TAMIU Criminal Justice Students Present at National Conference

Three groups of Texas A&M International University students conducted original research and are preparing to present their work at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Feb. 23 – 26 in San Diego, Calif.

“For the past six years, we have been fortunate to have criminal justice students eager to attend nationally-recognized criminal justice conferences not only because they’re excited to share their research, but also to meet students from other universities. Plus they get to meet well-known scholars in the field,” explained Dr. Claudia E. San Miguel, director, criminal justice program.

“This is a great opportunity for students to expand their knowledge of criminal justice issues, an excellent opportunity to interact with their peers across the country and a perfect setting to learn about the most pressing issues in criminal justice,” Dr. San Miguel added.

Lucia Juarez, Amy Cruz, Citlaly Palau, and Lorena Robles, Master of Science Program graduate students, will present “Border Violence: An Exploratory Study of Police Effectiveness.”

“They conducted original research to determine the effectiveness of border enforcement strategies and policies in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo,” said group mentor, San Miguel.

The second group, two undergraduate criminal justice majors, Diana Carreón and Emanuel Diaz, prepared “An Empirical Analysis of Violence Crime Rates in Southern Border Cities in the U.S.”
Carreón and Diaz were mentored by Dae-Hoon Kwak, visiting assistant professor, criminal justice.

The final group, undergraduate criminal justice students Kimberly Hill and Daniella Tijerina, and Javier Marquez, graduate student, criminal justice, will present “Attitudes Toward Homosexuality among College Students.” Mentors for this group included Kwak, San Miguel and Dr. Amy Poland, assistant professor, criminal justice.

The students raised their own funds to attend the conference and have done so for several years according to San Miguel.

Information on the TAMIU College of Arts and Sciences Criminal Justice Program is available at tamiu.edu/coas/crimjust

For more information, contact San Miguel at csanmiguel@tamiu.edu or 326.2529.

University office hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday – Friday.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu