UNIVERSITY PRESS Bruseth lecture to cover LaBelle wreck, Tuesday Cade Smith UP contributor
James Bruseth, former director of the Archeology Division of the Texas Historical Commission will be presenting a lecture, “LaBelle: The Ship That Changed History,” March 7 at 5 p.m. on the eighth floor of Gray Library with a reception and book signing. “The Texas Historical Commission, for a number of years were searching for the LaBelle, which was the last of four ships on the See LABELLE page 2
LAMAR ALLIES TO HOST LGBTQI ADVOCACY WORKSHOP Tim Collins UP managing editor
Lamar Allies will host an advocacy workshop, “Education, Guidelines and Action,” Saturday, noon to 4 p.m., at the Spindletop Unitarian Universalist Church, with presenters from PFLAG, an organization for family and friends of the LGBTQI community, and TENT, the Transgender Education Network of Texas. Lamar Allies is a student organization that provides a safe space for LGBTQIA community members and is part of the gay-
The Newspaper of Lamar University
Vol. 93, No. 18 March 2, 2017
Expanding Opportunites LU alumnus Quijano discusses Panama Canal expansion Trevier Gonzalez UP multimedia editor
In August 1914, a man-made waterway within Panama, stretching 48 miles, joined the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. To accommodate the growing size of ships and to introduce new trade routes, the Panama Canal Authority began a $5.25 billion expansion project in 2007 which was completed in June 2016. On Friday, Panama Canal Authority CEO Jorge L. Quijano spoke to students and faculty about the process, and the canal’s future. While the Panama Canal plays a critical role in international trade, it also affects the Beaumont area and neighboring areas, Quijano, a Lamar University alumnus, said. “Beaumont has a lot of military traffic,” he said. “Some of it goes through the canal, some of it doesn’t. The canal manages all of the different segments and a lot of it comes from this area.” Texas and Louisiana make up a large amount of the United States’ seaborne grain exports. “We handle, at the Panama Canal, 31 percent of the grain exports of the United States,” Quijano said. “That’s quite a bit.” Liquefied natural gas, for example, is developing significantly within the area, Quijano said. “That has become a major trade commodity through the Panama Canal,” he said. “That’s one link that we didn’t have before last year when we opened up the expansion. Now we’ve also seen a significant trade, and that’s coming anywhere between Houston and Louisiana — it’s the LPG trade, Liquefied Petroleum Gas.” Currently, mid-sized cargo ships,
UP photo by Trevier Gonzalez
Panama-native Jorge Quijano, above and below, speaks to students and faculty at the Center for Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship about the expansion of the Panama Canal Feb. 24.
called Panamax, are the largest ships able to pass through the canal. With the expansion comes the opportunity for larger vessels. “The container carriers will be changed to New Panamax vessels,” Quijano said. “In other words, the larger size of vessels can go through
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the Panama Canal now with the expansion and that will give more capacity for exports from the area.” The canal utilizes fresh water and improvements to the water supply were made by building water-saving basins during the expansion. “We decided three was the optimal, because the amount of time required was too excessive for a fourth water-saving basin, and the amount of water that’s going to be saved was minor,” Quijano said. “Right now, it’s saving 60 percent of the water.” During his talk, Quijano showed images of the canal throughout its history. He said the early pictures show a very different canal. “It’s not the same canal of 1914 — we’ve made major improvements to the anal over time,” he said. “We See PANAMA page 6
Trump presents first Congressional address Haley Bruyn UP Editor
On Tuesday night, President Donald J. Trump made his first presidential address to Congress. The hour-long speech covered many of the promises Trump had made during his campaign and his
Donald. J. Trump
achievements during his first month as president. The president began by condemning the recent antiSemitic hate crimes and talking about the future of America as a global superpower. “All the nations of the world — friend or foe — will find that America is strong, America is proud, and America is free,” he said. The topic then turned to the “earthquake” created by Trump’s supporters as well as the President’s promise to revive dying industries and fix the problems surrounding Veterans healthcare. Trump’s speech focused next on his accomplishments in economic affairs along with changes he has made to lobbying policy. “We have begun to drain the swamp of government corruption by imposing a five year ban on lobbying by executive branch officials —
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and a lifetime ban on becoming lobbyists for a foreign government,” Trump said. Turning his attention to his promise to create and protect American jobs. He said, “We have cleared the way for the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines — thereby creating tens of thousands of jobs — and I’ve issued a new directive that new American pipelines be made with American steel.” Trump discussed terrorism and its impact on the country. He also spoke at length on the unemployment problem in America as well as the national debt and taxes. “My economic team is developing historic tax reform that will reduce the tax rate on our companies so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone. At
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Blanchard to explore philanthropic depths Laura Fosdick UP contributor
The Women and Philanthropy will host Angela Blanchard, President and CEO of BakerRipley, formally known as Neighborhood Centers Inc, for a lecture series focusing on the importance of working together and investing resources for communities in need.
