David Thomas
Clapper
(Kingsville)—The fall 2006 edition of the Journal of South Texas, which pays tribute to a Texas A&M University-Kingsville student who was killed in a motorcycle accident in April, is now available.
David Thomas Clapper was a senior majoring in both history and mathematics and working on a research article at the time of his accident. To honor Clapper, his teacher and the editor of the journal, Leslie Hunter, Regents professor of history at A&M-Kingsville, included Clapper’s paper in this issue.
Clapper’s paper, Free for Lunch: Senator Carlos Truan and House Bill 505 for a Duty-Free Lunch for Teachers, chronicles Truan and his fight to require a duty-free lunch for all Texas teachers.
Clapper, of Kingsville, didn’t tell his family he was working on the paper. “We were surprised and honored when Dr. Hunter contacted us for permission to use his work,” his mother, Emma, said.
Clapper tutored math students at Robstown High School, excelled in baseball and loved fixing up old cars.
The journal also features four other authors, including one of Clapper’s fellow students. Veronica N. Arredondo earned a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in history from A&M-Kingsville and is currently a graduate student working toward two master’s degrees in history and politics and in education.
Arredondo is treasurer of Pi Sigma Alpha, the political science honorary society, and a member of the Student Advisory Board of the American Democracy Project.
Her paper is Too Much Mud in the Mix: The 1988 Rangel v. Alvarez Election, about the hotly contested race for District 37 state representative between the late Irma Lerma Rangel and Rio Grande City candidate Jesus Maria Alvarez.
Other research in this issue includes The Paso de Jacinto Crossing on the Rio Grande, 1746-2006, by Joe R. Moreno Jr., special collections librarian at the Laredo Public Library; Military Operations at Port Lavaca, Indianola and Fort Esperanza, 1861-1863, by Charles D. Spurlin, retired Victoria College history professor; and Santos Garza: The Father of San Felipe Schools, by Douglas Lee Braudaway, government and history teacher at Southwest Texas Junior College.
Texas A&M-Kingsville publishes the Journal of South Texas twice a year for the South Texas Historical Association and serves as the association’s official archive.
Cecilia Aros Hunter, university archivist, is the design and layout editor for the publication. Larry Knight, associate history professor, is a member of the association’s board of directors.
To receive a copy of the Journal of South Texas, call Cecilia
Aros Hunter at (361) 593-4154. 