Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio
09.21.2010 Vol. 44 Issue 5
The
Paisano
Celebrating Thirty Years of Independent News with a Brand New Design
Weekly Beak
Students were polled on Sept. 14-15 by The Student Government Association (SGA) to determine whether they supported alcohol sold on campus. “While this is not a referendum or initiative, SGA would like student input on this topic,” Derek Trimm, SGA President, said. Less than 10 percent of students responded. The poll consisted of three questions: 1) Yes, I am in support of the sale of beer and wine at the Chili’s Too location on campus for individuals of the legal drinking age without any additional restrictions. -- 75.28% (1,696 votes) 2) Yes, I am in support of the sale of beer and wine at the Chili’s Too location on campus for individuals of the legal drinking age, but with time or other restrictions. -- 15.85% (357 votes) 3) No, I am NOT in support of the sale of beer and wine at the Chili’s Too location on campus. -8.88% (200 votes) “We are very pleased with the results,” Trimm said. “We are having preliminary discussions with Dr. Gage Paine, Vice President of Student Affairs, to start a University Committee about alcohol on campus.” Paine said that she believes that the university stopped serving alcohol because it was not financially viable. “They had just changed the drinking age to 21, and at the time most university students were around 18,” Paine said. “We are working toward having a recommendation to the president before the end of the semester.”
University sets record with 30,395 Fall 2010 preliminary enrollment at UTSA reached a record high of 30,395 students, an increase of 1,440 students or 5 percent over last year.
Our condolences The Paisano sends its condolences to Dr. Ricardo Romo whose mother, Mrs. Alicia Saenz Romo, passed away on September 16, 2010. Mrs. Romo, a native San Antonian, was a businesswoman and the mother of five children. Sources: SGA and UTSA Today
Associated Press
Alcohol at Chili’s?
Colbert, Stewart to host political rallies Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart will be organizing two political rallies at the National Mall in Washington D.C. on Oct. 30, 2010.
Bradley Banks
paisanonews@sbcglobal.net Daily Show host and political satirist Jon Stewart announced on his program Thursday night that he will be organizing a political rally at the National Mall in Washington D.C. on Oct. 30, 2010. Stewart made the announcement during his opening monologue in the type of serious tone rarely seen on The Daily Show. He went on to blame “the loud folks” for dominating the national conversation on important issues even though they make up only a fraction of the political spectrum. Stewart stated in the broadcast, “We live in troubled times with real people facing very real prob-
lems. Problems that have real if imperfect solutions that I believe 70-80 percent of our population could agree to try and could ultimately live with. Unfortunately, the conversation and process is controlled by the other 20-30 percent.” He went on to explain that the viewpoint of the majority of Americans are largely ignored, “Most likely because you have shit to do.” The one-day event called “The Rally to Restore Sanity” is aimed at attracting moderates that don’t normally get politically involved. According to the rally’s website, “The event is a rally for the people who’ve been too busy to go to rallies, who actually have
lives and families and jobs (or are looking for jobs) -- not so much the Silent Majority as the Busy Majority.” An equal opportunity critic, Stewart called out politicians and pundits from both major political parties as being the cause of the current political climate. Although he was serious about the issues, the overall mood of the segment was jovial and celebratory. At one point, he poked fun at activist and conspiracy theorists by bringing out some of his own hand made signs with slogans such as, “I disagree with you, but I’m pretty sure you’re not Hitler”, and “9/11 was an outside job.” Not to be outdone, Stephen Colbert, former Daily Show corre-
spondent and current host of The Colbert Report, made a similar announcement on his program immediately following The Daily Show, that he too will be hosting a political rally at the exact time and location as Stewart’s. The event called the “March to Keep Fear Alive” is a reference to the fear-based political campaigns and media coverage that have dominated the American political system in years past. Colbert seeks to ‘counter’ the Stewart rally by reminding everyone that “freedom, liberty, and fear are the bedrock principles of America”, and that “reason is just one letter away from treason.” In his program, Colbert often See RALLY, Page 4
General Studies divides campus Some argue that the degree is tailored toward athletes Dana Messer
“I’m going to ask you to reconsider your decision on that proposal.”
