April 23, 2009

COMING SOON: www.panamericanonline.com

Volume 65, No. 28

THE PAN AMERICAN

April 23, 2009

ACADEMIC

Valley medical school nears final approval

By Brian Silva The Pan American In a very important decision for the area, The Texas Senate has approved a bill that would establish the University of Texas Health Science Center-South Texas, creating a medical school in Cameron County.

The bill was unanimously OK’d by the Senate April 8, and was pre-

ceded by unanimous approval by the Senate Higher Education Committee. The legislation was delivered to the House and is now in the House Higher Education Committee where it will either be approved or denied.

If the bill can make it through the committee it will then go to a vote by the full House, and then be sent to the governor, who will either sign it into law or issue the veto.

The bill establishes the main campus and administrative facilities to be located in Cameron County, but allows for satellite campuses and facilities in other areas of the Valley region.

The author of the push to get South Texas a medical school is Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, with help from co-authors Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-Mission, and Judith Zaf-

COMMUNITY

firini, D-Laredo.

“I am elated, especially after the many years of hard work that we have put into making the dream of a full-fledged medical school a reality,” said Sen. Lucio in a statement about the bill’s passage. “Senate Bill 98 spells great success in terms of medical education and expanded health care for the people of South Texas.”

Ben Briones/The Pan American

TEA’D OFF - Signs of distress and concerns about how the government is handling the American peoples tax money could be found in the hands more than 700 activists who rallied at Archer Park, April 15.

HEALTH

Genetic study targets Hispanic population The University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio, in conjunction with the Edinburg Regional Academic Health Center, has been conducting a Rio Grande Valley genetic research study over the past

INDEX

See MEDICAL || Page 5

Valley protestors rally to teabag taxes

By Ana Villaurrutia The Pan American

By J.R. Ortega The Pan American

Lucio expressed his appreciation for the assistance of UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa in the effort to get the bill through. Cigarroa is the former president of the UT Health Science Center-San Antonio, and a medical doctor who specializes in pediatric neurosurgery.

During the Senate Higher Education Committee hearing on the plan,

two years involving various mental disorders and correlations with other physical diseases like obesity and diabetes.

Proponents of the study are looking for Valleyites ages 18 to 90 who will be health screened to see if they qualify for the study, for which par-

See GENETIC || Page 5

OPINION PG. 2

Stephanie Dumareille spoke confidently at a national Tea Party in Archer Park. Dressed in a sharp black suit and red pumps, the University of Texas-Pan American business management major and public relations officer for the Republicans at UTPA have a speech that resonated with the crowd. She spoke about political bias at schools and encouraged people and especially students to take the reins in the decision-making of the country.

After her speech, the 22-year-old aspiring Texas senator was met with words of encouragement from older Winter Texans to an 11-year-old boy who was going through an ideological crisis.

Meanwhile in the back of the crowd, G.D. Poulton arrived. Concerned for his country, the U.S. Army veteran donned an American flag bandana and brought his biggest worries to the McAllen park. He observed as “like-minded individuals” voiced their anger for the financial and ideological direction of the country.

Though Poulton agreed with the crowd and speakers, his biggest worry stood next to him in the form of his 11-year-old daughter, Dylan.

“I’m here because I’m worried about what her life is going to be like when all of these payments are going to start being due,” said the educator for a disciplinary alternative program in Weslaco. “I’m going to have to pay for some (of the taxes), she’s

See TEA || Page 5

ADMINISTRATION

Police chief shares insight about UTPA

By Alejandra Martinez The Pan American April 13 marked the first day of duty for new Police Chief Roger Stearns, who recently moved down from Nashville, Tenn., to head up The University of Texas-Pan American’s department.

As police chief at UTPA he plans to implement those same programs.

Giving priority to the law enforce-

NEWS PG. 3

ment explorer program, which helps students who are interested in pursuing a career in that field.

The program provides students with training scenarios where they learn how to deal with and handle incidents. Students will also have the opportunity to ride along with officers. Training scenarios include misdemeanor and felony traffic stops, burglaries in progress, crime scene investigation, bomb threat

ARTS & LIFE PG. 11

response, crisis negotiation, among others.

“When a student leaves UTPA… not only do they leave here with a degree,” Stearns explained. “But they leave here with the campus police department having done what we can to help them get a foot in the door for their career.”

