October 1, 2015

Page 1

UNIVERSITY PRESS

The Newspaper of Lamar University

Vol. 92, No. 4 October 1, 2015

LU celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month Kara Timberlake UP staff writer In observation of Hispanic Heritage Month, Lamar University is hosting a variety of Hispanic culture events across campus through Nov. 4. “Hispanic Heritage Month events are an effort to foster an inclusive environment that recognizes and celebrates the richness of Hispanic culture, and the contributions of Hispanics to American culture,” Cynthia Parra, office of diversity and inclusion assistant director, said. “Another goal is to prepare students to thrive in a culturally di-

verse and global society.” Parra said Hispanic Heritage Month will educate the Lamar campus about Hispanic culture, history and social issues. Hispanic Heritage Month activities began Sept. 15 with a kickoff featuring a Tres Leches (three milks) cake-eating contest, Hispanic music and a trivia game that tested student knowledge of Hispanic culture and famous people. “This event offered an opportunity for the Lamar University community to taste and hear Hispanic culture, as well as learn more about the contributions that Hispanics made,”

Parra said. Sept. 15 marks the independence anniversary for five Latin American countries — Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on Sept. 16, and Chile on Sept. 18. “National Hispanic Heritage Month had its origins in 1968 when Congress passed Pub. L. 90-498, which authorized and requested the president to issue an annual proclamation designating the week, including Sept. 15 and 16, as National Hispanic Heritage Week,” she said. “President Lyndon Johnson is-

UP Grant Crawford

Students participate in Salsa Night, Sept. 23, in the Setzer Student Center Ballroom. The event was part of the Hispanic Heritage Month activities.

sued the first such proclamation, Presidential Proclamation 3869. In 2011, Lamar’s leader-

Casting for research

ship and development depart-

See HERITAGE page 4

Comm dept. grant equips students for ‘real world’ Trevier Gonzalez UP contributor

tion is not just found in the classroom, but something that continues one’s whole life. “It is called lifelong learning,” he said. “You are a student all your life, and I think we are successful in our education if we can teach students to be lifelong learners. Learning doesn’t stop when you step off campus.” With the changing demands of the industry, Palanki said he is confident in the evolution of the engineering program. “I think there is definitely going to be a more focused attention on research, because when Lamar started out, we were basically a teaching institution that served the local industry,” he said. “We have outgrown that role. We outgrew

Following a successful grant proposal with the city of Beaumont, Lamar University broadcasting and film students will be able to take advantage of a $263,219 grant that provides a professional, hands-on approach within the communication department. LUTV’s studio will also be receiving upgrades. “We were part of writing a grant proposal to the city of Beaumont to request money for the studio,” Shenid Bhayroo, assistant professor in broadcasting, said. “The city made us aware that they had money that they could possibly allocate to Lamar’s television facility in broadcast journalism, so we put together a strong proposal to request the money from the city, and the proposal was successful.” O’Brien Stanley, chair in the communication department, said the new equipment will encourage advancement for students. “With the grant, we’re getting more news-related software, a total of 30 cameras, and tripods, bags, lenses — everything to support more growth in all these areas,” he said. “And the city is fine with that, that’s what they want us to do.” Bhayroo said that the grant will enable students access to better equipment. “We are able to replace our aging equipment — particularly the cameras that we use to gather news in the field and the cameras that we use to teach with,” he said. Clinton Rawls, broadcast programming manager for Channel 7, details the department’s acquisitions.

See PALANKI page 2

See LUTV page 6

UP Kyle Swearingen

Srinivas Palanki, dean of the College of Engineering, holds a full-size glass reproduction of his face that he cast during a material science class.

Dean Palanki promotes life-long learning Kyle Swearingen UP contributor Srinivas Palanki is not two faced, but the new College of Engineering dean sees his reflection every day. A life-size glass reproduction of his face sits on the file cabinet in his office. “I was teaching this class on material science,” he said. “One of the processes we do is casting. I had taken a glassblowing class, just for fun, and I had access to the glass shop. So, instead of doing a rectangular part we (did) a cast of my face. How often do you see that? Everyone remembers the casting part.” Palanki joined Lamar University in July, part of a wave of new administrators at the school. “The president is relatively new, and

three of the five deans are new, and the provost is new,” he said. “So, I think this is an exciting time for Lamar University. There is fresh thinking — new ideas — and there is a chance the new ideas will be implemented. This is a very unique opportunity.” Palanki said he believes college should be about preparing students for the realities of the job market after graduation. “Let’s say you work for Exxon Mobil — five years into the job, nobody will ask you if you are a chemical engineer or an electrical engineer,” he said. “The question they ask is, ‘What can you do? Can you run the refinery?’ If there is a skill you didn’t quite have in college, and you acquire that skill, then you are a successful engineer.” Palanki said he believes that educa-

Abelman’s perspectives ‘Evolve into many’ Alumnus’ art show to open Saturday Brooke Stinebrickner UP contributor

“To Be or Not to Be American” by Maurice Abelman

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In today’s world, there are many ways to express one’s self. Through graphic design and art, Maurice Abelman is able to creatively demonstrate his views on society. “I usually do drawings about what surrounds me,” he said. “This is where I am trying to take my work — to create different types of meaning from the way we see things. I just think the reason why I am doing this, is trying to understand how we as American people can get to a certain point, a certain train of thought. “All of these ideas that combine together, these perspectives, they combine together to form a greater whole. I don’t know if it is physically possible to

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draw or paint a perfect reflection of society, but my ultimate goal is to try and achieve that somehow.” The Lamar graduate will present “Evolve into Many,” a show of recent works, at The Art Studio Inc., Saturday through Oct. 23, with an opening reception at 7 p.m., Saturday. This will be the San Diego native’s first solo show at The Studio. His works consist of graphic design, printmaking and woodblock carvings. “This show is called ‘Evolve into Many,’ because it is a reflection of a lot of different aspects of the work where I am taking single prints and evolving into many different prints, many different concepts,” he said. “I started understanding that one perception of the See ABELMAN page 4

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October 1, 2015 by University Press - Issuu