paisanonews@sbcglobal.net The debate over UTSA establishing a General Studies Degree (GSD) continues after the Faculty Senate turned down the proposal at their Sept. 9 meeting. Some have said the GSD is an unfocused degree fit for athletes and with little other use. But others have said it is an alternative for students that do not meet the requirements of the college they originally intended, which gives them a second chance at gaining a degree. UTSA Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. John Frederick stood before the Faculty Senate on Sept. 9 and requested they reconsider the GSD proposal
John Frederick UTSA Provost and Vice President
after voting against it. “I’m going to ask you very respectfully to reconsider your decision on that proposal,” Frederick said. “Students will be admitted to a major only if they meet certain minimum requirements. Already, colleges are moving in that direction, but I cannot allow
any college to have filters on their majors unless those who can’t get a major have a place to go.” And with the establishment of the GSD, students who do not make the minimum entry requirements for certain colleges—but still meet the requirements for UTSA—would have a degree option that is broad and customizable. The GSD would allow pursuing students to choose three minors and customize those choices to fit the direction they originally wanted. Dr. Lawrence Williams, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Studies, describes the options as an alternative for pursuing one major. “Depending on the students’ interest and career goals, there are
Online
Football practice
a lot of opportunities,” Williams said. “One of the degree plans that the Associate Deans Council came up with was the combination of Business Administration, Spanish, and Communication.” “One combination that I thought was good is Criminal Justice, Political Science, and Environmental Science.” However, some Faculty Senate members expressed during the Sept. 9 meeting that the GSD is unfocused and notoriously populated with athletes. As an example, Dave Gershman of The Ann Arbor News, Michigan, reported in 2008 that 49 percent of all undergraduates pursuing a General Studies degree at See GSD, Page 4
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Miracle Mountain
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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
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Talkin’ bout Jesus
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NEWS
The Paisano
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Courtesy of: UTSA Today
September 21, 2010
The AET Library is the first of its kind in the nation.
University opens new library on Main Campus Brandon Hawkins
paisanonews@sbcglobal.net The new Applied Engineering and Technology (AET) Library is no larger than a traditional campus classroom and the facility defies all traditional conceptions of what a library is or should be; there are no books, stacks, endless shelves or antiquated card catalogs here. This modern facility houses three group-study rooms, five large LCD screens, 10 desktop computers and a number of dry-erase whiteboards. The first of its kind in the nation, UTSA’s AET Library focuses not on physical reserves, but instead on the rapidly growing world of electronic media. Opened in the spring of 2010, the futuristic library boasts a collection of more than 425,000 e-books and 18,000 e-journal subscriptions – and it is constantly growing. Furthermore, all of the library’s content can be accessed, checked-out, and subsequently renewed online – and thus from outside its premises entirely. This means all of the space in the library can be used for research and collaboration as opposed to housing books. Despite the lack of re-shelving and volume location duties, the facility is staffed with six employees – two graduate students and four undergraduate students – whose primary concern is research assistance. “We’re focusing on the service aspects,” Krisellen Maloney, UTSA’s Dean of Libraries, said. Furthering that aim, Maloney went on to explain that “students
The VIA semester pass gives you 5 months of bus rides to school, library, movies, anywhere - at an average cost of only $5 a month! And with no parking hassles! All you need is a school photo ID and
can request anything in the main John Peace Library (JPL) catalogue and we’ll actually go and retrieve it for them.” Sweetening the deal even further, beginning late October or early November 2010, the facility will have a various e-book readers - such as Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPad - on hand for students to download content and borrow. Students will eventually have access via these devices to Amazon. com’s entire e-book library, which contains more than 650,000 titles. “We’re going to be the first university to allocate part of the budget to fund e-book purchases,” Maloney said. Officials will be monitoring the library for abuse of this privilege, and access can be revoked if required. While the AET Library is largely an experiment in next-era library systems composition, don’t expect the JPL to go completely digital anytime soon. “This concept works best with the sciences because the students are just interested in the information, regardless of the medium. In the arts, for example, the resolution might not be adequate for their needs” Maloney said. Coupled with state-of-the-art study rooms and an e-library stocked with the latest research and reference materials. The facility is located on the second floor of the AET Building and is open 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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In our Sept. 14 issue, we ran the following: “University officals equate rankings to a marathon, not a sprint to No. 1.” We meant to run “University officials equate rankings to a marathon, not a sprint to No. 1.”
GSD: Is it just for athletes?