Angela Blanchard
The planned events include two lectures and a luncheon on March 2. The lectures will take place in the Landes Auditorium in the Galloway Business Building from 9:35 a.m. to 10:55 a.m. and 2:20 p.m. to 3:40 p.m. The luncheon is on the eighth floor of the Mary and John Gray Library at 11:15 a.m. The lectures are free to the public and the luncheon is by registration only. “Philanthropy focuses on the idea that positive and constructive change is possible without needing to leave anyone out,” Blanchard said. The two lectures presented by Blanchard are “Figure It Out Leadership, An Evolutionary Approach” and “You Can’t Build on Broken: A New Framework for Community Change,” will focus on the importance of working together and focusing on the strengths of the See BLANCHARD page 6
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INSIDE
Thursday, March 2, 2017 University Press
LABELLE
Page 2
from page 1
1684 expedition led by Robert Cavelier, seiur de La Salle to establish a colony in the new world,” Mary Scheer, director of the Lamar Center for History and Culture of Southeast Texas and the Upper Gulf Coast said. La Salle was supposed to land at the mouth of the Mississippi River, but instead La Salle lost his ships to pirates and disaster, sailed past his destination, and was murdered by his own men. “Dr. Bruseth and his team from the Texas Historical
ALLIES
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The young women in my classes are feisty and clever and believe, often with the passion of youthful optimism, that feminism is a battle already won. I worry for them - and for my daughters, too.” — Louise Brown
Commission after years of searching found the LaBelle in Matagorda Bay in 1995, where they later made plans to bring it back up to shore to preserve the ship to be put on display at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum in Austin,” Scheer said. Bruseth and his team built cofferdams to excavate the ship to bring it to shore and by 1997 they brought to ship up to be preserved. While excavating the ship, the team found over a million artifacts that belonged to the crew of the La-
Belle. “The LaBelle was taken to Texas A&M in the laboratory where they took the salt water out of the wood by soaking it in some sort of solution, it took nine years to sit in the water to dry the salt out of the ship.” Along with the ship the artifacts found in the expedition had to be restored to be placed in the Bob Bullock Museum. “I think about three years ago they finally brought it to the Bob Bullock Museum, where they had to take it apart and put it back together, it was
almost an unprecedented preservation effort for Bruseth and his team,” Scheer said. Bruseth wrote a book about the expedition called “LaBelle: The Ship That Changed History” in 2014, and will be available at the lecture to be signed. An individual student lecture will be held from 1 p.m.2 p.m. in the Landes Auditorium, of the Galloway Business Building. For more information about the presentation call Scheer at 880-8518 or email mary.scheer@lamar.edu.
The University Press can be read online at www.lamaruniversitypress.com. Advertising rates can be found on the site, along with practically all information that a person might be looking for.
CALENDAR March 4
“Education, Guidelines and Action Training”
Spindletop Unitarian Universalist Church Noon - 4 p.m.
March 4
TASI Darkroom Friends
“Positive/Negative Space”
The Art Studio, Inc.
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straight alliance on campus. Payshunz Nagashima, PFLAG Beaumont’s education chair, said the workshop is designed to educate allies and LGBTQI people how to advocate for themselves and their loved ones. “I was not aware that I could have a conversation with my representatives until people told me I could and showed me how to do it,” he said. “We tend to see representatives as being ‘over there,’ in some place that only people with a lot of money can reach. But they are not ‘over there,’ and they are much more accessible than many people realize.” Nagashima said the workshop will discuss Senate Bill 6, the so-called “bathroom bill,” which would require transgender people to use bathrooms in federally-funded institutions based on their biological sex. “It has nothing to do with women’s privacy,” he said. “This bill is about erasing transgender people from public spaces. We have seen how the public discussion alone has resulted in increased vio-
NOTICE
lence toward transgender and gender non-conforming people. We need allies to learn about us, listen to our stories, listen to what we are asking for, and help elevate our voices. “In the last 48 hours, two transgender women were murdered in New Orleans. That brings us to six murders in the U.S. this year. I believe this has a lot to do with our political climate and the hateful rhetoric with which we are inundated.” Mo Cortez, TENT interim vice-chair, said workshop attendees will learn how to get hold of legislators, whether by mail, email or in-person. “A lot of times these legislators don’t hear from people,” he said. “You know, people will complain, ‘Oh, this bill’s being decided in committee.’ People will complain about it on Facebook, but the complaints don’t really serve that much of a purpose unless they help some of the people and do something about it.” Cortez said there’s a lot of power in state government, so it’s important to contact members of the Texas Senate
or House, in addition to contacting federal representatives. Staffers can also be key when lobbying members of the government. “Just this past Thursday, I made an appointment with one house rep and they got right back to me within the hour,” he said. “We scheduled an appointment for Friday at two, and I went to go speak to that legislator and four Democratic legislators as well. They weren’t there, they were in their home districts, but I was able to speak with their staffers. “We try to let people know, staffers are your most valuable asset in that most of them are millennials, most of them
are progressive, and most of them are open to learning new things.” Representatives for Beaumont include Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, Congressman Randy Weber (TX14), Texas State Senator Brandon Creighton (TX-4), Texas State Representative Joe D. Deshotel (TX-22) and Texas State Educator Board member David Bradley. Information for other districts can be found at fyi.legis.state.tx.us. For more information on PFLAG, call 234-8590. For TENT, visit transtexas.org. For Lamar Allies, email Garrick Harden at garrick. hardin@lamar.edu.
7 p.m. - 10 p.m.
March 10
Tom Veillon
“The Wild Life”
High Street Gallery 7 p.m. - 10 p.m.
March 13-17 Spring Break
March 13
Beau Jam 2017
The Publicity
2 p.m. - midnight
March 25
Le Grand Bal
Dishman Museum 6 p.m. - midnight
EDITORIAL
3 UNIVERSITY PRESS March 2, 2017
Secret savings for savvy students Paying college tuition has some perks besides a fancy “.edu” email, rules on what you can and can’t do in your room, and the joy of having all your tests in one week. As annoying as school can be, there are a few perks to being enrolled in college. As a student with a dot-edu email you can get a few perks from services you already use. Prime Student offers a six month free Amazon Prime membership, plus 50 percent off of Prime for every year after. This sevice provides access to music, movies, and unlimited photo storage on top of Amazon’s normal market place options. You can stretch your money a little bit further by clicking the “no rush” option. This gets credits to Amazon’s Prime Pantry service to get some food items for free.
