The Paisano Volume 51 Issue 7

Don’t miss anything at UTSA.

UTSA women’s

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basketball gets a big win on Senior Night

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Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio 2014 Columbia Scholastic Press Gold Medalist

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UTSA UTSA’s Honors College raised a record-breaking $312,000 at their Great Conversation event. The money will fund scholarships, research stipends and leadership learning opportunities.

Volume 51

Issue 7

March 3 - March 24, 2015

SGA Election Coverage: candidate profiles Page 2 Commentary: Has SGA lost sight of its mission? Page 5

Students petitioning for change at Aramark Teia Herrera Staff Writer

@ThePaisano news@paisano-online.com

San Antonio Grande Communications has announced a 1-Gig residential broadband service to San Antonio citizens for $64.99 per month. This comes after Google Fiber opted not to expand to the Alamo City for now.

U.S. After several months of contentious talks, the FCC has ruled that it will regulate the internet as a public utility.

Legislature A bill proposed in the Texas House would decriminalize the sale and possession of marijuana, the latest of at least seven bills that would legalize cannabis in Texas in some capacity.

Sports Both UTSA basketball teams will seek to extend their seasons at their respective C-USA tournaments. Both tournaments will be held in Birmingham, Ala. March 11-14.

Robert Pistochi, The Paisano Texas is currently one of 25 states that does not permit the sale of hard liquor in Wal-Mart stores.

Liquor sales coming to Wal-Mart?

Alysha Gallagher Staff Writer

@ThePaisano news@paisano-online.com Wal-Mart, the largest retailer of wine and beer in Texas, filed a lawsuit against the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission for the right to sell distilled spirits at its Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club locations in Texas for offpremises consumption.

Currently, Section 22.16 of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code prohibits publicly traded corporations from acquiring a package store permit allowing for the sale of distilled spirits, while Section 22.04 states, “No person may hold or have an interest, directly or indirectly, in more than five package stores or in their business or permit.”

Filed in U.S. District Court, the lawsuit challenges the “constitutionality of certain Texas statutes under the United States Constitution.”

The lawsuit claims WalMart has been “irrationally banned from competing with privately owned companies that are, unlike publicly traded corporations, allowed to obtain package store permits.”

Furthermore, the lawsuit states that even if publicly traded corporations were given the opportunity to sell distilled spirits, they would still be forbidden from owning or holding more than five package store permits.

Wal-Mart currently holds 543 wine and beer retailers off-premise, otherwise known as BQ permits. The lawsuit states that the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code would require Wal-Mart “to abandon all of its wine and beer BQ permits before it can obtain even a single package store permit.”

The lawsuit’s final claim concludes that “in addition to being anticompetitive and unfair to consumers,” Texas laws are “protectionist provisions that unlawfully discriminate against publicly traded companies and interstate commerce, and are unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause, Commerce Clause and Comity Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”

San Antonio resident Bianca Chapa feels that WalMart should have the right to sell distilled spirits saying, “I think they should, it’s a free country. I think that any company, given that they can provide a means for a consumer based product, should be able to supply that product.”

However, Chapa would not buy distilled liquor from the company if they sold it.

“I don’t shop for my liquor there. If I am looking for a particular liquor, I would go to a big liquor store that I have frequented in the past.”

Students also seem to be divided about the potential outcome of the lawsuit.

Both junior Roland Garcia and sophomore Belen Lo-

pez agreed that they would not buy distilled spirits from Wal-Mart.

“It doesn’t feel like the right place because the supermarket is a family oriented place as opposed to a liquor store,” Garcia stated.

Senior Kyle Golla, on the contrary, sees the potential convenience in Wal-Mart selling distilled spirits. “For sure, I’d imagine it being at a cheaper price,” Golla said.

“I get most of my stuff from Wal-Mart generally; if I’m already there it’s one less stop on the way home.”

“Wal-Marts in other states already sell liquor,” stated Senior Memorie Johnson. “I would buy liquor from Walmart if the prices are better than local liquor stores.”

Alhough divided, students felt that it was a necessity for any hard liquor area at a Wal-Mart to be sectioned off from the rest of the store.

Junior Andre Pickens offered a suggestion on how Wal-Mart’s potential distilled spirits section should be monitored.

“It would be convenient, but I feel like they shouldn’t because kids go in there all the time and just steal stuff,” Perkins said. “If they had a little closed off section where the hard liquor would be, I’d be for that, because then you could have an attendant on the entrance and then you cash out with the hard liquor inside there.”

Senior Faith Menogan also believes that liquor should be in a separate area

SPORTS - Commentary

ARTS - Picasso’s Tapestries

What a potential relocation by the Oakland Raiders to the Alamodome means for San Antonio.

Nelson Rockefeller’s personal collection makes a visit to San Antonio.

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of the store, and stated that if Wal-Mart was given the opportunity to sell distilled liquor, “it would have to be secure.”

Former Wal-Mart worker and senior Andrew Fernandez stated that customers tried to steal beer from the store a number of times.

“Every once in a while people would put it underneath their carts or place it in a certain way where they would hope that the cashier would forget to scan it,” said Fernandez.

“I don’t think it’s going to increase the problem of kids getting liquor. Wal-Mart has always been a family oriented company,” Fernandez continued. “They could do what Costco does and have it separated from the main part of the store and to get in and out you would have to establish ID.” According to the lawsuit, Wal-Mart is licensed to sell distilled spirits in addition to wine and beer in 25 other states. In Texas, Wal-Mart is licensed to sell wine, beer or both in 546 stores including Wal-Mart stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and Sam’s Clubs.

Some consumers, like Fernandez, agree with WalMart’s complaint that the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code negatively impacts Texas consumers and restricts the overall convenience of purchasing distilled spirits. “I would like to pick up my eggs with my whiskey,” Fernandez said.

OPINION - More than a Dress Why blue-and-black and white-and-gold don’t really matter.

After a year of contemplation, an anonymous student group took initiative and voiced their opinion about Aramark’s food quality at the UTSA Roadrunner Cafe.

In February, the students began a petition which aimed to remove Aramark food services from UTSA. Aramark supplies food, not only for the Roadrunner Café, but also for all of the food establishments on campus, and they cater the majority of banquets and events held on campus.

Consequently, Aramark’s central control on campus food affects students on campus dining and housing decisions.

Originally these students – who chose to remain anonymous – planned to email President Romo himself, however afraid of not being taken seriously, they decided to appeal to the student body with the hope that there was power in numbers. With hopes of getting students and alumni to back them up, the group went to change.org and started the “Aramark UTSA” petition.

