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TCU graduates largest class

Mon, 13 May 2013 06:00:00 GMT

TCU bestowed degrees on 1,603 students at its spring Commencement, graduating students from 40 states and 34 countries in a formal ceremony held in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Students received their diplomas from Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr.

Of the total number of degree candidates, 1,297 received bachelor's degrees (24 received double degrees), 247 received master's degrees and 32 are Ph.D. candidates. Of those graduating, 467 students received Latin Honors, including eight with a 4.0 GPA.

The morning event consisted of 794 candidates receiving degrees from the AddRan College of Liberal Arts, College of Fine Arts, Neeley School of Business and the master of liberal arts graduate program. Chancellor Dr. Victor J. Boschini delivered the commencement address for both ceremonies. The TCU Commencement Band, under the direction of Bobby R. Francis, Brian Youngblood and Jeremy Strickland, played for both ceremonies. The class of 1963 was in attendance, celebrating the 50th anniversary of their graduation at the morning ceremony.

The 782 students who graduated in the afternoon represent College of Communication, College of Education, College of Science & Engineering, and Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences. Brite Divinity School graduated 27 students.

Video:

Profiting from business

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 06:00:00 GMT

What if, instead of holding a bake sale, small organizations could raise money by rewarding their financial supporters in other ways like handing out discounts and deals?

That was the idea behind the winning entry in the third annual Richards Barrentine Values and Ventures Business Plan Competition hosted by the Neeley School of Business April 19-20.

Dylan Fox and Zachary Herman’s online tool for small organizations that rewards donors with coupons and discounts won out over 27 other socially conscious for-profit business plans to earn first place and $15,000 in the competition.

The George Washington University (Washington, D.C.) team was one of 28 teams from around the world competing in the annual springtime entrepreneurship competition for undergraduate college students. The competition is different than other business plan competitions because the for-profit startup presented must also contribute social value in some way.

The GWU team impressed judges with their entrepreneurial concept and presentation for Crowdvance (www.crowdvance.com), an online fundraising tool for small organizations such as youth sports teams, student groups and small nonprofits that rewards donors with discounts, coupons and other deals from partner companies.

The brainchild of Fox, who wanted a better way to raise money for college clubs he belongs to, Crowdvance is already up and running, helping clubs and organizations raise funds by rewarding donors with exclusive deals and discounts.

“The winnings from Values and Ventures will help us keep Crowdvance going and helping more organizations,” Fox said.

Herman said that the Values and Ventures competition opened his eyes to many great socially conscious entrepreneurship projects. “These are some of the most influential and passionate students I’ve had the pleasure to meet. It’s so great knowing there are kids out there like us, trying to make a difference in the world and make it better.”

The team from Christopher Newport University, located in Newport News, Va. won second place and $10,000 for their plan for SoundSense, a home communications system for the hearing impaired that provides visual or physical alerts to oven timers, doorbells, baby monitors, phone calls and fire alarms through an integrated system. Andrew McGregor thought up the idea to help his hearing impaired parents.

“The idea originated in my home, and I brought it to these guys (Edward Pekalski and Ethan Emanuele) because I knew they could help me make it happen,” Andrew said.

Third place and $10,000 went to the team from TCU, Molly Johnson and Brooke Bettis, for Sneez4, tissues in environmental packaging with a part of proceeds allocated by the consumer to one of four causes: Alzheimer’s Association, Wounded Warriors, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Feeding America.

“We are proud of what we’ve accomplished and hope to make this a viable business in the near future,” Johnson said.

“This weekend proved to us that many others see viability behind our idea, and that is really encouraging,” Bettis added.

Fourth place and $1,000 went to Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, Okla.) for Virtue and Veneration, a paid service (initial offering free) to family and close friends of American soldiers killed in action that places flowers on gravesites and records virtual cemetery tours for those who live far from the cemetery.

Fifth place and $1,000 went to St. Mary’s University (San Antonio, Texas) for One World Training, employing veterans to provide qualified police training in Honduras to increase local police competency and deter rising crime rates.

Sixth place and $1,000 went to Chapman University (Orange, Calif.) for SunChild Collective LLC, a curated online marketplace for trendy fashions and goods created by artisans around the world, combined with a mission to support artisans in their trade.

A special Founders Award of $2,500 each went to University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, Scotland) for REVIVE, a recycling company that gathers coffee grounds from the coffee/hospitality industry to produce a 100% organic fertilizer; and The University of Tampa (Tampa, Fla.) for Ambrosia Global, which franchises fully contained, sustainable agricultural production systems (aquaponics) to food-insecure areas to provide localized food production through a scalable system.

“As a world-class, values-centered university, this competition is truly a sweet spot for TCU and the Neeley School, promoting innovative entrepreneurial startups which add value and meaning in important ways,” said O. Homer Erekson ‘74, John V. Roach Dean of the Neeley School of Business at TCU.

Other teams taking part were from Appalachian State University, Baylor University, Grand Valley State University, J. J. Strossmayer University (Croatia), Monterrey Institute of Technology (Mexico), Regis University, Royal Roads University (Canada), Samford University, Southern Methodist University, Syracuse University, University of Arkansas, University of Florida, University of Houston, University of North Texas, University of Oklahoma, University of Virginia, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Villanova University, Wake Forest University and Walsh University.

Thirty judges participated in the two-day competition. Judging the final competition were Elliott Hill ‘86, president of Nike North America; Stacy Steimel, managing director and head of Latin American equities for PineBridge Investments; Paul Spiegelman, chief culture officer for Stericycle; Jan Norton, coach, author, speaker and angel investor; and Chris Kraft, president, CEO and co-founder of Splash Media.

“Judging this entrepreneurship competition is humbling and inspiring,” Hill said. “These students, age 18 to 22, are very impressive, poised and competent.”

Steimel said that she enjoyed seeing “these young people act out their passion for their plan, to test how much they believe in their product and how viable it is as a business. I also really like the values component to this competition, because it should never just be all about profit.”

Is there a secret to getting in?

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 06:00:00 GMT

One applicant had stellar SAT scores and hours of community service while another had an impressive GPA and an inspiring essay.

Which one would get into TCU?

Last night, about 250 TCU alumni and their children got an inside glimpse into the difficult decision-making process that the admissions staffers face at a program titled “Insiders Edition: Secrets to Putting Your College Application at the Top.”

Led by Ray Brown, dean of admission at TCU, and Heath Einstein, director of freshman admission, the program had all those in attendance looking over the applications of four high school students desiring TCU admission. Names and details from the applications were changed to preserve privacy, but the applications were based on real ones received in recent years.

The number of applications to TCU has soared in recent years — climbing from 12,000 in 2009 to close to 20,000 for the freshman class entering this fall. Meanwhile the number of students in each class has remained relatively constant at 1,600 to 1,800, which makes it more challenging for admissions staffers. Einstein said on some busy days during the height of the admissions season, a staff member has to evaluate 50 or so applications each day.

“The most important thing we do is look to bring in students who will succeed academically, who will thrive academically and give back to the academic community here at TCU,” Einstein said.

Participants in the recent program had just over 30 minutes to look over the applications received from “Eric Egghead,” “Samantha Smartypants,” “Bobby Brainiac” and “Mary Mensa.” They they broke into smaller groups to decide their fate — two could be offered admission to TCU, one could be offered a place on the wait list and one would be denied.

