Tuesday, January 24, 2012

University Offers to Purchase Baptist Student Ministry

The Houstonian reports of the university’s interest in owning the land where the Baptist Student Ministry is located:

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Austin Hall Undergoes Restoration

Today@Sam reports that SHSU’s oldest academic building is being restored – brick by brick:
Austin Hall, the oldest building on the campus of Sam Houston State University, is in the middle of a restoration that includes extensive repairs and a bit of “dressing up,” according to university officials.

The three foundations that have committed to assisting in the funding for the Austin Hall restoration project include Houston Endowment, Inc., The Brown Foundation, Inc., and The Elkins Foundation. Shutter damage and cracks between bricks will be among the things the $2 million restoration project will work to ameliorate. The project is being paid for through donations by three foundations. Estimated to cost $2 million, the project has benefitted from donations from alumni and businesses as well.

SHSU’s Facilities Planning and Construction Office is leading the project which includes everything from floor refinishing to cupola restoration, as well as the installation of new electrical and plumbing systems.

The bricks with names of generations of Sam Houston State students carved into them will not be replaced with new bricks. They will, however, be taken down so that new mortar can be applied. They will then be “re-placed” in their previous location on the exterior of the building, except for those bricks that have deteriorated beyond use, such as some of the ones below the windows.

The restoration project is scheduled to be completed in May 2012.
No word on what they win if they find the cornerstone.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Kolkhorst Atrium Named in Honor of Representative

Today@Sam reports that the atrium in the Sam Houston State University—The Woodlands Center building was named in honor of State Rep. Lois W. Kolkhorst. The announcement came during a luncheon honoring Kolkhorst on Wednesday, January 18.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Building a Mystery: Home Management Home

One thing about going further back in time through the yearbooks is that the locations of certain buildings are somewhat ambiguous.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

End To Lab’s Federal Funds Means Higher County Costs

The Conroe Courier reports that federal funds have dried up for the SHSU Regional Crime Lab that conducts drug and alcohol tests for Montgomery County law enforcement:
The Sam Houston State University Regional Crime Lab, which is operated by the university’s College of Criminal Justice and located in The Woodlands, started taking evidence from five counties, including Montgomery, in November 2010. A $1.5 million federal grant got the lab up and running.

But those agencies using the lab had agreed to three years of federal funding, after which the lab would complete its transition to becoming self-sustaining through fees, said Assistant District Attorney Warren Diepraam, chief of the Vehicular Crimes Division for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Diepraam said District Attorney Brett Ligon and SHSU officials have asked U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, to help find additional federal funds to supplement the fees paid by agencies.

The Regional Crime Lab will continue to run the drug toxicology and blood-alcohol tests, but all controlled substance evidence tests now will be sent to the Texas Department of Public Safety lab in Austin. The average length of time for the Regional Crime Lab to turn around controlled substance tests is about two weeks, while the DPS lab can take up to nine months because of the volume of cases it gets from across the state, Diepraam said.