The petition’s main concern is the Roadrunner Cafe’s poor food quality and unreasonable meal plan prices. For instance, students who live in Laurel Village, Alvarez Residence Hall and Chaparral Village have to purchase one of the meal plan options.

The group of students stated that their reasoning behind the petition was “because as UTSA students ourselves, we have experienced first hand the monopoly Aramark has on UTSA, a monopoly that has unfortunately resulted in extremely sub-par and mediocre food venues.”

Jeff Schilder – the Business Affairs chair in Student Government Association and a Laurel Village resident who spoke only for himself personally – claimed UTSA and Aramark are in the process of making things better with the Roadrunner Cafe.

He agreed that the food conditions could be better, but See ARAMARK, Page 3

Arts - Food Review What grade did we give the burgers at Bobby J’s?.

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Please recycle this newspaper!

NEWS

2 March 3 - March 24, 2015

SGA Executive Board candidate profiles To help students prepare for the upcoming Student Government Association (SGA) elections, The Paisano has contacted each student who has registered to run for a position on the Executive Board. Each candidate was asked the same questions: 1.) What experience and qualifications do you have that you believe will help you succeed in the position you are running for?

2.) Do you see any challenges ahead for SGA, and if so, how do you plan on confronting them?

3.) If you could accomplish only one thing in your elected position what would it be and why?

4.) Are there any major issues that need to be addressed in the upcoming year, and if so, how do you plan on undertaking them?

Below are the responses for the candidates for each Executive Board position on the ballot, with candidates listed in alphabetical order.

President Ileana Gonzalez H a v ing been an active member of SGA for over three years, with officer experience for three semesters, I believe I have the proper organizational and executive leadership experience necessary to serve as president. I have seen multiple presidential transitions and had the unique opportunity to observe and understand what constitutes being president as far as the standard they are held to with their representative responsibility.

I believe I am the most passionate candidate about our university as a whole to guide us in achieving our Tier-One dream. There is nothing I want to do more than to serve students and bridge the gap between them and administration. We have to realize that if you want to go fast, you can go alone, but if we want to go far we will go together. We are all UTSA! I believe SGA hasn’t been as connected to the students as we should have been in the past. However, we have been extremely connected to administration. I truly believe this is the year that will be the closing phase of the circle where we connect our students and administration.

During my presidency I will focus on continuing the bond we have with administration and building a stronger foundation with our students to know that SGA is here for them.

If elected student body president, the one thing I

would accomplish is for the State of Texas to realize that UTSA is up-and-coming and there are great things happening here in Roadrunner Country. Specifically, I will build upon our previous community engagement and outreach with our stakeholders in and around the state and show that we are a premier research institution with the highest quality of students.

This includes engaging our students in the plan our administration has in store to prove that UTSA deserves Tier-One recognition.

A major issue I have seen for the past three years is that our Senate has not been full and certain colleges and classifications have been underrepresented. I plan on changing this by reaching out to our organizations and students more than we have in the past. I plan on attending orientations, sending our representatives out to the different organizations that make up our student body and really pushing our students to join us in our movement to advance the university’s Tier One mission.

Jeff Schilder In my time in S G A , I have served two terms as the chair of the Business Affairs Committee, which has put me in a unique position to see how things operate from the perspectives of both the legislative and executive branches because I serve in both. In addition to this, I have served as one of UTSA’s two delegates to a group called the UT System Student Advisory Council (UTSSAC).

What UTSSAC boils down to is a UT system-wide student government. This past year, I was elected by the delegates from the 15 institutions to serve as a committee chair of UTSSAC, and I was then elected to serve as the ViceChair of UTSSAC for this next year.

A major role of SGA President is to bridge the gap between SGA and other entities outside of UTSA. My experience with UTSSAC gives me a great opportunity to make sure that our voices will be heard throughout the state, not just within our campuses here at UTSA. I know two major issues SGA faces is spreading the word on the things we do and getting concerns from a more diverse group of students. There hasn’t been a lot of engagement between SGA and our students recently, and I’d like to change that. We do things such as the Scantron Giveaway, but we could do a lot more. I would like to send

SGA’s senators to other organizations, in order to both let them know that SGA is here for them and to find out what kind of problems they face.

Something that SGA has already been working on is called “Project Torch,” which is an initiative to get the students of the various universities around San Antonio a voice on our city council, which has a lot of influence on the things that UTSA and the other San Antonio universities can do. As President, I would like to continue this initiative because of its importance to the students of UTSA and San Antonio.

There are a variety of major issues concerning UTSA such as the transportation fee and subsequent cuts to our shuttle services, making our voices heard within our city and many others. I plan to use the relationships I have already established to work with the necessary entities to solve these issues for the betterment of UTSA. Vice President Christian Kenney As the current Vice President of Student Government, I understand what the organization needs in its vice president: an individual who supports the current president while having his goals and vision as well as building connections with the top administrators to get big-issue initiatives completed. In my last term, I focused a lot on the administration issues. I feel that at times I lost touch with the reason I signed up for student government, which was to make changes for the student body; this is something that I will make sure I don’t lose focus on this reason the second time around.

The challenges in the upcoming year for SGA begin with how we will adapt to change. Most of the current members have only seen the current president lead SGA. A brand new president coming in means a brand new vision for SGA. The organization is going to face a lot of changes so being able to adapt and grow with them is important. Another issue that SGA will face is having a strong and independent senate. The majority of the work happening inside SGA is coming from our officers and cabinet, and it does not need to be that way. Our senate shows great potential of developing campus-changing initiatives and resolutions for the student body, and we just need them to act on all the initiatives.

If I could only achieve one

thing during a second term as vice president it would be to maintain the level of high quality of initiatives that we work on and the involvement with higher up administration that we have. Our student government handles bigger issues than most student governments around the country, and we take pride in that. I also want to expand the food options we have on campus in the late hours of the night.

Having slim to no options of food during the late study sessions is a major concern that we hear from students. Working with Aramark, Student Activities and outside sources for future food options is definitely a high priority of mine if I do get the privilege of serving a second term.

William Trynoski Not only have I successfully performed my constitutional duties as a senator for my past two terms, but also I have gone out of my way to pursue initiatives within SGA that go far beyond what is required of me as a senator. Some of these initiatives include dedicating my work to two separate committees, representing the students on the university’s Parking and Traffic Committee and playing a key supporting role in SGA events whenever necessary. As a Senator, I have successfully represented my constituents on various issues that have ultimately helped this university in its journey to Tier One. Some of these issues include extending dining hours on campus, helping students access alternative methods of connecting

to the internet via Ethernet plugs, helping direct more beneficial parking regulations and attending frequent meetings with both Business Auxiliary Services and Facilities to accomplish initiatives and voice student concerns. As Vice President, I will not only keep this work ethic, but also expand upon it, so that I may utilize my role to further help the students of UTSA. The largest challenge I see SGA facing in the future is communication with student organizations and the student body. You can ask any normal UTSA student about SGA and they will, most of the time, not know what SGA is or what we do for the university. As Vice President, I plan to remedy this by having frequent meetings with student organizations and by having a set time and place for office hours, so student leaders as well as normal, every day students can attend and voice their issues and concerns.