For Donna Campbell ’04 and her niece, Bayli Campbell, a freshman at Centennial High School in Burleson, the program showed the importance of putting together a total package in a college application — strong academic performance, focused extracurricular activities and a well-crafted essay.

“It taught me a lot about what I need to do now in high school to have a better chance at getting in here when I apply senior year,” Bayli Campbell said.

Robert Herbert ’85 and his wife, Maureen Creedon Hebert ’79, already have one daughter at TCU, but hope their second daughter, a student at Colleyville High School, can also gain admission. They said the event’s participatory nature was educational and entertaining.

“I really understand what the admission staff goes through,” Maureen Hebert said. “It was great of them to open up this process to us.”

The program concluded with a summation of the things that TCU and many other top universities look for, beginning with top grades and a rigorous high school curriculum.

"The most important thing you can do in high school to show us you should be here is to perform at a high level in the classroom,” Einstein said. “We look at that in two different ways: the courses you have chosen for yourself and the rigor of those courses.”

He said a student doesn’t necessarily have to take all AP classes, but should have a few to show they are willing to challenge themselves academically.

He also said that a student’s resume plays into the decision and encouraged applicants to list part-time jobs that show they can take on responsibility. It also helps to explain community service to demonstrate that they are looking beyond themselves.

“We don’t want to see that you’ve come home after school every day and played Wii,” he said. "That’s fine, but it doesn’t contribute to the life of your communities. We want to see what you’re contributing.”

Finally both Brown and Einstein emphasized that every admission decision is handled with great care and respect for the student and family involved.

“I don’t like denying admission,” Einstein said. “I’m not the director of freshman denial, I’m the director of freshman admission but we have to make some difficult decisions. What you’ve experienced is a snippet of what we do day in and day out.”

On the Web:
For more about TCU’s admission policies go to admissions.tcu.edu.

Photo gallery:
The night in pictures

Trustees OK $45 million Coliseum renovation

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 06:00:00 GMT

The TCU Board of Trustees have approved design of a $45 million renovation to Daniel-Meyer Coliseum with the project receiving a lead commitment of $10 million from Ed and Rae Schollmaier. The renovation project will begin once all the funds for the facility have been raised.

"Having the opportunity to renovate Daniel-Meyer Coliseum helps TCU achieve its ongoing goal of optimizing its physical campus," TCU chancellor Victor J. Boschini Jr. said. "We are very grateful to Ed and Rae Schollmaier for their continued support of TCU."

The men's and women's basketball programs would receive new locker rooms and team meeting rooms as well as an increased sports medicine center. There would also be new locker rooms for visiting teams. [Download this PDF of some of the floor plans.]

"We are most appreciative of the Schollmaiers, Chancellor Boschini and our Board of Trustees for providing the leadership and support on this project," TCU director of intercollegiate athletics Chris Del Conte said. "Having new facilities for our basketball programs would continue the tremendous momentum we have on campus.

"In addition to the renovation benefitting our student-athletes, we'd be excited for the Horned Frog Nation to experience a more fan-friendly venue. The new Daniel-Meyer Coliseum would be a tremendous source of pride for the TCU and Fort Worth communities.

"Depending on fundraising, my hope is to have construction begin this time next year. This project is another example of the Chancellor's vision for TCU being second to none. His impact on TCU is seen every time you walk on this campus."

The new building facade for Daniel-Meyer Coliseum would architecturally complement Amon G. Carter Stadium and the TCU campus. The interior would have a lower playing surface to increase courtside seating and provide a more intimate atmosphere. Wider concourses and multiple public entries would ease congestion. The fan experience would be further enhanced by new concession stands and restrooms as well as increased points of sale. A new courtside club lounge would be constructed on floor level.

"We would like to thank the Board of Trustees, donors and other members of the TCU community who are helping to make this ambitious project a reality," TCU men's basketball coach Trent Johnson said. "In my short time on campus, I have been truly impressed by the support of those individuals intent on seeing us successfully compete at the Big 12 and national levels. A redeveloped Daniel-Meyer Coliseum will be a vital piece to those efforts. This project will result in a new, unique basketball environment that all those associated with TCU will be proud to call home for years to come."

"We appreciate the Board of Trustees and Ed and Rae Schollmaier for their vision and commitment to this important project," TCU women's basketball coach Jeff Mittie said. "There are so many exciting parts of this project from the locker rooms and student-athlete areas to the new courtside seating, making it one of the most exciting places to play in the Big 12. This will be a source of great pride for our student-athletes and the entire campus."

Additional features of the proposed new Daniel-Meyer Coliseum are a TCU Athletics Hall of Fame display on the concourse level, offices for Olympic sports and administration and a larger main ticket office to support both DMC and Amon G. Carter Stadium.

Photo gallery:
More renderings of the proposed plans

On the Web:
Fort Worth Star-Telegram coverage

Trustees approve $511.9 million budget

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 06:00:00 GMT

A new budget, new construction on campus and increased enrollment topped the news from the Board of Trustees meeting in April.

Trustees approved a record $511.9 million budget to "further support institutional goals and provide students an excellent educational experience," the university said in a news release.

As TCU moves ahead with the second phase of its Vision in Action strategic plan — called The Academy of Tomorrow — the budget was crafted to support the overall university experience by focusing on three key areas: academic profile and reputation; size and balance; and campus environment.

"This budget allows the university to focus on its priorities of maintaining TCU’s competitive advantage, intensifying the university’s momentum and strengthening the student experience," the release said. "The university will continue to move forward in a manner that maintains the quality of a world-class, values-centered university experience."

In other business, Trustees:

