A Word from
the Chair

Letter from Terry Stewart
TYCA-SW Chair
Amarillo College

Dear Colleagues,

As an optimist, I begin each New Year with great hopes and expectations. Instead of worrying about the dire events that may lurk in the coming months, I tend to view the future as a mysterious adventure: sure, bad things are out there, but so are good things. However, to be honest, maintaining my usual optimism has been a bit more of a challenge of late because of the frightening predictions concerning the Y2K issue. I noticed that beginning New Year's Day, not a single news broadcast omitted a discussion of that pending crisis. In fact, for a short while I got a bit panicky myself: "I'll need lots of candles. Oh, and fresh batteries--does refrigerating them really keep them fresh or is that a myth? Let's see, dried foods, rice, beans." I pictured hordes of unprepared rabble (who had no candles, batteries, beans, rice) breaking into my home and stealing my store. However, I quickly got a grip. I did decide to stock up on candles (after all, candlelight is romantic) and batteries (what would I do if I couldn't listen to my Stevie Ray Vaughn CD's?), and champagne. Surely, if I have enough champagne to ring in the new year, I won't care if I have dried foods.

So, my optimism has returned. Thanks to the incredible work and dedication of Lillian Wooley, Susan Halter, Olivia Pass, Nancy Monroe, and Wendy Rheiner, TYCA-SW had a tremendously successful conference in New Orleans in October, '98. Our prestigious speakers, Douglas Brinkley, Rebecca Wells, and Lynn Troyka, gave us what we TYCA folks most value: information and entertainment. The workshops and sessions were superior. And the setting! What more could we want than staying in the historic Monteleone in the heart of the French Quarter? Nothing more, I assure you.

Our successful past leads us into an enticing future: our next conference, entitled "Constants Amid Change," will be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a beautiful city. Having lived several years in Tulsa, I have vivid memories of hospitable people, fine restaurants, superior museums, and lovely fall weather. In fact, nowhere else I've lived has had the gorgeous sunsets I recall in Tulsa. But, as is usual, I digress. Rhonda Bainum and Pam Stinson are planning a conference which we'll all remember.

Thanks to a faculty grant from Amarillo College and the talents of AC English professor Scott Foll, our TYCA-SW website is up and running. And, we face the issues of the future with the same optimism that we look forward to the opportunities. Dual credit, mini-mester classes (seven themes in 13 days? Come On!), on-line instruction (see Foll and Zimmermann's article in this newsletter), and cuts in remedial instruction funding all offer us the chance to practice problem-solving skills. We tackle the challenges of teaching today's community college students, who usually work full-time jobs, often have families, and are easily distracted by the opportunities the technology around them offers. How do we teach the slow, careful, and precise job of writing to students who are accustomed to the speed of computers, which put information immediately into their hands? Ah, such challenges make me want to roll up my sleeves and see results!

I close with a personal memory. When I was ten years old, I recall thinking about the year 2000 and calculating how old I would be when the new century was born. "Forty-two!" I thought, "Why I'll be nearly dead or too old to do anything fun!" What a dumb little kid I was. Now I know that age has nothing to do with the pleasures in life, which are the result of good friends, interesting issues and ideas (I see the Chinese curse differently. I believe it's a gift to live in "interesting times"), and enticing opportunities. TYCA-SW has a tremendous present and future as we wend our way to the year 2000. I invite you to join me, our members, and our Executive Committee on this surely intriguing ride to the millenium.

To new challenges ahead,

Terry

A Word from the Chair

A Word from
the Chair