Volume 65, No. 15
January 12, 2009
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T ACADEMICS
College of Business weighs losing IB program
By Kristen Cabrera THE PAN AMERICAN Future international business majors might need to rethink their college declaration at The University of Texas-Pan American come fall semester. International business faculty suggested the program be reorganized in the fall. If the proposition is implemented, the existing management and marketing department will split into
two separate entities, with international business out of the loop. In its place, an international business certificate will be available for those in marketing, management or other business majors. Dean of the College of Business Teofilo Ozuna has reviewed the possible termination of the international business major, leaving the decision up to the UTPA provost. Fuat Firat, department chair for
management, marketing and international business, said the reason for the suggestion was lack of careers in the area. “In the past few years, students that were doing the international business major were not finding jobs that were specifically related to the education that they were getting and their degree,” he stated. Jobs in international business include dealing with international trade,
importation and exportation, and vehicular and fast food chain companies. However, some students like 22year-old Maria Pina, an international business major and president of the International Business Association, do not agree with the proposal. “If they do that, I feel it’ll be weird and not be fair for other students,” the McAllen resident explained. “By taking that away they are taking away the future students’ potential and potential
for the school.” According to Pina, it is not a problem of students not finding jobs pertaining to their major, it is just that location is a key factor and most graduates like to stay close to home. “A lot of students are looking for jobs in the Valley and there are not really any,” she said. “It’s hard, some people will offer jobs in Kentucky and they’ll pass or they’ll get offered jobs
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T FACULTY
Chair, professor dies, UTPA mourns loss By Ana Villaurrutia THE PAN AMERICAN
Ben Briones/THE PAN AMERICAN
1,000 WORDS - Faculty and staff leave the university with a portrait in hand to the funeral of the late Mechanical Engineering Chair Hashim Mahid, who died Tuesday morning after suffering a heart attack.
It has been nearly a week since the death of University of Texas-Pan American Mechanical Engineering Chair Hashim Mahdi. Though time moves on for the department and College of Science and Engineering, many still mourn his absence. On Jan. 6 the tenured professor died of a heart attack at 56, leaving behind his wife Rawaa Mahdi, two daughters, Nada and Jena, and one son, Rami. Though the college is still in shock at the loss, the department has named Robert Freeman interim chair for the department of mechnaical engineering for the time being.
A COLLEGE REMEMBERS Edwin Lemaster, dean of the CoSE, shook his head in disbelief at the sudden loss of his colleague. Three weeks before Mahdi’s death, he’d suffered a leg injury and was told to work from home. “I told him, ‘Don’t come in, stay at home. You can work at your computer,’” Lemaster recalled. “But he was that type of person, so dedicated.” While heading to school with a co-worker, Mahdi suffered a heart attack, sending him to Edinburg Regional hospital where he later died. “He was a vigorous man, so happy and pleasant, he treated everyone like
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T INFRASTRUCTURE
Future UTPA McAllen campus may be advantageous By J.R. Ortega THE PAN AMERICAN With a new semester and new year under way, The University of TexasPan American has begun surveying land in McAllen with the anticipation for the establishment of the UTPA McAllen Teaching Site. The site, which will teach graduate-level, upper division and non-academic courses, is still in discussion between UTPA and McAllen and aims to serve students in the southern part of Hidalgo County.
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Paul Sale, UTPA provost and vice president of academic affairs, said the site will accommodate students further from the university while helping McAllen expand as a community. “This university is very short on space right now,” Sale said. “It (facility) will benefit students by allowing us through partnership with McAllen to teach academic and non-academic programs and meet needs of businesses in the area.” An Academic Space Projection Model released in fall 2007, showed UTPA was at a shortage of 326,742
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square feet, like many other schools under the UT System. Later this month, Sale said the university will receive a Memo of Understanding, a document declaring that both UTPA and the City of McAllen understand the terms of the project. He added the McAllen campus will more than likely come to fruition this fall. Sale added the facility will be jointly funded by UTPA and the City of McAllen. As of yet, there are no ballpark estimates for the cost of the site or
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whether the structure will be pre-existing or a newly constructed facility. Thus far, areas of interest include McAllen’s Main Street or right off Expressway 83. Possible upper-level and graduate courses include those of the larger colleges at UTPA like engineering, education and business. Other non-academic programs may be implemented to help outreach to the surrounding community, according to Sale. Sale said it is a great collaboration between the city and the university
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and stressed mutual benefits, such as increased tourism, residential growth and business expansion. Plans are to have the site up and running even if the structure is temporary. “It’s too early to say,” said Sale about the specifics of the project. This is the second announcement for a campus off the main UTPA grounds. Last year, South Texas College’s Starr County Campus agreed to sell UTPA four and a half acres of land for the construction of the Starr County Upper Level Center.
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