approved a $5.6 million renovation of Theodore Prentis Beasley Hall, which houses Religion department classrooms and offices. The project will include renovation of all academic space, as well as restrooms, a new elevator, a complete fire sprinkler system and will address accessibility issues. Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2013 and will be completed over the summers of 2013 and 2014.
approved plans for a $45 million renovation to Daniel-Meyer Coliseum with the project receiving a lead commitment of $10 million from Ed and Rae Schollmaier. The renovation project will begin once all the funds for the facility have been raised. The men's and women's basketball programs would receive new locker rooms and team meeting rooms as well as an increased sports medicine center and other amenities.
approved the construction of a 160-bed Upper Division Residence Hall project in the Worth Hills campus next to the Sophomore Residence Hall project currently under construction. Construction is slated to begin in May 2013 and be finished by August 2014. When completed, the hall will be four stories tall and about 61,000 square feet. Rooms will be designed as suite-style units with a combination of two to four beds. The facility is scheduled for a minimum of LEED Silver certification.
listened to a report from Chancellor Victor J. Boschini that total enrollment for the spring is at 9,160, an increase of 2.5 percent from last academic year. Undergraduate enrollment stands at 7,980, up 3.1 percent, while graduate enrollment is 1,180, down 1.7 percent. Boschini also reported a 96.9 percent retention of Fall 2012 first-time, full-time students.
approved an additional parking lot on the east side of campus, which will add approximately 150 spaces along Lubbock Avenue. The new lot will provide access to Tandy, Smith, Tucker, Bass and Dan Rogers halls and compensate for the loss of parking spaces due to east campus construction. Work on the $1.3 million project will begin in July and is estimated to be complete in October 2013.
approved a salary merit pool of 3 percent for faculty and staff, new faculty and staff positions and an increase in institutional financial aid, which includes a variety of scholarships, including the addition of new Chancellor’s Scholars and new Community Scholars.
heard a report from the Student Government Association, which has funded a student memorial (left) in response to students’ requests to provide a place of reflection and solitude on campus. The landmark, which is nearing completion between the sidewalks of Jarvis Hall and Dave C. Reed Hall, features a single lily pad flute identical to ones on Frog Fountain. The memorial will not have running water through it to symbolize the quiet and stillness of campus without life.
approved an earlier recommendation by the Executive Committee to confer honorary degrees on two individuals. Killed in action in Afghanistan, fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Whetstone Schmidt will receive an Honorary Doctorate of the university posthumously. Additionally, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, a guest conductor in TCU’s School of Music, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Music. The honorary degrees will be awarded at a future commencement ceremony.
passed a resolution honoring Dr. and Mrs. Boschini for their 10 years of service to TCU. Under Boschini's tenure, the university has launched the Andrews Institute of Math & Science Education, the Schieffer School of Journalism, the TCU Energy Institute, the Institute of Child Development and the John V. Roach Honors College. TCU has been consistently been listed among the top 100 national universities and was recognized in 2010 by U.S. News & World Report and as one of 20 “Up and Coming” universities. Additionally, enrollment has risen 17.5 percent and the freshman-to-sophomore retention rate has improved to 90 percent, undergraduate financial aid has doubled and applications for admission have grown by 152.6 percent to more than 19,300.
passed a resolution to honor Robert J. Wright, a devoted TCU Trustee from 1993-2013. A graduate of TCU, Wright had a significant influence on national medical care and public policy by serving as president of Medical Group Management Association, the American College of Medical Care Administrators, of which he is a Distinguished Fellow, and the Center for Research in Ambulatory Health Care Administration, as well as by serving on the board of the National Center for Policy Analysis. He is renowned for his generosity to TCU as a member of the Chancellor’s Council, a Founder of the Addison & Randolph Clark Society and a Gold member of the TCU Frog Club. He has also contributed to the Mary and Robert J. Wright Hall, Kellye Wright Samuelson Hall and the Mary Wright Admission Center and provided scholarship support for countless Wright scholars.
passed a resolution in memoriam of Ruth Carter Stevenson, a devoted Trustee from 1974 to 1986 and Trustee Emeritus from 1986 until her death earlier this year. She served on the faculty relations, building and grounds and nominating committees. She is credited with creating the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth and distinguished herself as president of the Board of Directors of the Amon G. Carter Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the South. Integral to Fort Worth history, she was the founding chairman of the Cultural District Advisory Committee, president of the Arts Council of Fort Worth, one of the original founders of the Streams and Valleys Committee, and the recipient of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 2007 International Award of Excellence in Conservation. Through the Amon G. Carter Foundation, she helped shape the TCU campus, particularly with the J.M. Moudy Visual Arts and Communications Building, and was recognized by the University with the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 1973 and by the TCU Alumni Association with the Royal Purple Award in the same year.
heard a report from the Academic Affairs committee that Dr. Philip S. Hartman of the biology department and interm dean of the College of Science & Engineering has been appointed as dean. Hartman will begin his role on June 1, 2013.
elected Elliott J. Hill '86 and Jan Tucker Scully ’79 (MBA ’81) as new trustees to the Board.
passed a resolution to move the following individuals to emeritus status at the university: Jean Giles-Sims (Sociology), Linda Guy (Art), Kathryne McDorman (History), William Powers (Communication Studies) and Larry Lauer (Emeritus Vice Chancellor for Government Affairs) who will serve in a Cabinet position.

NBA's Spurs support TCU professorship

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 06:00:00 GMT

The TCU AddRan College of Liberal Arts accepted a $100,000 contribution in April from Silver & Black Give Back, the non-profit organization of San Antonio Spurs Sports & Entertainment, to help fund the Lance Cpl. Benjamin Whetstone Schmidt Professorship in History.

In a ceremony between the first and second quarters of the Apr. 12 San Antonio-Sacramento game, Spurs chairman Peter Holt presented the six-figure check to Spurs team physician and Benjamin's father Dr. David Schmidt and AddRan Dean Andrew Schoolmaster.

The endowment honors Lance Cpl. Schmidt, a San Antonio native who attended TCU before joining the Marine Corps and becoming a sniper. He was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan on April 6, 2011. Before serving overseas, Schmidt elected to split his $400,000 life insurance policy between his mother and TCU.

Dr. Schmidt, who has has served as the Spurs team physician for 20 years, and wife Teresa launched the endowment with a personal contribution of $100,000, with a goal of raising $1 million to fund the professorship.

“The entire Spurs family has been supportive of our family ever since Benjamin’s death," Dr. Schmidt told the San Antonio Express-News before the ceremony. "They’ve supported us through the really tough times and now in Benjamin’s behalf. We’re honored and humble to be part of this organization. Obviously, they take good care of their family.”

After graduating from Alamo Heights High School, Schmidt enrolled at TCU. During his sophomore year he made the decision to withdraw from school and join the Marines. Following sniper school, he twice volunteered fto fight in Afghanistan, first to gain combat experience and then to lead a group of inexperienced Marine snipers who had never been in combat. Prior to his second deployment, Schmidt decided that upon his return home that he would retire from the Marines, re-enroll at TCU and pursue a career as a professor of history.

He was killed in October 2011, while on sniper patrol, in the Helmand Province. He was 24.

“When we lost Benjamin we had a choice,” said Dr. Schmidt. “We could sit still and fill our days with pity and anger or we could figure out a way to honor our son. In recognition of his service to his country, his passion for history and his love for TCU, this was an easy decision. We’re excited that Benjamin will have a positive impact on generation after generation of students. We believe this endowment will help keep his spirit alive.”

After his death the Benjamin Whetstone Schmidt Memorial Scholarship Fund was created at TCU. The fund was created at Benjamin’s request, based on a conversation with his father before his second deployment, and is open to graduate students in TCU’s history department. To date the scholarship fund has raised over $500,000.

“While we still live with pain on a daily basis it brings us great pleasure to honor Benjamin, first with the scholarship and now with the endowment,” said Schmidt. “Just as we are proud of the man he became, we know he’d be proud of us, his family and friends, for creating a lasting legacy in his name.”

Those wishing to support the endowment can send memorials to LCpl Benjamin W. Schmidt Professorship, Office of University Development, Texas Christian University, TCU Box 297044, Fort Worth, TX 76129 or make a gift online at www.makeagift.tcu.edu designated to the Benjamin W. Schmidt Professorship.

On the Web:
San Antonio Express-News coverage
The TCU Magazine news story on Schmidt named TCU as beneficiary
Washington Post feature on Benjamin Schmidt
Fort Worth Star-Telegram feature on Benjamin Schmidt

To help:
Donate to the Schmidt Endowed Professorship at HeartofPurple.com or makeagift.tcu.edu and designate the Benjamin W. Schmidt Professorship.

