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Sep 02, 2023

Horned Frogs in the News, Aug. 1

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From the U.S. credit rating to AI and the admission process, TCU is in the news.

INSTITUTIONAL

Fort Worth students return to school as district addresses security, lingering COVID gapsAug. 14, 2023Fort Worth Star-Telegram Beyond the nutrition, outfits and rowdiness, district and city leadership reiterated the seriousness behind fixing academic and mental health obstacles caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that students are still overcoming. A multi-tiered support system is in place so they can attack both academic and behavioral issues that they’re seeing, according to the superintendent. This includes a partnership with Texas Christian University that provides a counseling clinic where families and students can receive counseling at no cost.

Two of the top three college campuses in Texas can be found in Fort Worth and Dallas August 9, 2023 Fort Worth Star-Telegram TCU was named the No. 2 college campus in Texas for 2023. It earned an overall grade of A and an A+ for its campus, as well as four stars from 1,702 reviewers. “TCU has an incredibly inclusive and supportive community. The professors genuinely care about their students and want their students to succeed. Many have their PhD, with years of real-world industry experience,” one senior said in their review of the university. The Niche.com ranking is based on key statistics and student reviews using data from the U.S. Department of Education. 

Don't Autocomplete Your ApplicationAugust 2, 2023ForbesThe newest influencer on the admission landscape is artificial intelligence (AI) and it has the potential, if used wisely, to serve as a powerful guide to traversing the path to college. Conversely, if permitted, AI can take the reins and lead applicants down an inauthentic road that may be statistically predictable but can be misleading at best and unethical at worst. Heath Einstein, dean of admission, makes a different prediction. “AI is a seemingly ubiquitous topic among college admission counseling professionals. There is growing concern for how students and their advocates could leverage ChatGPT and similar systems to manipulate the admission process,” he said. “It won’t be long before a college leans directly into AI, hoping not to mitigate, but entirely eliminate the ‘problem’ by asking students to use technology to craft their best college essay.”

FACULTY

Ten Signs You're Too Stressed About Your Wedding (And What You Should Do to Calm Down)Aug. 14, 2023Tekdeeps.comIt happens to the best of us brides-to-be: We do everything we can to make sure the big day goes perfectly, and then, seemingly all of a sudden, we turn into a giant ball of stress ready to destroy anything—or anyone—in our path. If you’ve stopped doing the things you love and that make you happy, whether it’s exercise classes, hanging out with friends, or even taking a long swim, because of wedding planning, it’s time to take things back. “The best way to handle this is to realize that wedding planning should fit into your life, not the other way around,” said Angela Thompson, professor of sociology. “If your entire lunch break is spent planning your wedding instead of hanging out with colleagues, or you’re on a date with your fiancé and you’re constantly on your phone looking at wedding decorations, you’re doing too much.”

After hottest summer on record, heat-related illnesses are now being tracked nationwideAug. 15, 2023The 19th | 130,246 unique visitors per monthA new dashboard launched by the Biden administration to track heat-related illnesses will help municipalities and medical professionals with prevention efforts and assist families as they make housing decisions, particularly for older adults, experts say. Dr. David Capper, chair of clinical sciences at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, stressed the importance of checking on older family members during extreme heat, especially those who might be isolated. “If family and friends know that grandma lives alone in her house that she’s had for 60 years — the key is to be willing to reach out, to be willing to check on her every day during severe heat waves,” he said.

Exploring the Role of Attentional Reorienting in the Reactive Effects of Judgments of Learning on Memory PerformanceAug. 14, 2023MDPI Research on judgments of learning (JOL) reactivity has revealed that the mere act of measuring monitoring during learning can directly influence memory. Multiple mechanisms have been proposed to explain JOL reactivity effects, and some mechanisms may be more relevant in some contexts than in others. To investigate this idea, Michelle L. Rivers and Sarah K. Tauber from the Department of Psychology at TCU, along with three others, created an online sample of participants and undergraduate students studied a set of moderately related word pairs (e.g., dairy–cow) in preparation for a cued recall test. Outcomes suggest that positive reactivity for related word pairs is not solely explained by attentional reorienting during encoding.

