Browsing by Subject "San Antonio"
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Item A Historical Analysis of The Texas A&M University System?s San Antonio Campus Initiative(2014-07-02) Barwick, Hugh DonaldHigher education continues to remain elusive for a significant portion of eligible students in Texas. With the rise in cost for tuition and fees and the decrease in funding by the state government, more students are left to seek access to institutions that are close to home. In many instances, those types of institutions do not exist. This research is an historical analysis of one person?s effort to establish an institution of higher education in a location that would serve a segment of society who has been practically ignored by those who would advocate for equal access and equal opportunity. The research is vital in understanding the course of actions, decision making processes, and identifying various stakeholders needed to establish additional institutions of higher education in Texas in places where higher education is currently unavailable. The study utilized qualitative inquiry and interpretive phenomenological analysis to develop major themes of the historical analysis of The Texas A&M University System?s San Antonio campus initiative. The findings of the study indicate that there was a whole host of stakeholders who participated in the decision making processes to establish a new institution of higher education on the south side of San Antonio. The analysis of the research material indicates that there was a strong perception that key individuals felt that they were largely responsible for the development of TAMUSA. While some argued against adding another public institution of higher education, the study showed that Texas will have to find a way to make higher education more available and affordable to reach a growing minority population if the state is going to compete in the global marketplace.Item African American citizen soldiers in Galveston and San Antonio, Texas, 1880-1906(2009-05-15) Blair, John PatrickThe Texas Volunteer Guard, created by the Militia Law of 1879, continued to allow African Americans to serve as citizen soldiers. From 1880 to 1906 over six hundred black men faithfully served in the various state militia companies of Galveston and San Antonio; yet, their service has rarely obtained scholarly attention. Often discounted by historians as mere social clubs or deemed too few and insignificant to warrant study, these men sought not only to demonstrate their citizenship, but to improve their social status during a period of racial segregation. The differences and similarities of these groups of African American men at the grassroots level are illuminated by using the comparative method to examine socioeconomic characteristics. Furthermore, this examination demonstrates how racial attitudes remained flexible enough during this period to allow these men to participate in military-type activities. An examination of these activities, both as citizens and as soldiers, makes evident what inspired this state military service. Framed within the network of local fraternal, social, religious, educational, and political organizations, coupled with a study of previous military service, the militia companies expose the aim of these African American men to improve their social status as citizens through militia participation. The Adjutant General of Texas issued firearms, ammunition, and equipment to the respective companies of African American militiamen from these cities, and coordinated training exercises, which involved the travel of armed black men over the state?s existing railroads. Despite their segregated status, the very presence of armed, uniformed black men officially sanctioned by the Democratic-controlled government of Texas suggests that race relationships still remained flexible enough during this time for African Americans to display their citizenship and manhood through state military service. Conversely, their dissolution in 1906 reveals the termination of that flexibility and solidified their status as second-class citizens. Even though they were unsuccessful in continuing their military organization, the heroic efforts of these men deserves inclusion in the written history of the long struggle for African American civil rights in this country.Item An anthropologist’s guide to the 21st century : a look at online and offline car culture in Central Texas(2010-05) Lopez, Joseph Todd; Stone, Allucquère Rosanne; Straubhaar, Joseph; Hartigan, John; Garrison, Andrew; McLeland, SusanThis dissertation looks at online and offline car culture in Central Texas. The online car culture observed is on Internet car forums and other Internet sources for car enthusiasts. Offline car culture deals with various types of car events around the central Texas area. These events include, but are not limited to, car shows, street races, and street meets. Cultural practices were observed in both types of environments and are analyzed by using hybridity theory, gender analysis and race analysis.Item The archaeology of San Antonio's main plaza, investigations at 41BX1753(2010-12) Hanson, Casey Jeffrey; Wade, Maria de Fátima, 1948-; Creel, DarrellThis thesis documents the fieldwork component of the archaeological survey, testing, and data recovery efforts associated with 41BX1753, a historic-age site located in downtown San Antonio, Texas. This paper details the project’s activities and results and provides feature and artifact descriptions. Furthermore, this work provides a contextual analysis