Video:

Journalists: U.S. influence decreasing abroad

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 06:00:00 GMT

The U.S. push to intervene in the Middle East and North Africa to promote democracy has led to creating chaos in the region, decreasing American influence in the Arab world and potentially fomenting future terrorist activity, a panel of national and international journalists said yesterday at the 9^th Schieffer Symposium on the News.

“There seems to be this repeated mistake by the U.S. of unintended consequences. It’s the idea that if you liberate Egypt from [now deposed dictator Hosni] Mubarak and bring democracy, that they’ll be better off. And they’re not better off,” said Nancy Youssef, Cairo-based Middle East bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers. “In fact, the consistent threat now is because of these miscalculations there is actually less U.S. influence in the entire region.”

Overseas hot spots such as Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya and Syria were among the topics explored during the 75-minute discussion as CBS newsman Bob Schieffer ’59 welcomed another quartet of national and international journalists to TCU for his annual conversation on the news. Joining him were Fred Barnes, co-founder and executive editor of The Weekly Standard; Charlie Rose, co-host of “CBS This Morning” and PBS’ “Person to Person;” Clarissa Ward, CBS News foreign correspondent; and Youssef.

While the event was titled “Challenges at Home & Abroad,” the dialogue was dominated by talk of international tensions and their impact on America.

“The Arab Spring has set off a chain of dominoes,” said Ward, who has reported from war zones in Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

U.S.-backed upheavals in Libya and Egypt have caused instability to spread across North Africa and have ripened conditions for insurgent activity, she said.

“What we’re watching now are the consequences of those miscalculations and misreadings,” Youssef said, citing no-fly zone strategies that backfired and resulted in Libya hitting civilian targets. “The U.S. just doesn’t the influence they did a few years ago. The things that were leveraged before just don’t matter to people the way they did. It’s breathtaking how much U.S. influence has diminished just this last year.”

Ward an Yousself also pointed to President Obama’s failure to jumpstart Israel-Palestinian negotiations this spring and the underwhelming reaction from Egypt to new Secretary of State John Kerry’s $250 million aid package as examples of declining American authority.

An even worse consequence is an increase in terrorist groups merging, they said.

“Not just Al-Qaeda or the ones that you hear about, but microgroups that are modeling themselves after Al-Qaeda,” Youssef said. “And they’re not just terrorist groups. They’re becoming like Hezbollah and providing social services and food in the absence of government. What I fear for the region is that we will find ourselves working with state and non-state actors for control of the country.”

How the U.S. winds down a war and exits Afghanistan will determine the immediate future for Central Asia, they agreed, and Afghanistan isn’t ready.

“We have to have the building blocks of peace before we can leave,” Youssef said. “For all the money invested, so little has changed. Resources have gone not toward building a state, but for war. Now, the troops’ mission is to reduce casualties, not to win a war. That’s not a way to fight. Because of the lack of progress, the goal is to minimize the damage.”

Additionally, the U.S. has not been able to build an indigenous economy for Afghanistan, Ward said.

“There’s no money in peace. There’s a lot of money in war. When all that international money dries up, Afghanistan’s economy is going to a deep and dark place,” she said.

Another problem is that the Taliban and Afghan President Hamid Karzai continue to distrust each other as they did before the U.S. occupation.

“It’s hard to envision how there can be peace in Afghanistan after U.S. and NATO troops pull out unless the building blocks of peace are in place,” Ward said. “As it stands, after pull out, the fighting will start again.”

But there’s no evidence an agreement will come or that it’s a U.S. priority, Youssef said. “We’re not thinking in those terms. We’re thinking in terms of exit and minimizing casualties,” she said. “That’s not a commitment to a long-term commitment.”

In Pakistan, U.S. may now be more hated than long-time neighbor India, Schieffer suggested, after American forces killed Osama bin Laden in a 2012 raid.

Relations between American and Pakistan, who are historical allies, are “dysfunctional” and at an all-time low, Ward said, yet it is among the most important bilateral partnerships on the planet.

“Both sides have strong sense of being wronged,” she explained. “You can understand why the Americans are mad as hell over bin Laden. But to a Pakistani, bin Laden is almost secondary to the U.S. violating Pakistan’s sovereignty.”

Pakistan points to the fact that before 9-11, it didn’t have suicide bombings. The Taliban hadn’t penetrated the nation until after it signed a deal with President George W. Bush and entered the war on terror.

The relationship has to exist, Barnes said. “They have nuclear weapons,” he said. “We don’t have the luxury of pulling out of Pakistan. There are countries that we may not like, and they may not like us, but we need to have influence and be dependent on American for aid and defense.”

Rose pointed to Pakistan’s mysterious intelligence arm ISI, which is often suspected of double-dealing with the Taliban.

“They’ve never disclosed what they’re doing,” Rose said. According to what we know, there’s no evidence that the top levels knew about bin Laden, but you ask about the middle levels, and they say, ‘That’s the question.’ ”

Equally a quandary is what is happening in North Korea, where new leader has called for nuclear tests and boasted of missile capabilities seemingly to carry on the legacy of his father and gradfather. The U.S. has raised its threat levels.

“The worry is that there will be a repeat of World War I” Rose said. “Somebody miscalculates and takes the wrong step and somebody reacts and then you’re off to the races.”

Even in situations in which the U.S. has not acted, such as Syria, there is fallout, Ward said. Protestors took to the streets this spring convinced the U.S. and NATO forces would support them.

So far, America has not intervened, weary from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Rose said, even in spite of recommendations to do so from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, former Gen. David Patraeus and former President Bill Clinton.

As a result, an estimated 70,000 Syrians have died in the uprising and rebel groups are now reportedly turning to Al-Qaeda just to survive, Ward said.

“Unfortunately, in the case of Syria, the hand that’s been grabbed is the hand of radical Islamists,” she said. “As a journalist, I can’t propagate one course of action or another, but I can say that this could have been avoided. … Not having a policy has consequences too.”

“Not to act is to act,” Rose added.

Pressure is building in Washington, Barnes said.

“There’s still time to do something decisive. … A no-fly zone can work as it did in Bosnia and Iraq,” he said. “It could work in Syria. It can take away a strategic advantage and that is they have air power. It could be something that will force President Assad to negotiate or resign. At the end of the day, in Syria, you have to take sides. Leading from behind doesn’t work.”

At home, talk of 2016 presidential races is sharing headlines with legislation on immigration and gun control, Barnes said.

Rose and Barnes expressed optimism that progress could be made on both issues, while Schieffer said he sensed there was still “miles to go.”

Photo Gallery:
The night in pictures

On the Web:
Coverage from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Coverage from TCU360

From the archives:
Eighth annual - symposium coverage and video highlights - 04/11/12
Seventh annual - symposium coverage and video highlights - 04/06/11
Sixth annual - "Is Washington Broken?" and video highlights - 04/07/10
Fifth annual - "Obama and the Press - Is the Media doing its job?" and video highlights - 04/01/09
Fourth annual - "Is Campaign 2008 about the right stuff?" and video highlights - 04/02/08

Video:

New stadium statue dedicated

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:00:00 GMT

The idea came to TCU football supporter Steve Gray when the Horned Frogs were on the road.

