The team won the overall reasons, beef cattle, beef reasons and performance beef cattle divisions, and placed second in the sheep division.

Texas Tech’s Livestock Judging Team was crowned national champions at the 2009 North American International Livestock Exposition.

The team won the contest by a four-point margin, posting a total team score of 4,653 points. Texas A&M University, the University of Nebraska, Western Illinois University and Oklahoma State University rounded out the top five teams.

For the first time in school history, Texas Tech has won the contest for three consecutive years.

“Consistency in winning national championships is rare,” said Kevin Pond, Department of Animal and Food Sciences chairman. “Having three consecutive national championship teams is the result of great coaching, a strong work ethic and attracting the best students to Texas Tech.”

The competition tested the contestants’ knowledge of cattle, sheep and swine as well as their oral reasons.

“It was a thrilling victory because we thought we were too far behind in placings to win,” said Ryan Rathmann, assistant professor and coach of the team. “But, the team won reasons by such a large margin that they narrowly pulled it off.”

The Red Raiders won the overall reasons, beef cattle, beef reasons, and performance beef cattle divisions, and placed second in the sheep division.

Individually, Josh Flohr, a senior from Emmitsburg, Md., was awarded fourth high individual and won the swine reasons and overall reasons divisions. Ben Cammack, a senior from Seguin, won the cattle reasons divisions.

In addition to Flohr and Cammack, team members included:

• Micah Dorsey, a senior from Strasburg, Colo.
• Paige Futrell, a senior from Midland
• Cade Halfmann, a senior from Garden City
• CA Jones, a senior from Sunray
• Drew Perez, a senior from Nara Vista, N.M.
• Drew Schmidt, a senior from Taneytown, Md.
• Trae Simmons, a senior from Tipton, Ind.
• Olivia Tilly, a senior from Hawley
• Austin Voyles, a senior from Hale Center
• Curtis Williams, a senior from Clovis, N.M.

The team is coached by Rathmann, Josh Campbell and Bryan Bernhard.

Under Rathmann’s leadership the livestock judging teams have garnered six national championships in each of the six years he has coached, three at Texas A&M University and three at Texas Tech. This accomplishment makes him the winningest coach in livestock judging history.

“I’ve been blessed with outstanding students on our judging teams, and I’ve been extremely proud of their accomplishments,” he said. “This win proved to these students that there is nothing in life that they will not be able to take head-on and accomplish with hard work and determination.”

Linguist Jeff Williams sits among his collection of Native American artifacts.

A Texas Tech University professor of anthropology has begun the difficult task of collecting the remnants of the near-extinct Comanche language, then creating a way it can be taught in a university setting.

Jeff Williams, chairman of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, will serve as an external evaluator for Numu Tekwapu, a project to document and revitalize the Comanche language. He will work with tribe members and researchers at Comanche Nation College in Lawton, Okla., to record what’s left of the language and create a method for teaching it to students at the college.

The project is funded through a $215,000 competitive grant awarded to Comanche Nation College from the Administration for Native Americans, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A Language Perilously Close to Extinction

“The Comanche language is nearly dead,” Williams said. “Of the 13,000 people on the tribe’s enrollment, we had, at last estimate, 20 to 25 speakers. Kids aren’t learning it anymore. Part of my task is to create a digital archive of what we know of Comanche, the other is to use technology and devise a way to teach college students the language.”

He attributed the language’s demise to the fact that Comanche, Kiowa and Apache tribes lost their reservations in the Oklahoma Indian Territory at the turn of the 20th century. Instead, they received allotments that interspersed Anglos and other non-Indians within what had been Indian Country. Also, generations of Comanche children were sent to boarding schools where they were reprogrammed, often violently, to assimilate to white culture. This created a “lost generation,” disrupting the flow of the tribe’s culture and language.

Voiceless Vowels

Comanche is a complex, relatively recent offshoot of the Shoshoni language that developed as the tribe splintered and moved south from their homelands in the Great Basin region of the United States, Williams said.

The language, a branch of the vast Uto-Aztecan languages, was passed on orally and didn’t have its own writing system until 1994. Of the world’s 6,000-7,000 languages, it’s one of a handful possessing “voiceless vowels.” In written Comanche, these voiceless vowels are represented with underlining and are almost inaudible when spoken.