Commentary
Noah Dawlearn UP staff writer
Another college-friendly company is Spotify. Students receive a year of half-priced Spotify premium for simply signing up for Spotify Student. Spotify is a music renting service. With a premium membership you can listen offline, play higher quality music and not have to deal with annoying ads every other song. They also offer some video services that are hidden within the app. College students can get free Microsoft Office 365 for up to 10 devices by simply googling Office 365, logging in with your Lamar email and downloading the software. This includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, and OneDrive. It will work on Mac and PC. Adobe offers a 60 percent discount for the entire Adobe suite at $20 a month — which gives you access to software such as Photoshop, Lightroom and Illustrator, as well as mobile apps. Evernote, a powerful note taking application, offers their premium service at half price. This offers 10 times the space and more detailed interaction abilities. The Washington Post provides free access to all of their content if you sign up with your
.edu email. This is great for students who want to broaden their horizons and read about world issues on a daily basis. Most big news papers like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal
offer a $1-a-week subscription. Apple offers a $50 discount on most Macbooks for college students and near the start of the fall semester the discounts nor-
mally increase. So even though we still have to pay full price for books, tuition, dorms and a meal plan, some companies are giving us a break. That’s one upside to being in the hellhole teachers call “Class.”
UP illustration by Haley Bruyn
Cries of voter fraud lead to suppression of minority votes
Hey, those Oscars sure were something, weren’t they? What with Warren Beatty being given the wrong card and almost giving the Academy Award for best Motion Picture to “La La Land,” and everything. Okay, now that that I have your attention, let’s talk about voter suppression. Voter suppression is when a minority’s voting
Commentary
Tim Collins UP managing editor
rights are politically oppressed through acts such as purging voting rolls, discouraging early voting, reducing the number of polling places, or by instituting strict voter ID laws. These may seem like small annoyances that anyone who wants to vote hard enough will be able to overcome, but imagine you show up to the polling place on Voting Day, ready to fulfill your civic duty of making your voice heard at the ballot box, only to find out that your name has been taken off the voting roll. Nobody explains to you why exactly your name was taken off, though you have the sneaking suspicion that it might be because your last name is “Rodriguez,” but no big problem, right? Just re-register. Well, then you run into another problem, because your state doesn’t allow same-day registration. Registration also now re-
quires a Texas State driver’s license, which you don’t have because you don’t own a car. Even if you are registered, the only polling place on your side of town has people lined up around the block, while the suburb on the edge of town has three polling places and no waiting. Are you really going to stand in line for eight hours to vote? Besides, your district is so heavily Gerrymandered that your party lost the last eight elections with 20 percent of the vote, so what’s the point? You think, “I might as well head home,” but you stick it out. After all, it’s your duty. All of this trouble is worth it as long as it prevents voter fraud, though, right? According to the LA Times, only 31 cases of voter fraud occurred in the United States since 2000. 138,846,571 people voted in the 2016 presidential general election alone, so
UPeditorial
those 31 votes represent 0.0000002 percent of the 2016 presidential election. Clearly, voter fraud is not a problem. Texas passed the nation’s strictest voter registration law in 2011, which was then subsequently challenged by the Department of Justice for discriminating against minority and poor voters. According to the Texas Tribune, however, recently-confirmed Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed the DOJ to no longer challenge the law. This is in addition to the DOJ reversing its stance on no longer using private prisons, the government’s announcement that it would enforce federal marijuana laws and a crackdown on undocumented immigrants by ICE, all occurring in the past couple weeks. All these measures have been traditionally used in America’s history to suppress minority communities.
After the Civil War came Reconstruction, a period in which black votes were heavily repressed through the institution of “Black Codes,” in which states forbade black people from voting, holding office or engaging in public assembly. When these laws were eradicated and the Constitution was amended to prevent states from legislating against race, states began to institute Jim Crow laws, which discriminated against blacks without explicitly saying so. Now legislators pass voter ID laws and mandatory minimums on crack vs. cocaine. Democrats and Republicans alike need to push back against this form of brinkmanship, in which legislators who want to suppress the votes of minorities find out just how much they can get away with and not get in trouble for doing so. If we do that, we will be a more fair nation for all.
UP cartoon by Alyssa Stevens with Eddie Jones, Mathew Lara and Elisabeth Tatum
‘A person’s a person’
Dr. Seuss’s “Horton Hears a Who!” offers sage advice that we sometimes forget. In our busy lives, we often disconnect from society and choose to associate with people who we know are just like us. However, when we do that, it becomes easy to dehumanize people. We should remember that everyone is a person, with their own religious beliefs, their own way of thinking and their own way of carrying themselves. Lamar University has a diverse student population, and we have to keep in mind that, regardless of one’s religious beliefs, skin color, socioeconomic status or aspirations, we’re here to better ourselves. We are here to improve our minds, but, more importantly, we are here to improve ourselves as people. We should take time to visit with classmates who, on the surface, may not fit our normal circle of friends. Seek out the “other.” Make friends with people from other ethnicities, other religions — what makes them tick? Not everyone will turn out to be your best friend, but the process of stepping out of the norm is a learning experience. It is likely we’ll find that the “other” is simply “another” — they share the same hopes and dreams for the American ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In this time of a “Divided” rather than “United” States, seeking common ground is the best way to improve both ourselves and society. It is the real purpose of education. Editor....................................................Haley Bruyn Managing Editor..................................Tim Collins Multimedia Editor......................Trevier Gonzalez Staff ......................Noah Dawlearn, Caitlin McAlister ........................Stephanie DeMeyer, Cade Smith .........Cassie Jenkins, Rachael Acosta, Matt Beadle ..........Erika Leggett, Baylee Billiot, Karisa Norfleet ............................Hannah LeTulle, Andre Woodard .......................................................Shelby Strickland Advertising Assistant ....................Taylor Phillips Advisors Andy Coughlan and Stephan Malick Member of Texas Intercollegiate Press Association
Letters Policy
Individuals who wish to speak out on issues should send a letter fewer than 400 words in length to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 10055, Beaumont, TX 77710, or drop letters off at our office in 202 Carl Parker Building. The writer’s name, address, telephone number and ID number must accompany each letter. Letters received without this information cannot be printed. Letters may be edited for length, grammar, style and possible libel. Opinions expressed in letters are not necessarily those of the UP student management. Letters by the same writer on the same subject will not be published. Poetry and religious debates will not be published.