In 2009, Gray was with the 15th-ranked Frogs when they slogged out a 14-10 victory in a rainstorm at Clemson on the way to the program's first 12-0 regular season and trip to the Tostito's Fiesta Bowl.

Like many Frog fans there that day, Gray took note of Howard's Rock, a boulder sent to the school by an alumnus in 1966 and placed in the stadium. Players took to rubbing the rock for luck as they took the field.

Gray thought TCU ought to have something like it when Amon G. Carter Stadium was renovated.

Yesterday, the Horned Frogs got their landmark — an 8-foot, 1,200-pound bronze of a horned frog crouched fiercely on a rock and will guard the venue's east plaza. Plans call for Horned Frog players and coaches to touch the statue when they arrive in Frog Alley 2 1/2 hours before kickoff on game days.

"My thought was that we could have something that not only involves the football players but involve everyone in the TCU community and Frog nation," Gray told a crowd of several thousand who watched the unveiling ceremony during TCU Football's Spring Fan Fest.

"Gary Patterson personifies excellence with his football team. There isn't any body who's played for Coach Patterson who hasn't gotten to the top without hard work, effort, dedication, commitment," he said. "This bronze statue was meant to show what a successful Horned Frog can do. He doesn't just sit there and look around. He got on top of that rock because he earned the right to be up there."

While the team inspired it, the statue is a message for everyone in the TCU community to aspire to excellence, he said.

"It's because of the drive and dedication and everything it takes to be successful a Horned Frog — as a student, as a parent, as a coach, as a professional. I want all of you to be a part of this horned frog. The only way to get there is through hard work."

The artwork was not a part of the original stadium plan, said John Denton '85, director of major gifts for TCU Athletics.

"[Gray] had an idea. He saw an opportunity and brought it to us," Denton said. "The athletics director said, 'If you can raise the money, we will do it.' "

Two more donors — Bill Shaddock '73 and Ricky Stuart '96 — joined Gray and the project was on its way. Together, they commissioned Gray's friend and New Braunfels sculptor Paul Tadlock to create the icon. Tadlock previously had designed the 7-foot Ben Hogan bronze, which overlooks the 18th green at Colonial Country Club, just a mile from campus.

TCU board of trustees chairman Clarence Scharbauer III '73 accepted the statue on behalf of the board and administration.

"We appreciate this more than you know,” Scharbauer said. “You three guys will be commended forever.”

Opposing fans will take notice, too, he said.

"Whenever these Longhorns, these Red Raiders, these Bears and whoever else come in this stadium, this is the first thing they're going to see," he boasted to the delight of the crowd. "When they leave, after Gary hands their hat to them, they're going to see it again. For all those people out there that don't know what a horned frog is, they're gonna get it. 'Cause this is real."

Patterson, who was the first to rub the statue's nose after the dedication, said he's proud of Gray, Shaddock and Stuart for "stepping up above the call of duty."

“For these three families to do something like that is very special for us,” the coach said. “And to know they didn’t just do it because they wanted their name on a Frog, they did it because they knew it was important to us, and it represented something.”

On the Web:
Photo gallery

Video:

Former AT&T, GM CEO: Risks pay off

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 06:00:00 GMT

In 1990, Southwestern Bell had given its president Edward Whitacre, Jr. the new titles chief executive officer and chairman of the board, and Bell Laboratories shared with him a bold prediction.

In 20 years, there would be 1 million mobile phone customers around the world.

Almost two decades later, when Whitacre ended his career with AT&T (the name the company took after a 2005 merger), there were nearly 6 billion.

In between, Whitacre advanced what was the smallest segment of the old Bell System after its 1984 government-mandated breakup through a series of acquisitions and mergers to build the nation’s largest provider of local long distance telephone and wireless service.

“We were the smallest of the Baby Bells, and when you’re the smallest, that’s usually not a good thing if you want to stay in business long,” Whitacre told a crowd of 300 at the TCU Neeley School of Business Tandy Executive Speaker Series yesterday.

“We decided that we had two choices: We could get purchased by someone else, or we could get big ourselves.”

Whitacre and Southwestern Bell picked the latter and started growing with the purchase of the Mexican Telephone Company (Telmex) in 1990. Southwestern Bell would invest $1 billion in the acquisition, recognizing that there were lots of potential customers who had been underserved historically.

“It didn’t take a genius to see that Mexico could be good. There weren’t many phones, and the ones who had them waited six months to get them,” he recounted. “If it was in trouble, it took six months to get it repaired. There was huge demand in Mexico. The government owned it and wanted to privatize it.”

Southwestern Bell’s stock dropped $7 the next day, and Whitacre joked that he’d be remembered as the shortest-tenured CEO in the company’s history. He started there in 1963 as a line worker.

A week later, the stock price zoomed up, and the Telmex risk paid off, he said.

Another gamble that yielded dividends came in 1997 with the purchase of Pacific Telesis, which owned Air Touch, a wireless spinoff.

“Here’s a wire-line telephone company in California. A lot of people out there,” he said. “But what they had that nobody saw was the licenses to rebuild all that wireless. They didn’t have any towers or stores or mobile phones, but they had the licenses. If we could rebuild all that, we could double the size of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company over night.”

The expansion continued with SNET (1998), Comcast Cellular (1999), Ameritech (1999) and AT&T Corporation (2005), from which the company took the name it uses today.

The challenges he faced as chief executive then are not different than what CEOs encounter today, he said.

“Follow the vision you have for for your company. Be able to change strategy and tactics on a dime. Be willing to take a risk. Do good by the people who work for you because they are your most important asset. I’m not sure they’ve changed over the years.”

But being on the board is a different matter, said Whitacre, who served on boards at AT&T and ExxonMobil.

“You never want to bet your company,” he said. “[Board members] are elected to represent the stockholders, not the chairman, not management. They’re charged with making sure the company is run in accordance with rules and regulations. I’m not sure that’s changed, but the ability to make sure that’s happening has changed. There’s more oversight. It’s harder now than it used to be.”

Whitacre would retire from AT&T in 2007 but then consult for the company another three years.

Then the U.S. government called in 2009 as pleaded with him on three occasions to assume leadership of General Motors, which was emerging from bankruptcy. He quickly understood that the automaker needed a culture change and pared down several of its sub-brands and projects, such as Saab and Volt.

“GM was doing it their way, and if you didn’t like it, you didn’t have to buy it,” he said. “They lost their reputation, and further lost it with the bankruptcy. It was pretty easy to ignite everybody and get it back.”

Whitacre also stopped GM from blaming economic conditions.

"Toyota brought it worldwide. Honda brought it worldwide. Volkswagen did. And GM just didn’t,” he said. “They had violated Rule No. 1 in business: Revenues have to exceed expenses.”

He also simplified the organizational structure and sharpened its focus so it was understood from the boardroom to the assembly line, he said.

“We talked about what GM does at this company, and the chief engineer said, ‘We should be designing, building and selling the world’s best vehicles.’ And I said, ‘I think that’s it.’ “

He also repaired relations with the United Autoworkers Union. The results took care of themselves, he said.