of 41BX1753 based on the artifacts recovered and the archival record. In the report, I explore the social, political and economic relationships in San Antonio’s past through the study of the material and archival records associated with a single property and its residents. Examined within a greater historical context, these records are indicative of choices made by some of San Antonio’s most influential residents indicating a sense of identity and status, as well as strategies of adaptation and accommodation to ensure stability in the face of constant change.Item Beyond the Aquifer : planning for San Antonio's future water supply(2010-05) Laughlin, Nathan Daniel; Butler, Kent S.; Schuster, StefanThis report examines water supply planning issues in San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio is unique among large cities in the United States in that it relies almost exclusively on a single source, the Edwards Aquifer, for its water supply. Because San Antonio’s water demand is projected to outgrow the Aquifer’s capacity, the city must consider other options to extend and augment its current water supply. After describing the hydrogeology and water supply history of San Antonio, this report explains the multitiered water planning structure and current and future water needs for the city. It then studies and evaluates three short-to-mid term water supply options. By continuing to develop its already successful water conservation programs and water reclamation system, San Antonio can delay the need for more costly and environmentally impactful water supply options down the road, and wisely manage the resources it already draws from.Item Building assets and resilience : the role of the local food system in reducing health and economic disparities(2011-05) Muraida, Laura Cristina; Wilson, Patricia AnnIn recent years, studies have linked various structural and environmental factors to disproportionately increased rates of morbidity, mortality, and adverse health outcomes in low-income racial and ethnic minority neighborhoods. Among the adverse health outcomes, is the constraint on the ability to access and afford a healthy diet. While local food systems play a significant role in influencing urban health and well-being outcomes, they also present an opportunity to develop community-based assets and resilience. By identifying limitations and successes in current food system literature and practice, this report examines how a more comprehensive approach to equitable community health and wellness can be achieved and sustained. Effective disparity reduction relies on cross-sectoral partnerships that not only promote food equity, but also provide participatory social, economic, and educational opportunities to marginalized communities.Item Creating public policy for minority access to higher education : a case study(2006-05) Mendez, Gina; Cantú, Norma V., 1954-It is a well-known fact that one way to a better life is through education. Individuals who have a college education will earn significantly higher income that those who only have a high school diploma (McGlynn, 2001). Having a college degree is not only beneficial to an individual, but a community with an educated work force can acquire significant economic and social benefits. If there is no access to higher education, individuals and the community generally cannot advance as well economically. Individuals living in South Texas did not have the opportunity to improve their socio-economic status because of the lack of public institutions of higher education in their region. The South Texas Region is comprised mostly of a Hispanic population. It has the “state’s least educated population, the state’s poorest facilities, and the least capacity to generate local taxes to improve educational opportunities” (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, 1993). This study explored predisposing conditions such as racism and examined critical elements such as economic and political power in San Antonio, and the dynamics that empowered a minority group to take the fight of access to a public university to a higher level. According to the legislators interviewed, the move to create a second UT System campus in downtown San Antonio was a community grassroots effort that had a buy-in from members of the Bexar County delegation. The legislators proposed legislation and followed the bill through the approval process in the Texas House and Texas Senate. Before the bill was approved, a lawsuit had been filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens and the American GI Forum against the Texas governor alleging the State had violated the constitutional rights of Mexican Americans by having unequal access to a comprehensive public university. During a time when tuition has skyrocketed and the cost of gasoline has soared, it is amazing how the adage “Build it and they will come” continues to fulfill the dreams of students who may have never had the opportunity to attend a comprehensive institution of higher education had it not been for the UTSA Downtown Campus.Item Pr?spero: A Study of Success from the Mexican Middle Class in San Antonio, Texas(2012-10-19) Bertinato, SaritaImmigration is a topic that has experienced an evolution of social importance across centuries. While the United States has welcomed individuals seeking lives of promise and opportunity, its neighboring border with Mexico has also encouraged significant migration into the United States Therefore, immigration into Texas was not a new and unusual development. However, the flood