Although all share a common thread of knowledge, most have chosen varying fields of employment. Some Presidential Honors Program graduates are employed in computer information systems while others are employed in the field of fashion.

     Dr. David Bixler, a 1992 PHP graduate, chose the field of education. He is now a professor of physics at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. He began teaching at ASU in 1998 and has been working on a particle accelerator experiment in his free time there. However, his true passion at this time is giving back to education through creating an honors program at ASU, similar to PHP here at Tarleton.

     There is not currently a scholarship or program based strictly on academic performance. Bixler has looked back on what he gained from being involved in such a program at Tarleton State University and desires to help other students experience this. He wishes to give students the ability to form everlasting friendships with peers and mentors. Through the friendships he built as an honors student he was able to see the world for more than what he thought it was. He wants students to understand that through being involved they receive some of the most important lessons they will ever learn in life.

by John Hughes

      For the past four months, I have been conducting research with Dr. Dougherty in the Psychology Department here at TSU. While this research is not only good experience for graduate school, it has also been a lot of fun. I really enjoy working with the research team, and all of the children as well.

     There are many different reasons why we are looking at ADHD in children. This disorder, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, has spread rampant throughout the United States. It now ranks as one of the highest diagnoses in the US, and definitely is the highest prognosis in children. In the last ten years, the number of diagnosed children jumped from 900 thousand to over 5 million.

     With so many new cases a year, we became concerned with the manner in which the children were being diagnosed (or misdiagnosed). Physicians based their diagnosis on observations alone, with an overwhelming majority of children seeing that doctor alone. This is very disturbing considered the fact that no one knows for sure the implications of long-term methylphenidate (Ritalin) use. Psychologists have at their finger tips a whole host of diagnostic tests, but many families cannot afford to pay for the service as most insurance companies do not cover psychological testing.

     The research team, which includes myself, two other students, and Dr. Dougherty, is comparing the diagnoses of the physicians' with our own, and obtaining the percent correct for doctor diagnosis in general. We are also following the children over a long period to study the effects of Ritalin use on both those children that are correctly diagnosed and those who are not.

Although this is a starting point for discussion, talk concerning ADHD is a long way from a conclusion.

Twenty-four new students entered the Presidential Honors Program this semester, bringing the total number of students in the program to 43. In recent years the program has admitted 10 students per year and the total has hovered around 30 students. The average SAT score of the 24 incoming freshmen is 1280. Nine of those students have a combined SAT score above 1300.

In the past the Development Office hosted an annual Academic Awards Luncheon for all students campus-wide who receive academic scholarships, but, due to the growth in the Honors programs, the Development Office hosted a separate event for the Honors programs this fall. Around 200 people attended, including students in the Presidential Honors Program and Honors Degree Program, family members and friends of Honors students, professors who teach Honors courses, university administrators and staff members who work with the Honors programs, sponsors who contribute the money that generates the Presidential Honors scholarships, as well as a number of graduates of the Honors programs. Mr. Darrell Brown, Vice President and Marketing Director of Town and Country Bank, spoke on behalf of the scholarship sponsors; Ms. Amber Dawson, a senior pre-med major from Cleburne, spoke on behalf of the current PHP students; Ms. Sabina Landeros, a freshman pre-law major from Mineral Wells, spoke on behalf of the HDP students; and Mr. Adam Smith, a PHP English and accounting graduate of 1998, spoke on behalf of the graduates.

Dr. Teresa Davidian, associate professor of music, will teach the Presidential Honors Seminar in the spring. The seminar will examine the relationship between music and society in a number of historical periods as well as in a contemporary setting.

Dr. Charles Howard, the pre-law advisor, recently returned from the National Pre-Law Advisors Conference in San Diego with a strong recommendation that pre-law students take as many Honors classes as possible. In his report on the conference, Dr. Howard makes the following remark: "One important note was struck by the admissions director from the University of Pennsylvania law school who told me that the impact of honors classes, honors degrees, and honors colleges was ‘huge.’ According to her, honors graduates were put into a separate pile for admissions purposes."

The Presidential Honors Society holds its meetings every first and third Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in the SDC, room 06. The 2000-01 officers are: Natasha Trillo (president), Elizabeth Bolden (vice president), Liana Stone (secretary/treasurer), and Hollie Chambers (reporter/historian). Roseann Kincannon serves as faculty advisor. Any student with a 3.0 GPA is welcome to join, and PHP scholars are automatically eligible for induction.

The following twenty-four students entered the Presidential Honors Program in the fall of 2000: Julie Allen, a nursing major from Granbury; Desiree Beauchamp, an English/communications major from Mineral Wells; Cheryl Beeler, a pyschology major from Clifton; Adam Davidson, an economics major from Hallsville; Jana Farrill, a business major from Questa, NM; Kelli Gaither, a chemistry major from Stephenville; Misty Gayan, a pre-med major from Paradise; Kristina Heinsen Guess, a finance major from Azle; Heather Harris, a pre-med major from Stephenville; Patricia Henley, an agricultural services major from Arlington; Paige Jackson, an undecided major from Henrietta; Kyle Jurney, an animal science major from Dublin; Naomi McCarley, a human resource management major from Lubbock; Tiffany Nations, a pre-physical therapy major from Waskom; Katie Nors, a math major from Abbott; Melissa Owens, an interdisciplinary studies and CIS major from Stephenville; Linzee Prill, a pre-vet major from Decatur; Diana Schad, a pre-vet major from Lindsay; Jonathan Schneider, a business major from Glen Rose; Graham Slaughter, a business management major from Granbury; Benjamin Swaim, a political science major from Tolar; Karla Tschirhart, a liberal arts major from Devine; Tessa Vannatta, a nursing major from Canton; and Holly Warren, a math and biology major from Gatesville.