The opinions that appear in editorials are the official views of the University Press student management as determined by the UP Student Editorial Board. Opinions expressed elsewhere on this page are the views of the writers only and are not necessarily those of the University Press student management. Student opinions are not necessarily those of the university administration. ©University Press 2017
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Thursday, March 2, 2017 • UNIVERSITY PRESS
Grammy-nominated jazz artist to perform, host workshops Stephanie DeMeyer UP contributor
Lamar University will host a Percussion and Jazz Weekend, Friday and Saturday, featuring seven-time Grammynominated artist Bobby Sanabria. “The concert is a culmination of a weekend of activities featuring our guest star, Bobby Sanabria,” Rick Condit, associate professor of music and director of jazz ensembles, said. “He is a dynamic performer, a historian and an expert on Latin music, specifically Afro-Cuban music. He is a recognized expert in his field.” Sanabria introduced the Cardinal Jazz Orchestra at the Jazz Education Network National Conference in New Orleans in January. Condit said the students are excited to
TRUMP
play his music and perform with him. “Performers and educators like to share their art with an enthusiastic and receptive audience, and Mr. Sanabria is an educator at heart,” Condit said. “He loves to teach and advocate for Latin Music, Latin Jazz and Afro-Cuban music.” On Friday, Sanabria will lecture on the history of the clave, the rhythmic basis for Afro-Cuban music, and will lead two Latin percussion workshops. On Saturday, he will lead an open rehearsal and jam session from noon to 2 p.m. in the Wiley Band Hall, followed by a Gala Concert at 6 p.m. in the University Theatre. “The award-winning Lamar percussion ensemble will be performing a few featured numbers during the concert with
Mr. Sanabria, and Cardinal Jazz orchestra will also do a few numbers with him,” Condit said. “We are very excited about it, and I’m sure the students and the public will be surprised and pleased by the high quality of the groups, and by his exciting manner and virtuosity on the instruments. “The Lamar Jazz Band has a long and rich history, and typically having a guest artist annually is something that the students look forward to. It’s also a great opportunity for them to learn and to interact with professionals. It’s like an apprenticeship and it is something that we try to do on a regular basis.” Admission is free with Lamar ID, $5 for students and $8 for the public. For more information, call 880-8144.
Courtesy Photo
Grammy-nominated American drummer and percussionist Bobby Sanabria is a South Bronx, NY native specializing in Latin jazz.
from page 1
the same time, we will provide massive tax relief for the middle class,” he said. Trump made a connection between the country’s financial difficulties and illegal immigration. He said he is going to bring back millions of jobs, and work to develop a merit based system of immigration. He plans to use private and public capital to improve America’s infrastructure. His proposed budget is one trillion dollars. The topic of healthcare and the Affordable Care Act was discussed at length. “Mandating every American to buy govern-
ment-approved health insurance was never the right solution for America,” Trump said. “The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that is what we will do.” He later added, “Everything that is broken in our country can be fixed. Every problem can be solved. And every hurting family can find healing, and hope.” To illustrate his point on issues with FDA regulations, Trump invited Megan Crowley, a survivor of Pompe Disease, to attend the address. “Our slow and burdensome approval
process at the Food and Drug Administration keeps too many advances, like the one that saved Megan’s life, from reaching those in need,” Trump said. “If we slash the restraints, not just at the FDA but across our government, then we will be blessed with far more miracles like Megan.” Trump’s next guest was Denisha Merriweather, who was an example of the positive impact of school choice. After failing third grade twice and switching to a school of her choice, she was able to graduate high school and college — the first in her family, trump said. When discussing the
crime rate, the President pointed to immigrants as a underrepresented source of violent crime. “I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create an office to serve American Victims,” Trump said. “The office is called VOICE — Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement. We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media, and silenced by special interests.” Four family members of murdered Americans stood and were recognized by Congress. A particularly long ovation was given to Carryn Owens whose husband was killed in a
controversial military raid in Yemen. “Ryan’s legacy is etched into eternity. For as the Bible teaches us, there is no greater act of love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Ryan laid down his life for his friends, for his country, and for our freedom — we will never forget him,” Trump said. This provided Trump with an opportunity to discuss foreign policy. He stated his support for NATO and other allies as well as a desire for peace. Trump went on to discuss his vision for America. “Cures to illnesses that have always plagued
us are not too much to hope,” He said. “American footprints on distant worlds are not too big a dream. Millions lifted from welfare to work is not too much to expect. And streets where mothers are safe from fear — schools where children learn in peace — and jobs where Americans prosper and grow — are not too much to ask. “When we have all of this, we will have made America greater than ever before. For all Americans,” Trump said. The speech ended with a call to action. Trump asked Americans to believe in themselves, the future and, once more, in America.
“Triptych” by Lamar alumna Valerie YacklinBrown will be on display in the exhibition “Positive/Negative Space,” opening Saturday, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., at The Art Studio, 720 Franklin in downtown Beaumont.
