Everyone has one. The one who inspired you to think, not just react; to challenge your assumptions; to write and rewrite your paper; to see yourself in a new light.

Post a comment with your memories of SMU teachers past and present, and let us know who inspired you.

As another academic year begins, share in our SMU pride and see how alumni, parents and friends make a difference.

Alumna Katherine Browne’s heartbreaking documentary about a large family fractured by Hurricane Katrina is airing on public television stations across the country, including KERA-TV in Dallas on Aug. 28 – the eve of the second anniversary of the killer storm.

SMU was the magnet that first drew Browne to Dallas, where she earned an undergraduate degree in English in 1976 and a Ph.D. in anthropology in 1993. But she found herself returning time and again from October 2005 to March 2007 as she and filmmaker Ginny Martin taped their video documentary about a storm-displaced extended family trying to re-establish their lives temporarily in Dallas and later back in St. Bernard Parish. The story is told primarily through the voices of the family matriarchs, including Connie Tipado, the Dallas nurse who found temporary housing for them all in her adopted city.

Browne, now a professor of anthropology at Colorado State University, hopes viewers will learn from the film that the continuing distress experienced by people forced out of the New Orleans area is a unique cultural phenomenon.

“They are so very connected to the bayou," Browne said. “It’s not just about wanting to be back and seeing the faces, but of being part of the environment. The attachment to place is fierce.”

“People were optimistic that things could be returned to something comfortable and feeling normal,” Browne said. “Hope was alive…until they got back (to St. Bernard Parish) and started realizing that nothing was happening, and nothing continued to happen.

“There were so many things beyond their control,” Browne said. “People were starting to take sleeping pills. It was kind of alarming to me. This mental health specialist explained that no matter how much of a network you have in place to keep ties connected – picking it up and transplanting it somewhere else just doesn’t work. It can die.”

The film was made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation, Colorado State University and Women in Film Foundation.

Check your local PBS listings for air dates and times and visit the “Still Waiting” official site for more information.

Did a North Texas charity finance Palestinian terrorists? Jeffrey Kahn, assistant professor of law at SMU, discussed the United States’ ongoing case against the Holy Land Foundation this summer on National Public Radio.

Kahn, an expert on counterterrorism, American constitutional law and human rights, said that during the federal trial in Dallas, prosecutors will try to follow the path of $12 million the Holy Land Foundation says it sent to help poor and orphaned Palestinians. The government alleges the money instead supported Hamas’ suicide bombings and other terrorism.

“To the extent that Hamas provides for a wide variety of medical and social welfare needs in Gaza and the West Bank as well as engages in acts of terrorism, every penny saved can be used in a terrorist context,” said Kahn on the July 16 “Morning Edition.”

Read the complete transcript here.

Kahn received the 2007-08 Maguire Teaching Fellow Award from SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility for his course “Perspectives on Counterterrorism.” Kahn previously served as a trial attorney for the U.S. Justice Department, including in the Criminal Division to conduct research on Russian criminal procedure. His books include Federalism, Democratization and the Rule of Law in Russia (Oxford University Press, 2002).

Dallas CEOs feel great about the local economy. The national outlook? Not so much. Cox School of Business professors Miguel Quiñones and Robert Rasberry asked DFW-area chief executives about everything from leadership issues to the local labor force to the cost of living. The sometimes surprising results make up the first SMU Cox CEO Sentiment Survey, a collaboration with DallasCEO magazine that captures the current zeitgeist among the North Texas business class.

Those results include the finding that 70 percent of Dallas-area CEOs believe local economic conditions are improving, yet only 41 percent think the U.S. economy will do the same. The number 62 factors in as both the percentage of CEOs who expect higher profits over the next year, and the percentage who think the DFW work force is “adequate.” The executives also rank the area’s top three contributors to quality of life as cost of living (a whopping 54.7 percent), weather and climate, and quality of travel and transportation infrastructure.

As the survey continues, the annual results will form the SMU Cox CEO Sentiment Index, which will “[highlight] trends in leadership thinking and [uncover] factors most critical to business success,” says DallasCEO. “But even in its inaugural year, the survey provides a unique insight into the minds of the individuals that keep Dallas’ business engine firing on all cylinders.”

Learn more at the Cox School of Business Web site.

It’s been a busy summer at the Hegi Family Career Development Center, where we’ve been hard at work to help make your career planning easier.

Online: We’ve launched a new and improved MustangTrak. Alumni and students now can register with the Hegi Career Center, manage an on-campus interviewing schedule and keep up with career events through the online service, as well as search the 5,000 positions from 300 employers that are currently posted.

To get started, visit the online orientation at www.smusaddleup.com, where you’ll learn how user-friendly and useful MustangTrak can be. And stay tuned for more new alumni tools in the months ahead.

On campus: Mark your calendars for this fall’s big event: The Career Fair is from noon to 4 p.m. September 26 at the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. We’re expecting more than 90 employers representing all majors to attend.

Other on-campus events include the Brown Bag Series, where professionals discuss their fields and offer advice over lunch (October 3, 9, 17 and 24); and the Homecoming Alumni Network Tent (November 10). Check MustangTrak for a complete listing.

More tools: Graduates of SMU’s Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral programs also are eligible for career counseling by phone or in person from the Hegi Career Center staff. (Graduates of the Cox School of Business M.B.A. program are referred to the MBA Career Management Center and law graduates to the Dedman School of Law Career Services Office.) Counselors use a variety of assessments and resources that can help alumni explore career options, in addition to offering support with résumé and cover letter development, interviews and networking.

For more information, visit smu.edu/career or call 214-768-2266.

A word to the wise: MySpace and Facebook don’t always mix well with job searches. What you post today will be stored online for years. A recent national news story profiled a young graduate who had been offered an investment-banking job on Wall Street. He had a $175K position waiting for him, pending a background search. The first place HR looked was MySpace, where it found photos that led to his offer being rescinded. His reputation with other investment banks was tarnished. He’s selling insurance now … for $27K.

Post professional information that will make you look good to employers. Post interesting information that will promote you as an outstanding citizen. But most of all, POST RESPONSIBLY.

Written by Troy Behrens, Executive Director of the Hegi Family Career Development Center

Before each home football game, join us at the alumni tent on the Boulevard for complimentary food and beverages, family fun and festivities. The season begins Labor Day against Texas Tech. View the full tent schedule.