He also wants to keep a close relationship with neighboring agen-

See CHIEF || Page 5

SPORTS PG. 13

Page 2

THE PAN AMERICAN

April 23, 2009

Illustrated Opinion

Opinion

Guns on campus ridiculous Brian Silva Managing Editor It just seems flat out illogical to allow guns on campus.

This ridiculous thought has actually been transcribed onto a bill, which making its way through the Texas House of Representatives. A few days ago the bill made it out of a committee, and soon the House will vote on it.

To my surprise, there are quite a few legislators who have signed on their support, including a majority from the Valley. That would include State Representatives Pena, Lucio III, Rios Ybarra, and State Senators Lucio and Hinojosa.

In a wise decision, State Rep. Veronica Gonzales is actually against the bill.

I’ll admit the bill only allows people with concealed handgun permits to carry guns on campus. The purpose for it is that students are “sitting ducks” as described by the authors of the bill, and a student with a gun can take out another student shooting a gun.

Fight fire with fire, in essence, is what I think they’re getting at.

I see it this way; if you light two matches and put them together they just make a bigger flame.

Any number of problems can result from having a student act as a police officer during an emergency situation.

He/she simply isn’t trained to handle it. What if a gunbattle erupts? Students caught in the middle?

The goal of the bill is to exterminate the problem immediately. However, the probability of a student with a gun taking out the shooter before any harm is done is low.

I believe resources might be better spent figuring out ways to spot the shooter before he even picks up a gun.

Preventative action is less costly than reactionary action, in terms of both money and lives.

We should use the U.S. Constitution wisely. We need the Second Amendment to protect our homes.

Law enforcement members need it to protect us from crime. We also need it for some good old- fashioned quail hunting.

But as Dick Cheney taught us, sometimes even the more intelligent of us can’t exactly handle guns that well. Even if we’re permitted.

Vol 65, No. 28

April 23, 2009

1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539 Phone: (956) 381-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122 EDITOR IN CHIEF J.R. Ortega / eortegaz5@utpa.edu MANAGING EDITOR Brian Silva / basilva1@utpa.edu ASSOCIATE EDITOR Ana Villaurrutia / alvillaurru@utpa.edu A&L EDITOR Laura Garcia / ldgarcia2@utpa.edu ASSISTANT A&L EDITOR Isaac Garcia / izek_el@yahoo.com SPORTS EDITORS Gregorio Garza / ggarzaz26@utpa.edu Pedro Perez IV/ pperez@utpa.edu PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Ben Briones / ben.briones.jr@gmail.com DESIGN EDITOR Roy Bazan / rbazanzz@utpa.edu ADVISER Dr. Greg Selber / selberg@utpa.edu ADMINISTRATIVE ASSOCIATE Anita Reyes / areyes18@utpa.edu ADVERTISING MANAGER Samantha Quintana / spubs@utpa.edu

**Delivery** Thursday at noon The Pan American is the official student newspaper of The University of Texas-Pan American. Views presented are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the paper or university.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Pan American accepts letters of 300 words or less from students, staff and faculty regarding recent newspaper content, campus concerns or current events. The Pan American reserves the right to edit submissions for grammar and length. The Pan American cannot publish anonymous letters or submissions containing hate speech or gratuitous personal attacks. Please send all story ideas to thepanamerican@ gmail.com.

Individuals with disabilities wishing to acquire this publication in an alternative format or needing assistance to attend any event listed can contact The Pan American for more details.

Illustration by Anthony Salinas

Letter from the Editor

Newspaper a great place to learn, grow J.R. Ortega Editor in Chief In my year as Editor in Chief, I have seen the first female president of UTPA retire, several distinguished speakers, and the effects the economic downturn has had on the university.

In juxtaposition, The Pan American too, has seen changes of its own, including new staff additions, more indepth campus coverage, and our biggest pride and joy, The Pan American’s year-and-a-half long effort at preparing for the launch of its new and improved Web site.

After balancing school work, the newspaper and life, I would like the student body and administration to know, that The Pan American staffers are hard at work, staying odd hours of the night just to provide our university with its dose of weekly campus news.

The work has challenged the staff at The Pan American to test and expand their journalistic skills.