ARTS
5 UNIVERSITY PRESS March 2, 2016
Dishman to host Le Grand Bal fundraiser Caitlin McAlister UP staff writer
Lamar University College of Fine Arts and Communications will host its annual Le Grand Bal fundraiser, March 25. “It is our big annual fundraiser for the department, and the funds raised go to supporting student scholarships and travel, as well as visiting artists,” Xenia Fedorchenko, associate professor of art, said. “It’s not just for the benefit of the art department, but the entire event benefits the College of Fine Arts and Communications.” The event consists of two parts — an art auction at the Dishman Art Museum, followed by a formal
party in the Montagne Center. “It’s a beautiful event on a Saturday,” Fedorchenko said. “Usually, the gala side (includes) a band or an orchestra and a dance floor. The auction is a very wonderful event that draws our alumni, community supporters and the broader community in Beaumont. Those are both great ways to support the department.” Fedorchenko said that any artists, whether students or from the community, are welcome to submit works to the auction. Submissions will be accepted from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., March 7-9. “(Artists) can submit up to three works and we take
all formats,” she said. “Artists get to see their work in an exhibit, and in the event of a sale, the artist gets to keep 60 percent of the sale, while the other 40 percent goes to the Friends of the Arts. That is actually a standard gallery split, except in most cases the owners of the gallery get to keep that 40 percent — here it is donated to the students.” Chris Troutman, assistant professor of art, said that he hopes students will see the potential for gaining experience by participating in the auction. “We hope that our art students will prepare their work for exhibition, contribute their artwork for the show and volunteer to
Visitors peruse the silent auction at the 2016 Le Grand Bal in the Dishman Art Museum. gain some professional experiences,” he said. Fedorchenko said that the exhibition of auction works will be on display the week leading up to the event, when the pieces will be sold by silent auction. “The auction is like a typical museum opening, with refreshments and such,” she said. “People
can come and write down their bids. We’ll have students there to explain their pieces.” Winning bid pickup will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., March 27. Fedorchenko said that she is eager to see the works that are submitted for auction. “I would love to wel-
Courtesy photo
come all the local artists to participate and I look forward to seeing everyone come in every year with their works,” she said. Tickets for the gala are $250 each. For more information, contact the Dishman Art Museum at 880-8959, or the art department at 8808141.
UP photo by Cassandra Jenkins
Vidor artist Tom Veillon in his studio.
Local artist takes inspiration from surroundings, home Cassandra Jenkins UP staff writer
Tom Veillon is a travelling artist. From the mountains of Colorado to the swamps of Southeast Texas, his love of the outdoors is evident. Now he is bringing the outdoors indoors with an exhibition of paintings, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., March 10, at High Street Gallery. “I’ve always been fond of outdoors,” he said. “When I was going to school, I found this beautiful green space and I would hike six-or-seven miles a day, every day. I started doing that by myself and I just never stopped.” The Vidor native attended Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, where he and his roommate started going on outdoor adventures together. “We went to Arkansas, Tennessee and different parts of Texas doing backpacking trips,” he said. “Then we moved to Denver together, so we could do it two or three times a week. We started doing mountaineering, climbing fourteeners (14,000foot mountain tops) — and it’s just been a huge obsession ever since then. “It’s crazy, because I used to paint only people, and then I started to spend time outdoors. Without even realizing it, everything that I do has shifted to outdoors. Now, I’m working on a series of people, but it’s people who are exposing themselves to extreme elements to get out into the wilderness.” Veillon said the show will include some of his most popular pieces, “Big Blue,” “I Dream of Fjords,” “Mama Gator,” “The Great Divide,” “The Shallows” and others.
Veillon said that his biggest pieces are inspired by the views in central Texas, and the mountains of Colorado. “The San Marcos river has been one of my biggest inspirations, it shows up in a lot of different paintings,” he said. “Right now, I can’t get my mind out of the mountains. The first time I ever saw mountains I fell in love. I like living there and just being able to go up and see 2,000-foot granite walls. There are no trees whatsoever, and mountain goats and bears are everywhere. It brought me to tears a couple times and I think of them all the time.” Although he has travelled all over the United States, creating and selling his art, Veillon said he noticed the beauty of his hometown and its surrounding areas when he returned. “Growing up here, I hated the pine forest,” he said. “I hated the swamps. I thought they were the ugliest things. But when I came back, I noticed they were beautiful in their own way. That’s why I did this series with Mama Gator and the turtles, and I have a few pieces I already sold out of. “It’s all inspired by the wildlife and the swamps, because out of any of the places I’ve ever been, this is the place where people would want to settle. There is so much life here, you go into one pond in one person’s backyard and it’s an entire ecosystem that you could thrive off of and live off of. You’ve got crawfish, you’ve got crabs, you’ve got alligators, and 10 different species of turtles, squirrels, deer, hogs, and so on and so forth.” Veillon said that when he sits down to work on a canvas, he draws the image straight from
his mind and zones out for about six or seven hours until the picture is complete. “I’ll go back to the photos as a reference sometimes, because I get a thousand ideas a day of what would make a good composition, so I look at the colors and whatnot,” he said. “But there are a few moments every now and then that sticks in my head, and it’s like non-controllable selective photographic memory. There’s a moment, and I don’t know why, it could be a big moment or a very minute moment, but it will stick in my head. I can remember every single detail and every single piece of it, and that’s what ends up on my canvas. A lot of these are memories and things I saw, and for some reason that one snapshot of that entire day will just be in my head and I’ll be able to reference it forever.” The longest he has spent on a painting was 18 months, Veillon said. “The picture was a five-foot by five-foot pointillism piece of the San Marcos river,” he said. “I think I placed over 250,000 dots of color over 18 months, just sitting there with a little paintbrush poking again and again — I’ll never do another one.” A few of his paintings feature different women — current and past girlfriends for the most part, Veillon said. “People used to call me the big-booty women painter, because I’m a big fan of curves and organic shapes,” he said. “I had this formula where I could draw a woman with one continuous line without stopping. In a few pieces, I have drawn my current girlfriend. In others, there are past girlfriends. Most
Longfellow’s “Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie”
The Louisiana legend of Evangeline Bellefontaine dates back to 1847. It’s a tragic tale of lost love and rich history. “Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie,” a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, has often been regarded as a true story. Although it is based on history, the story of Evangeline is pure fiction, yet, it plays an important role on the development of the Cajun style and influence that was brought to Louisiana. The tale features Evangeline and Gabriel Lajeunesse, two people deeply in love at the time of the Acadian exile. The two-lovers are separated on their wedding day by the British, who began deporting the citizens of Acadia. Evangeline flees to Louisiana, becoming separated from her love. She finds him years later, only to find him close to death. They embrace in one final moment, leaving a kiss on his lips, as he takes his last breath.
