Winter 2012 - Austin College Magazine

It’s Not Like CSI
Televised crime dramas make it seem like lab technicians work in
trendy darkened rooms, often are called to crime scenes, and can find
the DNA evidence to put any criminal away for good—but forensic
analyst Amy Smuts ’95 said her job isn’t much like that. “We don’t do
things like they do on TV,” she said. “I don’t watch the show [CSI]
because it makes me angry. That’s not what my life is like!”
Amy shared “The Many Trials of a Forensic Analyst” with students
during Homecoming week as one element of the College’s “Century of
Science” celebration.
Because her job isn’t like television dramas doesn’t mean it is dull.
Amy, who works at the Center for Human Identification at the UNT
Health Science Center in Fort Worth, processed evidence and testified
in six cases in the infamous “Yearning
for Zion” trials. She processed the
paternity test that proved Yearning For
Zion leader Warren Jeffs fathered a
child born to a 15-year-old.
“We had to be escorted by armed
Rangers in and out of the courthouse,”
Amy said of the trial. Jeffs was convicted
of sexual assault and aggravated sexual
assault, with a sentence of life in prison.
Up in the Sky!
Linus Wright ’49 was one of 50
senior citizens who participated in
a skydiving adventure in October
2011 in celebration of the 50th
anniversary of The Senior Source, a
Dallas nonprofit agency dedicated
to improving the quality of life of older adults in Dallas through
education, advocacy, and other support.
Not only did Linus make the jump—at 84, he was the oldest to take
the leap from 2.5 miles up. He had jumped once before—as a 17-yearold
soldier in World War II.
He landed that first jump safely and went on to a successful career
in education, serving as an administrator in Houston schools then
longtime superintendent for the Dallas ISD. In 1987, he was appointed
Under Secretary of Education by President Ronald Reagan, and later
worked in education consulting.
S A V E T H E D A T E
5.13.12
C O M M E N C E M E N T 2 0 1 2
IN MEMORIAM
’27 Lucile Odell Cowles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .January 11, 2010
’37 C. Ellis Nelson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .June 9, 2011
’40 Bertha Lee Grigg McCuan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .October 8, 2011
’42 Sarah Ellen Carmichael . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .July 28, 2011
’42 Nancy Love Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .July 23, 2011
’44 Katherine Bassett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .May 25, 2011
’46 Dennis Arthur Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .August 28, 2011
’47 Howard W. Cogswell, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .July 12, 2011
’48 Alice Jean Munson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .July 15, 2011
’50 Mary Joe Hunter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .July 16, 2011
’51 Nann Neal McKinney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .May 13, 2011
’52 Charles Jebez “C.J.” Andrews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .July 16, 2011
’53 Betty Jane Dodson Brooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .October 22, 2011
’54 Carl Wesley Stripling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .July 18, 2011
’58 Lester Dean Frank Kinkade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .May 28, 2011
’59 Willie C. “Bill” Pointer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 15, 2011
’62 Arthur Franklin “Art” Melson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .October 4, 2011
’62 Harvey Randall Pierce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .July 5, 2011
’66 Sharon Rose Greenlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .November 21, 2011
’67 Stanley Eugene Monroe, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .June 21, 2011
’69 Anita Harkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .July 11, 2011
’69 Ron Hagood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .November 5, 2011
’70 Hilda Yvonne Talton Ramsay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .June 15, 2011
’71 Byron Floyd Cook III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .June 21, 2011
’72 Robert Hardy Falk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .August 13, 2011
’74 Mary Williams McGowan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .October 30, 2011
’78 Shirley Annette Vrla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .June 30, 2011
’78 Joseph McMurry Owen II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .July 8, 2011
’78 Pamela Gail Jeffries Redfearn Holman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .October 12, 2011
’02 Christina Michelle Ellis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .June 11, 2011
’06 Derek Shane Hutson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .October 17, 2011
’07 Thomas M. Derricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .September 17, 2011
Friends We Will Miss
Dr. Charles Hunter, sociology faculty member from 1979 to 1982, died June 12, 2011.
Donna Carnes, staff member in the Business Office and Human Resources from 1995 to 2002,
died June 14, 2011.
Alice Carolyn Squires, alumna and retired staff member, died August 6, 2011. She served as
administrative assistant to the dean and secretary of the College from 1954 until her retirement
in 1987.
46 | Austin College Magazine Winter 2012