RALLY:
From Page 1
the University of Michigan were Athletes. “Though they comprise less than three percent of the undergraduate population at Michigan, athletes account for 49 percent—87 of 176—of those enrolled in General Studies,” Gershman said. Williams explained that UTSA’s BA in General Studies is not intended specifically for athletes but for all students. “We didn’t design [the GSD] with athletes in mind. This was not our intention when we proposed the program,” Williams said. “This program has been in development from the Associate Deans Council since 2007, long before we knew UTSA would have a football team, for example. But it’s certainly something that our athletes can pursue.” Another issue concerning the legitimacy of the GSD is that it has no focused major; however, it consists of students picking three separate minors, which make up the entire degree. This broad spectrum leads some to believe
that the degree has little use in the job market. Although a BA in General Studies is considered broad, the options for a graduate with this degree are many. In the proposal for the GSD, the UTSA University Career Center added an appendix listing jobs contained in their database that require a baccalaureate but not a specific major. These jobs range in pay from $10,000 to $85,000 per year. The list consisted of 307 different employers including names like American Cancer Society, J.P. Morgan Chase, and the CIA. If the proposal passes in the Faculty Senate during the meeting on Oct. 8, then it has only a little further to go before it becomes an option for students. “We have to get the university approvals: the Provost, the President, the UT system approvals,” Williams said. “There are a few steps, but I think we can do all that by Fall 2011.”
University mourns Morehead UTSA Today Patricia Morehead, a UTSA administrative associate, died suddenly Saturday, Sept. 11 while on vacation in Las Vegas. Morehead was 56 years old and leaves behind a husband, Lynn Morehead; two children, Terry and Shauna; and two grandchildren. Morehead came to UTSA after working in the Business Technology Center from 1995 to 2005. In 2005, UTSA acquired the BTC and it be-
came the Monterey Building at the Downtown Campus. She was part of the UTSA Facilities team as a senior administrative associate. Additionally, she was a member of the UTSA Staff Council, the Business Affairs Staff Relations Council and was serving on the State Employee Charitable Campaign President’s Advisory Committee.
NEWS
The Paisano
September 21, 2010
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Battle for attorney general Early voting less than a month away
Comedy central hosts rally in D.C.
GREG ABBOTT Republican
BARBARA ANN RADNOFSKY Democrat
From Page 1
plays the political opposite of Stewart, masquerading as a fierce conservative and lover of all things Republican. Stewart and Colbert have been hinting at the event ever since Glenn Beck hosted his own “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial in late August. There has been much speculation as to whether the rallies are just a hoax, but according to Daily Show spokesman Steve Albani, a single permit application for both events at the Washington Monument has been submitted to the D.C. National Park Service with the expected headcount listed at 25,000. Although the permit has yet to be granted, both Stewart and Colbert have already instructed their fans to book flights and hotels as soon as possible. So far, few details about the event have been made public, but both Stewart and Colbert are expected to cohost with various special guests. The rally will act as a grand finale of sorts for The Daily Show which will already be filming in D.C. that week, and is expected to focus on the upcoming Nov. 2 mid-term elections.
Abortion: Defend the Federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act and the New Hampshire parental notification law Crime: Work closely with Fugitive and Cyber Crimes units Pledge of Allegiance: Work to retain the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Open Records: Remove partisan, political influences from office leadership, stop poaching of key matters from the hands of career people Education: Oppose Texas elected officials give away of our federal tax dollars to those states applying for “Race to the Top” funds. Delibration: Promote open meetings
Jon Roland Libertarian
Sources Election Information: http://www. sos.state.tx.us/elections/ Candidate Sites: http://www.barbaraann2010.com/ http://www.gregabbott.com/ http://www.jonroland.org/ Federal officials: Intervene to protect Texas citizens from abuse by federal officials. Will support proposal for a Federal Action Review Commission. Child Abuse: Act to reduce abuses in Child Protective Services. Border: Work with other agencies to protect Texas citizens from threats to our sovereignty and national security from foreign and domestic organized crime.
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Election Dates: Last day to register to vote: Oct. 4 First day of early voting: Oct. 18 Last day of early voting: Oct. 29
Photo Poll Who is your favorite music artist of all time?
Alex Brown Sophomore/ Marketing “Right now David Getta. I love his stuff.”