of Mexican citizens trying to escape the regime of Porfirio Diaz was noteworthy and left San Antonio residents struggling to accept their new neighbors. The purpose of this dissertation is to study a historically Mexican middle class neighborhood in San Antonio, in order to identify factors that made it possible for some residents to experience socioeconomic prosperity while others were less successful. I believe that positive socioeconomic success resulted from two important factors: high levels of human and social capital and the synergistic interactions of sociopolitical elements. I begin by presenting an overview of the shared turbulent history between Mexico and the United States, the rise and fall of President Porfirio Diaz, and the role that the Mexican Revolution played in San Antonio's 1910 immigration flux. Since this research focuses on the Mexican middle class, I explore the literature pertaining to racial/ethnic definitions, the middle class, and human/social capital, as well as the relevance of each concept within the context of my research question. This research utilizes comparative/historical, qualitative, and quantitative methodologies. I present a quantitative analysis of Prospect Hill's residents, particularly those of an anomalous nature. Of the cases identified, I discuss the case of Romulo Munguia, a native-born Mexican who presented as the third anomalous Mexican resident. Munguia moved to the U.S. in 1926 and established himself as a successful, middle class printer who became heavily involved with San Antonio's Mexican community. Ultimately, Munguia's success indicates a dependency on two specific factors. First, he possessed considerable human and social capital that afforded him social, economic, and political advantages. Secondly, he settled into a community that desperately needed his skills and expertise. Munguia's case supports the hypothesis that immigrant prosperity requires both human/social capital and specific synergistic interactions to achieve success.Item Preserving la historia of place: alternative approaches to evaluating historic properties(2014-05) Quintana-Morales, Amarantha Zyanya; Holleran, MichaelThe following thesis argues that in order to reach underrepresented communities, preservation efforts must be engaged at the local level. A way to begin to do this is to utilize analytical methods that find value in the ordinary and affirm the dynamic and referential character of buildings and the values we ascribe to them. Applying these methods to increasingly challenging preservation projects can help shape a broader yet more acute representation of our shared heritage. The thesis begins with a review of the American Latino Heritage Initiative within the framework of the Westside neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas. Intended as a large-scale effort to bring attention to the role of “Latinos” in the U.S., the initiative is evaluated for its efficacy at the local level. The interface of national goals and local needs, general characterizations and specific qualities, and standardized processes with particular circumstances brings forth the challenges of preserving places, which the current preservation system was not designed to protect. Mexican and Mexican American communities established an important cultural and physical center in San Antonio at the beginning of the 20th century. While some of the physical remnants of this rich history have been lost, others endure in the people and buildings that inhabit the Westside. Valuable local preservation initiatives have helped record their stories and highlight their significance. Nevertheless, formal preservation organizations have, until recently, failed to recognize the significance of the Mexican American heritage of the Westside. In recent years, the San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation and local groups have collaborated to begin to designate landmarks in the Westside. This thesis examines five of these buildings with the intent of identifying what makes them stand out as important landmarks in the community. Analytical mapping considers the spatial relationships between the buildings and their surrounding areas, and temporal mapping examines the change in use of each case study. A typology of values is generated from this analysis categorizing the distinguishing characteristics of the buildings. Together these exploratory methods start to define a language that goes beyond historical and aesthetic significance to recognize social, cultural and use values.Item Preserving Texas : historic preservation, nationalism, and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas(2011-05) Meyer, Hannah Nebb; Holleran, Michael; Long, Christopher; Penick, MonicaHow did the Daughters of the Republic of Texas use historic preservation to help create and perpetuate Texas nationalism? Historic sites are an important part of creating and maintaining a nation-state’s national identity, but even more so when the nation no longer exists. The DRT preserved and created a common Texas national history with the preservation and interpretation of the Alamo and the French Legation Museum. The Alamo is the principal symbol of the Texas identity. Before the Alamo was a place of state and national reverence, before it was a battle site, before it was the Alamo, it was a Spanish mission, San Antonio de Valero. Yet, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas reconstructed the history of the mission so as to include only the thirteen days (February 23- March 6, 1836) when it was the site