December 2021 Graduation Ceremonies Scheduled

DegreeWorks completed? Check. Cap? Check. Gown? Check. A&M Texarkana seniors are going down their graduation list for anticipated December 11, 2021 graduation ceremonies. They will be held in the Patterson Student Center at 9:00 am and 11:30 am.  “The graduation ceremonies will be divided by majors and is a ticketed event,”  says Karen Duke at the Registrar’s office. Two ceremonies with an estimated 118 graduates each ceremony are scheduled to ensure safety and social distancing measures 

Graduation ceremonies are slowly returning to pre-pandemic schedule as the university continues to follow precautionary measures. The graduation commencement committee is made up of faculty and staff, they concur on venue, time, date, and crowd size. Starting at  9:00 am the first graduation ceremony will include Applied Arts & Sciences, Adult and Higher Education, Counseling, Curriculum and Instruction, Elementary Education, Education Administration,Educational Leadership, English, General Studies, History, English, Language, Arts and Reading 7-12, Psychology, School Counseling, and Sociology. The 11:30 am graduation ceremony will finish out with the following majors; Accounting, Business Administration, Biology, Biology Composite Science 7-12, Criminal Justice, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Instructional Technology, Kinesiology, Kinesiology EC-12, Mathematics, Mass Communication, and Political Science.

Each graduate is allocated up to six tickets for their family and friends and live streaming will be available.  Since TAMUT is following state and federal guidelines for social distancing, seating is limited, thus the six ticket limit per graduate. Upon entering the Patterson Student Center, seating is first come, first serve, there is no reserved seating. The graduation ceremony will be live streamed which is important because of ticket constraints. Nubia Sanchez, prospective graduate said, “I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to get  a higher education and be the first in my family to get  a bachelor’s degree.”

Caps and gowns for Bachelors or Masters degree may be purchased at Eagle Central  Bookstore.  The deadline for ordering has passed so it is just what the store has in stock at this point. Eagle Central Bookstore on the main campus can be reached at (903) 334-6620 for more information. There are several other regalia a graduate can buy such as a class ring, photographs or an engraved brick in front of the Eagle Landing to commemorate this momentous occasion.. Cords from different clubs are given out per club and honor sashes are given the day of graduation. Students should check their ACE email for any last minute changes or updates regarding graduation. Students may also contact the graduation office by email at graduation@tamut.edu for any more information.

 When the Patterson Student Center became used for graduation ceremonies, it allowed an opportunity for family and friends to see places become a reality of where the graduates took classes, studied, learned, forged friendships and committed to finishing an educational goal. Brooklyn Stephens said, I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to attend such an amazing university close to home. A&M has given me the chance to achieve my dreams while being near the ones I love.” 

Dead teenager Sal Singh was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Andie Bell, five years ago – but not everyone in the town is convinced he did it, especially 16-year-old Pippa Fitz-Amobi.  

Pippa decides for her high school senior capstone project that she wants to look into the disappearance of Andie Bell, who is said to have last been seen by her little sister Becca on April 18th, 2014. As a childhood acquaintance, Pippa had always respected and liked Sal since he stood up to her bullies for her when they were younger. Sal’s younger brother Ravi disapproves of Pippa wanting to relook into the investigation, as it ended with Sal being found dead in the woods from an apparent suicide. After finding Sal’s phone and discovering messages asking for an alibi from Sal to his friends, Ravi decides to help Pippa with the new investigation. As she dives deeper into the investigation with the help of Ravi, Pippa starts to discover hidden dark secrets about each party involved. For instance, Andie was seeing an older man, the reason why Sal’s friends wouldn’t offer an alibi for him, the last text to Andie from Sal that leaves the final moments of their relationship in question, and Sal’s “confession” to Andie’s murder that was shown to be sent after he died to his father. It leaves the reader thinking, “what else hasn’t been uncovered?” 

As the story continues and more secrets come to light, Pippa discovers she’s in danger. Her enemies lurking through the shadows and those involved in the disappearance remaining silent, it’s up to Pippa to get to the bottom of Andie’s disappearance and Sal’s death while also watching her own back. Everyone is a suspect, and both blood and water are very thick.  

If you are a local or passing through Texarkana looking to embark on a new journey full of rich, spicy flavors, tasty food, and culture, then you must stop at the Blue Water Bayou restaurant. I had the opportunity to visit the restaurant and I must say this is the best New Orleans/creole-style restaurant in Texarkana. They offer your classic southern style greens and macaroni & cheese, much like Madea used to make. They also offer infusions; Infusions are done by taking a menu item and adding various meats, vegetables, or sauces to liven up the dish. My personal favorite infusion is lobster macaroni. His creole roots can be tasted throughout his signature dishes such as stuffed creole turkey legs, stuffed potatoes, and of course their classic gumbo. They also offer a wide variety of food including salads and vegetable plates for those who are trying to watch the waistline.  