OPINION The
The Paisano
September 21, 2010
Commentary
Locker room drama during a war, really? This week the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) goes on the cutting room floor. For 17 years GLBT soldiers have not been allowed to serve openly in the military. Those who support “DADT” claim that the cost to train these employees only to have them dishcarged based on their sexuality is miniscule at best. The problem with this argument is that what the military loses not only part of its training budget but also the experience the soldier gains through the training. Imagine a police department firing its best detective due to his or her sexual orientation. That doesn’t sound like
a smart business decision. The military is known for its conservative operation. It doesn’t shock me that this seemingly nonissue is making headlines all over the states. I do think that the entire conflict boils down to one major issue: locker room syndrome. The major publication websites have recieved many hits about how heterosexual soldiers will be able to handle showering and sleeping near GLBT soldiers. The argument is that hereosexual soldiers shouldn’t have to worry about their fellow employees checking them out. It’s sad that they have that mindset. I doubt that GLBT soldiers are thinking about sex while in a battle zone. I suspect they are more worried about mortars, snipers and suicide bombers. Another argument for “DADT”
is that the army already restricts other groups of people. They won’t accept people who are too old or too young, out of shape or disabled. Therefore, why can’t sexuality be used as a criterion for picking soldiers? Using that argument opens the door for the opposition ask whether homosexuality is similar to lefthandedness or not. GLBT have the right to protect their country and loved ones. Maybe if those working against the repeal one day are saved by a gay fireman or policeman saves their life he or she will think twice who is entitled to risk life and limb to ensure our safety. Joseph Tidline Editor-in-chief
An alternative to the shuttle crisis Lindy Santana Freshman/ Undecided “Rascal Flatts.”
Jeff Moses
and by walking you’re shunning the need for a shuttle all together. Why don’t we as a student body walk rather than take a shuttle? Our campus is not overly large; we’ll do just fine. I personally got sick of just missing shuttles and waiting 15+ minutes for another shuttle pass, and when I did get on the shuttle I was sick of being crammed into a maxed out capacity shuttle, listening to random people talking on their cell phones the entire trip. This all happened after the initial “Hop On Board” initiative was passed, when supposedly UTSA had sufficient money to run a decent shuttle service. In short, I think we need to respond loud and clear to the request at the end of the article made by
Paisano Editor-in-Chief: Joseph Tidline
News Editor:
Christopher Connell
Features Editor: Arianne Evans
Arts Editor: Ruben Mercado
Sports Editor: Vanessa Elizarraras
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Staff: Annalise Perry, Megan Lovelady, Steven Ordaz, Bradley Banks, Graham Cull, Jaqueline Calvert, Stephen Whitaker
Interns:
Letter to the Editor
The front page story of The Paisano on Sept. 14 focused on the current transportation mess UTSA is in the midst of, and for the most part the article seemed to constantly mention how the students rejected a proposal to increase the transportation fee by $10. I believe the fee was rejected because students are fed up with the shuttle system in general. Why do we need the number of shuttles we have now? A banner above Chisholm hall reads “Class in 10 Minutes? No worries,” insinuating that you can quickly get to class if you live on campus. To be honest, though, you can walk from Tobin Lot and Lot 12 to the UC in about 10-15 minutes. It’s not a hard walk; in fact, it’s rather enjoyable,
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Wilcox, the director of Business Auxiliary Services: “Students need to tell us what they want.” What we want is to keep UTSA an affordable school. We don’t want people who don’t use the shuttle to have to pay for shuttle services. Sure, it’s only $10, but its $10 more than we were already paying a few semesters ago for a service that is wholly unnecessary if we as students were to take initiative. Stop using the shuttle, start walking and let’s make our campus better for it; if we do that, the shuttle problem will take care of itself. David Orner Senior
Editorial Photo
Sophomore/ Business “Z-Ro.”
Jennifer Cisneros, Dana Messer, Joey Alabbassi
Contributing Writers:
Allison Tinn, Jenelle Duff, Kristoffer Hellesmark, Itza Carabajal, Brandon Hawkins, Jared Kalmus, Ben Campbell, Fidelity Gomez, Nina Hernandez, Crystal Cox, Gabriellena Weidanz, Carly Cirilli
Advisor: Diane Abdo
Advisory Board: Steven Kellman, Mansour El Kikhia, Jack Himelblau, Sandy Norman, Matt Stern The Paisano is published by the Paisano Educational Trust, a non-profit, tax exempt, educational organization. The Paisano is operated by members of the Student Newspaper Association, a registered student organization. The Paisano is NOT sponsored, financed or endorsed by UTSA. New issues are published every Tuesday during the fall and spring semesters, excluding holidays and exam periods. All revenues are generated through advertising and donations. Advertising inquiries and donations should be directed towards: © The Paisano 14545 Roadrunner Way San Antonio, TX 78249 Phone: (210)690-9301 Fax: (210)690-3423 E-mail: paisanoeditor@sbcglobal. net
Send letters to: paisanoeditor@sbcglobal.net Jenny Karish Senior/ Psychology “Jason Mraz.”
The “DADT” repeal could be the begining of a year of a change in the GLBT community. California will begin hearing appeals to its repeal later this year.
The Bird Seed by Megan Lovelady
Letters must be less than 400 words and include the writer’s name, classification or title and telephone number. The Paisano reserves the right to edit all submissions.