Why Disney Can't Make Hits Like It Used To Aug. 12, 2023Newsweek Despite strong showings, the past year has been lackluster for Disney. Even though Disney may struggle to make its money back on these films from cinema sales, they will continue having value on Disney+ for years to come, according to Kimberly Owczarski, associate professor of film, television and digital media. “They released too many films in a short time frame in what was already a crowded summer of competition,” she explained, and added: “They have relied too much on franchises that are either skewing older or there are too many texts to keep track of in theaters and on streaming, like with the Marvel properties.”

Will oil demand slow down or stay flat in 2024? - Marketplace Aug. 12, 2023OLTNEWS The International Energy Agency predicts that energy demand may not grow as quickly next year, and the IEA cites the growth of electric vehicles. But Tom Seng, assistant professor of energy finance, isn’t buying it. “They’re not being sold at the clip manufacturers would expect, you know, we’re seeing discounts from Tesla and others,” Seng said. “And so I don’t give much credit to EVs having a big impact on the drop in demand in 2024.”

Why the ERCOT grid has held up despite record-breaking summer temperatures Aug. 11, 2023Denton Record-ChronicleIn ERCOT’s preparedness report, the organization made conservative estimates for how much energy it could generate at each power plant. Natural gas plants don’t perform at peak efficiency during strings of 100-degree summer days, said Tom Seng of TCU’s Ralph Lowe Energy Institute. Seng, who previously lived in Tulsa, is over halfway through his first Texas summer. He’s moved his workouts earlier in the morning or later in the evening and runs ceiling and box fans in his home to avoid running his air conditioner too frequently. Seng is waiting for the day he steps outside and realizes, finally, that it is only 90 degrees. “When I step out of my apartment or step out of my truck,” he said, “I really do feel like the sun is sucking the life out of me.”

The Downballot: GOP debacle in Ohio + why sheriff elections matter, with Emily Farris August 10, 2023 Daily Kos  Sheriffs, who in America are elected officials, have their “day-to-day tasks complicated by being a politician and thinking about, okay, what policy should we put in place for jails and how we run those?” explains Emily Farris, associate professor of political science. “Can we find somebody good enough to reform an office that is perhaps, just at its heart, bad? And I don't know if there's a solution. This idea that there's no such thing as a progressive sheriff would certainly question it and say, ‘We just need to get rid of sheriffs altogether.’ That there needs to be a different system in place and moving towards abolition ideas as well.”

Why the ERCOT grid has held up despite record-breaking summer temperatures August 10, 2023 The Dallas Morning News  Texas’ record-breaking temperatures this summer have caused energy demand to soar. The Natural gas plants don’t perform at peak efficiency during strings of 100-degree summer days, said Tom Seng, assistant professor of professional practice in the Ralph Lowe Energy Institute. Seng said ERCOT likely accounted for worst-case scenarios in its summer preparations, ensuring it had the energy supply to meet high demands.

‘It’s about being empathetic scholars’: New TCU medical school class starts with an emphasis on empathy August 6, 2023 Fort Worth Report The Burnett School of Medicine at TCU recently hosted a speaker for the incoming class of 2027 about the importance of empathy and compassion, two qualities TCU administrators believe to be key for the future of medical care. His speech helped frame the incoming students’ education in terms of the importance of patient care, said Natalie Lundsteen, assistant dean for student affairs. Empathy and compassion are two tenets the medical school has been imprinting on students since its founding in 2019. “It’s about being empathetic scholars,” Lundsteen said. “It’s about caring for a patient who is sometimes at the worst moment of their life and recognizing they can come out of it.”