“The quality of GM products got fixed almost overnight. People began to be energized. We came out of bankruptcy and everybody said it’ll be two years before you make a nickel. We made a $1 billion the first three months, and people began to see that it could be done.“

TCU wins CASE awards

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 06:00:00 GMT

TCU Admission claimed two Gold awards, while TCU Athletics and The TCU Magazine each claimed one Gold at the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District IV Accolades Awards program last week.

Admission was the top winner in the categories Website - Special Sub Site or Section for its website and in Social Media - Creative Use for its new digital viewbook, unveiled in 2012. The viewbook also earned a silver award in the category Design - Viewbooks.

TCU Athletics claimed the lead honor for its Big 12 Inaugural Season Campaign in the category Print Advertising Projects. Athletics also received an Honorable Mention award in Electronic Communication, Web and New Media Video Feature for its #TCUBig12Video.

The magazine was recognized with a gold in the category General Writing Collection, in which three separate stories comprise one entry. The magazine also picked up silver awards for Design - Illustration and Medical/Scientific Feature Writing, bronze awards for Medical/Scientific News Writing and Medical/Scientific Writing Collection and an Honorable Mention for Feature Writing - More Than 1,000 Words.

Other winners included University Advancement, which garnered a silver award in the category Fund Raising/Development Project or Special Event for its End of The Campaign for TCU Donor Dinner. Website and Social Media Management earned a silver in Social Media Networking Page for the TCU Facebook page. TCU Publications won an Honorable Mention in the category Design - Special Pieces for the TCU Fine Arts Calendar.

TCU winners from 2013 CASE DIstrict IV awards:
Gold: Social Media - Creative Use (TCU Digital Viewbook)
Gold: Website - Special Sub Site or Section (TCU Admission website)
Gold: Print Advertising Projects (TCU Football Inaugural Season Campaign)
Gold: General Writing Collection (Dead-Solid Perfect, Making His Own Legend, Last of Old Stadium Knocked Down)
Silver: Fund Raising/Development Project or Special Event (End of The Campaign for TCU Donor Dinner)
Silver: Social Media Networking Page (TCU Facebook Page)
Silver: Design - Viewbooks (TCU Digital Viewbook)
Silver: Design - Illustrations (Coach Patterson by Bart Forbes)
Silver: Medical/Scientific Feature Writing (Virus Hunter)
Bronze: Medical/Scientific News Writing (Thirst For Knowledge)
Bronze: Medical/Scientific Writing Collection (Thirst For Knowledge, Virus Hunter, Secrets of the Night Sky, Lip Service)
Honorable Mention: Electronic Communication, Web and New Media Video Feature (#TCUBig12Video)
Honorable Mention: Design - Special Pieces (TCU Fine Arts Calendar)
Honorable Mention: Feature Writing - More than 1,000 words (Dead-Solid Perfect)

Getting it in writing

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 06:00:00 GMT

For Allana Wooley, creative writing is an obligation because her characters won't be denied a place on the page.

“Writing is not a choice for me. In my view, when a story presents itself to you, there is an obligation to the characters to paint them out verbally and give them purpose. Every story deserves to be told,” Wooley a rising junior from Marble Falls, wrote in an e-mail to English Professor Dan Williams.

It'a a calling familiar to Sandra Brown '69, a best-selling author from Fort Worth with more than 80 million books in print. She told the audience gathered at this week’s Creative Writing Awards, Wooley's words resonated with her when Williams forwarded her the e-mail.

“I thought this young lady is a real writer because you don’t have a choice,” Brown said. “It’s a compulsion that drives your family and friends crazy. They think you’re crazy. They’re not sure if you’re crazy because you write or you write because you’re crazy, but it’s got to be one of the two.”

Wooley, the 2013 recipient of the Sandra Brown Excellence in Literary Fiction, which provides a full tuition scholarship to a TCU student who demonstrates both academic excellence and significant potential as a fiction writer. The selection process two sets of judging the writer's portfolio, once by TCU faculty and locally prominent writers, and a second blind review by three prominent national writers.

Chancellor Victor J. Boschini Jr. recognized Wooley in the ceremony, noting that she has a 4.0 grade point average as a writing and anthropology major with a minor in Spanish. She is also a resident hall advisor and volunteers with Read to Win, a bilingual reading group that tutors children and hopes to eventually work for a service organization such as Teach for America.

“I pretty sure that whatever she does, she will continue writing, just as she said in her letter,” he added.

Wooley is the fifth student to win the scholarship. Previous winners include Nickie Ann Vogt in 2012, Bill Hamlett in 2011, Travis Freeman in 2010 and Kelli Trapnell in 2009. Brown says she enjoys getting periodic updates from recipients.

“The scholarship has been validated very solidly four times by the creativity and visions of previous recipients and I’m sure Allana will fall right into that tradition and keep us very proud that this scholarship bears my name,” says, Brown, the author of 62 The New York Times bestsellers including Low Pressure, published in 2012.

The scholarship announcement kicked off the annual Creative Writing Awards, held April 1 in the Kelly Alumni and Visitors Center. A longstanding tradition going back seven decades, the awards include monetary awards in 27 categories from poetry to essay writing.

“There really is a real community of writers on this campus,” said ceremony host Mathew Pitt, assistant professor of English and author of Attention Please Now. “One that provides a real energy and history that TCU can be proud of.”

2013 TCU Creative Writing Award Winners

Fiction (short story or incident) Award
Sponsor: The Women’s Wednesday Club, Fort Worth
Judge: David Colón, author of The Lost Men
Winner: Kellie Coppola for “Lucky”

Research Paper or Essay, Making Use of Source Material
Sponsor: The Women’s Wednesday Club, Fort Worth
Judge: Jason Helms
Winner: Caroline Currier for “The Slavery of Our Generation”

The Sigma Tau Delta Essay Award
Sponsor: Chi Alpha Chapter, Sigma Tau Delta
Judge: Rima Abunasser
Winner: Shan Jiang for “Life on the Run”

The AddRan English Award
Sponsor: Anonymous
Judge: Chantel Langlinais
Winner: Laura Lopez for “Passion and Sincerity”

The Environmental Writing Award
Sponsor and Judge: Dan Williams
Winner: Trip Starkey for “The Fire in the Earth: Faulkner's Nature Ethics”

The Harry Opperman Short Story Contest
Sponsor: Dr. and Mrs. David Vanderwerken
Judge: Wiley Cash, author of A Land More Kind Than Home
Winner, 1st Place: Lynn Kelly for “Rocket Man”?
Winner 2nd Place: Storey Hinojosa for “Poor Banished Children”
Winner 3rd Place: Allana Wooley for “Landed”

The Non-Fiction Prose Contest
Sponsor: The Thursday Group, TCU Women Exes
Judge: Jeramey Kraatz, author of The Cloak Society
Winner, 1st Place: Storey Hinojosa for “Someone Might Call it a Love Story”
Winner, 2nd Place: Eleanor Weltge for “The Prostate Cancer Dilemma: A Position Statement on PSA Screening”
Winner, 3rd Place: Kellie Coppola for “Brown and Blue”

The C.S. Lewis Prize for Christian Literature
Sponsor: Joyce Rogers estate
Judge: Adam Clay, author of The Wash
Winner: Jared Lax for “The Gospel on a Napkin”