Williams couldn’t say exactly how much of the Comanche language has already disappeared because no records exist of it while it was still in use. He compares it to New Mexico’s Zuni language, which is still used and undergoing a preservation process, but has lost much of its more formal speaking patterns.

“If we look at the Zuni language, it’s estimated that it had about seven different speech levels,” he said. “The first level was the most informal and the seventh was the highest, most formal and sacred way to speak. The top four or five levels of speech are completely lost. Most people only speak in the lowest registers, which would have been the most vernacular style of speaking. It would not signal honor or respect for elders or those who possessed specialized knowledge or skills.

Taking Action Before More is Lost

“There’s no telling how much of the Comanche language is lost. And as speakers get older, they begin to forget and use less of it.”

Todd McDaniels, assistant professor of linguistics at Comanche Nation College, serves as project director. He said the project was spurred by a need for Comanche language learning materials that are educationally sound, organized according to a curriculum based on outcomes, and capable of serving accreditation interests.

The resulting product will be a series of interactive, computer-assisted Comanche language learning modules that require that students match audio of spoken Comanche with selections of pictures without reliance on translation, he said.

“We’re basically starting at square one,” McDaniels said. “The purpose of the current project is to help develop Comanche speaking skills in students. Everything is ‘sit down and crack your knuckles’ type of work. We will need to work hard to develop interest, enthusiasm and goodwill within the Comanche community, most especially with native Comanche speakers.”

James Simpson pioneered a switch from full-time production agriculture to part-time entertainment by opening a corn field maze to the public.

As the wind rustles through rows of corn, James Simpson doesn’t hear the sound of a cash crop, he hears the sound of an experience.

You might not expect a farmer to enjoy strangers walking through a crop, but to Simpson and his family it means that people are enjoying themselves.

Featuring hayrides, bonfires, a corn cannon, and of course the massive corn maze, At’l Do Farms is an experience for all age groups. Of course the farm hasn’t always been used for a maze, Simpson explained. But farming has been an integral part of his family for generations.

“This maze is on land that goes back to my wife’s great grandparents,” Simpson said.

But switching from full-time production agriculture to opening a cornfield maze to the public was quite a leap for Simpson and his family.

“When we explained to my dad what we were going to do, he said ‘there ain’t no way somebody’s paying to walk through a corn field,’ but I said ‘well, we’ll see.’”

Simpson realized he needed the help of someone who had already started this type of venture. After researching several corn field maze companies, Simpson contacted The MAiZE, a consulting company that helps people set up their own maze and with marketing and advertising – areas for which Simpson admitted he wasn’t prepared.

“The transition to this type of field wasn’t hard as far as the agronomic aspect of it,” Simpson said. “It was the marketing and the advertising and public relations – just dealing with the public.”

The first year they tried a corn maze, Simpson said they had a great turnout, and nine years later, they show no signs of stopping.

A Family Tradition

Simpson grew up on a farm southwest of Muleshoe and completed his master’s degree in entomology at Texas Tech. That bond with Texas Tech has spread to his children, most notably his son Eric, a freshman studio art major, who was recruited to draw this year’s design.

“My parents came to me saying that they wanted to do something involving the university,” Eric said. “Since it’s my first year there, we really wanted to support Texas Tech.”

An iconic representation of Raider Red, Texas Tech’s rowdy, red-headed mascot, was drawn for this year’s corn maze and was an instant hit with folks around the South Plains.

“Before we could even send out media releases – people were already contacting us,” Simpson said.

While running the corn maze has its challenges, members of the Simpson family said the opportunity it gives other families to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life is worth taking the time to do each year.

“Farmers have something to offer. I never thought of the heritage, the tradition, the getting-back-to-your-roots aspect of it – but so many people continue to remind us of it,” Simpson said. “Whether they are from a rural area or urban – they see it through different eyes. And that has been one of the biggest encouragements for us. That has been a big surprise to me, that people really dig this stuff! As long as we can provide a clean, safe environment for families, we’ll continue to do this.”

Featured Video James Simpson talks about how this year’s design came to be. More Video>>

The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer charts a period in the life of Isabella "Bella" Swan, a teenage girl who falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen.
Image credit: stepheniemeyer.com

He’s a vampire fit to meet the family: hunky, lovesick and more interested in kissing lips than biting necks.

Meet Edward Cullen, model undead citizen and epitome of so-called “vampire lite.”