If I could only accomplish one thing as the Vice President of the Student Body, it would be to effectively bring a nightlife culture to the students of UTSA. This includes several initiatives such as campus lighting and extension of dining hours. I believe that the next step needed for UTSA to become a Tier One university relies on how students perceive their campus both during the day and at night.

The main and most important issue that I will be tackling head-on, if I get elected, will be communication both within and outside the organization. As a representative organization, it is important that SGA maintain a good relationship with the student body and the organization of which its members are part.

Secretary Lauren Lopez I began my experience with SGA at the end of my freshman year (I am now a junior). I have held the positions of Sophomore Senator, Junior Senator and University Life Awards Director. During my time I have planned various events including Scantron Giveaway and SGA Banquet, and this semester my position as ULA director has given me the opportunity to be on the Executive Board for its 20142015 administration. I grew alongside the members of the e-board and offered my assistance whenever possible. I have attended UTSA Day at the Capitol where students went to advocate for tuition revenue bonds and additional funding for the Hazelwood recipients at UTSA. I believe my experience with the SGA’s organization along with personal attributes such as my being organized and dependable will help me if given the chance to be SGA Secretary.

The challenges I see in the near future for student government are based on the publicity for the goals that we accomplish. Students don’t generally know what all SGA does for the student body.

If given the chance I would work at making the organization a big name on campus.

The secretary has responsibility of keeping members accountable and reaching out to fill open seats in the senate.

I would say making sure the students know that they can bring their concerns to SGA and we will work on them.

NEWS Goals are both big and small and come to the attention of senators all the time but having an informed senate is the first step to accomplishing any goal. The more eyes we have on initiatives the better chance the initiative have to advance. The Senate has a diverse student population with unique connections.

UTSA is still such a young institution and is growing more and more each year.

SGA can provide support to the institution that continues to increase its success with students. The student population is growing and with that SGA Senate is going to have to address new problems each year. Like I said previously I would work to hold the senate accountable to reaching out the constituents and making sure they attend the meetings that they commit to as members of SGA. As long as they continue to be responsible representatives, I can only imagine the new administration growing from the foundation the previous administration laid and creating a legacy for future roadrunners.

Alandra Lawrence All of the duties for Secretary of Student Government involve working directly with the Senate. I don’t think that it is the leadership positions I’ve held in other organizations that make me the most qualified candidate. I believe my strongest qualification for this position is the two years of experience I personally have had as a part of the SGA Senate. I’ve had the opportunity to see firsthand what works

3 March 3 - March 24, 2015 well and what could work better. I have unique intentions for how I will utilize this position in ways that I believe will dramatically maximize the efficiency of our organization.

As an organization I believe that even when we are doing well, we can strive to do better. In that light, I think the greatest challenge ahead of us is being even more inclusive of all students and organizations at UTSA. Currently we operate more so on delivering the message that students are welcome to come to us and voice their concerns. Where I’m hoping to improve this upcoming year is for our executive board and Senate to focus on actively outreaching to those whom we represent.

As I stated above, I have unique intentions for how I will utilize the position of SGA Secretary. For example, my intent is to allow attendance of our weekly committee meetings to be compromised of both physical presence and work contribution. As a senator if you go seven days without reaching out to students or working on your initiatives even once, you aren’t doing your job. If a senator is asked to resign from their seat due to exhausting all of their absences from consistently making no progression on their initiatives, I see that as beneficial to that senator’s constituents. If I can only accomplish one thing during my term it would be to hold the senate more accountable so that this next administration of Student Government will leave a legacy of hard work.

There are a multitude of concerns from parking to WiFi to getting frozen yogurt on campus that Student Government is already working on. I think our biggest need right now is to create a better line

of information to students, letting them know what matters we are currently handling. This way, they know that we are here working hard for them (for us all). Secondly, we need to work on better educating ourselves on the needs of our constituents. In this regard I plan on encouraging and participating in tabling, meeting with organizations and all other forms of outreach.

The biggest issue for students seems to be parking, or the lack of. While I can’t build a parking garage or create more land, I can work toward making parking a less inconvenient experience. I’d like to try to lower the cost of parking passes and create some type of organization in the parking lots, like labeling each lane so we aren’t wandering around trying to remember where we parked.

Treasurer

Jaswanth Kintada Hey everybody!

My name is Jaswanth Kintada, and I am running to be the treasurer of the student body. Over the past year, I have gained valuable skills and experience working as the chief of staff alongside the student body president, Zack Dunn, and everyone on the Executive Board. Transitioning from being Chief of Staff to the role of Treasurer will be a huge responsibility, but it will afford me with the opportunity to oversee the monetary spending of the student government, develop an efficient budget and allocate funds appropriately towards LeaderFund to ensure that students can make the most of the opportunities presented to them. Having served as the SGA’s representative on the University Center Advisory Council (UCAC), I have a solid understanding of the budget and student fees for an important part of our campus: the University Center.

Although there are still many things I have yet to learn, I believe that I have a solid foundation to serve as your Student Body Treasurer.

Amber Cotton I believe I am more than qualified for Treasurer of SGA because I have held this position in several other organizations such as HOSA, Student Council, Band and National Honor Society. My previous experience in several different environments will bring knowledge and innovation to this position.

I think the biggest challenge for SGA is just getting our name out there. We consistently have open seats in the Senate, and that’s a problem. I plan on actively trying to recruit people to at least come to our meetings to see what we’re about. We’re always trying to make UTSA better, and who better to include than the students?

If I am elected, I plan on putting a bigger emphasis on LeaderFund. It’s an amazing opportunity, and every organization on campus has access to it. Having the funds to hold events is crucial to organizational growth, and I would love to be able to provide that.

Student Government is a service-oriented entity where individuals have a civic duty to act on the interests of the faculty and student body.

Moving forward, my number one goal for student government, as treasurer, is complete utilization of the Leaderfund.

This student fund reimburses UTSA’s registered student organizations up to $750 per academic year. I strongly encourage every RSO to utilize this fund because it is designed to provide financial support for your organization, facilitate student leadership and contribute to an increased sense of campus community. I believe that by promoting leadership and service at UTSA, we can identify our strengths as independent RSOs and come together as a collective student entity.