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Will Hall Freshman/ Undecided “Lupe Fiasco.”
Kat Villareal Freshman/ Civil Engineering “I’d probably have to go with John Mayer.”
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Features
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The Paisano
September 21, 2010
Student pet peeves Discovering what issues present students with the most problems.
Samantha Burns
paisanofeatures@sbcglobal.net
With over 30,395 students enrolled at UTSA this year, there has to be something that bugs students about the university? This year’s enrollment numbers are five percent higher from last year’s numbers and it shows every day when you are on campus. According to most students, what bugs them about UTSA the most is parking, overcrowding
and not enough places to study. fifteen people were polled about what bugged them. Monica an international business major and freshman said that she hates the parking situation. Eleven of those polled said that parking was the number one thing that they did not like about UTSA. Many students complained that the time it took to get a parking spot was way too long than desired and many students said they are constantly late to their classes. “I hate looking for parking at school; it wastes half of my
gas... I just hate that,” senior architecture major, Sidra Zafar, said. Another student, Chris Kvapil, senior and pre pharmacy major said, “We are paying a lot of money for a parking permit and yet there is no space available to park. A few hours in the garage can cost $6. “That doesn’t sound like a lot but if you need to park in there a few times a week it can start adding up. This issue needs to be fixed. Maybe the university should build more parking garages.” While many students agree on
First Amendment
this subject time and time again, nothing seems to be done about it. Yes, the school has built two parking garages in the past three years, but every time a new area is available for parking, it is immediately filled up with new students. At the end of the day parking seems to be the constant thing that bugs students about UTSA. Besides parking, many students hate the overcrowding. Joy Pits, a senior and English major at UTSA feels that just walking the hallways at UTSA is annoying due to a lack of space. “The thing that bugs me the most is how small the buildings feel. It’s just really overcrowded. I don’t feel like I can walk freely without bumping into someone.” How many times are you racing to class and feel like you are dodging a war zone just to get to the other side of campus? Some students on campus feel like there is never a enough places to sit. Kira Villarreal, senior pre-med student said that she had a two
hour break in between classes and that she went to the library to request a study room. She did not get the room until 12:30p.m., a whole hour and a half later. Villarreal, like many students feels that there are not enough places to study on campus. The Science building is equipped with cubicles on the second floor and the Main building has an area outside; however, space is limited for students looking for a place to study without social distractions. The library is obviously the place you would think to go but with so many students crammed in there, it is hard to think, let alone concentrate sometimes. Villarreal feels there should be an area designated in every building just for students trying to study. “I think the school should create study rooms in every building on campus that are quiet and just for studying. It would help people like me who spend all their time studying anyway,” adds Villarreal.
vs. Safety
v.s Safety
Behavioral concerns for UTSA students turning in written documents. Nina Hernandez
paisanofeatures@sbcglobal.net A student sitting in the very back of a lecture class speaks to no one, hiding his face behind unwashed hair. The girl from across the hall argues so loudly with her roommate that the entire hall hears. A writer takes creative license a step too far, and the story concerns his professor. An idea hatches in the back of the student’s mind, and he simply can’t wait to write it down—that is, until the professor warns that violence in creative writing can be reported. UTSA’s police department is here to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff, but the administration has asked the entire community to take an active role in aiding them in that task. This includes keeping an eye out for strange behavior. “If you feel someone’s doing something suspicious, go ahead and report that,” Dante Pea, senior RA at Chisholm
hall said. “If it was something big and people got hurt, that would be on your conscience.” Any threats or actions that are “significantly different than the person’s typical behavior” should be reported to UTSA PD. “You have to pay attention to their tone; a serious tone will make you uncomfortable,” Pea said. It’s not only changes in behavior that the administration asks the community to be on the look for. Any written work that contains “alarming” wording should be taken seriously. Students, faculty and staff were asked to report behavior following any of these guidelines: • Written materials are submitted that contain wording that seems alarming or out of context. • Actions or comments are noticeably and significantly different than the person’s typical behavior (i.e., decreased stability, increasing irritability).
•
Increasingly withdrawn or moody, or the person has not been seen or heard from for a period of time that is out of the ordinary. • A community member may not be respecting appropriate personal boundaries (i.e., inappropriate communications or stalking), which makes another person uncomfortable. “There have been times I’ve come across this, especially in creative writing courses,” writing tutor Omar Quimbaya said. “A lot of times people write about shocking things, mostly for shock value.” The written word can certainly for a cry for help, however, it could be even harder to tell whether a student is being creative or hinting at depression or has a propensity for violence. This fact doesn’t stop peers from feeling put on the spot, having to report friends and classmates who may just be exploring characters and experimenting with plot elements they’ve read.
