UNIVERSITY PRESS
The Newspaper of Lamar University
Vol. 95, No. 11 November 15, 2018
SPRING BREAK ON AN ISLAND Business College to offer Costa Rice study abroad program Vy Nguyen UP staff writer
Study Abroad will offer a business program to Costa Rica and Panama, March 8-15. The program will offer upper-level, joint undergraduate and graduate classes including special topics in management and global enrichment. “We’re there, in Costa Rica and Panama, to experience business as it’s done in another part of the world, and that it means not just being immersed in the business world but also into the culture aspect of that country,” Enrique Venta, professor of marketing and management, said. “The students will understand that the American way of doing things is not the only way, and the fact that in the rest of the world, people still behave in moral fashions, they actually get to know the people they’re doing business with before they’re ready to make a deal.”
During spring break, students will explore business practices and international trade in two Central American countries. Their first stop, Costa Rica, is a center for ecotourism and agricultural and manufacturing exports. The students will visit volcanoes, a tropical waterfall, a coffee plantation and coordinate visits with local businesses. Venta said that students are able to fully immerse themselves in the program because they will be staying with a host family who, in most cases, speaks little English. “During the day, the group gets together as a whole and travels to do different things,” he said. “The activities in Costa Rica are focused on the elements of industry there, like ecotourism.” Venta said that next year’s program activities have similar structure to past ones. “In the past, we’ve visited things like national waterfalls
Courtesy photo
Lamar business students spent their 2016 spring break in Costa Rica and Panama. and how the Costa Rican government is using them to develop tourism,” he said. “We also visit mountain tops, retreats, resort areas and things of that sort, in the ecotourism world.” There are also interesting activities that might appeal to coffee lovers and history buffs.
“Coffee is one of the largest exports from Costa Rica and is world renowned, so we visit coffee plantations,” Venta said. “We also do some cultural visits to the ruins of the native Central Americans.” After staying in Costa Rica for four days, the students will fly to Panama, the intersection
for Atlantic and Pacific trade. In Panama, they will receive a lecture and get a chance to meet the CEO of the Panama Canal Authority, Jorge Quijano, witness container ships go through the Miraflores locks, coordinate business visits with multinaSee COSTA RICA, page 2
LU construction projects may affect traffic, parking
Three construction projects will begin this week on campus that will affect traffic and parking. The Median Crossing Project on Jim Gilligan Way, in front of the Wayne A. Reaud Building, will affect pedestrian and vehicle traffic during construction. The new post office reno-
vation project will close a portion of parking lot D-6 for construction safety fencing and allow construction access from the back of the Carl Parker Building. Only construction vehicles will be allowed to park in the fence enclosure for this project. Library canopy structural
repairs will begin within the next two weeks, pending weather. Construction work will be performed on a small section of the concrete canopy located directly in front of Gray Library. For more information, contact the office of planning and construction at 880-7085.
UP photos by Noah Dawlearn and Cade Smith
A construction worker, left, starts renovations on the new post office which will be located on the first floor of the Carl Parker building, Tuesday. Workers begin making repairs to the canopy structure in front of Gray Library, above, Tuesday afternoon in the rain.
Conference addresses women in STEM Tiana Johnson UP contributor
The Women in STEM conference hosted by the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society was organized to address the need to encourage more women to enter science, technology, engineering and math fields. The conference was held Nov. 8 in the Setzer Student Center Ballroom A. The conference included several speakers who related their personal and professional experiences to help attendees become better acquainted with pursuing STEM careers and the challenges they might face. Pollie Holtham, chemistry assistant and division manager for Sabine River Authority Environmental Services, who earned her bachelor’s in chemistry from Lamar in 1995, said being able gain real-world expe-
UP photo by Noah Dawlearn
Pollie Holtham, assistant division manager of the Sabine River Authority, talks during the Women in STEM conference in the Setzer Student Center Ballroom A, Nov 8. rience as a student was key to her success. “I had many interests in high school, but always knew that I
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wanted to be involved in the science field as a career,” she said. “I was also able to participate in the entry summer research pro-
gram sponsored by the Welsh Foundation, it was very exciting to work on a project without a defining outcome.
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“It was a great experience in developing my skills for problem solving and working with a research team.” Holtham said in her junior year of the chemistry program she was made aware of an opportunity to work as a student intern at the Texaco Research and Development Center in Port Arthur. “I was lucky enough to be one of the students that was accepted,” she said. “I was so enthusiastic, I really wanted to get some experience in the work force. I will always be so grateful for that opportunity.” Renuka Polimera, quality control lab supervisor at Total Petrochemicals and Refining, said it is easy to lose focus because science can be difficult to pursue, but the effort is worth it. “Students who study science, See STEM, page 2
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