SGA is strongly tied together as an organization, but there is slight disconnect with our constituents. We are transparent with our initiatives and want the student body to be informed and understand what we do for our campus. I want to address this problem by developing a well-organized website where students can see what projects Student Government has worked on and is currently working on, as well as, the details on how money is being allocated in the budget. Ultimately, we want to bridge the gap by engaging our student body into taking an active role in expressing their voice and addressing issues related to student life, academics, health and safety. Help us, help you!

Go Runners!

Edited by Mia Cabello, Managing Editor

Aramark: Many students unhappy with current service emphasized that SGA has made efforts to voice the known concerns of the students.

One of the main concerns the petition raises suggests that students were not being heard when they voiced their concerns about Aramark. When asked about what Aramark was currently doing to get student feedback about their services, Schilder mentioned that Aramark “has cards at the cash registers with contact information as well as social media accounts.”

After receiving undercooked meat at the Café numerous times, Schilder decided to get involved with the Student Government Association. As a Type-1 diabetic, he understands first hand the importance of eating quality food. Although he did not sign the petition, Schilder stated that the Roadrunner Cafe “could stand to improve their quality of food.”

This past year, Aramark extended the hours of the Roadrunner Café to remain open an hour later and placed hand sanitizer machines by the entrance and exit to increase sanitary conditions. There has also been talk about UTSA acquiring a food truck (that would be run by Aramark) to give students more food options on campus.

To finish reading, visit paisano-online.com

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{The Paisano} Editor-in-Chief: Jakob Lopez

March 3 - March 24, 2015

Furthering the role of women in the workplace

Managing Editor:

Editorial

News Editor:

We — as a human race — may never be 100 percent equal. A small percentage of small-minded people will still hold predisposed prejudices, but that should never be a reason for individuals to feel like they can’t be or do anything that they set their minds to. When you want something enough, you will move mountains.

The significant increase of women in the workforce over the past twenty years demonstrates that we have come a long way in closing the gender gap. Yet, we still hear about inequality being an issue.

Mia Cabello

Matthew Duarte

Arts Editor:

Beth Marshall

Sports Editor:

Shabazz I. Dawkins

Web Editor:

Michael Turnini

Special Issues Editor: Jade Cuevas

Photo Editor:

Marcus Connolly

Social Media Editor: Rebecca Conejo

There will be closed-minded people. There will be racists. There will be chauvinists.

Their existence cannot be a reason to reverse or stagnate progress. Say a woman is up against a man to become a manager at a chain retail store and the man gets the job. If the woman feels she has enough evidence to argue that she was more qualified to get the job, she should argue for it. The same could be said if the roles were reversed.

The point is, the more qualified person should get the job and if favoritism of any kind is used in the decision making process, then make some

Business Manager:

Letter to the Editor

Ads Manager:

I am writing to add more discussion to Ms. Moreno’s article “Guns in classroom looming.” While Ms. Moreno did an excellent job of reporting the facts, there is more to this important issue that UTSA students and the public need to consider.

Guns on campus seems like a bad idea at first mention.

After all, Ms. Moreno cites in her informal poll that 67 percent said they would oppose such an idea. But persons with the lawful privilege of carrying a concealed firearm have always been among us.

These were individuals that because of their position in life the sheriff would grant them a permit to carry weapons for self-protection: jewelers, judges, prosecutors and politicians.

In 1995 the Texas Legislature made this same privilege, with certain qualifications, available to all Texas residents based on the premise that everyone had the right of self-protection. Today, Texas residents now have twenty plus years’ experience with the public carrying concealed weapons through obtaining a Concealed Handgun License (CHL). So what are the results?

Texas has over 700,000 ac-

Lizzette Rocha

Edidiong Adiakpan

Senior Copy Editor: Kate Kramer

{Staff Writers} Anthony Mendoza, Patrick Martinez, Robert Avila, Pavela Bambakova, Savin Weerasinghe, Brittany Brink, Maria Cristina Moreno, Daniel Shaw, Teia Herrera, Alysha Gallagher, Christopher Breakell, Brayden Boren, Caroline Traylor {Staff Photographers} Robert Pistochi {Contributing Writers} Hayden Housson, Olivia Ybarra, Jennifer Vannoy, Randi Gilmore, Nathaniel Archer, Colleen Adams, Julian Gonzales, Emily Varvel

{Adviser}

Diane Abdo

{Advisory Board}

Steven Kellman, Jack Himelblau, Sandy Norman, Stefanie Arias, Diane Abdo 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.

The Paisano is distributed on all three UTSA campuses — Main, Downtown and the Institute of Texan Cultures. Additionally, Paisano publications are distributed at a variety of off-campus locations, including Tripoint and a variety of apartment complexes near the UTSA Main Campus.

All revenues are generated through advertising and donations. Advertising inquiries and donations should be directed to:

14526 Roadrunner Way Suite 101 San Antonio, TX 78249

OPINION

The Paisano

4

noise about it because workers have the right to make noise at injustice.

According to catalyst.org, only 4.8 percent of CEOs listed for S&P-500 companies are women. What is stopping that 4.8 from becoming 50 percent? For some women, the problem often lies in their playing the victim. It’s easier to blame circumstances on outside sources when usually we are the only ones holding ourselves back. Today, women have all of the opportunities to learn and get ahead that men do and it’s time to really use that as an advantage.

People like Gloria Steinem started the feminist revolution and it’s our job, men and women alike, to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself. Things like the #askhermore campaign, which urges journalists to ask females more substantial questions than just about their fashion choices to a red carpet event, show just how far this movement has come. Taylor Swift and Beyonce, both known for being independent women, are dominating the music charts. Women outside of the spotlight make differences in their communities everyday as well. Gender alone should

no long bare opportunity.

Finances might be an issue for some, but if that means staying in college for six or seven years while working full-time to pay for school, then so be it. If anything, that probably makes earning a degree even more meaningful.

Lucky are those who can rely on their parents to get them through college, but wiser are those who work their way through.

Get an education, work hard and don’t let anyone dictate who you can and cannot be.

Is love written in the stars?

tive licensees. Interestingly 198,000 of these belong to women. Nationally there are over 12.5 million licensedcarry holders and crime rates among this group are smaller than infinitesimal. The latest Texas Department of Public Safety numbers, for the year ending 2014, report a conviction rate for CHL’s of .19 percent for all crimes, most of which were non-violent and did not involve guns. CHL holders are extremely lawabiding. One study, by Dr. John R. Lott, Jr., concluded that as a population police officers were six times more likely to commit crimes when compared to CHL holders.