The Mortar Board Prize in Literary Criticism
Sponsor: TCU Chapter, Mortar Board
Judge: Neil Easterbrook
Winner: Trip Starkey for “August Shadows: Faulkner's Phantoms and Ghosts”

The Siddie Joe Johnson Poetry Award
Sponsor: Anonymous friend of the late Siddie Joe Johnson
Judge: Adam Clay, author of The Wash
Winner, 1st Place: Trip Starkey for “Love”?Winner, 2nd Place: Ellery LeSueur for “The Man on Television”

The Nancy Evans Memorial Award for Texas Writing
Sponsor: The Evans family
Judge: Jeramey Kraatz, author of The Cloak Society
Winner, 1st Place: Margaret Fleming for “For William”
Winner, 2nd Place: Storey Hinojosa for “December's Litanies”

The Neil Daniel Drama Contest
Sponsor: Anonymous
Judge: Matt Pitt, author of Attention Please Now
Winner: Mary Claire Hamm for “Time Atlantic”

The Subversive Thought Award
Sponsor: Anonymous
Judge: Ariane Balizet
Winner: Allana Wooley for “Paper Bags”

The Woman's Wednesday Club Merit Award
Sponsor: The Woman’s Wednesday Club, Fort Worth
Winner: Lucy Gage

The Lorraine Sherley Prize for a Writing Portfolio
Sponsor: Anonymous
Judge: Dr. Nathanael O’Reilly, author of Symptoms of Homesickness
Winner: Rachel Causey

The Bill Camfield Memorial Award for Humor and Satire in Fiction
Sponsor: Endowment established by Paul and Stephanie Camfield in memory of Mr. Camfield’s father
Judge: William Hockaday Camfield
Winner, 1st Place: Storey Hinojosa for “Eat, Drink, and Be”
Winner, 2nd Place: (not awarded this year)

The Margaret-Rose Marek Memorial Multimedia Writing Award
Sponsor: Steve Sherwood and the New Media Writing Studio
Judge: Anonymous
Winner: Rachel Spurrier for “From Writing to Multimodality: The Writing Center Shift”

The Lilla Thomas Award for an Interpretive or Critical Essay on Feminist Writers or Feminist Issues
Sponsor: Marcella Daniel in memory of an independent woman
Judge: Ariane Balizet
Winner: Carrie Tippen for “Fertilization, Geneaology, and Naturalization”

The Kurt Lee Hornbeck Poetry Award
Sponsor: The Kurt Lee Hornbeck Memorial Endowment
Judge: Ada Limon, author of Sharks in the River
Winner, 1st Place: Carrie Tippen for “On Roots”?
Winner, 2nd Place: Bill Hamlett for “Welcome to the Music”

The Australia Tarver Award for Critical Essay on Race, Post-Colonialism, or Multi-Ethnic Studies
Sponsor: Karen Steele
Judge: Rima Abunasser
Winner: Carrie Tippen for “Queer Hunger, Eating, and Feeding in Morrison's Song of Solomon”

The Woman's Wednesday Club Essay Prize
Sponsor: The Woman’s Wednesday Club, Fort Worth
Judge: Matt Pitt, author of Attention Please Now
Winner: Jessica Dollarhide for “A Broken Bond of Trust: Reviewing Options for Female Rape Victims in the U.S. Military”

The William L. Adams Writing Center Prize for the Best Essay About Rhetoric & Composition
Sponsor: William L. Adams Writing Center
Judge: Steve Sherwood, author of Hardwater
Winner: Joshua Daniel-Wariya for “Huizinga's Magic Circle and the (Alien) Phenomenon of Play”

The Betsy Colquitt Graduate Poetry Award
Sponsor: Linda Clark
Judge: Dr. Nathanael O’Reilly, author of Symptoms of Homesickness
Winner: Carrie Tippen for “Dinner”

The Margie Boswell Poetry Award
Sponsor: The Boswell family, whose endowed gift honoring Margie Boswell funds this award
Judge: Anonymous
Winner, 1st Place: Ben Taylor for “Thoughts from my Rocket”

Note: The Bob Frye Satire Award and the David John Ball Memorial Prize for a Writing Portfolio were not awarded this year.

Reporter details confronting Obama secrecy

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 06:00:00 GMT

The White House calls it the “Light Footprint” strategy.

After a near-decade of combat in Asia, and America feeling economically and politically fatigued from war, President Obama reversed course during his first term of office from a world-engagement and nation-building approach to concluding that the U.S. should moderate its military might and employ new tactics, a reporter from The New York Times told Schieffer School of Journalism students and faculty yesterday.

“The big lesson coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan is that the U.S. can no longer afford to send 100,000, or 150,000 troops, into a country for six or seven years with the objective of re-wiring the country, changing the way it operates,” said David Sanger, chief Washington correspondent for the Times, who spent two days with the school as its Cecil H. and Ida Green Honors chair.

“Inevitably, you discover that you build up resentments. … You discover the that the forces of cultural resistance to the American occupation eventually overwhelm whatever early joy people had in seeing you come in and liberate the country. Both these wars were enormously expensive, both in lives and treasure. Meanwhile, the occupations themselves came to return quite diminishing results.”

It is virtually impossible to re-wire a country unless it wants change itself, he said.

“Democracy is a really great import for countries that want it, but it’s really a pretty terrible export,” he said.

Instead, Obama quickly and surprisingly adopted a strategy of using the military’s unmanned drone program, cyber warfare and surgical strikes by special forces units to address threats in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, he said.

“The ‘Light Footprint’ strategy tries a different approach. It’s all about going in very quickly, striking at a specific target and getting out,” he said. “To do so, it relies on new technologies and new capabilities that are designed to reduce American casualties and keep these conflicts very inexpensive.”

Sanger details this transformation in the president’s thinking in his 2012 book Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power.

No one expected this, Sanger told his audience yesterday. Certainly not Obama’s liberal base, which cheered his 2008 campaign trail denouncements of President George W. Bush’s handling of the Iraq War.

Yet, in fact, Obama signed off on 300 drone strikes in Pakistan alone during his first term, Sanger said. (By contrast, Bush ordered 48 drone attacks there during his eight years in office.)

Neither did anyone in Washington expect the president to embrace the use of cyber weapons, Sanger said. In 2008, Obama only spoke about cyber attacks in terms of guarding Americans’ personal privacy or fending off assaults on the banking or telecommunications industries.

But after he became the commander-in-chief, the president ramped up a U.S. program called Olympic Games that utilized a computer “worm” to dismantle parts of Iran’s growing nuclear program. It was the first time the U.S. used a cyber weapon over a sustained period against another country, not to spy but destroy, he said.

What changed Obama’s mind? At a transition meeting just before the 2009 inauguration, Bush himself suggested that the president-elect would want to keep the drone and Olympic Games programs.

But Obama’s administration also quickly concluded that America’s biggest security threats could be best addressed remotely, Sanger said.

“In the case of al-Qaeda, the U.S. could not go into Pakistan except for extraordinary circumstances, like what happened with the bin Laden raid. So he’d need another way in, and drones were really only alternative,” he said.

Also a surprise, Obama’s accelerated tactics dismantled al-Qaeda’s central command in less than three years, faster than anyone anticipated and forced its remaining core to relocate to havens in Mali, Somalia and other North Africa locales, Sanger said.