Rob Weiner, a pop-culture author and expert at Texas Tech University, weighs in on Stephenie Meyers’ fanged teen romance saga as moviegoers snap up tickets for the Nov. 20 release of “New Moon.”

Weiner is an associate humanities librarian for the Texas Tech Libraries who lectures on the history of horror cinema.

He said Meyers’ protagonists are an example of recent vampire literature and filmmaking – dubbed vampire lite –that waters a traditionally bloody genre down to something more palatable for younger audiences.

These are not the eating machines of movies like “30 Days of Night” – or even “Dracula.” No, the ghouls of yore have been scrubbed down, cleaned up and housebroken.

“Everyone in the movie is pretty,” Weiner said. “These are vampire stories for young girls.”

In other words, dark movies that parents are comfortable letting their teenagers watch.

Which could explain why the vampire franchise is still sucking in new fans while other horror genres have stumbled in recent years, he said.

Authors like Anne Rice fueled an image of the sex-icon vampire, and Weiner pointed out that Meyers, a Mormon, managed to replicate Rice’s formula while subtracting most of the actual sex from her equation.

“The sensuality is still there, but the eroticism isn’t,” he said. “Anne Rice is all about sex, but the Twilight books actually have a conservative bent to them.”

And while “New Moon” will have its critics, Weiner said he is fascinated by the way Meyers’ characters have captured the public’s imagination – after all, he admitted he’ll be in line to see them.

Shirley Matteson, an assistant professor in the College of Education, is one of several Texas Tech faculty instructing new teachers how to use Smart Board technology.

From writing with chalk on slate blackboards and banging out eraser dust, to clicking a mouse, touching the screen and filling the wall with colorful images, classroom instruction has gone from analog to digital in the blink of an eye.

Texas Tech University’s College of Education is teaching education students how to use new Smart Board technology to prepare them for teaching in today’s K-12 classrooms.

Smart Boards are home-theater-sized screens projected on classroom walls that function like computer touch screens.

“The main thing we want to teach the up-and-coming educators is how to make the classroom interactive with technology,” said Kimberly Matthews, instructor of elementary math in the College of Education.

Matthews said using virtual manipulatives – objects such as blocks, that a student is instructed to use in a way that teaches or reinforces a lesson – and making them interactive is a method to keep them engaged in learning.

“I want to show future teachers how they can make these interactive manipulatives on the Smart Board. When I taught in the classroom, this technology really helped pull in every one of my students,” Matthews said.

Smart Boards Work With Many Learning Styles

Many of the students in Matthews’ classes aspire to be special education teachers. Brandi Duke, a senior from San Angelo, knows that special ed kids need different kinds of help learning.

“The Smart Board is a great way to aid students who don’t have the fine motor skills to physically flip a coin – which can be simulated on the screen. This is another way to help them out and see that it’s okay – we’ll work on that motor skill another time,” she said.

Lauren Sammons, a senior from Frisco, says the Smart Board facilitates all kinds of learning styles.

“If a student is a visual learner they can see the lesson up on the board; or if somebody needs it demonstrated, they can come up and actually do it on the Smart Board. They can also do it themselves at their seats or outside of class with the same worksheets that correlate with what they are learning in class, so it affects all three kinds of learning capabilities,” said Sammons.

Technology Makes Texas Tech Grads More Marketable

Walter Smith, chairman of the Department of Curriculum & Instruction in the college, knows Texas Tech students are more marketable if they have certain certifications coming out of college and into the public school classrooms.

“The Lubbock Independent School District (LISD) instructional technology leaders are very interested that the people who come from Texas Tech to join their faculty are ready to use the technology that they’re putting into the classrooms, and we’re very interested in making sure that our graduates are ready to do the kind of job that the local schools want them to be able to do,” Smith said.

And, Smith says, it’s not just about feeding teachers to the local schools. The majority of the newly certified teachers don’t go to LISD. They are hired around the state and around the nation, so Texas Tech students are ready to show their prospective employers that they know how to use the technology schools are using.

Featured Video Instructors from the College of Education demonstrate how Smart Board technology can be used in their classrooms. More Video>>

Range of programs, outstanding faculty, and the communications program in particular were listed in the study as distinguished features.

Texas Tech’s Department of Agricultural Education and Communications ranked ninth, with faculty, range of programs and its communications program listed as its distinguishing features.