False fraud claims a focus of Rudy Giuliani’s 2020 Missouri testimony, St. Louis defamation suit August 5, 2023 Phelps County Focus  Rudy Giuliani conceded in a carefully worded court filing that his assertions about Georgia election workers committing fraud during the 2020 presidential race were false. That concession has rekindled interest in Giuliani’s 2020 Missouri testimony and the impact it could have in a separate defamation suit filed in St. Louis by the same election workers against the right-wing outlet Gateway Pundit.  Giuliani’s admission won’t help the Gateway Pundit fend off the allegations, said Daxton Stewart, an attorney and journalism professor specializing in media law. “Just repeating something that someone else said that was false still makes a publisher subject to defamation claims,” Stewart said.

Week in Review: Four Fabulous and Not-So-Fabulous F-Words August 5, 2023 The Lens with Stephanie Kelton It wasn’t all that long ago that leading economists were arguing that the Trump tax cuts had so wrecked the nation’s finances, that it would be next to impossible for Congress to fire off enough fiscal support to thwart an economic downturn. That was obviously wrong. To the extent that the downgrade makes any sense at all, it stems from the increasingly erratic posturing around the debt ceiling limit. It is about our willingness—not our ability—to pay our bills. “Can the U.S. be forced into debt default? Never,” said economics professor John T. Harvey. “Could the gridlocked, highly partisan, and dysfunctional U.S. government prevent us from meeting financial obligations we absolutely have the legal and economic ability to meet? Yes. Shame on us, United States. And for that, the debt is the least of our worries.”

Should We Downgrade Fitch Or The USA? August 2, 2023 Forbes  Yesterday, Fitch issued a downgrade of US long-term debt from AAA to AA+. Is there a universe in which this makes sense or is it Fitch that deserves a downgrade? First and foremost, it needs to be made clear that it is impossible for the United States to be forced into default on debt denominated in dollars. Not unlikely, not improbable, but impossible. “This doesn’t mean that there can’t be other consequences, like inflation or crowding out of the private sector (both of which also require at that we are already at full employment), but default is off the table,” said John T. Harvey, professor of economics.

ALUMNI

#97 DJ Perera: Teaching Innovation in the Arts August 8, 2023 Fort Worth Report  Innovation and art share something in common: creativity. That is why DJ Perera ’10, is teaching students the value of utilizing innovation not just in the classroom, but for their future. As an immigrant and artist, Perera’s world widened from the opportunity education provided him. But he also learned the necessity of using creativity to be innovative in art, but also in life. Now, after receiving many awards and honors, he is teaching his students about using technology in art, innovating the artistic space, and how creativity and innovation build off each other.

Cellist recalls early days of Van Cliburn piano competition at TCU August 8, 2023Hoopla  Mary Neita Werner ’52, was destined to become a great musician. Her mother, Vivian Harder Johnson, was a highly-sought piano teacher in Fort Worth. “My mother was the finest keyboard person in this town, and I’m not saying that because she was my mother – she was,” said Mary Neita. “Everybody in town studied with Mother. And I could play the piano, but I didn’t get her talent.” Being the best cellist in school landed her a four-year scholarship. She and a few other band members would form units and play garden parties and tea parties for extra spending money.

TCU Grad Is Buying a Bunch of Buc-ee’s Snacks These Days August 7, 2023 Since late 2020, local entrepreneur Chris Koerner ’19 MBA, has been in the spotlight for making a substantial amount of sales by reselling Buc-ee’s related items on his site TexasSnax.com. Before Koerner came up with this idea, the popular chain really didn’t have much of an online store presence. That was until Koerner filled six carts with more than 600 items from the Denton Buc-ee’s locale to sell online in the fall of 2020. “I was driving home from a Buc-ee’s one day and thought to myself that they must kill it in online sales,” Koerner said. “After I got home, I went to their website and didn’t see anything online.” This was what Koerner called his “lightbulb moment.”

Drama student working toward MFA in London directs ‘Escape from Margaritaville’ August 3, 2023 The Spokesman-Review  Collin Pittman ’21, is a young but experienced director, who will call the shots on “Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville,” at the Spokane Valley Summer Theater. “I’m very grateful to be given such a great opportunity,” Pittman said. “But I believe this is the perfect show for me to step into since it has that summer feel and it’s upbeat.”