Similarly, Obama turned to the Olympic Games cyber attacks when he decided his options contending with Iranian nuclear capabilities, Sanger said.

“He was going to have to face a choice between an Iran that had the bomb or an Iran that was bombed by the Israelis,” he said. “The first, he thought, was unacceptable. The second, he feared, could start a war in the Middle East.”

These programs and the president’s reversal in strategy are important to journalism students because it was suffused in secrecy, Sanger said.

“No one knew why the decisions were made to do drone strikes or on what legal basis or moral basis the administration was making them,” he said. “It became the job of journalists to dig this out, explain it and try to determine if it was justified.”

Not surprisingly, the Obama Administration, which promised record amounts of transparency when it took office, did not want to engage in such conversation or reveal the internal debates surrounding the decisions, he said.

Instead, journalists have experienced a record number of leak investigations, including ones that have targeted Sanger’s reporting for the Times and for information in his book.

“As I enter the next four years of covering the Obama Administration, I think it is fair to say that in the 18 years I have been in Washington that this is the among the most secretive administrations that I have covered.”

But more important than the investigations is the silences, Sanger said.

“It’s often very difficult to get this administration to explain the underlying reasoning behind the important things,” he said. “As a reporter, I’ve learned that the silences – what doesn’t get discussed – are more important than what does get discussed.”

America needs these answers, he argues, in order to have informed public discussions, much the way the country weighed the pros and cons of nuclear weapons in World War II.

“Eventually, we decided we would only use nuclear weapons for the most extreme national emergency,” he said. “That was the product of a pretty well-informed public debate. We need to have that debate about what kind of targets we would use drones against and whether we should used armed drones or unarmed ones. We need to have that debate on cyber, as well.”

Ultimately, Obama’s second term could be judged not on what he did with rogue states but on how he handled rising powers, such as China, Sanger said.

“We’ve spent most of the past decade dealing with failing states … but as one official in the administration put it to me as I was doing the reporting for my book, ‘Twenty years from now, no one will remember most of this. But they will remember whether we got China right or wrong.’ And that, in fact, will come to define a good part of the second term.”

On the Web:
David Sanger report on "Light Footprint" in NY Times
TCU 360 coverage

Student-athletes take 300 bears to hospital

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 06:00:00 GMT

The idea emerged in the fall: What if TCU Athletics turned its annual Christmas toy drive into a broader community-wide outreach effort.

That question eventually led to Frogs Care With Bears, a teddy bear collection effort that benefits young patients at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth.

"We decided it was time to change it up," said senior swimming & diving team member Nelson Head, president of the TCU Student-Athlete Advisory Council, which is organized the drive. "It's still a great chance for the TCU community to give back, but now the Fort Worth community can be an active partner with us."

Yesterday, that plan resulted in more than 300 bears and other stuffed animals arriving at Fort Worth's children's hospital. TCU athletes from swimming and diving, rifle, women's golf and volleyball carrying bags of the cuddly creatures.

"It was great to make that kind of contribution. The hospital was incredibly grateful for our efforts," said Head, a kinesiology major from Tulsa, Okla. "And the fact that it was a partnership of TCU and the Fort Worth community working together just made it more rewarding.

In February, TCU student-athletes stood at the entrances of Daniel-Meyer Coliseum for three basketball games and accepted donations from fans and alumni. TCU Athletics also received contributions from nearby Fort Worth residents.

The drive was inspired by an existing practice. Cook Children's presents a teddy bear to every child admitted to the hospital.

"We have a couple of student-athletes who have volunteered at the hospital and learned about their tradition," Head said. "We thought it would be a great way to help them."

The council, which is comprised of students from each of TCU's 20 sports, also reached out to February game opponents Oklahoma State and West Virginia, which encouraged its fans to add to the collection.

Photo Gallery:
See more images of TCU athletes collecting for Frogs Care With Bears

More kudos for Neeley

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Another round of rankings of America’s top business school programs is in, and TCU’s Neeley School of Business is again in elite company.

Neeley was rated as fifth-best in the nation on the Student Survey of Bloomberg Businessweek’s annual ranking of U.S. undergraduate business programs. Recent graduating students moved Neeley into the top five along with business schools at Notre Dame (1), Cornell (2), Virginia (3) and Richmond (4), and ahead of all other Texas undergraduate business programs: SMU (9), University of Texas (11), Texas A&M (23), University of Texas at Dallas (37), Baylor (60) and Houston (105).

2013 is the fourth consecutive year that Neeley has placed in the top six.

Neeley also was tops in the state in the category Academic Quality, tying with University of Texas at No. 35.

“Our continued success in the eyes of our students is particularly noteworthy since only four business schools in the country ranked ahead of us,” said George Low, associate dean of undergraduate programs. “Our distinguished faculty and staff deserve all the credit for this impressive accomplishment.”

The Neeley School earned an “A-plus” rating in categories Job Placement, Teaching Quality and Facilities & Services.

Overall, Neeley stayed at No. 28 out of 145 U.S. Schools ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek, based on surveys of 85,000 senior business students and 519 employers, plus SAT scores, internships, class size, student-teacher ratio, classwork hours and average starting salary of recent graduates.

“I’m proud of our faculty and staff who are committed to providing top-tier learning experiences for our students and supporting their professional development both inside and outside the classroom,” said O. Homer Erekson ’74, the John V. Roach Dean of the Neeley School.

The kudos were the latest in a stellar year for the program. In August, Neeley was tabbed No. 56 out of 484 business schools by the 2013 U.S. News & World Report ranking of the best undergraduate business programs. In September, Neeley’s Entrepreneurship Program was picked No. 25 by The Princeton Review for Entrepreneur magazine’s October 2012 issue.

Also in October, The Economist magazine selected Neeley No. 71 in the world in its ranking of international MBA programs, which placed it 40th among programs in the United States. It was the first time Neeley had appeared in The Economist’s prestigious rankings.

Grammy-winning trumpeter headlines jazz fest

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Trumpeter Randy Brecker has played with Sinatra, Springsteen and Zappa. This weekend, he jammed with the TCU Faculty Combo.

Brecker headlined as the featured artist of the 36th annual TCU Jazz Festival, belting out soulful sounds to a mix of genres - funk and swing to bebop and big band.

"He's a tremendous talent who has been playing all over the country and world for four decades," said Joe Eckert, director of jazz studies. "We were honored to have him here."

Eckert and TCU faculty Joey Carter (jazz studies, percussion studies), Kyp Green (bass) and Thomas Burchill (guitar) joined the Grammy Award-winning Brecker and guest pianist Johnny Case in concert Friday nights.

By festival tradition, the TCU School of Music also welcomed a cadre of high school jazz bands and ensembles from across the state for competition and a first-hand look inside a premier college jazz studies program. The festival also serves as a recruiting tool for TCU.

Current TCU jazz musicians relished the weekend festival, too, performing for Brecker and receiving feedback from a music industry pro.

"As a jazz musician, just getting to hear this guy live is a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” sophomore music education major Jesse Rajabi told TCU360.

On the Web:
TCU Jazz Ensemble
TCU School of Music
TCU 360 coverage
Randy Brecker website