Ohio State University professor Robert Birkenholz published the study, titled Characteristics of Distinguished Programs of Agricultural Education, in American Association for Agricultural Education Research Conference Proceedings.

University of Florida claimed the top spot based on weighted responses. Texas A&M University, Ohio State, the University of Missouri, Iowa State University, Oklahoma State University, North Carolina State University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Arizona completed the list of schools claiming distinguished programs.

“It was unique that we were the only non-land grant institution in the top 10,” said Steve Fraze, Department of Agricultural Education and Communications chairman and Garrison Professor of Agricultural Education and Communications.

“It is a great compliment to the faculty in our department for their dedication to teaching and research,” he said. “We reached an all-time high of graduate students enrolled this fall, with students coming from 11 states as well as from Canada and Greece. We are receiving inquiries from potential graduate students on a daily basis.”

Texas Tech students with an interest in agricultural education major in interdisciplinary agriculture in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communications. Interdisciplinary agriculture has two tracks: teacher certification and agricultural leadership.

By using X-rays and lasers, Quitevis, with a group of other researchers, found that parts of ionic liquids at the nanoscopic level were not uniform.

Researchers at Texas Tech University, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, the University of Rome and the National Research Council in Italy recently made a discovery about the non-uniform chemical compositions of ionic liquids that could lead to greater understanding and manipulation of these multi-purpose, designer solvents.

Their findings were published online in the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. The article was selected for inclusion in the Institute of Physics’ IOP Select, which is a special collection of articles chosen by IOP editors based on research showing significant breakthroughs or advancements, high degree of novelty and significant impact on future research.

A New Frontier of Chemistry Research

Originally invented to replace volatile and toxic solvents such as benzene, ionic liquids are now used in high-efficiency solar cells, as cheaper, more environmentally friendly rocket fuel additives and to more effectively dissolve plant materials into biofuels. Since 1990, research on ionic liquids has grown exponentially.

“Their properties are strikingly different than those of most conventional liquids,” said Edward Quitevis, a professor of chemistry in the Texas Tech Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “A conventional liquid for the most part is composed of neutral molecules whereas an ionic liquid is composed entirely of ions.”

Because of their ability to be tailored and manipulated for specific applications, ionic liquids can be compared to a new form of Erector Set for chemists. By modifying the ions, scientists can create specific properties in the liquids to fit particular applications or discover new materials.

Each new discovery that adds to the understanding of ionic liquids leads to new possibilities for applications and materials, Quitevis said.

“An ionic liquid is basically a salt that happens to have a melting point at or about room temperature,” he said. “The reason why it’s a liquid and not a solid is because the ions are bulky and don’t crystallize readily. The more we learn about them, the more we can find new applications for them that we never could have imagined for conventional liquids.”

By using X-rays and lasers, researchers found that parts of the liquid at the nanoscopic level were not uniform. Some domains of the liquid may have had more or less density or viscosity compared to other domains. Also, these non-uniform domains could be measured.

“At the nanoscopic scale, these liquids are not uniform, compared to other liquids, such as water, where properties are all uniform throughout,” Quitevis said. “This non-uniformity is not random. These domains of non-uniformity are well defined and can be measured. And this nanoscopic non-uniformity was predicted in computer simulations, but never confirmed experimentally until recently.”

Understanding these types of attributes of ionic liquids can lead to more breakthroughs in the future, Quitevis said.

Quitevis’s work was funded by the National Science Foundation and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund.

Historically, Texas Tech law students have done well on the bar exam. 

With a first-time pass rate of 94.52 percent, the Texas Tech University School of Law led all Texas law schools on the July Bar Examination.

The overall pass rate for graduates of the nine Texas law schools taking the bar for the first time was 89.41 percent.

“It is obviously a great thing to be ranked No. 1 in Texas on the law licensing examination,” said Walt Huffman, dean of the law school. “These excellent results validate in a very important way the quality of the legal education at Texas Tech.”

Huffman said Texas Tech students and faculty work extremely hard to maintain the school’s traditionally high bar passage rate.

Historically, Texas Tech law students have done well on the bar exam. In February 2000, Texas Tech law students achieved a 100 percent passing rate for first-time exam takers. In February 2005, Texas Tech topped all Texas law schools, with a 90.63 pass rate, and in July 2005, was again the top public law school, with a 91.01 passing rate. In February 2008, Texas Tech again had the best pass rate among public law schools with 92.86 percent.