people who make it into my paintings are people I’ve met in real life, they’re not fabricated.” Not everyone is someone he knows. Veillon points to a canvas of a half-drawn image of Evangeline Bellefontaine, the subject of a well-known Louisiana legend. “I take a lot of influence from my Cajun background since my family’s been in New Orleans since 1721, but every Southeast
Texas town is going to have Evangeline this or that.” Veillon said oil painting is his favorite medium, but he uses all media. “I prefer to work in oil, but it’s very expensive,” he said. “I work mainly in acrylic, but I do use watercolor and pen and ink sometimes. I’m currently working on some mixed-media pieces. (For) my show, I’m working on a paper maché. It’s going to look like a 3D rock wall.” While Veillon draws pn classical painters such as Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse and Picasso, he also cites local artist Mark Nesmith as an influence. “I’ve recently seen his work, and the great thing about local artists is you’re able to reach out to them,” he said. “He’ll be coming to some of my shows. I’ve been to some of his shows, and we kind of share back and forth. He’s become a big influence on me.” The 26-year-old said he loves his work and his journeys, but he’s happy to be home. “I have a nephew who is one and a half years old,” he said. “He was born while I was living away. Every time I came home he didn’t know who I was, so it was just really hard. Once I ended up back here, I was kind of excited to be back. “It’s strange though, because artists work off of notoriety and reputation, especially in professional connections and the art scene itself. To come home after doing it for so long, and to be a stranger in your hometown, it’s really kind of strange. But, I’ve been meeting a lot of people and working with old people again, so I’ve really enjoyed my move back down here.”
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Thursday, March 2, 2017 • UNIVERSITY PRESS
PANAMA
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feel the Canal had the opportunity to grow, and not just come out at a point where there was no more growth in the future. “We had no choice. We either invest in it so that we had a future, or you just say, ‘OK, we’re gonna milk the cow until the end, and then the cow’s gonna die.� In two-and-a-half years, seven-year term as CEO will end. Further improvements will be in the hands of the next engineers. “By that time, I would have been 43 years in service on the canal, and that’s enough,� he said. “There’s a lot of need in the world for engineers. There’s high demand in (Panama).� Quijano continues to mentor engineering students and is hopeful for the future.
BLANCHARD
“We believe that we need to inspire people to stay in engineering, because engineering is not easy,� he said. “People, sometimes they drop out because they feel that they can’t do it. But you can do it. “I think it’s important that, if we have the time, we can encourage people. And sometimes, it’s simple.� Quijano cited Andrea LlamasPerez, who graduated from Lamar with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in Spring 2013 and who interned on the expansion in Panama shortly after graduation. “I put her right into working in the locks project,� he said. “She was put right in the middle of the biggest project going on in the
world at that point in time. (It was) a very tricky project, and she learned a lot.� Quijano said enjoys coaching students and encourages them to explore creative solutions. “They would come to the office and bounce ideas and bounce things, so I think it doesn’t matter what school you’re coming from,� he said. “I will do this for Lamar, but I will also do it for anybody else that comes into my office. That’s the normal way that I operate — I try to give time to people. “And I know, sometime down the road, they’ll appreciate that I did that. It’s really not important that they appreciate it now, but I know that the guidance that I can give, it’s going to be useful some-
time down the road. I give it with the best intentions, very plain and simple, and all of the people that I have dealt with that have come to me, they normally do better after, because they normally listen like I listen to them about their problems.� Quijano is focused on the marketing aspect of the Canal. “At the end, you can build things, and if you can’t commercialize it, then you might as well dump it,� he said. “That’s the most important part of it, making good use of something that you built. So, I will continue to work with the kids that want to be counselled and helped and guided to the next level.� Quijano’s advice to the students he interacts with is simple
— don’t be too concerned about the future. “You need to have an idea of where you want to go, but you work on the present, and that’s what’s going to make you strong,� he said. “If you’re trying just to push yourself to get that next job, most-likely, you won’t get it. “What you have to do is do good work of the work that you have been assigned, be creative, be self-motivated in what you’re being tasked to do. You can always do more. And if you can do a little bit more every time on the jobs that you’ve been assigned, your boss will notice — somebody else will notice. “The future is there for those that work hard on the present.�
without speaking to the people first. We have learned to listen and focus first on what the communities are prioritizing before moving onto other aspects of community development,� Blanchard said. BakerRipley’s mission is to constructively fix a community’s problems and to create sustainable and long-lasting changes that the individuals willingly want to implement, Blanchard said. “They have a positive approach of leadership where they build on things that are already there and use those methods to assist the communities in accomplishing their goals,� Evans said. With Blanchard’s 30 years of experience in leadership, she has elevated the recently rebranded organization, BakerRipley, to become one of the world’s leading community organizations in Texas that is recognized worldwide for its contributions in philanthropy. The organization currently serves more than a half a million individuals in 48 countries and works with an annual budget of $250 million making BakerRipley one of the top 1% of the most charitable groups nationwide. For the organization’s 110 year anniversary, BakerRipley is hon-
oring the women who made significant contributions towards the creation of the organization. The founder, Alice Graham Baker was inspired by the Settlement House Movement in Europe. She wanted to contribute towards the enhancement of her own communities — to provide education, job training, and additional housing for the impover-
ished in America. The name change also honors the organization’s 77 year partnership with the Daniel and Edith foundation which later became the headquarters for Houston’s Settlement Association. For more information about the lectures contact Joy Tate by email at joy.tate@lamar.edu or call 880-7590.
