The Black Heritage Awareness Committee is selling these bracelets in honor of Black Heritage Awareness Month. They are $4 with the proceeds going to the Douglass Center, a youth center in Kingsville. The bracelets are available in yellow, red, black and green. For more information call extension 2760.

Black Heritage Awareness Month activities continue on campus and for the rest of February. The kick off reception in the Ben E. Bailey Art Gallery also unveiled the opening of the gallery exhibit featuring the art of Houston-based Charles Criner. He creates from biographical images that are reflections of his childhood memories and cultural heritage. The exhibit will be on display for all of February.

Criner was born in Athens and attended Texas Southern University learning from painter and printmaker Dr. John Biggers. During his years as a student, Criner supported himself by working as a sign painter, graphic artist, billboard illustrator and art teacher. After college, he worked for nearly 30 years as a staff artist for the Houston Post and then the Houston Chronicle.

He is the resident artist at the Museum of Printing History in Houston where he operates a studio and leads stone lithography workshops using an antique press. His work is included in several private collections and has been exhibited at the University of Arkansas, the Okane Gallery at the University of Houston, the Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, the King Center in Columbus, Southern University at Shreveport, Southern University at Baton Rouge, Texas Southern University and the Tyler Museum of Art.

The first of two Brown Bag Lectures scheduled for Black Heritage Awareness Month will be held at noon Tuesday, Feb. 8, in room 219A of the Memorial Student Union Building. William R. Dunn, former law enforcement officer, will speak about Showdown at Ole Miss.

In 1962, Dunn was part of a contingent of United States Border Patrol Officers brought in from throughout the country to assist the United States Marshal Service with the enforcement of the court order calling for the University of Mississippi to accept the registration of James Meredith, the first African American to attend the school.

The second Brown Bag Lecture will be at noon Thursday, Feb. 10. It features Rev. Larry D. Mills, pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church. He worked as a security guard for Motown in Los Angeles for 12 years guarding musical stars like Smokey Robinson, Barry White, Billy Dee Williams, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. He began his career as a security guard in 1975 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas where he guarded Diana Ross.

One of the highlights of the month will be the Black Heritage Awareness Month banquet at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, in the ballrooms of the Memorial Student Union Building. Tickets are $12 for persons 18 and over and $6 for those under 18. They will be available at the information desk in the Memorial Student Union Building and at the University Police Department.

The keynote speaker is Col. Kenneth McKinney who will talk about his experiences during the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon. He is currently Chief, Compensation and Legislation Division, Directorate of Personnel Policy, Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel, Headquarters, United States Air Force at the Pentagon.

McKinney is a native of Del Valle and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Angelo State University along with his commission from the Air Force ROTC program. He received a master’s degree, also in business administration, from Golden Gate University.

A new lightning prediction system has been installed on top of the press box in Javelina Stadium.

Chris Tweddle, director of the Office of Environmental Health & Safety, says the system uses a highly sophisticated sensor and computer to measure and analyze the electrostatic field in the atmosphere. Lightning originates within this field, Tweddle says, allowing the system to make calculations predicting its occurrence, even though there may be no visible evidence of lightning. The system predicts the probability of a lightning hazard in an area up to 25 square miles.

A formal test of the system is scheduled for noon Wednesday, February 9. Horns will sound the “Alert” sequence (one 15 second blast) followed by the “All Clear” sequence of three short blasts. In case of inclement weather, the test will be rescheduled.

Tweddle says the system will be tested at noon on the first Thursday of each month thereafter. In the monthly tests, the “All Clear” (three short blast sequence) will be manually activated, unless there is a potential for dangerous weather approaching.

The system, THOR GUARD, is the only stand alone lightning warning device used exclusively by the Lone Star Conference, the United States Golf Association, LPGA, PGA Tour, and many local sections of the PGA of America. It also was used at all outdoor venues for the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics.

In the event that the monitoring equipment predicts a lightning hazard, the horn unit will activate a single, 15-second blast and the flashing strobe will be activated.

“At this time all outdoor activities should cease and members of the university community are urged to seek shelter inside a building, an automobile or other covered areas,” Tweddle says. “Outdoor activities may only resume after the THOR GUARD system has issued three, 5-second blasts from the horn and the strobe light is no longer flashing.”