of one of the most important and well-known battles in the War for Texas Independence. This interpretation decision has shaped the way the Alamo is viewed through our collective memory. The French Legation Museum in Austin is important to the story of nationalism in Texas. Although it is not as recognized as the Alamo, the French Legation Museum is a crucial component in the story of Texas as an independent republic. The French Legation gives Texans a physical history of the Republic of Texas, thus strengthening and perpetuating the Texas national identity. The DRT’s preservation decisions at Alamo and the French Legation perpetuate the memory of Texas as an independent republic, and thus preserve the Texas national identity.Item Safety at highway-railroad crossings : a case study of the Austin-San Antonio corridor(2011-05) Zankowski, Jennifer Jaye; Zhang, Ming, 1963 Apr. 22; McCray, TaliaFor over a decade proposals for connecting the metropolitan areas of Austin and San Antonio, Texas via passenger rail have been studied. In the Texas Department of Transportation’s 2010 Rail Plan several ideas, including high-speed rail, regional Amtrak service, and a new passenger rail service have been proposed as a means to provide an alternate mode of transportation along the I-35 corridor. Union Pacific Railroad currently owns and operations a rail line that connects the Austin and San Antonio metropolitan areas; each of the passenger rail projects proposes sharing this corridor with Union Pacific. A literature review reveals that a key factor in negotiating with a freight railroad for shared use of a corridor is safety. One element of the safety risk analysis is the evaluation of at-grade highway-railroad crossing. This study discusses the Austin-San Antonio corridor, its current mobility challenges and the proposed passenger rail projects. It then discusses rail safety as expressed in the literature and provides background about safety at highway-railroad crossings. Crossing inventory and accident data, as maintained by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), is then analyzed using regression modeling in an attempt to better understand the relationship between the physical and operational characteristics of highway-railroad crossings and accidents on corridors shared by freight and passenger rail. It analyzes a five-year accident history (2005 to 2009) from of a sample of shared use highway-rail crossings throughout the US. The findings are then used to analyze the at-grade highway-railroad crossings along the Austin-San Antonio corridor. And finally, the implications of the findings are discussed. The findings of this report recommend that characteristics of the built environment such as land use, number of traffic lanes, and function classification of the roadway should be considered when assessing accident risk at highway-railroad crossings. In addition, this analysis reveals the need for a way to better measure safety risks at private highway-railroad crossings.Item Same-sex parents in San Antonio(2012-05) Lee, Yi-Mou; Minutaglio, Bill; Dahlby, TracySan Antonio has the highest percentage of same-sex couples raising children compared to any other major metropolis in the nation. The unlikely emergence of San Antonio as a haven for same-sex parents is tied to many complex issues and themes – it touches on history, religion and race deep in the heart of Texas. Below its seemingly conservative surface, San Antonio has a decidedly liberal undercurrent: Its liberal legal system, a network of Catholic leaders quietly supports the gay families, and the Latino community that presents a tolerant side. The story explores the question: How can San Antonio have such high numbers of gay parents, but still be seen by gay parents as a hostile place to live? That seeming dichotomy speaks to the ongoing tension in the nation where liberals push for civil rights, while conservatives push to preserve traditional family values. The battles in the political, religious and cultural arenas in San Antonio exemplify the longstanding tug of war over family values in this country and might help us understand just what the future holds for same-sex couples in the rest of American society.Item San Antonio v. Rodriguez : understanding Texas school finance history through a Latino critical race theory framework(2011-08) Atwood, Erin Denise, 1978-; Young, Michelle D.; Cant�, Norma; Vasquez-Heilig, Julian; Salinas, Cinthia; McKeirnan-Gonzalez, JohnThe current economic conditions in the United States have contributed to budgetary cuts to public education at both the federal and state levels. This attention to educational funding and political decisions regarding spending are linked to beliefs about what is valued in education and what proper policy solutions exist. Yet, contemporary actions and issues do not exist in isolation. These economic difficulties are situated in a specific context, history, and have been shaped by political ideologies. This dissertation is directly focused on critically examining the history and context of school finance policy. School finance policy has been an important political issue for over 40 years, beginning with the San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez case (Koski & Levin, 2000). This case was first filed in 1968 and serves as the unit of analysis for this study. While much of the body of work regarding school finance is framed according to traditional economic methods and beliefs, this study is a historic narrative that utilizes critical policy analysis to examine educational