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communities in need. During her lectures Blanchard will emphasize the importance of honoring the integrity of the people in the communities, while making improvements to the already existing efforts towards progress by those already in the community. “You wouldn’t appreciate someone coming into your home telling you how to rearrange your furniture, even if you were already planning on it,� Blanchard said. When it comes to companies or individuals involved in philanthropy, Blanchard wants people to remember to only go into communities where people invite outside help. The luncheon, “Transforming Neighborhoods “FOR GOOD� will focus on philanthropy itself along with the basic guidelines for making proper investments to help communities. “I am hoping to learn the nuts and bolts to their methods. It is a very positive approach since the leaders are already there and willing to assist and accomplish their goals,� Nancy Evans, Lamar First Lady and the Lamar University Women and Philanthropy said. The Lamar University Women and Philanthropy seeks
to promote philanthropic education, leadership and advocacy by empowering women to be active participants in the giving process. During the lectures, Blanchard will speak about is the various aspects of ways philanthropic organizations can make a positive impact on the communities it is trying to serve. By reaching out to the leaders of the community, BakerRipley is able to establish an open communication which maintain the unique characteristics of the area at the forefront of the community. “Appreciative inquiry and methodology is needed to study communities for their strengths. Look at who leads, what they value, what is effective, what is already working in the community and what they are able to do on their own instead of telling them how to live their lives will produce better results,� Blanchard said. The mission of BakerRipley is to work with local families in the communities in order to address the main concerns, desires, and needs voiced by the people and to make constructive changes to strengthen the infrastructure of the area. “When you go into a struggling community, it is easy to want to diagnose the problems
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7
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY PRESS March 2, 2017
Softball goes 3-2 in Cardinal Classic The Lamar University Cardinals wrapped up play in the second annual Cardinal Classic by splitting a pair of games Sunday at the LU Softball Complex. LU was a 4-2 winner over Northern Illinois before dropping a 5-4 decision to Tulsa. The Cardinals (5-10) went 3-2 on the weekend. In LU's previous games this weekend, the Cardinals defeated Alabama A&M 6-3 on Thursday and South Dakota State 5-2 on Friday, before falling to Kansas on Saturday.
“We love to host quality teams, and that's what we did this weekend,” Lamar University coach Holly Bruder said. “We had five hard-fought games this weekend, with a pair of tough one-run losses.” Following the loss to Kansas, Saturday, junior Sable Hankins was positive about the team’s progress. “We have proved multiple times that we can not only hang but beat the big dogs. Last year run ruling the University of Texas 9-1, beating Northern Illi-
nois 4-1 this weekend in our tournament, proves that we are capable and are super confident in ourselves,” Hankins said. “When facing a team that is considered a bigger opponent, we treat them as if they are our best competitor in the Southland Conference. No matter what the team name says across their jersey we play them the same, foot on the gas and never let up.” The Lady Cards begin their conference schedule at 5 p.m., March 10, against Northwestern State at the LU Softball Complex.
LU’s Ciara Luna, above, pitches in the second inning of Saturday’s 1-0 loss to the University of Kansas at the LU Softball Complex. Brittany Rodriguez, right, hits a pitch in UP photos by Noah Dawlearn the same game.
Spring 2017 Intramural Sports All Scores and Standings as of Feb 26. WOMEN’S CLUB BASKETBALL Lamar Women’s Club 52 Prairie View A&M 58
Reid Russell
Russell named SLC best hitter
Lamar University’s Reid Russell was named as the Southland Conference Hitter of the Week, the league announced Tuesday afternoon. The Longview native was a big part of a Saturday doubleheader sweep of the Fairfield Stags and nearly surged the Cardinals (6-2) to a come-from-behind victory in the series opener Friday night. “It has been great to watch the strides that Reid is making this year, and he is becoming a more complete hitter,” head coach Will Davis said. “He is more patient at the plate and the results of his work are showing.” The reigning league hitter of the year was 7-of-14 (.500) at the plate, and reached base in 11 of his 18 plate appearances. He accounted for seven runs driven in and another six scored, while extending his hit streak to nine. He powered over two home runs in the series opener. The first was to break a scoreless game and make it 2-0 in the first inning, and the second was to tie the game with Big Red down 6-3 before the swing. Russell delivered the opening salvo in the third game of the series with a RBI in the first inning, in which LU eventually scored three runs. He was also the only Cardinal to score in the series finale. He finished his series with a three extra-base hits in his seven hitsand drew four walks. He recorded multi-hit and multi-run games three times, and had multi-RBI games twice. The Cardinals play at UT-Rio Grande Valley over the weekend.
Gilligan rode ‘Luck of the Irish’ Marcus Owens UP contributor
Saint Patrick’s Day is heavily influenced by Irish-Americans. The city of New York has one of the biggest Saint Patrick’s festivals in the world and that has been going on for nearly three centuries. Jim Gilligan is a Lamar baseball legend, winning more than 1,300 games in in 38 years as a coach. He is also a proud Irish American. “Most of my relatives where born over there,” he said. “We were Irish-Catholic. We had many priests and nuns in the family. I had uncles that grew up in Ireland and they came here, their daughters did all of the Irish dancing. “We always had a sense, even though we never set a foot in Ireland, we felt like we were born there. We had quite a pride — for where our grandparents grew up, and a lot of our aunts and uncles grew up.” Gilligan said that for his career, he has a winning record on St. Patrick’s Day “I have always been extremely lucky on St. Patrick’s Day through the years,” he said. “I’ve only lost on a handful of occasions. I remember beating the University of Texas on St. Patrick’s Day, which may have been their first lost, but I always felt lucky on St. Patrick’s Day.” Gilligan chuckled. “I always had my guys wear green hats on St. Patrick’s Day,” he said. Gilligan’s brother is even more involved in his Irish heritage. “My brother, Frank Gilligan, has gone to Ireland,” he said. “He’s a singer and he’s actually written several Irish songs. He was so impressed when he went to Ireland — over there everybody sings. He was over there and they took him to a club, and they just dragged him to about five more, and he became pretty popular over there and fell in love with their culture.” One of Frank Gilligan’s Irish records is called “A Piece of Ireland.” Gilligan remembers recruiting an IrishAmerican player. He said he believes the cultural connection reeled in a pretty good player. “I recruited a kid, without a doubt who was one of the greatest players we ever had — his name was Joe McCan,” he said. “He was from New York. This was in 1976. I had my 1975 team and we were pretty good, we just lacked leadership. I went to look at a pitcher, but he was being recruited by everybody in the nation, so we probably wasn’t going to get him. He ended up going pro out of high school. So we saw a shortstop. He had nobody talking to him. I said, ‘Joe, I offer you a scholarship.’ He said, ‘Coach, I just had made a decision to go to Yale.’ He was either going to Harvard or Yale. Joe said, ‘I want to play baseball, do you have an engineering program?’ I said, “We have a great engineering program. We’re not Harvard or Yale, but we have a great engineering school.”
