Labor of Loves

By Roy Ivey

The world differs greatly from when Dr. Paul Love and Sandy Love began teaching at Angelo State University in the 1970s, but throughout their careers they touched hundreds of lives. 

Before they retired this summer, they reflected on times past and future expectations.  The coming days will be driven by the same forces that moved their recent past and, they said, the common denominator is technology.

“In the past 30 years, the technological explosion has really altered the classroom,” said Sandy, a psychologist.  “When we came here, we learned the old computer languages.  In the 1980s, a big box came through my door, and it was a brand new desktop computer.”

Paul, a sociologist, said computers sparked one of the biggest innovations of the 20th Century – the Internet.

“Virtually all textbooks have companion Web sites that open resources for students to study, review and do sample quizzes,” Paul said.  “The Internet has tremendous potential for research.”

Sandy said another big difference today compared to when she started at ASU in 1978 is the makeup of the student population.

“A lot more of our students are employed,” Sandy said.  “Many are non-traditional students with families and tremendous financial responsibilities.”

Non-traditional or not, many of their former students have stayed in touch with the Loves.

“Some of our international students have given me their addresses, saying ‘if you make it to Germany…,’” Sandy said. “My former students are all over the state of Texas, too.  Some stay in touch with me by e-mail and send Christmas cards.  I’m following their careers as they grow and develop. "

“I have touched some souls,” she added.  “I’ve had students tell me I’ve made a difference in their lives.  Those are the special moments.”

Stacey Leigh Patterson DuPree had Sandy as a professor and was a leader in the Zeta Kappa chapter of the Sigma Kappa sorority.

“Sandy ranked at the top of my favorite professor list,” DuPree said.  “She just brought so much joy to the classroom with her big smile that she shares so freely with the world.  Always, in her teaching, she was consistent, dedicated, passionate, enthusiastic, cheerful and a pleasure to have as a professor.”

DuPree said Sandy, who was the faculty sponsor for Sigma Kappa for 29 years, was a role model for sorority members.

Sandy also helped establish Epsilon Sigma Alpha, worked with Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity and helped start a Pi Gamma Mu chapter on campus with Paul.  Pi Gamma Mu is an international social sciences honor society.

The impression Sandy made on students likely was a major factor in her being voted “Teacher of the Year” seven times by the student body for the annual awards ceremony sponsored by the Student Government Association.

Long before they established themselves as popular ASU professors, the Loves took their own life journeys.

Paul was born in Albuquerque, the son of parochial teachers, and came to Texas when he was 12.  He earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University in San Antonio and his advanced degrees came from the University of Pittsburgh. He then returned to Texas, found ASU and stayed.

“There is something about San Angelo that holds you,” he said.

“We don’t have traffic jams and the big city problems,” said Sandy, who grew up in Mattoon, Ill., and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern Illinois University. 

The ASU campus the Loves found in the ’70s has changed dramatically over the years.

“When I first came here, they had the old bookstore in an Army barracks behind the library,” Paul said. “They still had the old gym, which was kind of a Quonset hut-type of structure.”

Sandy noted changes in departmental organization since she arrived.

“I was hired into the Department of Education and Psychology,” Sandy said.  “Paul was hired into the Department of History and Sociology in 1971.  In 1982, they decided to break up the departments and ours became the Department of Psychology and Sociology.”

“It has worked out well,” Paul said.  “We’ve been a congenial department from the start.  It was a good, natural fit.”

The Loves’ department head, Dr. Bill Davidson, said he noticed soon after he arrived at ASU in 1993 how upbeat and friendly the Loves were and how well they worked within the department.

“They set a very positive social climate of friendship and support among colleagues,” Davidson said.  “Their example has served as a refreshing breath of air to new faculty and, through the years, enabled all of us to work together cooperatively and effectively.”

During his years with the university, Paul researched subjects as current as today’s news.  His favorite area is demography, the statistical study of human populations that focuses on the density and distribution of people.

“The population issue is quite globalized,” Paul said.  “The rapid increase in world population is generating major factors in just about every problem we have such as famine and competition over water.  Most wars going on now are over water.”

He also considers religious extremism a worldwide concern.

“That has been and will continue to be a major issue,” Paul said.  “The answers are going to be complex.  War is not going to solve the problems.  Diplomacy and building bridges are the only way we can go.” 

Another trend Paul has studied is the rapid global increase in aging population and its impact in the world as a whole. 

“In the United States, the elderly population will increase from the current 40 million (12 percent of our population) to 72 million (20 percent) by 2030.  It will continue to grow until it maxes out at about 21 percent by 2040 and then will start to decline somewhat as the Baby Boomer generation ends," Paul said. 

“As Baby Boomers retire in large numbers, they will be a pretty potent force driving consumer markets and political issues,” he added.  “By 2025, almost one-third of our adult population will be drawing Social Security.” 

Sandy has concentrated on child and social psychology and studied child abuse and neglect.  She noted the stress contemporary children face from multiple extracurricular activities.

“It is great for kids to have sports on the side, and music is a marvelous thing, but do them in moderation,” she said.  “Of course, if a child is excelling in a particular area, you wouldn’t want to squelch that.”

She said, however, that children do need some time to play.

The Loves plan to play some, too, now that they will have more freedom.

“We want to spend more time with family,” Sandy said.  “We have three little grandsons in San Antonio.  They really want us to be more involved in their soccer and baseball games.”

Sandy’s two daughters, Shannon and Paula, both graduated from ASU.

Besides spending time with the family and doing some recreational reading, the Loves plan to travel.

“Neither of us has ever been to Europe,” Paul said, “and we would like to make some small-scale trips around the United States.”

They also are looking forward to some activities close to home.

“There is a lot going on at ASU in the arts, with speakers on campus, in drama and in music,” Paul said.  “I’m also going to do some home remodeling and we are looking forward to watching a little TV.”

He said they don’t plan on doing a lot of that, though.

“You’ve got to avoid the three curses of retirement at all costs or you are going to be very bored,” Paul said.  “You have to stay off the couch, stay away from the refrigerator and avoid the TV.  People get into ruts with those things and find they aren’t doing anything anymore.”

“We are both kind of movers and shakers,” Sandy said.  “People who know us aren’t worried about us because we don’t know what boredom is.”