After a long deliberation, I decided to order creole spaghetti, panee chicken, crawfish etouffee, creole pasta, and fried gizzards. Of course, I had to pair them with my favorite sides, yams and macaroni & cheese. While waiting for our food, the waiter was fast, friendly, and polite. Our appetizer came out in less than 7 minutes and the rest of the food arrived within 20 minutes. The portions were hardy, and the dishes had a delicate presentation. 

For starters, we had fried gizzards, a classic southern cuisine. These deep-fried golden nuggets had the perfect crunch. They were fresh, hot, and seasoned to perfection. Every bite was juicy and tender. These were paired with a spicy remoulade cream sauce. This dish was simple and delicious. 

Up next, for our entrée we had the panee chicken, creole spaghetti, creole pasta, and crawfish étouffée. The panee chicken was unbelievably moist, juicy, tender, and well-seasoned. The fried chicken breast was smothered in a smooth, rich, creamy gumbo-based gravy. This is called their secrete gravy. This dish takes the classic smothered chicken to the next level. Up next, we had the creole spaghetti. This dish was bursting with flavors and was full of tender juicy beef, sausage links, meatballs, and fresh peppers. It also had a creole tomato base sauce with plenty of spice that had a wonderful savory kick. I would recommend this dish to anyone. Next, we had the creole pasta. It had a delicious, creole, creamy pepper sauce paired with tender shrimp, blackened chicken, and crawfish. This dish was seasoned with in-house seasoning. This dish is a must try. Finally, the famous crawfish étouffée arrived. This is a classical elegant dish that starts off as a roux, the holy trinity (bell pepper, celery, and onions) is added along with the crawfish, and is served on a bed of rice. This dish was nothing short of amazing. The spices and flavors were extremely impressive. All the flavors in these dishes were true to their local roots, and you could taste it in all the food. I highly recommend this food. It is heavy on the classic New Orleans flavors that complement the true authentic creole culture and experience. 

James Trent, the head chef, has been spicing things up in the kitchen for over 7 years. He has been serving southern creole cuisine in Texarkana for almost 2 years, one plate at a time. He said, “My passion for cooking stems from my culture and heritage. I learned from my grandma and other family cooks. My food is made with love, and I go in-depth with my flavors.” James and his son Kevin are the ultimate duo dedicated to providing high-quality, fresh New Orleans low-country cuisine with a twist. Low-country cuisine is popular in New Orleans. This cuisine combines southern soul food, seafood boils, and, of course, classic Creole cuisine.     

The restaurant is insanely delicious and is conveniently located near the heart of Texarkana, just minutes from downtown. I met up with a Texarkana local, Davon Fulton, and he referred to this place as a foodie’s paradise saying, “Everything here is delicious, when I have a taste for Creole food or something good, I come here to my Food Paradise.” When we arrived at the restaurant, we were greeted with a warm eclectic mural with a New Orleans Ambiance, and you can smell the amazing food before you enter the building. This restaurant offers a clean, comfortable, and welcoming atmosphere with a serenade of jazz music playing in the background. From the workers sparking a conversation, to the locals picking your brain to see what you have tried, you will feel at home. This hidden gem is a hole in the wall full of great conversations and great food! Chef James’ theme was simple saying, “My theme is cooking just like in grandma’s kitchen.” If you are in the mood for some excellent food, stop by and tell them Zuleika sent you. This is good eating, and you do not want to miss out! 

Blue Water Bayou is located at 720 Texas Blvd Texarkana Texas   

Hours of operation   Mon – Friday 11 am –7 pm   

Marvel and Disney have always had a way of making movie magic together when it comes to Marvel and the Cinematic Universe that they have created due to the countless blockbuster hits they have made over the years. I have watched every marvel movie ever made since the MCU was created and all the earths mightiest heroes stories started to intertwine with each other once marvel started producing the Avengers. Usually, Marvel doesn’t miss but this time I believe they completely dropped the ball.