UP graphic by Marcus Owens
Legendary LU baseball coach is proud of Irish heritage and used it to his advantage when recruiting.
McCan said Gilligan would have to talk to his mother. “So I went over with my wife, and all his brothers and sisters were there — a very good group of people,” Gilligan said. “The mother said to me, in a great Irish brogue because she was from Ireland, ‘First it was Harvard then it was Yale — I never heard of Lamar.’ I said, ‘Ms. McCan, we’re not Harvard or Yale and we have a great engineering school.’ I said, ‘Where else could you send your kid to play for an Irishman from New York?’ After that she let him come.” Gilligan laughed. “I guarantee, if I was not Irish she would not have let him come to school all the way to Beaumont, Texas.” Gilligan said he did not attend as many St. Patrick’s Day parades as he wanted because March 17 falls during baseball season. “Growing up in New York, we would go down to fifth avenue and watch the St. Patrick’s Day parade, but all of New York is one big parade,” he said. Gilligan said he has always had the luck of the Irish. “I managed a minor league in Salt Lake City, this was 1986, I was there as a pitching coach and the press was asking me if I
was nervous about my first year managing,” he said. “I said that I wasn’t nervous because I had been a head coach at Lamar for 14 years, and (the reporter) said, ‘Yeah, but this is your first year in pro.’ I was trying to tell him that I wasn’t nervous about it, and finally he said. ‘Why aren’t you nervous?’ I blurted out, ‘Because I’m the luckiest guy you ever known.’ He said, ‘Why are you so lucky?’ I said, ‘Because I’m 24-karat Irish — all four of my grandparents where born in Ireland.” At the time Salt Lake City had two professional teams. — the NBA’s Utah Jazz and Gilligan’s Salt Lake Trappers. The Jazz coach was Frank Layden. When the quote ran in the newspaper, Layden called Gilligan up to get together because they were both Irishmen from New York. Gilligans Trappers went on a 29-game win streak. “I got very superstitious because, you know, luck of the Irish,” he said. “So I told Frank that I promised my hitting coach we would play golf every day until we lost. Frank said, ‘Let’s play golf.’ So we played golf every day for 29 games — we played in the rain.” While Gilligan’s success was probably more to do with his coaching skills, the luck of the Irish never hurts.
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Thursday, March 2, 2017 • UNIVERSITY PRESS
Spring forward — maybe? Not all states observe daylight saving time Baylee Billiot UP contributor
As many Southeast Texans anticipate the time change to Daylight Saving Time, March 12, Arizona and Hawaii are two states that don’t participate in the event. Ty Smith, a former resident of Arizona who now resides in Orange, says that after eight years of being in Texas he still gets confused with the time change. “Every year, come March, I lose my mind,” he said. “You would think that I would be used to it by now, but I still get confused the first day or two of the time change.” Arizona has never been a participant in Daylight Saving Time. When Daylight Saving was established in the United States in 1918, to save time during World War I, Arizona refused to adopt the change. “To be honest, I didn’t even know there was such thing as Daylight Saving Time when I lived in Arizona,” Smith said. Smith said that when moved to Texas he thought the time change was a joke. “The first year I was here, someone mentioned to me that soon our clocks were going to move up an hour as we went through Daylight Savings and I just laughed,” he said. “Although, when the clocks did change, it suddenly became real for me.” Smith said that, even now, as confusing as it may be, he doesn’t pay much attention to Daylight Saving Time. He treats the day like any other day in the year. “My clock may change, but my mindset doesn’t,” he said. “March 12 will truly be just another day for me.” The purpose of Daylight Saving Time is to save energy and use daylight more wisely by adding one hour to the stan-
dard time. It originated in 1908 in Thunder Bay, Canada. The first country to adopt Daylight Saving Time was Germany. On April 30, 1916 the country set their clocks an hour ahead to use more daylight during World War I. The United States did not participate until 1918 when President Woodrow W i l s o n signed the law to also contribute to the Daylight Saving Time idea d u r i n g World War I. It only lasted eight months before it was repealed. Tw e nt y - f o u r years later, in 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt brought the law back and America has been using Daylight Saving Time ever since. Not only do the two states not participate, places outside of the U.S. do not recognize it. Saint Croix, a popular tourist destination in the Virgin Islands, ignores it. “Hurry up and wait — that’s what it feels like to me,” Austin Mintas, Saint Croix, Virgin Islands student, said. The communications major grew up in Saint Croix. “When I first moved to the States, I moved to South Carolina for the military and I was mind blown at how popular the event was,” he said, adding that
UP graphic by Baylee Billiot
it really didn’t affect him because everything he did was on military time. However, when he came to Lamar Mintas said he found Texans were obsessed with time change. “It’s funny, here in Texas, Daylight Savings seems to be such a big event, but in reality, I know it’s not,” he said. St. Croix is more of a laidback community, Mintas said.
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“Back in Saint Croix, everything was so calm,” he said. “We didn’t look at the time to let everything fall into place — we did things as we pleased and when we pleased. Most people don’t wear watches or have clocks in their homes.” Mintas said he is like many other typical islanders — he cherishes moments rather than time.
“I believe that time is just an imagination,” he said. “There may be a time shown on the clock, but I won’t go by it. I won’t be recognizing the upcoming time change in Daylight Saving — I won’t let it affect me.” Mintas said worrying about the time daily may cause us to miss out on life events or wait for something to happen. “As I said, I won’t be one of those people who is going to hurry up and wait,” Mintas said. “I’m here to enjoy my time, whatever time that is.”