Speaker to address concentration camp experiences, deportation issues

"Paris-Auschwitz-Paris: A French-Jewish Experience in the 20th Century," will be presented on campus by Charles Baron, president of the Official Committee of the Deported Jews of France, at 4 p.m., Feb. 28.

While still in his teens, the French-born Baron was arrested and deported in 1942 to various concentration camps, primarily Auschwitz-Birkenau. After a daring escape from a prison train in 1945, Baron and others were liberated by the American 103rd Infantry Division.

Though he had lost his parents and home during the occupation, Baron returned to Paris to find work as a salesman and there became active in associations related to deportation during World War II, and the fate of the deportees.

Baron's lecture will present his life experiences and that of his generation, as well as a perspective on minority issues in France on the French-Jewish experience of the 20th century.Baron’s presentation will be in the Dean’s Room of Rainey Hall, and is free and open to the public. The lecture is being sponsored by the Gale Chair of Jewish Studies, the Department of French and Italian, the Department of History and the Jewish Studies Program, as well as Hillel House and the Jewish community.

Benson Collection acquires images of Mexican festivals

Photographer George O. Jackson, a native of Laredo and resident of Houston, has given a visual record of important festivals of more than 60 indigenous Mexican cultures to the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection.

The "Essence of Mexico Project" includes about 50,000 color, 35-mm slides and Jackson’s own copious notes on the festivals and their celebrants devoted to the last decade of the 20th century.

During the formation of this collection, Jackson traversed Mexico, capturing a visual record of more than 200 community festivals in 28 states and the federal district.

"The majority of these festivals are manifestations of ancient cultural activity, often modernized with a Catholic influence, to entreat influential agrarian deities in hopes of gaining their favor," Jackson said.

The project has spawned five museum exhibitions in nine international venues.

Memorial service planned for former dean of Graduate School of Library and Information Science

Claud Glenn Sparks (1922-2001) will be the focus of a "Time for Remembering" to be held in the Parlor of University Presbyterian Church, 2203 San Antonio, at 3:30 p.m., Feb. 5 A 1952 master’s graduate of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Sparks returned to Texas as a faculty member in 1971, served as dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science from 1972 to 1982 and remained an active faculty member until his retirement in 1995.

Annual staff recognition program set for May 1

The university's most talented and tenured employees will gather at the 41st Annual Staff Recognition Program and President’s Reception scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m., May 1, at the Frank Erwin Center.

Additional information, eligibility guidelines and a draft list of service awardees may be found at the Human Resource Services Web site.

Managers and supervisors can check the draft list for staff members from their departments for additions or omissions. Employees also may review the list and determine whether they should be added. A copy of this list can be downloaded and shared with employees who do not have computer access. All changes should be submitted to Human Resource Services by March 1.

Excellence and Outstanding Supervisor Awards nominations, criteria and additional information may be found at the Employee Excellence Awards Web site.

President Larry R. Faulkner added the Outstanding Supervisor Awards to the recognition program this year. Designed to honor those supervisors who have made considerable contributions to the campus, two staff employee recipients will receive $1,500 for their exemplary work. Nomination deadline for both the Excellence and the Outstanding Supervisor Awards is 5 p.m., Feb. 15.

Questions should be directed to Leah Giovan at (512) 471-8742.

Ticket discounts available for Harlem Globetrotters show

Faculty and staff can receive a $4 ticket discount with a valid I.D. to the 7 p.m., Jan. 31 performance of the Harlem Globetrotters at the Frank Erwin Center.

Ticket prices are $11.50, 13.50, $15.50, $19.50 for VIP seats and $50 for courtside seats. The discount does not apply to VIP and courtside tickets.

For more information, call (512) 477-6060.

Human Ecology professor recognized for research

Jennifer Matjasko, assistant professor in the Division of Human Development and Family Sciences of the Department of Human Ecology and faculty research associate of the Population Research Center, recently was awarded the Hershel Thornburg Dissertation Award by the Society for Research on Adolescence.

The award recognizes outstanding scholastic promise in research on adolescence.