“I wouldn’t like it, to be honest,” Quimbaya said. “There’s a lot of violent work out there that’s published and some people may overreact.” Papers submitted containing violent themes must be reported. In a creative writing class Quimbaya attended, he and his peers were asked to avoid such topics entirely. But not all faculty are alarmed by violent topics. “Just because it’s not roses and bunnies doesn’t mean it’s crazy,” writing program lecturer John Lee said. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention estimates that a person commits suicide every 18 minutes, and with campus shootings at Virginia Tech and the University of Alabama, univerities are taking certain precautions to proctect students. Whether or not that infringes on a student’s creative freedom is up to the individual. “Security and freedom is a balancing act,” Quimbaya said. “It’s a compromise we have to make to be on campus.”
Tweet this: Arianne Evans
paisanofeatures@sbcglobal.net It’s late at night and I’m driving in my car responsibly. I have my seat belt on and my radio is at a reasonable volume. My windshield is dirty, so I decide to clean it off. Little do I know, there is a wreck waiting to happen right in front of me. I was highly offended by this bumper sticker that says, “you can’t be a Christian and be Pro-Choice. “
’ l e e h w e h t e k a t ‘Jesus
I immediately thought, how can this statement even be celebrated? I realize that there are extremists in every group, but these types of statements lead to misconceptions about the Christian religion. The Christian religion isn’t about forcing people to do anything. The ideology behind Christianity is to plant the seed, make your point and let God do his work.
Just because I wouldn’t choose to abort my child doesn’t mean I have the right to decide whether somebody else should be granted those same opportunities. What’s funny about this, is we say that we want a democracy and that we are the land of the free, but we are always trying to force people to be a part of the institutions we’ve created. Because of these institutions,
we have groups that enjoy making a mockery of religion. Religion in this country wouldn’t be such an issue if we didn’t allow it to impose on all of society’s life decisions. Furthermore, the people in that car were probably the same people acting a fool in front of CNN while the Atheist Agenda organization was trading Bibles for subpar porn.
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Honestly, I don’t care if Jesus’s brother, Rickey Christ, would’ve been outside rallying the troops– there is no reason we all can’t have different points of view. Problems arise when we start deciding who is more right. When we begin to justify religion over personal freedoms, that’s when a “democracy” shifts into a tyranny. What will become of us then?
September 21, 2010
Professors That Rock
ARTS
The Paisano
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When Rock and Roll Meets Literature
Allison Tinn
paisanoarts@sbcglobal.net Students may have taken an English course from Professor Ken Burchenal, but many of those students are unaware of his separate life in rock ‘n’ roll. With a lifetime of changes - from obtaining jobs in places such as psych wards and being a full time musician to becoming a respected English professor, music has always played a significant role in his life and literature has only added to his inspiration. When not attending to his academic profession, he is playing with several different bands, one in particular called The Happy Campers. With his outstanding reviews as a professor and his love for the arts, Professor Burchenal was chosen for this week’s professors that rock series and the Paisano had a chance to discuss his love for both. How did you get started with music? How long have you been doing it? My first musical instrument was when I was ten and now I’m 50, so that was 40 years ago. They were drums. My father was a jazz drummer, and I guess he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. I don’t know if it was the instrument or the teacher who I still think of like an archetype for some kind of nasty pedophile troll guy. I hated him. He was just creepy, and I had to sit there for an hour and play paradiddles. After that I picked up the guitar and started playing and moved on to other instruments with strings, and as of lately pianos. Are you taking lessons for the piano? No, I understand music. If I was going to be a good piano player, I would definitely do that; I’m not contemptuous of being taught. I did get lessons in the senses of my friends, but no formal lessons. I considered going to music school and getting a degree, but presumably in my early twenties I looked at music as being so personal and so much about feeling. I had immature ideas about music as a discipline, I felt like it should be an expression of your soul as opposed to sitting there doing drills, which scant years later I realized that was the only way to master the instrument. I went through a great deal of training, but it was self-driven. I would sit and do scales; I used to work in psych wards and work the overnight shift in the locked ward, and be back there playing while my patients raved behind doors.
