) http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/cif/index.html
• Index to Republic Claims http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/repclaims/index.php
• Index to Texas Adjutant General Service Records 1836-1935 National Archives and Records Administration http://www.archives.gov/ has many helpful links for genealogical researchers and those requesting military records of family members.

There are too many links to list in this brief blog, but I will mention a few. In the most requested box on the home page listed above are links to military records where a person can request a copy of the DD Form 214 report of Separation and other records electronically, by fax, or mail. Clicking on the genealogy/getting started link takes you to a wealth sources at the National Archives many of which are searchable online including the Dawes Rolls Index and Final Roll for those researching their Native American ancestry.

Hope these tips will help you and if you have any questions contact me at: spurr@tarleton.edu

Five Ideas on Social Media and Advocacy

Max Macias posted an interesting slideshow with ideas about advocacy and social media on Lowrider Librarian. He also includes a list of resources.

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

Tarleton's Old Auditorium

Yesterday Veteran's Day was celebrated on campus. One event, a musical tribute to the men and women of service, was presented by the Tarleton Faculty Brass Quintet in the Hunewell Bandstand.

Another event occurred 80 years ago on the same spot as yesterday's concert! On Armistice Day (now called Veteran's Day), November 11, 1929, Tarleton's new Auditorium was dedicated.

In 1928 Dean J. Thomas Davis obtained $125,000 from the state to build the new auditorium. Before construction could begin however, John Tarleton's remains had to be reinterred in the current location at the southeast corner of Washington and Lillian. (Guthrie, p.59-60)

The new Tarleton conservatory's ground floor contained an auditorium that would seat 1600, a large concert stage, dressing rooms, and a projection booth for showing motion pictures. (King, p.153-154) "It immediately became the most notable architectural landmark on campus and a center of social and cultural life for the next fifty years." (Guthrie, p. 60)

The music department (and later the speech and theater departments) had offices, studios, practice rooms, and classrooms in the lower level. Graduation was also held in the Auditorium for many years. (Guthrie, p. 60) In fact, I had classes in and graduated in the old Main Auditorium!

However, the Auditorium was increasingly plagued with flooding and other safety issues and was finally closed in 1980 when the new Clyde Wells Fine Arts Center opened. The building was demolished in 1982. All that remains of the Auditorium today are the concrete stairs at the corner of McIlhaney and Military Drive, which once led up to the front of the building. (Guthrie, p.60) They now lead up to the Hunewell Bandstand.

Guthrie, Christopher E., John Tarleton and his Legacy, p.59-60.

King, C. Richard, Golden Days of Purple & White, p.153-154.