‘Out of Nowhere’ - Prolific thriller author Sandra Brown brings latest tale to Mark Twain House August 2, 2023 Connecticut Post  Sandra Brown ’69 is the author of 73 New York Times best-sellers. Her new book, “Out of Nowhere,” is a fast-paced, emotional thriller where the lives of a young mother and a high-rolling consultant collide under devastating circumstances – culminating in a desperate manhunt that will change their futures forever. Brown holds an honorary doctorate from TCU. 

ATHLETICS

TCU Basketball: Frogs Go Undefeated in Foreign Tour Aug. 11, 2023Fort Worth Star-Telegram With the NCAA allowing a foreign tour once every four years, TCU Basketball decided to travel to Europe to play four exhibition games and go sightseeing. This is a great opportunity for Frog fans to get a first look at what the 2023-24 team will look like. On Aug. 4, TCU departed for Paris to play two exhibition games before traveling to London for two more. Games were against teams from various professional teams from different leagues over the world. In Paris, they played Areus All-Stars and Elite Basket Congo, Aug. 8. They arrived in London by train before playing Barking Abbey and the Surrey Scorchers. TCU won all four games in blowout fashion, scoring over 100 in each.

TCU Women's Soccer: Freshman Newcomers August 9, 2023 Sports Illustrated Meet the eight incoming freshmen to Horned Frog Soccer. Women’s Soccer welcomed a new class of freshmen for the 2023 season: Sasha Carbone, Gabbi Ceballos, Katrina Chong, Brooke Conover, Bella Diorio, Marli Galdamez, Elise Krone and Landen Matthews. Head coach Eric Bell and the team kicked off their 2023 season against SMU in August.

Tag IconIn The News

Fort Worth students return to school as district addresses security, lingering COVID gaps Texas Christian University Two of the top three college campuses in Texas can be found in Fort Worth and Dallas TCUHeath EinsteinTen Signs You're Too Stressed About Your Wedding (And What You Should Do to Calm Down)Angela ThompsonAfter hottest summer on record, heat-related illnesses are now being tracked nationwideDr. David CapperExploring the Role of Attentional Reorienting in the Reactive Effects of Judgments of Learning on Memory PerformanceMichelle L. Rivers Sarah K. Tauber Why Disney Can't Make Hits Like It Used To Kimberly OwczarskiWill oil demand slow down or stay flat in 2024? - Marketplace Tom SengWhy the ERCOT grid has held up despite record-breaking summer temperatures Tom Seng The Downballot: GOP debacle in Ohio + why sheriff elections matter, with Emily Farris Emily FarrisWhy the ERCOT grid has held up despite record-breaking summer temperatures  Tom Seng‘It’s about being empathetic scholars’: New TCU medical school class starts with an emphasis on empathy Natalie LundsteenFalse fraud claims a focus of Rudy Giuliani’s 2020 Missouri testimony, St. Louis defamation suit Daxton StewartWeek in Review: Four Fabulous and Not-So-Fabulous F-Words John T. HarveyShould We Downgrade Fitch Or The USA? John T. Harvey#97 DJ Perera: Teaching Innovation in the Arts  DJ Perera ’10Cellist recalls early days of Van Cliburn piano competition at TCU Mary Neita Werner ’52TCU Grad Is Buying a Bunch of Buc-ee’s Snacks These Days Chris Koerner ’19 MBADrama student working toward MFA in London directs ‘Escape from Margaritaville’ Collin Pittman ’21‘Out of Nowhere’ - Prolific thriller author Sandra Brown brings latest tale to Mark Twain House Sandra Brown ’69 TCU Basketball: Frogs Go Undefeated in Foreign Tour TCU BasketballTCU Women's Soccer: Freshman Newcomers Sasha CarboneGabbi CeballosKatrina ChongBrooke ConoverBella DiorioMarli GaldamezElise Krone Landen MatthewsEric Bell
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