The University of Texas at El Paso · November 10, 2011
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ILLUSTRATION BY DIEGO BURCIAGA / The Prospector
Animals on campus find friends in some students, but may pose a risk BY KRYSTAL OBLINGER The Prospector Jesus Navarrete, junior biological sciences major, used to help feed Minnie, a small cat that would come by the Honors House every day. Recently, the cat disappeared and no one could figure out what happened. “Over the summer, we noticed there was a cat that kept hanging around here,” Narvarrete said. “We ended up bringing cat food and setting up bowls of water for her. One day, we saw that she wasn’t alone. She had had a litter of four kittens. She
could have passed away or someone could have taken her home. We’d like to think that is what occurred, but we just don’t know.” Students established the Cat University Rescue Effort in 2001 due to reports that individuals were hurting animals around campus, including cats and skunks. They are now called the Cat Rescue Organization. “We’ve seen people throwing rocks for no reason just because people think the cats on campus are dirty,” said Rebecca Kowaleski, UTEP alumna and founder of CURE. “I wish people would just realize that they
(animals) are not hurting anyone and that they and all the other animals are a necessity.” Miriam Cabrera, also an alumna and co-founder of CURE, said that she became involved when she heard about the abuse the animals were experiencing on campus. “These animals help in many ways, from keeping the rodent and roach population down,” Cabrera said. “I remember if we found these animals trapped, we would release them because if they weren’t poked, they were
see ANIMALS on page 4
Student Conference
Rainbow Miner Initiative to hold disscussion on issues affecting Queer community BY ADAM MARTÍNEZ The Prospector The student organization Rainbow Miner Initiative will be hosting the 2011 Queer Leadership and Scholastic Development Conference Nov. 11 at UTEP. The conference is a venue for dialogue about LGBTQIA issues through academic scholarship and activism. “We’ll be having different workshops and concurrent panel sessions,” said Jeannie Tran, senior biological sciences major and Rainbow Miner Initiative intern. “There will be four different blocks and within each block there will be two choices to attend, which will either be lectures, workshops, panel discussions, roundtable, just a wide assortment of information that we will be providing.” Tran said UTEP professors, graduate students and student organizations are among the participants in the confer-
ence who will share methods and ideas for researching queer issues across various disciplines. Participants will address issues of gender and sexuality, both inside and outside of academia. Among the topics discussed will be a presentation by Athena Matyear, senior organizational and corporate communications major, on gender and body issues called “Everybody’s Beautiful: Female, Male, No Gender, All Genders!” “We did a smaller version of it during Love Your Body week, but decided to do it again because it was successful. So we decided to bring this discussion to a larger audience,” Matyear said. “We will have people on our panel who have different gender identities talk about their experiences with gender, as it is only a social construct. We are going to be talking about the many layers of policing and how they negatively af-
see QUEER on page 3
ESTEBAN MARQUEZ / The Prospector
Dre Lara, English & American literature graduate student and Intern for Rainbow Miner Initiative, helps organize events for the 2011 Queer Leadership and Scholastic Development Conference.
Financial Aid
Post-9/11 GI-Bill delays affect student veterans BY ADAM MARTÍNEZ The Prospector The distribution of funds from the post-9/11 GI-Bill, which provides financial assistance for education and housing to military members who served on or after Sept. 11, 2001, was not paid in a timely manner this semester for some UTEP students. Congress approved a change to the GI Bill in January 2011, which went into effect in August. The changes included not paying benefits during school breaks and waiting for college drop deadlines to distribute funds. Some students, such as April Rumgay, freshman political science major, were forced to take out emergency loans as a result. “It was very last minute, so when I heard about it I was terrified, especially as an incoming freshman,” Rumgay said. “I thought the GI Bill would take care of it immediately. It was certainly a worry.” The changes instituted by Congress modified the regulations that determine the way Veteran Affairs verify eligibility and award calculations. Holly Denney, director of Military Support Services, said these changes have been coming in increments, which have caused some of the hold ups in funds. The main cause of the delay, according to Denney, is that it is taking longer for the Department of Veterans Affairs to certify students’ enrollment.
see VA on page 4
November 10 & 11 at UTEP Union Cinema Union Building East, First Floor 7pm Union Building East, First F
UTEP Faculty/Staff/Students $1* *Must have valid UTEP I.D.
General Admission $2 $5 Movie Combo & Starbucks Available For more information contact Union Services at (915)747-5711 or union@utep.edu