Photo Courtesy of Ken Burchenal
Why English as opposed to music? I was a professional musician for many years, but I think I eventually wanted to stop living off girlfriends and start having a place of my own. Before I went back to college, I made a shift from performance to production in music. When I got married and had a child, I decided that scraping money as a musician or having the jobs that I had before no longer made sense. I started to think of what else I would want to do, and I had always loved literature and had always thought about going back to school at some point. Do you try to keep your life separate from being a musician and being a professor? Well, I don’t market my students, that is for sure; that’s an ethical boundary. I am not ashamed of it; a lot of my students hear from one place or another that I am a musician, but I am not going to hand out flyers to my show.
To read the rest of the interview, check it out online!
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Professor Burchenal practices his craft.
Watercooler Gleeks Get Ready! Robyn Lorkovic
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Tuesday, Sept. 21, marks the return of Glee for it’s much anticipated second season. For Gleeks everywhere, this is a day to celebrate as old favorites take center stage again, (Finchel fans, prepares yourselves) and new characters come in to (possibly?) steal the spotlight. I have never been more excited for a season premier in my entire life, and I’m a pretty excitable person to say the least. Charice Pempengco, also known as the most talented little Filipina sweetie I’ve ever seen, will be joining the cast this season as Sunshine, a foreign-exchange student, bringing some fierce competition to the shows seasoned Rachel Berry, played by Lea Michele. This in and of itself is huge. Despite
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the negativity surrounding Glee’s previous (and it would seem like continued) tendencies to feature many celebrity guests, I’m really getting a good vibe from this season (and Britney of course) considering Charice is one of the most talented up-and-coming artists of this generation. If Glee plays it’s cards right, they could amass huge levels of fame for musical attributions that last season will just seem like a joke. Trust me people, this is a big deal. New faces this season include John Stamos, Susan Boyle and Javier Bardem, among others. Don’t miss out on the music, tune into Glee!
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The Paisano
September 21, 2010
Photo courtesy of Don Lien
Creative Corner
Dr. Lien addresses the crowd at the opening ceremony for the Confucious Institute.
C onfucius Institute: A Site to See Jennifer Cisneros paisanoarts@sbcglobal.net
UTSA Confucius Institute and UTSA Department of Art and Art History are hosting, “Images Speak to the World: Today’s China,” a layout of 51 photographs featuring UNESCO World Heritage sites in China. According to United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a World Heritage site is a sign post marking the path of human development and culture. Recently, two more sites have been approved in China, making it home to 40 World Heritage Sites. The exhibit is free and open to the public till Oct. 10 at the Arts Building Gallery, Main Campus. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Mon.-Fri., and 1 p.m. - 4 p.m., Sat. and Sun. Yuan Fang, Computer Science major, visited the exhibit and saw a photograph of Lushan, her hometown. “I’ve been here so many times when I was young and my grandpa would drive us there to spend the weekend,” she said. “Some say Mount Sanqingshan is a miracle because of the sunlight,” said Jing Hong, Architecture major. The exhibit is a part of FotoSeptiembre, an annual worldwide art festival, features art work from the national China Photographers Association from Beijing. “Five delegates came here. We [UTSA] were their only stop; they didn’t go to any other place,” said Donald Lien, Director of East Asia and Confucius Institute.
The Confucius Institute strengthens ties with China and Texas region by promoting awareness of Chinese language, culture, history and society to for UTSA and the community with educational implementation. The Confucius Institute in conjunction with the Alamo Chinese Language School are offering Sunday Chinese School for K-12 students and adults for the 2010-2011 school year. The program consists of learning Chinese, calligraphy, martial arts, folk dancing, brush painting and Chinese history/legends. Scholarships are available to study in China, Japan, and Taiwan and Korea. “This year we already have four students that applied to study in China for one year,” said Lien. “Two students are in Beijing right now. We also have a student going to Korea for one year. Anyone who is interested only pays their airfare [with the scholarship].” Wednesday Sept. 22 is the Chinese Moon Festival, one of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. The San Antonio Chinese Alliance and East Asia Institute present Star-Spangled 2010 San Antonio Moon Festival Gala, featuring Chinese music, dance, and an acrobatic extravaganza. Three Chinese celebrities (Lamcha, Li Na and Mayila) will participate in the event as well.