After watching this movie, I start to remember that it was supposed to be different, wasn’t it? The latest movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Eternals, was supposed to be positioned as the stronghold of the next phase, with the goal of pushing the whole complex universe further than it has ever been but all you really left with in the end is a bunch of uneasy questions because you could still be unsure of what’s going on by the end of the movie, but at that point you may not even care because you are just so happy that the movie is finally over and I truly cannot emphasize this enough: the film is 2 hours and 37 minutes long!! In simple terms, “Eternals” is really just a mess because the diverse cast is so large and there is so much story building to do that it felt forced and disappointing. However, there is a plot that you will probably forget about as quick as you started to understand it. I wouldn’t try to beat the movie up so much for the length, but the film’s general drowsiness deprives from the actual pleasant parts of the film, as it takes an awful lot of time to deliver almost nothing. It would have made way more sense to just make this movie into a Disney plus series so that they could have taken their time developing the many main characters and their stories.

In the centuries since they came on Earth in a huge marble-like starship, the Eternals have dispersed all over the planet. They’ve been quietly guiding humanity and battling bloodthirsty beasts known as Deviants all along. However, a potentially apocalyptic situation forces them to abandon their peaceful lives, reassemble (pun intended), and use their combined skills to avoid what is effectively the apocalypse. That description may sound like it will make for an entertaining trip to the cinema, but don’t expect constant action as in Avengers: Infinity War. This is a movie that takes its time, switching back and forth in between past and present to teach you about the characters’ backstories so that you care about the ramifications as the plot progresses. Eternals has many Protagonist which is way more than they needed because you barely really got to know any of these characters but I guess this won’t be the last time we see these characters due to the movie ending. It would have made a much better episode series if given the chance to learn the diverse cast. Phastos, the first gay superhero in the MCU, appears in Eternals. His backstory is indicative of humanity as a whole, as he becomes skeptical after assisting society’s technological advancement. He is played by Brian Tyree Henry and I can’t help but to think about how much money they had to pay him play that part. Much different character than he has ever played in any of his other movies especially if you first knew him as Paper boy in the hit series Atlanta on FOX. He was probably the most notable character for me just because of the sexuality they chose for him.

As huge as this film seemed, I believe it barely scratched the surface when it came to introducing Marvel’s next era of films. As far as this movie as a standalone film, which is exactly what if felt like, I would give it a C rating. It wasn’t just a extremely bad movie but definitely could have been better put together if produced differently. It’s far from flawless, yet even with its shortcomings, this film has the potential to inspire many more excellent films in the future from Marvel.

In the last couple years, racial division and equality have been highlighted in this country to a much higher degree after the death of George Floyd. Although his death was unfortunate and sad, there was a lot of good that came from his death. So many organizations for racial equality have been started around the country and thanks to this campus president Emily Cutrer we now also have a group of people dedicated to help educate and bring awareness to racial and prejudice issues. The group is still fairly new and still in the initial stages, but members Toney Favors and Corey Robinson feel like the committee is in good hands and in position to blossom in the near future.

Toney Favors is one of the committee members who over recruiting and has been deeply involved with starting the committee. It all started with President Cutrer having town meeting at city hall where she met with city officials. “From there we wanted candid Conversation, and so candid conversation took place” Favors went on to say, “From that it was suggested that we needed a committee to address some of the concerns not only nationally but locally with our students.” It is not unusual to come across people who are passionate and sincerely want to participate in serious attempts to enhance diversity and equity. However, it is rare for these attempts to result in long-term institutional change that extends beyond the short term wins and temporary successes. To be able to effect meaningful change at least on our campus, the DEI committee needed to locate allies in essential departments with decision-making authority who can give the necessary support to bring about true change across the university. The committee was able to achieve this. There are lots of committee members from many different departments around the campus. These people have been meeting at least once a month to talk about the next steps of the committee.

One of the departments on campus that was reached out to for help was the counselor department where Corey Robinson was happy to oblige in assisting the committee in its mission. “We are in support of all of this… This is a Unified effort and whatever bad things been going on will not be tolerated” He expects the club to be the face of the school that lives up to diversity, equity, and Inclusion. “And not just stating it on paper but putting things into action so students will feel that this is a safe and comfortable environment that everyone can feel a part of.” The DEI committee is expected to be the head on many projects in the near future and the immediate plan for the committee is to establish an official office and bring in somebody who can spearhead the entire mission of the club. The club has held a couple events so far by partnering up with student life and even held an event to combat hate speech that was put on display in the University center early last month.

The DEIC’s mission is to provide leadership, formulate action plans, and oversee important operations. Furthermore, the committee should be proactive wherever possible and in doing so providing solutions before problems even emerge. It is expected that several of the projects in the initial plans, if successful, will demand a lot of time and commitments from both the Department and the Institute in order to assure their long-term viability. Efforts to increase diversity and inclusion are still ongoing. The process is never-ending, take time to develop, and will rely on key factors to be successful.