Much like the irrational and illogical fears of some in the state when Texas first adopted its CHL law in 1995, allowing CHL’s to carry weapons onto school campuses will not result in a return to the days of the Wild West.

Instead, I forecast student life will go on as usual save for the added protection that a few will afford to all of us.

Michael D. Noll Adjunct Professor Real Estate Finance and Development Program 210-479-6169

Guest Commentary Is the connection to life on Earth ‘written’ in the stars?

The answer that every astronomer will give is a definitive “yes!” The atoms that are the building blocks of our bodies, our surroundings and everything we see were made in the heart of a massive star in the last throes of its life.

We are intimately connected to the stars and the universe beyond. As has been said by many, we are made from stardust.

The idea that stars, or more particularly planets, in our Solar System dictate our future, our character, even our love life on a daily basis could seem entirely reasonable. For thousands of years, Royal Courts around the world sought and followed advice based on the approach that became known as astrology. The correlation of some event, for instance, a destructive earthquake, with the presence of Mars in the constellation of Leo, would be considered predictive of another earthquake when, a few years later, the orbits of Earth and Mars would again place it in Leo (as seen from Earth).

The problem is there is no such correlation. More importantly, there is absolutely no cause for Mars to create earthquakes. The light from Mars surely didn’t cause the earthquake and the gravitational attraction of Mars on that piece of Earth is less than someone walking on it.

How then can Mars create earthquakes? The answer is clearly, and simply, it cannot and does not. Precisely the same is true for the effects of Mars, or any other celestial body, on us and in our daily lives. Simply put, there is zero predictive power and zero reason that astrology is true.

None. If you want to test this ask non-identical twins who have precisely the same astrological chart if all of their fate, life and loves are the same. They will almost always say their lives are not as similar as they must be if astrology is correct. Even if we forget that there is no reason for astrology to be true, it has no power because the predictive ability is zero. Why use it then?

Perhaps the answer is that it is fun. Or we want to believe the connection to the

universe is in some way deep and profound, but different to the one described earlier.

Or we just want to know our future — but then don’t we all? The problem is that it can encourage us to make poor decisions, bad choices or random love matches. In this newspaper in February, an article was written advising the readers to know their sign as it is crucial to their life, and to know their potential love match’s astrological sign before moving forward in romance. It’s fun, even cute, but has zero predictive ability to help in romance. We recommend that you choose your partner on compatibility, mutual interests or other more rational approaches.

Oh, and of course, use your heart! Such a key part of life is far too important to leave to chance… or to astrology.

Good luck, and reach for the stars!

Chris Packham, Rafael Lopez-Mobilia, Eric Schlegel Department of Physics and Astronomy

Surviving midterms before spring break Satire

Midterms are this week, and many students are already preparing for the worst.

Most students will have essays, tests and assignments due in each of their classes.

The JPL is expecting a record turnout. Study rooms have been booked through the entire week and the university has thousands of adorable therapy-puppies on stand-by in case of emergency. While many students hope for an A, B or even C, the students of Professor Hardman’s Fundamentals of Geometry class hope just to survive.

UTSA regards tenured

professor Ryan Hardman as one of the most distinguished and awarded members of its faculty; the students, however, know Hardman as one of the most difficult professors on campus. Dr. Hardman is the lowest rated on the university’s Bluebook and ratemyprofessor.com. He also holds the lowest-rated class average with a C minus. His class is a prerequisite for all geometry majors, and he is the only professor that teaches the course. So far, the highest grade given in a midterm in his twenty-year teaching period has been a seven per-

cent.

Discussing professor Hardman’s test, former student Brad Grayed warns there is no way to do well. “His tests are mostly multiple choice, but that doesn’t make it any easier,” Grayed said. “It’s not A, B or C — ­ he uses every letter of the alphabet.”

One of students’ main complaints is Hardman’s particularly harsh grading.

Students reported having lost letter grades for not capitalizing letters, being too early to class and asking questions.

“I sneezed last year during his midterm,” said student Ciera

Vrige. “He docked me two letter grades and yelled at me for ten minutes.”

Professor Hardman believes his class is the most vital a student can take. “I lie to them sometimes,” Hardman stated, handing back my interview sheet now with a red D-plus drawn on it. “I give them the wrong answers in class then watch them get it wrong on my tests,” he laughed. “It teaches them to not always believe what they are told, even from their professor — that is a valuable lesson.”

The midterm is expected

to take over six hours and contain a minimum of 750 multiple-choice questions, 12 essays and 27 short-answer questions. Students who don’t finish their tests, ask to use the bathroom during the tests or answer too many questions correctly on a test will be marked down two letter grades. Additionally, if the class average is too high, the students’ grades will be curved down to more appropriate, lower grades.

Robert Avila Staff writer

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OPINION

The Paisano

5

March 3 - March 24, 2015

SGA has lost its vision Breaking the Internet Commentary Student Government elections are upon us, and for the first time in my years at UTSA I will not be voting.

I consider many members of SGA my friends, and it makes me proud of my university to know that there is a group of students who are capable of helping UTSA reach its Tier One aspirations. But what is happening within SGA is a disgrace.

Instead of working together to help the students and the university, some candidates for student government have resorted to dirty politics to win.

I have been told that one candidate in the upcoming elections has borrowed ideas from their opponent; I obviously have no way to confirm these rumors. If these allegations are fabricated, it would be a new low in dirty campaigning by SGA elections, but if they are true, is that any better at all?

Another group of candidates (some of whom did not even register for elections but are instead running a write-in campaign) appear to be supported by what I can only describe as a self-interested minority of UTSA students.

And, unfortunately, when fewer than 5 percent of students vote in elections, a selfinterested minority is more than enough to make change a reality.

Maybe this is what happens when a university moves from small school to big school status. Maybe this just means we’re on our way to being mentioned in the same breath as schools like UT and Texas A&M, where student government elections are often more about politics than about policy. Maybe this will encourage more students to follow SGA elections and to make an informed decision about candidates instead of sitting idly by every spring and voting for whichever candidate their peers tell them to

Commentary

vote for.

The disinterest in SGA did not happen overnight — UTSA has always struggled to get more students to vote in student body elections.

SGA has itself struggled mightily in the past few years to get their message across to the student body. And, as UTSA has grown in size, it has also become more bureaucratic, where anyone looking to make any kind of change must navigate a maze of committees and offices and red tape. This last point is especially true for students and members of SGA, where turnover rates are high and time can be limited to just a few months.

