The Skyline Newspaper

Son Cougar and Rocky McBride pose with a jaguar

SRSU Alumni Publish Paper On Safe Jaguar Capture

A scientific paper, "Safe and Selective Capture Technique for Jaguars in the Paraguayan Chaco," by Rocky and Roy McBride will appear in December volume of "The Southwestern Naturalist." Both authors are graduates of Sul Ross State University.

Rocky McBride received his B.S. in wildlife management in 1983. He has been involved with the capture of large cats, with the assistance of hounds, worldwide. He is the owner of Faro Moro Ranch in Chaco, Paraguay, and director of Faro Moro EcoResearch.

Co-author, Roy McBride, received his M.S. degree in biology from SRSU in 1976. McBride is the inventor of the Livestock Protection Collar, a device that selectively removes only the animal that is killing the livestock. Roy received the SRSU Distinguished Alumni award in 2003.

During the study on jaguars, between 2002 and 2007 as part of an agreement with the government of Paraguay, 16 different jaguars were captured and equipped with GPS telemetry collars in the Chaco region of Paraguay. The McBrides' paper reports on the first 10 captured jaguars. This study represents the first comprehensive research on jaguars in the Chaco of Paraguay and on arid land jaguars anywhere within their range.

Of the 16 GPS collars fitted on jaguars, 7 have been successfully recovered. Data from the successfully recovered collars mapped movement patterns of jaguars in the different habitat types. Jaguar home ranges in the dry Chaco are much larger than any reported in scientific literature to date. The study also collected data on puma, camera trapping, livestock predation, and jaguar mortalities throughout the Chaco.

The paper was written during an independent study for Dr. Barney Nelson's graduate English class, "Writing Science for Publication." Publication was funded by a SRSU Research Enhancement grant.

Ritzi Publishes Ectoparasites of North America

Dr. Christopher M. Ritzi is a co-author of a recent publication of the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology Faculty Publications, a special museum publication series of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

The paper, entitled "Host and distribution lists of mites (acari), parasitic and phoretic, in the hair or on the skin of North American wild mammals north of Mexico: Records since 1974," has been a work in progress for the past 10 years by the authors of the first publication in 1974, Drs. John O. Whitaker Jr. and Nixon Wilson.

Dr. Ritzi became involved in this work during his dissertation at Indiana State University under Whitaker, and contributed so significantly to the material in the paper that he was declared a co-author in 2003.

The first work, while cited over a thousand times in its own right, had become too dated to be as useful as it once had been. Through the production of a revised compilation to be used in combination with the original, current researchers can be relatively confident what hosts have been associated with which parasite up to this point.

"One of the greatest difficulties of this project, beyond simply trying to keep records straight and in order, was finding a place to publish the manuscript," says Ritzi.

This manuscript, being over 170 pages in final format, was deemed too large for traditional publication, and sent to the University of Nebraska, Lincoln for consideration.

After peer-review and evaluation, it was officially published late this summer in electronic format.

A copy of the manuscript can be downloaded in pdf format from the following URL: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=parasitologyfacpubs.

Through electronic dissemination, this important collection of host and locality records can be easily accessed by all, in addition to reducing the overall cost of publication.

For more information, please contact Dr. Ritzi at critzi@sulross.edu.

Diamond Jubilee Lectures Continue

Sul Ross State University presents the fourteenth 75th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Lecture, "The Enduring Robert Frost," by Robert Harris. Harris is the Chair of the English and Social Science Department and the Director of Term in Asia at Northwood University. The lecture will take place November 5, 2007, 7:30 p.m. at the Becky Ramos Espino Conference Center, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas.

This lecture is the fourteenth in a series to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Sul Ross State University.

Lectures in this series come from various disciplines representing the diverse interests of the University community. Although the Diamond Jubilee celebration officially ended with the Convocation on November 23, 1996, the Diamond Jubilee Lecture Series continues as a commemoration of Sul Ross State University's first seventy-five years.

An avid collector of books, letters, and other literary memorabilia, Harris is an expert on Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, and Theodore Roethke. Part of his library was exhibited at the DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist University and the Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.

Harris has written extensively, including three books of his own poems. His essay, "Charles and Robert, A Literary Friendship," was published by the DeGolyer Library at SMU in 2004. He is currently working on a new book, "The Poet and the Collector: Selected Letters of John Ciardi and Charles Feinberg."

Robert Harris presented the SRSU's Mary Thomas Marshall Lecture in 2004 and has donated materials relating to Walt Whitman to the Archives of the Big Bend.

Appearing regularly before business, civic and academic audiences, Harris speaks on a variety of subjects, including the joys of collecting and the ways in which literature continues to enrich the human experience.

Bill Extends Tuition Deduction

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Budget Committee, introduced legislation, S.2234, to extend for two years an important deduction for taxpayers who pay college tuition. This above-the-line deduction, which is available to all taxpayers regardless if they take the standard deduction or itemize their tax return, is set to expire at the end of this year.

"It is important that college be affordable for working families in Texas and across the country," Sen. Cornyn said.

"This deduction will save Texans and all Americans millions of dollars each year, providing a helping hand to taxpayers who want to send their children to college. Unfortunately, the provision will expire this year, so I call upon Congress to extend this deduction as soon as possible"

Sen. Cornyn's bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., extends the $4,000 above-the-line deduction for taxpayers who pay college tuition and related expenses through December 2009. As a result, taxpayers would continue to able to deduct up to $4,000 from their federal taxes even if they don't itemize their return and instead take the standard deduction.

The deduction was originally part of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act that passed Congress and was signed into law by the President in 2001. It would have expired in 2005, but the Senate, with Sen.
Cornyn's support, extended it until the end of 2007 when the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 was signed into law in December.

Sen. Cornyn serves on the Armed Services, Judiciary and Budget Committees. In addition, he is Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee's Immigration, Border Security and Refugees subcommittee and the Armed Services Committee's Airland subcommittee.

Public Hearing

November 5, 2007
11:30 a.m- noon
and 1-1:30 p.m.
University Center, Room 210

Sul Ross State University proposes to increase the Designated Tuition Fee paid by students by four dollars per semester credit hour to $66 effective with the Fall 2008 semester.

Designated Tuition Fee:

This fee provides support for Educational and General functions including instruction, departmental operation expense, academic support, student services, and scholarships; student financial aid; the maintenance of the campus-wide network including the residential living network; the maintenance of administrative hardware and software; dept service requirments on bonds issued for housing renovations; utilities; other departmental support including recruiting and development; supplements for auxiliary operations ,and other general university improvements. Proceeds from this increase will be used to fund the increasing costs of these functions.

The public hearing is being held to solicit student input regarding this fee increase.