Three UTPA Librarians were recently appointed to state and national committees.

Deirdre McDonald, instructional services librarian, was appointed co-chair of the IOL/ UT System Library Directors’ Award for Excellence in Library Resource Integration.  She was also elected chair of the Texas Library Association New Member Round Table and appointed to lead the Round Table’s program committee and the Distributed and E-Learning Round Table’s Web site subcommittee. McDonald also serves on the American Library Association’s Reference and Users Services AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations)&ndashALA Library Service to Labor Groups and the RUSA History Section Instruction and Research Services Committee.

N. Jane Goodman, reference and electronic resources librarian, was recognized as  "Choice Reviewer" in the fields of health care law.

Dr. Farzaneh Razzaghi, library director, was appointed to serve on the International Relations Committee of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). She was also appointed to serve on Campus Administration and Leadership Discussion Group of ACRL/ULS.

Drs. Robert Wrinkle, Jim Wenzel and Jerry Polinard, all from the Department of Political Science, co-authored a chapter on Texas politics with Dr. James Lamare, former dean of the UTPA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and currently a professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University. The chapter appeared in “The New Politics of the Old South: An Introduction to Southern Politics” (Third ed.), edited by Charles S. Bullock III and Mark J. Rozell. The book was published in November 2006.

Judy Bowen, chair and professor of the Department of Occupational Therapy, was recently notified that she was chosen to receive the American Occupational Therapy Association Recognition of Achievement Award at their annual conference in April at St. Louis, Mo. The award recognizes occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants who have made notable contributions to the profession and its consumers in a focused area of occupational therapy practice.

Drs. Alonzo Cavazos and Catherine Faver, professors in the Department of Social Work, recently presented at the 30th Annual Conference Texas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers in Arlington, Texas. Alberto Salinas, who is an Edinburg curandero and channeler of the spirit of El Niño Fidencio, also presented with them. The title of the presentation was “Social Worker and Curandero: Making the Connection.”

Dr. John Bokina, professor in the Department of Political Science, published an essay in October 2006, "From Social Isolation to Political Commitment"/"El Context," in TEMPORADA d' OPERA 2006-2007, ed. Amics del Liceu (Barcelona: Teatro del Liceu, 2006), 24-25, 89-92.