Mark Shepherd and Rosann Burke work miles apart but have something very much in common. Neither of these long-time TDCJ district parole officers originally envisioned a career in criminal justice; but both say they have found the field personally gratifying and professionally fulfilling.

Pack Unit Major David Rice and unit Maintenance Technician Matt Goodson are no longer packing on the pounds. And each had good reason for finally deciding last year to begin shedding their excess pounds by exercising and eating right. For Rice, it was either do or die. For Goodson, it was impending fatherhood.

Cecil Wright didn’t chicken out at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. A year ago, as chief cook for the barbecue cook-off team representing the Jasper County Go Texan Committee, Wright grilled up some chicken as usual. But he didn’t follow the same simple recipe that had won his team blue ribbons in many other less-prestigious cooking competitions. The foul- up resulted in the group failing to place among the top 100 entries at the world’s largest barbecue cook-off.