Perhaps as a result of this, membership in SGA has dwindled and interest seems to be at an all-time-low. There are countless empty seats at SGA meetings where Senators should be sitting. Instead of having a voice (or being that voice themselves) thousands of students are left in the dark as pivotal decisions about their university are being made.

And, as membership in SGA has shrunk, members and officers have worked outside the limits of their position, creating new positions in ways that seem to violate their own constitution and bylaws. I have no doubt in my mind that many of these representatives of the student body have only the best intentions in mind, but I become wary when they believe that dirty campaigning and violating their own constitution are the only ways to make change.

It has reached a breaking point, it seems, where being in SGA is nothing more than a line on a resume, an excuse to say “I worked to make change happen,” when in fact this change is increasingly rare and often inconsequential.

That’s not to say change is impossible; SGA must simply address its own shortcomings. It seems to me as if too many members are too concerned with legacy projects

— a Rowdy statue, a fountain, a new Starbucks — instead of investing in membership development and student outreach. While SGA’s Executive Board and some of its other, more involved members make up a group of incredibly talented and motivated individuals, it has become increasingly apparent that younger, newer members of SGA have very few opportunities to become better leaders. This isn’t about retreats and team building — it’s about older members of SGA forging bonds with younger members and giving them personal instruction and opportunities to grow.

Additionally, there is a massive disconnect between SGA and the rest of the student body. Far too few SGA members have made themselves accessible to their classmates, to say nothing of reaching out to the rest of their constituents. An overwhelming majority of UTSA students have no idea what SGA does.

Although this is partly an attitude problem on behalf of the student body, it is also the responsibility of SGA to reach out to the students instead of hoping that their message reaches them by simple wordof-mouth.

This will not solve all of SGA’s problems — a strong feeling of misogyny still exists with some members, and there have also been reports of bullying that would make my elementary school tormentors blush. But at this point it seems as if any change is a step in the right direction.

One of the few meaningful changes SGA has made this year is the drafting and passing of a new constitution.

Although certain language in the constitution proved to be as divisive as the current elections, the constitution does indicate a possibility to hit the reset button and build a better foundation so that students in the future can have a voice and can change the university for the better.

But if members of SGA want to be successful in the immediate future — if they

Ph o n e s buzzed, beeped and binged as upwards of 40 million people responded to the pressing question on the world-wide web: what colors are #TheDress, #goldandwhite or #blackandblue?

The viral sensation dubbed — and I cringe —“Dressgate” by multiple online platforms saturated social media feeds the evening of Feb. 26. Three days later, Buzzfeed reported that its the original coverage of The Dress, “What Colors Are This Dress?” received over 37.6 million views with 79 percent of its views coming from mobile devices.

The willingness of millions to contribute to The Dress debate demonstrate that as a society we have maintained the characteristics that have helped make our society great, such as our argumentative gusto and opinionative nature. However, the high-speed handheld devices — tools indicative of our innovative success — have effectively crippled us, diminishing our appreciation for and engagement in reality.

Real life cannot compete with the Internet, not because the Internet-capable mobile devices offer something better than life does, but because to experience a sometimes spice-less reality is a human experience.

Paradoxically, our portable tools of communication

have allowed us to distance ourselves not only from our problems and our discomforts, but also from the immediate reality and the issues that affect our neighbors.

We like photos of events we didn’t attend or weren’t even invited to attend, we “friend” people we’ve seen only a few times, but do we know the names of the university deans, the names of students in our classes or even the names of our professors?

It’s not that we don’t care; that’s a callous, broad supposition that not only that shortchanges younger generations, but also ignores the agency in creating and perpetuating the problems. We care — but the issues that we collectively care about and contribute to are insignificant and trivial.

Everyday more than a thousand Americans watch and share videos about kittens, but does the online adoration with animals translate to an increase in volunteers at local Humane Societies?

We embrace mobile distractions because we are incredibly bored. We’re bored because we’ve grown accustomed to our screens feeding and flashing information at absurd speeds and resolutions. Under the guise of increased efficiency, we’ve created a culture of escapeentertainment. Our phones allow us to cure boredom at the touch of a button in the palm of our hands.

The Internet will survive.

It survived Kim Kardashian’s bare dearie. It survived

#TheDress. The Internet will continue to withstand limitless amounts of pop-culture references, social media sensations and general human absurdities. These superficial-phenomena attempts to “break the Internet” are troubling, however, and indicative of how the Internet has corroded our perception of what is newsworthy and significant.

Our phones afford us the opportunity to be both vocal and invisible — it makes the common man, the every man. Yet, instead of collectively and enthusiastically using the ceaseless stream of information provided by mobile Internet devices to enhance communication and increase our knowledge, we have turned our gadgets into communication crutches and social barriers.

If we continue to exist as a society of social-media selves, we will rot, collectively alone.

Our intelligence and imagination will wither, and we will make ourselves dumb. We must collectively reallocate the rigor that we have when debating the color scheme of clothing and Kim’s curves to relevant, significant issues — local, national and international — of significance.

Mia Cabello Managing Editor

are more interested in building a Tier One university than building their own resumes — this kind of campaigning and governing needs to stop.

Matthew Duarte News Editor

I’ll just sit here by Christopher Breakell

Come join the team!

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6 Arts & Life Events Calendar Saturday 3/7 @ 5 p.m.

In An Expanded Field UTSA’s MFA candidates will exhibit their installations in the Ceramic & Sculpture Graduate Building. Admission is free for students.

Monday 3/9 The McNay Art Museum Check out the current exhibitions for just $5 with a student I.D. Tuesday 3/10 Cibolo Nature Center and Farm Weather permitting, enjoy some time outside at this free, pet friendly location. Do some fishing, picnicking, hiking and more.

March 3 - March 24, 2015

Tapestries unfold Picasso’s artistic legacy Brayden Boren Staff Writer

@ThePaisano arts@paisano-online.com A series of lines, figures, and irregular shapes are painted on a canvas, and you can’t decide whether you are looking at a diamond or someone’s eyeball.

It’s abstract art at it’s finest, and no one did it better than Pablo Picasso.

Nelson Rockefeller thought so as well, which is why the New York Governor and 41st Vice President took it upon himself to commission a series of tap-

estries to be woven in some of Picasso’s major works.

Once only able to be seen in the basement of Rockefeller’s Kykuit mansion in New York, 14 of the 18 tapestries have made the trip to be hung in the newest exhibit at the San Antonio Museum of Art, “Nelson Rockefeller’s Picassos: Tapestries Commissioned for Kykuit,” through March 8.