Great Minds By Ewawk McCulliver aka Dope Dawg I was texting my bff, that I needed to gtfo of this room, asap. I was grounded, on my b-day. "WTF" she texted back, "that is ttlly, MUBAR," (that is messed up beyond all recognition.) I told her that I knew and that the worst part was, that I couldn't see my boyf :(. "Oh no," she said, "your parents are crzy, just gtfo, tell your parents to stfu, lol." I texted back: And how is that going to help at all? Afaik (as far as I know) nuthing u hav evur told me 2 do worked out. "Omg!" she said, "u r mean :( i dnt want 2 talk 2 u n e more, l8er." She was already annoying me so I let it go. My boyf sent me a text almost a minute after, "Hey babe. Wat up?" it read. "Nuthin much," I said, "IMU! :(." "I jst saw u yesterday, wtf? lol" he put. "OMFG! I can't miss u? nvm i'll ttyl, ctn( can't talk now), i'm po'd." The next day was class, the instructor was discussing a book, a good one, i guess. She clld on me, and asked me what I thought of it. "I D K, I think that, it was funny. I was lol'ing from the first page, i may have even R O F L'd." I said. The whole class agreed that they lol'd at the book. Which u shuld read, it's called, ICBTIHBWMLBWITF*. *I can't believe this is how books will most likely be written, in the future.
STILL A VIRGIN? TAKE THE HIT The Paisano has an EXCLUSIVE interview with Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland, directors of The Virginity Hit!
Available online at paisano-online.com
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The Paisano
September 21, 2010
SPORTS
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UTSA falls 1-3 agianst University of Houston Kristoffer Hellesmark
paisanosports@sbcglobal.net Last weekend the UTSA women’s soccer team played two different matches with two widely different results. The first match against Texas Southern on Friday, Sept. 17, ended up 7-0 in UTSA’s favor. On Sunday, Sept. 19, UTSA faced a much more determined University of Houston that defeated UTSA 1-3. Fourteen minutes into the game against Texas Southern, Maria Jose Rojas scored the first of UTSA’s seven goals and more attacks followed. Texas Southern’s goalkeeper was able to fend off some UTSA attacks with tremendous play despite UTSA’s dominance on the field. But after 35 minutes, Laylla da Cruz put the ball in the upper right hand corner where even the goalkeeper couldn’t reach it, making the score 2-0. After the second goal, UTSA increasingly played offense and scored five more goals, easily winning their match against Texas Southern.
Sunday’s match, however, proved much more difficult when UTSA faced off against the University of Houston in a 1-3 “nailbiter”. At first UTSA seemed to be dominating, and the team scored a goal right before halftime when Maria Jose Rojas skillfully dribbled the keeper then easily scored. A UTSA player received a second yellow card and was ejected from the game. Playing with one fewer player, UTSA was put under tremendous pressure after halftime, and Houston was able to tie up the score. Intense play followed as Houston scored another goal to UTSA’s dismay making the score 1-2. The competitiveness of both teams made play very aggressive, resulting in cards for both teams. Houston and UTSA received two yellow cards each. At 87 minutes UTSA had a tremendous chance to even the score, but the shot, unfortunately, passed just above the goal, which allowed Houston to score a third goal.
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Read about UTSA’s first football scrimmage online at paisano-online.com.
UTSA officials meet with WAC Commissioner
Stephen Whitaker
paisanosports@sbcglobal.net Athletic Director Lynn Hickey and Head Football Coach Larry Coker flew to Colorado Wednesday to meet with Western Athletic Conference (WAC) commissioner Karl Benson on the subject of UTSA athletics and the possibility of a spot in the WAC for UTSA. It was an opportunity for Hickey to show in person what UTSA would bring as a member. “We had a good meeting and the purpose of going was to meet Ken Benson. We had never met face-toface,” Hickey said. “We had asked him if we could come and give him a better overview on what we were trying to build and an overview of UTSA as a whole.” The meeting did not involve an invitation from the WAC; it was merely
a friendly get together between the important figures from UTSA and the WAC. “He gave us an overview. He is very positive very confident. They have good group of schools, great history, so they are just trying to work on what their timeline is and take the appropriate steps,” Hickey said. Talking with the WAC will not affect the university’s membership in the Southland Conference, but it shows that the UTSA is looking at other options. “Commissioner [Tom] Burnett knew we were going, and we were communicating with him. This is a time of looking at options. Our commitment is still to the Southland,” Hickey said. Some of those other options might include geographically local conferences.
“All along we have talked about the geographical options we have-the WAC, C-USA and Sun Belt. We are just watching the landscape to see if there is going to be movement. It could change overnight or it could be a two year process,” Hickey said. “I think we are happy to have the opportunity to present to anybody. I don’t think we are at the stage where we are looking at those detailed questions.” Coker emphasized the benefits UTSA would bring to the WAC. “We have such a great product to sell. We are so proud of our city and the dome and in a hungry market with no major college football no professional football,” Coker said. “But we need to let other people know what we have. It was exciting.”
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