During these times of digital imagery, it is increasingly difficult to find printed work created by hand. However, there is a small group of dedicated craftsmen who refuse to let the age-old art of letterpress printing die.

The Landmark Gallery at the Texas Tech University School of Art will hold an exhibit reception for Contents Under Pressure: The Contemporary Letterpress Poster.

The reception runs from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday (Nov. 6). It is free and open to the public. This new exhibit features poster designs from some of the top letterpress artists from around the nation, and will remain on view until Dec. 19.

During these times of digital imagery, it is increasingly difficult to find printed work created by hand. However, there is a small group of dedicated craftsmen who refuse to let the age-old art of letterpress printing die. Contents Under Pressure focuses on these craftsmen as well as artists creating large- format posters using simple, bold images and unique, expressive typography to communicate contemporary messages.

The exhibit is curated by Dirk Fowler, associate professor of communication design, and includes works by Jules Remedios Faye of Stern & Faye Printers (Sedro-Wooley, Wash.); Bennett Holzworth (Lincoln, Neb.), Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. (Gordo, Ala.); Casey McGarr of Inky Lips Press (McKinney); and Brady Vest of HammerPress (Kansas City, Mo.).

The programs at Landmark Arts and the School of Art are made possible in part by grants from the Helen Jones Foundation and The CH Foundation. Additional support comes from the College of Visual & Performing Arts.

The Art Building is located at 2802 18th Street (near the corner of 18th Street and Flint Avenue, just east of the Architecture Building on the Texas Tech campus). Visitor parking is available in the small lot adjacent to the Art Building.

Parking also is available on the fourth floor of the Flint Avenue Parking Garage for $1.20 per hour. Parking is free on weekends. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. The galleries are closed on all university holidays.

When the doors opened at Texas Tech University in 1925, only a few buildings stood on the vast amount of barren land. There were no paved roads, sidewalks, bike paths or beautifully manicured landscapes. Students walked to class along trampled cow paths, trying to avoid the occasional goat head. As for me, a playing field for the newly established Matador football team, I was merely an uncultivated field with undiscovered potential.

As I lay dormant that first year, the football team held its first game against McMurry College of Abilene, October 1925 at a make-shift field at the Lubbock Fair Grounds. Almost 5,000 people turned out to watch the exciting event. But even that field was not in pristine shape. Before the game a group of students used brooms to sweep away most of the stickers from the field so as not to injure the players.

A year later in 1926, I was still only a small area of land on the north end of campus next to College Avenue (now University Avenue). But my fate was soon determined. My soil was turned and a small wooden structure known as the Tech Stadium was built, establishing a lasting foundation for the future home of Red Raider Football.

Through the years, my façade would undergo many major reconstructions to accommodate the growing number of Red Raider fans, but my foundation has remained sound.

In 1936, Lubbock businesses helped to expand seating to 12,000 by enlarging the stadium to a horseshoe shape. It was dedicated on Sept. 26 during the Texas Tech-Texas Christian University game. This was also the first appearance of the Saddle Tramps, founded by Arch Lamb, and fans also saw the first version of the Masked Rider streak onto the field in a blaze of glory.

The class of 1938 donated the first neon Double T sign which was affixed to the east side of Jones Stadium. It was the largest neon sign in existence at the time.

The 1943 graduating class graciously donated an electric scoreboard to help light the way for future Red Raider wins.

In 1945, resigning President Clifford B. Jones established a living trust of $100,000 to go toward the building of a new stadium, just northwest of the old field. The Board of Directors of the college voted to name the new facility in honor of the former president and his wife Audrey.

Concrete, iron and steel replaced the wooden benches. The stadium cost $400,000 to build and seated 18,000. Administrators dedicated the stadium on Nov. 29, 1947 at the season-ender game between Texas Tech and Hardin Simmons in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 20,000.

Expansion projects continued during the next 10 years, adding another 7,000 seats.

The Southwest Conference (SWC) admitted Texas Tech as a member in 1956. The requirements for the prestigious honor included an even larger playing field. Texas Tech had until 1960 to expand the stadium’s seating minimum to 40,000.

The $2 million stadium construction and excavation began in 1959 with the addition of a press box and office-dressing room building. The second phase of construction proved to be an engineering feat of the times. The stadium stands were originally built in seven sections which contractors hoisted onto steel rollers and moved along railroad tracks more than 200 feet. The field was then excavated 28 feet. Workers installed 22 rows of seats, creating a bowl shape and increasing capacity to 41,500.