funding. Though Rodriguez was a case filed by Mexican American parents on behalf of students in the Edgewood school district, which served a student population that was over 90% Latino, Mexican Americans and the voices of Mexican Americans were glaringly absent from the arguments made in court. This absence of race marks a need for critical policy analysis and work that calls attention to this silent area of political discourse. The purpose of this paper is to examine the inclusion and exclusion of race in the Rodriguez case to find out what is missing from the dominant narratives of school finance and begin to understand how current policies continue to ignore race. Historic methods, guided by a Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) framework, are employed to analyze archival records, newspaper articles, legal documents, and oral histories. Narratives reveal themes of the social context that lead to legal action, the language used in the courts cases, and the lasting implications for continued understandings of school finance policy.Item San Antonio's energy future(2006-08) Pearson, Eli Richard; Butler, Kent S.As demand for electricity increases, utilities turn to demand-side or supply-side responses in order to reduce demand or add supply to their energy portfolio. CPS Energy, a municipal utility owned by the City of San Antonio, Texas, recently broke ground on a new coal plant to meet rising demand for electricity. This report examines the public debate that accompanied the proposal and investigates the possibilities of other solutions for utilities to meet demand. Two case studies, overviews of the utilities in Austin, Texas, and Sacramento, California, provide insight into the considerations for utilities with renewable energy and demand-side management (DSM) in their energy portfolio. This professional report will evaluate these case studies and apply lessons learned to the case of CPS Energy in San Antonio, and report on the options available to utilities considering conventional supply-side additions and demand-side management.Item The Effect of Destination Personality and Self-destination Congruity on Visitors' Intentions(2013-03-28) Lim, SeonghwanThis research was initiated from two questions: what personality San Antonio has as a tourist destination despite its being an inanimate object and what relationships there are among destination personality, self-congruity, and visitors? intentions. A conceptual framework was employed based on these questions, and this research focused on the generation of the destination personality of San Antonio and how destination personality and self-destination congruity influence visitors? intentions. Data were collected from students (n=143) at Texas A&M University in consideration of Texas residents who have visited San Antonio as the focal population for this research. A personality scale consisting of 31 items for San Antonio was first developed from a preliminary survey (n=19), which were then included in a main survey for the measurement of destination personality. Using an exploratory factor analysis, destination personality dimensions were generated with the 31 personality traits. Finally, five personality dimensions were extracted with 25 traits. The five personality dimensions were: competence, sincerity, culture, excitement, and vibrancy. Three of five dimensions were found in Aaker?s (1997) scale: competence, sincerity, and excitement. The dimension of culture was specific to San Antonio, while the dimension of vibrancy was found in another destination personality study. In this research, six hypotheses regarding the relationships among destination personality, self-congruity, and visitors? intentions were tested using a multiple regression analysis. The results indicated that: (1) hypotheses 1 and 2, destination personality will have a positive impact on visitors? intentions to return and to recommend, were supported in part; (2) hypotheses 3 and 4, four types of self-congruity (actual, ideal, social, and ideal social self-congruity) will have a positive effect on visitors? intentions to return and to recommend, were not supported, but self-congruity as a single dimension was significant; (3) hypotheses 5 and 6, four types of congruity will mediate the relationship between destination personality and intentions to return and to recommend, were not supported, while destination personality as a single dimension was significant in terms of visitors? intentions. The results offered practical implications. First, destination marketers need to focus on the personality of a destination from a marketing perspective. Specifically, destination marketers for San Antonio should place emphasis on sincerity regarding intention to return and sincerity and excitement regarding intention to recommend in order to attract potential visitors to San Antonio. Second, destination marketers should know that there is a connection between destination personality and visitors? personalities. They should make their efforts to market to potential visitors who have personalities that are consistent with the destination?s personality.Item The influence of local and imported factors on the design and construction of the Spanish missions in San Antonio, Texas(Texas A&M University, 2006-04-12) Crowley, Nancy E.San Antonio, Texas, is home to several eighteenth-century Spanish Franciscan missions, which represent some of the best examples of Spanish colonial mission architecture in the United States and which together comprise the city's historic Chain of Missions. This