Rockefeller’s interest in the tapestries piqued after purchasing one of Picasso’s most famous anti-war pieces “Guernica,” woven by French weaver Jacqueline de la Baume Dürrbach after the original painting had

been deemed too fragile to travel by his estate. Commissioning Dürrbach for these series of tapestries, Rockefeller began the process of adapting the works in 1958. The project’s completion, almost two years after Picasso’s death in 1973, required approval directly by the artist himself.

Rockefeller’s original desire for the tapestries was to give other people the opportunity to observe and enjoy Picasso’s works, both figuratively and physically.

To finish reading, visit paisano-online.com.

Photo Courtesy of The San Antonio Museum of Art

Bobby J’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers gets an A+ Daniel Shaw Staff Writer

@ThePaisano arts@paisano-online.com

Wednesday 3/11 Enchanted Rock Drive out to Fredricksburg for hiking, rock climbing, camping and more outdoor activities. Admission is free; just bring your own gear.

Friday 3/13 Pub Run This month is St. Patrick’s Day Themed! Start at MadDogs before 8 p.m. for no cover charge and follow the crowd from there.

Marcus Connolly, The Paisano Satisfy your hunger with a handcrafted hamburger from Bobby J’s. The quality beef paired with fresh veggies and complementary condiments will not disappoint.

We need to eat; it’s as simple as that. Today, we spend a great amount of time ensuring what we eat is both healthy and balanced.

However, sometimes it’s not the body that needs nourishing; it’s the soul. One such hole in the wall, not far from UTSA’s main campus, has just the kind of fare for the job.

Bobby J’s Classic Hamburgers is a humble diner just fifteen minutes from UTSA Blvd. While the establishment is somewhat off the beaten path, it is still fairly accessible located right off Bandera Road.

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beef patties, with fries and a drink. One would have to expect that the quality of flavor is consistent throughout all of the items on their menu; which is why the flavor of Bobby J’s hamburgers must not be underestimated. Their mushroom and swiss burger is packed with caramelized onions and mushrooms sautéed in what we can only assume is liquid happiness. Their regular fries, as well as sweet potato fries, are sizzling hot and given a touch of seasoning. If burgers don’t happen to be what your persnickety pallet is craving that day, their menu features a nice range of seafood, salads, sides and deserts.

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tions and license plates from all over the country line the walls. Country music fills the air, giving the notion that with just a little more space they could easily host some two-step nights. The floors are clean and the tables are neatly organized, and each equipped with a roll of paper towels; a seemingly innocuous touch that greatly pays off later.

The friendly staff was quick to take orders, fill orders, and bring orders. After requesting the mushroom and swiss burger, the plate was on the table in less than five minutes.

The “classic” in Bobby J’s Classic Hamburgers is by no means a misnomer, as all things one would consider classic find their way in each tasty morsel. Customers are served 1/3-1/2 lb grilled

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“There is an ancient and universal tradition about the true nature of dreams which has lost favor in modern times. This view holds that dreams are of divine origin, that they are a portal to spiritual worlds, and that they bear messages from heaven and prophetic insights.” – Harold Klemp, The Art of Spiritual Dreaming, p. xi

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SPORTS

7 March 3 - March 24, 2015

UTSA splits final home games

{Recent Results} Tuesday, Feb. 24

UTSA BASKETBALL

UTSA women’s golf

Patrick Martinez Staff Writer

T-14th/15 at Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate

Wednesday, Feb. 25 UTSA softball Canceled vs. Houston Baptist

Thursday, Feb. 26

@PaisanoSports1 sports@paisano-online.com Marcus Connolly, The Paisano Despite struggling in her final regular-season home game as a Roadrunner, senior Ashley Spaletta (24) is tied for fourth in scoring for UTSA.

UTSA women’s track & field 8th/13 at Conference USA Championships

UTSA men’s track & field 2nd/9 at Conference USA Championships

UTSA men’s basketball L, 66-70 at Southern Miss.

Friday, Feb. 27 UTSA softball

Marcus Connolly, The Paisano Mannasha Bell’s (33) 13-point performance against Southern Miss was her seventh double-digit scoring effort of the season.

UTSA (14-14, 9-7 CUSA) suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Southern Miss Lady Eagles (20-8, 13-4 C-USA) on Thursday, Feb. 26, due to a buzzerbeating three-pointer. Fortunately, the Roadrunners bounced back on Senior Night, Saturday, Feb. 28, against the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (14-14, 9-8 C-USA).

The first half of the Southern Miss game was packed with turnovers as both teams combined for 23.

UTSA shot 36 percent from the field in the first half, and the Lady Eagles took advantage, leading by as much as seven points early on.

Despite the early trou-

bles, the Roadrunners went into halftime leading 28-24.

In the second half UTSA jumped on top early thanks to a 9-4 run. Southern Miss stayed close thanks to the efforts of Tamara Jones and Jerontay Clemons who each had team-highs of 12 points for the Eagles.

Southern Miss went on an 8-0 run to take the lead with under 12 minutes left of play.

Taking the lead back, UTSA guard Mathilde Hergott sank a shot from beyond the arc, putting UTSA up 59-58 in the closing minutes of the game.

With the Lady Eagles down by one point with one second left on the clock, Southern Miss guard Alex Coyne nailed an offbalanced game-winning three-pointer. The shot put Southern Miss up 61-59 for the win.

UTSA guard Kamra King had a game-high 21 points, while teamates Akunna Elonu contributed 12 points and Mannasha Bell chipped in 13 points of her own while adding 10 rebounds.

Free throws were the story for the loss, however, as the Roadrunners went 12-29 from the free throw line.

“It’s a matter of concentration, it’s a matter of confidence. You have to have faith in yourself when shooting (free throws),” explained UTSA Head Coach Lubomyr Lichonczak.

“I guess they just out-hustled us,” commented King.

“We just need to put that (loss) behind us and move on to the next game,” she continued The following game against Louisiana Tech was very close as both teams traded leads early on in the first half before a three-

pointer from Niaga Mitchell-Cole sparked a 15-4 run for the Roadrunners late in the half.

“The first half was incredible. Our defense was there, our focus was there, our intensity was there,” said Lichonczak.

UTSA came out hot in the second half after two consecutive baskets by Elonu put UTSA up by 18.

Louisiana Tech never recovered as King — who ended with a game-high 18 points and three steals — paced UTSA. “We just knew that we couldn’t lose this game,” said King.

UTSA has two more games left in the regularseason at Rice on Thursday, March 5, and at North Texas on Saturday, March 7.