The newly renovated Jones Stadium was finished by the start of the 1960 season and officially dedicated during Texas Tech’s first SWC game against Baylor on Oct. 15.

Over the next 20 years Jones Stadium increased seating to 47,000, and in September of 1970, saw the original grass field replaced with artificial turf.

When Texas Tech moved to the Big 12 Conference in 1996, the stadium received yet another upgrade to increase seating. In 1999, Phase I of the west side renovations began.

In 2000, Jones Stadium was branded with a new name, Jones SBC Stadium, in recognition of a $30 million gift from SBC Communications. The dedication was made at Texas Tech’s first home game on Aug. 26, against New Mexico.

Phase II of the total $84.9 million renovation to the west side was revealed in 2003. Texas Tech fans toured the state-of-the-art, Spanish Renaissance structure at the grand opening held during the Oct. 4 game against Texas A&M. The four-story building which rose above the existing arena included 54 luxury suites, a club level and press box. It added 10,000 seats to the stadium bringing the capacity to 55,000.

2006 proved to be a busy year for the stadium. The old Astroturf was replaced with new FieldTurf made to look like natural grass. The stadium also was given a new name after a merger between SBC and AT&T Communications. Jones AT&T Stadium became the first collegiate athletic facility to don the AT&T brand.

In a Daily Toreador article from that year, Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers said the new name adds to the prestige of the university, raising the stadium to a different level.

“It’s just an exciting time,” said Myers. “Our mission is to continue to build this stadium, increasing the seating capacity here, to build out the east side so it will be comparable to the west side, and to make this one of the outstanding stadiums.”

Even today, I continue to undergo change for the betterment of the Texas Tech community. In August of 2008, the Texas Tech Board of Regents approved a $25 million expansion of the east side. Construction began after the last game of the football season. The renovations, which mirror the Spanish Renaissance architecture of the west side, will add more than 500 club seats, 20 new suites and new office space.

“The growth of Texas Tech in the last eight years has been astounding,” said Mike Leach, Red Raider head coach. “I don’t know of any school that has had the opportunity to expand its stadium three times in that period. A lot of credit has to go to the football players and coaches and athletics and to the university administration for our progress.”

The 2008 football season was one for the record books for Texas Tech.

The highly publicized matchup between the Red Raiders and the Texas Longhorns boasted a record attendance of 56,333 during the November 1 game. The 39–33 victory marked the 500th win for the Red Raider football program and the first win over a number one-ranked team. The win pushed the Red Raiders into the number two spot in the BCS rankings.

For the first time in 20 years, the gridiron was used for something other than football, when Jones AT&T Stadium hosted “The Bob Dylan Show” on Aug. 8, 2009. Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson were the featured performers. Ironically, it was Nelson who last headlined a concert in the stadium in 1987.

2009 also marked 85 years of Red Raider football. The season opener was held on Sept. 5 against North Dakota. The Red Raiders trampled the Fighting Sioux 38-13.

On Oct. 24, new stadium seating debuted at the Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M game. The $6 million addition to the upper-level northeast and northwest corners added more than 6,000 in new seating, putting the total around 59,000. The development made Jones AT&T Stadium the seventh largest stadium in the Big 12 Conference.

“Jones AT&T stadium is a tough place to play,” said Chris Cook, assistant athletic director of media relations. “With the new seating, we’ve just added 6,000 more opportunities to make this an even harder place to play.”

The entire construction project is scheduled to be finished by the 2010 season.

“The completion of the east side will make Jones AT&T Stadium one of the most attractive football facilities in the country,” Myers said. “It will be a source of pride for students, alumni and fans.”

Many legendary greats have graced my turf from E.J. Holub, Donny Anderson and Gabe Rivera to Wes Welker and Zach Thomas, to Michael Crabtree and Graham Harrell. I take pride at each home game as the hooves of the Masked Rider gallop down the field and the Goin’ Band from Raiderland marches out playing to the crowd. I represent spirit, pride and tradition. I am Jones Stadium. I am Texas Tech.

Historical information from the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Lubbock Avalanche Journal, Daily Toreador and “The First Thirty Years-A History of Texas Technological College” by Ruth Horn Andrews. Images courtesy Artie Limmer and the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library.