study traces the history of four of these missions: Mission Nuestra Senora de la Purismima Concepcion de Acuna, Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo, Mission San Juan Capistrano, and Mission San Francisco de la Espada. Founded by Franciscan friars, who traveled from Spain to Mexico and ultimately to Texas to christianize native populations of the Americas, and built by craftsmen transplanted from Mexico, the missions are an amalgam of diverse cultures and decades of evolving architectural styles. This study examines the cultural, religious, and environmental factors that influenced the design and construction of the original mission structures. Specifically, it analyzes the vernacular architecture of eighteenth-century Spain and Mexico, as well as the traditions of local Native American groups of the period, and studies the effect of these cultures and San Antonio's environmental conditions on the resulting vernacular construction of the San Antonio missions. Each of the four missions in this study is examined within the context of three main factors: (a) the unique combination of broad cultural factors?both local and imported-that influenced the architectural forms of the missions; (b) the religious prescriptions of three cultural groups and their effect on the structure of the missions; and (c) the impact of the specific environmental conditions of the San Antonio area. The goal of this study was to identify the multiple forces that contributed to the creation of a vernacular architectural form-Spanish mission architecture-in Texas. The findings suggest that the design and construction of the San Antonio Missions were most strongly influenced by Mexican religious factors, followed by Spanish cultural factors. Environmental conditions of the area were not highly influential.Item The materiality of Tejano identity(2016-12) Hanson, Casey; Wade, Maria Fátima, 1948-; Creel, Darrell; Franklin, Maria; Doolittle, William; Menchaca, MarthaScholars have examined Tejano identity through various theoretical and methodological lenses, but in general, all are interested in highlighting Tejano agency in the development of Texas. As diachronic examinations of identity, these investigations are often situated in terms of shifting ethnic identities, where a broad range of backgrounds came to share common concepts of Tejano identity through shared experiences and the dynamic context of the frontier. This dissertation builds upon this research and comprehensively evaluates Tejano identity through an examination of the archaeological record from a perspective based in theories of materiality. Like previous investigations, my dissertation is a diachronic study that conceptualizes Tejano identity as a changing ethnic identity, but as an examination rooted in material culture studies, my dissertation provides a new perspective into the role of Tejano agency in the development of region. My dissertation asks what objects and what material practices were integral to the formation of Tejano identity and how did those practices change over time? To answer these questions, I compared the material worlds of various Tejano families and individuals from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and explored how objects were enmeshed in the work of subject formation over time. In my dissertation, I present the archaeological and archival data from three case study sites, the eighteenth century deposits at Spanish Governor’s Palace (41BX179), the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century deposits at and the Delgado Cistern (41BX1753) and the Mexican Period Padrón-Cháves Midden and Siege of Béxar entrenchment (41BX1752) as well as a number of other related sites. The comparative analyses reveal that local traditions, technologies, and practices contributed to the establishment of a distinct regional identity in the early eighteenth century. Many aspects of this identity endured into the nineteenth century, although other aspects of identification began to shift due to the introduction of new material practices through an illicit trade network that helped to forge a unified Tejano identity across frontier communities. Finally, the unprecedented amount of goods introduced to the frontier along with Anglo-American colonists during the Mexican Period exposed Tejanos to an array of new practices that fractured Tejano identity and reshaped the frontier.Item Unbuckling the German belt : the history of opera audiences in San Antonio(2011-05) Alba, Ernest Isaiah; Keeler, Ward; Straubhaar, JosephOpera is unique among forms of Western classical music and performing arts in that it has always been a popular and accessible form of “cultured” entertainment. As a city with one of the longest and richest histories of opera performance in Texas, San Antonio provides a significant opportunity to survey the relationship between this popular art form and discourses of identity, power, and difference across ethnic, class, and gender divisions. This paper has two aims. First, it investigates the history of opera reception in San Antonio in order to examine changes in the traditional values of its citizens over the past century, focusing on the influence of ethnic identity among German immigrants. Then, it looks at the scholarship on cultural performance in various contemporary situations analogous to that of San Antonio and constructs five key processes of identification that show how individuals contextualize themselves in shared histories and identities through their participation in cultural performance of opera.