With the recent shooing that was tied to the local Texas High School, many parents in the community began to worry about the safety of their children in high school and college. Although some of the concerns are gun safety in school andcrime on campus, what happens if something like this happened on our campus? How do we notify students of an emergency? Texas A&M University Texarkana hasn’t had an active shooting because of the rules set in place and the university police on campus.

Gun safety in school is becoming a big issue in America. A parent’s worst nightmare is to hear that there’s been a shooting at their child’s school. Gun violence has been affecting our schools in America for the past decade. A few examples of gut-wrenching school shootings are Sandy Hooks Elementary, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and Columbine the worst mass school shooting in history. The recent shooting tied to Texas High School makes many of the locals uncomfortable. Thankfully, Texas A&M University of Texarkana has notencountered this problem because of the strict rules set in place and the on-duty police officers on campus for our protection atall times.

After reviewing the crime on campus, the presence of UPD at Texas A&M University Texarkana has kept crime very low. This campus does a daily crime log not just the Clery Report,but an actual crime log that identifies the nature of the crime,location, date, and time. It also includes the time and date the crime was reported to TAMUT University Police Department. The daily crime log is located in the Central Plant in the University Police Department main office and it’s available for review by request.

If something like that happened on our campus. Texas A&M University Texarkana has an emergency management strategy in place to protect the lives and well-being of its students and staff. They deploy qualified university personnel in a timely and effective manner in the event of an emergency. The emergency management plan is designed to protect the lives of students, staff, and faculty by deploying trained university personnel who are trained in light search and rescue, First Aid, CPR, A.D., (automated external defibrillator) and fire extinguisher training in the event of an emergency

Texas A&M University provides University Police Departments on campus for the protection of the student’s staff and faculty. They also provide a private crime report online so anyone can report a crime or suspicion of a crime anonymously.  If you know someone who has a weapon on campus, pleasespeak up because you could save lives.

If a shooter is on the loose on campus, call 911 immediately. Texas A&M University Texarkana has severalmethods for quickly delivering information to the university. The institution employs rave mobile safety, which is an emergency notification system that allows it to instantly convey health and safety emergency information via phone, email, and text message. The community will be notified via webpages by the director of communications or a web design professional in the IT department. If there is an immediate threat to a student’s health or safety, Texas A&M will immediately alert the university’s community. This will ensure that the message reaches the whole student body in a matter of seconds. These are also the very things that prevent shootings from taking place on our campus. . This is a great system to implement so everyone can know what’s going on, they should have an escape plan or an active shooter drill for students. I asked some students what they are supposed to do if we had an active shooter on campus and many of them said they didn’t know or they run one student said they would fight them off. Although this is a safe school Many students need to be aware and trained on what to do if this ever happens on campus for the safety of our students.

“Where’s your sign?” That is what first popped into my head when I saw that little white paper tucked under my windshield wiper. I quickly got into my vehicle and began driving around the lot, looking for signage I may have missed. I had parked in the parking lot by the residence hall, incidentally, I had been parking there for two years. Later I talked to University Police Sergeant Ed Emilla, he explained all the different avenues students are told where or where not regular parking permits are valid. It was a valuable $30 lesson for this upcoming graduating senior.

There are several ways students and faculty are informed where they are allowed to park. Either attend a transfer orientation or go to the university police web site to view what areas are included with a Texarkana A&M parking tag. When you apply for a parking tag in the business office,  the website (http://www.tamut.edu/about/administration/university-police/parking.html) is listed on the paper form. As I conversed with Sergeant Ed Emilla, he explained that when someone gets a ticket, they have several options. The first option is to appeal within seven days or secondly to pay the parking ticket within ten days. If the ticket is not paid within ten days, the fine doubles. Thankfully, the amount doesn’t not increase after that $60. It is also important to note that all fines must be paid in order to graduate from Texarkana A&M. 

After asking several students, I found this particular area of parking restriction was not common knowledge. Many had never even been to the parking website listed on paper form. How can we fix this? My initial thought would be to place Resident Parking Only signs in the dorm parking lot or perhaps inform via Squawktalk, the weekly communication email sent to Texarkana A&M students. Another couple ideas would be to place QR codes or signs by the elevators, TAMUT social media sites or on the registration form.

The University Police patrol parking lots but also are actively helping in many other areas on campus. Perhaps combined efforts between the University Police, students and those who assist in school/student relationships to work for a solution. The University police are ready to help in any situation whether it be an emergency or in this case, helping students like me understand parking permit policies.