L, 0-7 vs. Illinois State (Texas A&M Invitational) W, 11-2 vs. Boston (Texas A&M Invitational)

UTSA women’s tennis W, 7-0 at Texas-Permian Basin

UTSA baseball L, 5-6 at McNeese State

UTSA men’s tennis W, 4-3 at Nevada

Saturday, Feb. 28 UTSA softball W, 3-1 vs. Boston (Texas A&M Invitational) W, 7-2 vs. Illinois State (Texas A&M Invitational)

UTSA women’s tennis W, 4-3 at New Mexico State

UTSA baseball L, 2-4 at McNeese State L, 3-4 at McNeese State

UTSA men’s basketball L, 66-76 at Louisiana Tech

Sunday, Mar. 1 UTSA softball Canceled vs. Texas A&M (Texas A&M Invitational)

UTSA women’s tennis L, 3-4 at UTEP

Raiding the Alamo City

Why moving the Raiders to San Antonio is a bad idea SPORTS COMMENTARY With an exciting young quarterback in Derek Carr, and a new coach at the helm, Raiders fans have a lot to be excited about during the offseason. Should San Antonio be excited as well?

The owner of the Oakland Raiders — Mark Davis — has expressed displeasure with the state of the Raiders’ home stadium, and several meetings between the Raiders’ front office and a delegation from San Antonio over the last few months have occurred, resulting in a tide of speculation that the Alamo City might conceivably play host to Texas’ third NFL team in the next few years.

San Antonians certainly have an appetite for football; the UTSA Roadrunners football program set an NCAA Division I FCS record for attendance in its first season with 56,743. Ultimately, as much as the

ways to watch a game have changed over the years, the NFL is still a “people-in-seats” business; it is not unheard of that a football game would be “blacked out” from local television if the stadium did not sell out for a given game.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the average published ticket price for a Texans’ home game in the 2014 season was $88.98.

For reference, the average ticket for the NBA’s Houston Rockets is approximately $291 with a median price of $110; a ticket for the Spurs is around an average of $146 and a median of $78.

Therefore, we could argue that professional sports tickets in San Antonio might be roughly 50% cheaper on average than in Houston. If Raiders tickets follow the same pricing model as the Texans’ figure, we could expect to pay $44.50 for a ticket into the Alamodome.

Unfortunately, that is where this estimation falls short; that figure is approximately $10 a ticket under the lowest average price in the league which is offered by the Cleveland

Browns. Even the Raiders’ average for last season was $20 higher than the figure projected out.

Since the Raiders’ management is unhappy with their current state of affairs, why would they move to San Antonio where economics could potentially force lower revenue?

Much of the Raiders’ current frustrations with Oakland is the state of their home stadium. In order to get the team to San Antonio, Bexar county taxpayers could be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars to improve the Alamodome.

Projections for a brand new stadium are coming very close to the billion-dollar mark, and even renovations to the Alamodome would carry a hefty price tag in order to match the apparent standard of opulence in a modern NFL stadium.

San Antonio taxpayers will be expected to pick up a significant portion of any needed renovations; public financing of stadiums has become the norm and is a standard tool that NFL owners use to gain leverage in their negotiations. The Saint Louis Rams have been in and out of arbitration with their city

regarding funding improvements to the Edward Jones Dome; there is a clause that states the stadium should be in the top-25 percent of NFL stadiums nationwide, which is at the core of the Rams’ current decision as to whether to move to Los Angeles or not. Do we really want to deal with that here in San Antonio? If the Raiders were to come to town we might be having a similar fight.

There are better uses for public money than funding a renovated Alamodome for an NFL franchise.

As much as having the Raiders in San Antonio may make geographic sense, it is not yet convincing whether actually having a team here is right for the city.

Charles Herrera Contributing Writer

8

March 3 - March 24, 2015

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SPORTS

9 March 3 - March 24, 2015

From the outback to the Alamo In the life of an international athlete PLAYER PROFILE Julian Gonzales Contributing Writer

@PaisanoSports1 sports@paisano-online.com 18-year-old freshman James Ringholt has transitioned to life in America — both on and off the court — much easier than he expected.

Ringholt, a native of Brisbane, Australia, makes up one of the seven freshmen on the UTSA Men’s Basketball team this season. His conversion to American basketball has been smoother than he ever imagined, as he’s already second on the team in blocked shots per game and has seen an increase in playing time as the season progresses.

“Coming in, I didn’t ex-

pect to play. Being pretty raw and the youngest on the team by about a year, I didn’t think I would be playing right now,” Ringholt admitted.

Standing at 6 feet 10 inches, Ringholt had his sights on collegiate basketball in America for a long time.

However, basketball in Australia is much different than in the United States.

“When I was about 14 or

15, I really started to get into college basketball and one day I wanted to go over (to A m e rica).

There’s no coll e g e basketball in Australia. You either play basketball (professionally) or you go to school, there’s no i n between. This is definitely the best of both worlds over here,” Ringholt said.

Ringholt decided to embark in college basketball in the United States after hearing about the success of fellow native Australian teammate Jeromie Hill.

Hailing from the same Australian state of Queensland, Hill immediately assumed a mentoring role with the young Ringholt.

“I didn’t know (Hill) before coming to UTSA but I had heard of him. A lot of guys knew of him back home and they would speak very highly of him. He was sort of an indirect mentor to me,” Ringholt said.

With his family and friends over 8,000 miles away from San Antonio, Ringholt relied on Hill as he adjusted to life as a Roadrunner. “He’s been indescribably helpful, down to

where to shop for groceries, talk to coaches, talk to girls — he’s been basically like a dad,” Ringholt added.

Ringholt’s favorite part about America is dining at the local restaurants in town. Having acquired a taste for the famous TexMex cuisine in San Antonio, Ringholt admits the change of food options has been a pleasant surprise.

“In Australia you don’t tip waiters. Because they just get a constant wage, they don’t really go out of their way to make you have a nice time at restaurants. The whole fill up your drink for you, ask you how your day is and getting free bread, I’ve never had that. Eating out is the most fun thing over here,” Ringholt admitted.

The future for UTSA basketball is cloudy after this season, as the Roadrunners look to graduate three of their top four leading scorers this year. UTSA Head coach Brooks Thompson will retain 11 members

Photo courtesy of UTSA Athletics

from the current roster onto next year’s team, as he looks to build off his team’s success this season and develop the incoming talent arriving in the fall.

“When you lose three of your four top leading scorers…you’re going to take a hit,” said Ringholt. “We’ve got a really deep team and a really young team. I think we are more than capable of stepping up... the coaches recruit really well. I mean they recruited me and the other guys so they clearly know how to recruit,” he finished with a smile.

The next opportunity to see Ringholt and the Roadrunners will be Thursday, March 5 when UTSA takes on Rice in the Convocation Center.

10

March 3 - March 24, 2015

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