This year, The Pan American has changed several things throughout the paper, including page layouts and a revamped Opinion/Editorial page. It has attempted to use its 16 pages to the

Correction Last week we printed the awards Student Publications received at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association conference. However, we left out the on-site

fullest extent, by providing adequate enough content with a balanced number of photos as well as info graphics.

I am privileged to have not only served as editor, but having learned and grown, realizing the potentials of myself, The Pan American staff and our university.

This year the staff attended the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association’s centennial conference. For the second year in a row, I am proud to say The Pan American has taken home the Best in Show award.

It’s a chance to look back at the year and realize that some of those late nights have paid off.

Also this year, The Pan American has been lauded for its hard work by the Society of Professional Journalists.

In late March, early April the student newspaper took home the Best AllAround-Non-Daily newspaper in Region 8.

Most of all, The Pan American has been a great place to learn and grow.

It’s a place to realize your potential and to not only work on strengths and weaknesses, but put those into perspective and work on them to better yourself for whichever future you will take. contest winners. They are as follows: 2nd Place - Critical Review Laura Garcia 2nd Place - Radio Newswriting Naxiely Lopez

Through stringent deadlines and keen communication skills, staffers at The Pan American will learn to utilize traits that can follow them at whichever job they pursue.

It is under the direction of The Pan American adviser Dr. Gregory Selber, that I have learned how to instill myself with several leadership qualities. It is also through him that I have learned how to enhance my overall journalistic skill and ethic.

With that guidance, I have grounded a full-time job right after graduation at the Victoria Advocate, a daily newspaper three hours north of the Valley.

Serving as editor-in-chief of this 65-year-old paper has been one of the greatest accomplishments in my baccalaureate career. However, I am just one of a long line of editors before and after me.

I can only hope that during this past year we have provided the university with adequate and accurate information. I am certain that in the future, The Pan American will continue to provide the university with campus news through both a print and soon online medium.

Thank you for reading.

HM - TV Sportswriting Esmeralda Maldonado HM - TV Newswriting Angelica Guajardo

Dates to Know: Spring commencement 2009 Saturday, May 9 McAllen Convention Center Various times www.utpa.edu/graduation April 23, 2009

THE PAN AMERICAN

HACU Scholarship Program deadline Friday, May 22 www.hacu.net Page 3

COMMUNITY

UTPA hosts U.S.-Mexico Border organization

By Abby Flores The Pan American With the U.S.-Mexico border only 10 miles away, relations between both countries have often been testy.

In order to strengthen ties between nations, The University of TexasPan American and the Southwest Border Nonprofit Resource Center on campus will host the Bi-National Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Council for the first time,

Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Field House.

The purpose of the council is to increase contact between NGOs from the United States and Mexico along the border to explore joint projects, share best practices, and strengthen U.S.-Mexico relations.

And what exactly is an NGO? A NGO such as the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley and the Pharr Literacy Project Inc., Is created by natural or legal persons with no par-

ticipation or representation of any government.

They are funded totally or partially by governments, but they maintain non-governmental status by keeping all government representatives from being members of the organization.

Attending groups will consist of organizations such as UTPA, UTPASouthwest Border Nonprofit Resource Center (SBNRC), U.S and Mexican Consulate, Consejo Nacional de Alianzas Educativas (NCEEP)

and Mexican and U.S. non-governmental organizations in the border regions, UTPA Provost, Congressman Ruben Hinojosa and Congressman Henry Cuellar. Reps from all of them will attend the conference Saturday and express their reasons to become members of the organization.

“There hasn’t been an actual council formed yet, it will form after the council on Saturday,” said Edinburg native Jovana Ocanas, division

of community engagement event manager. “These organizations are looking into becoming part of the council that will form.”

According to the NGO Council, this is a project involving Americans and Mexicans, because increasing people-to-people contacts between the two has a value of itself: improving mutual understanding and reduce prejudice between both countries.

To help serve the community on

See NGO || Page 6

STUDENT ACTIVIIES

Students, university join for United to Serve

By Minerva Morato The Pan American

Hector J. Garcia/ The Pan American

STICKY SITUATION - Pre-pharmacy major Pete Galvan scrapes off old gum wads from the bottom of desks in the Math and General Classroom building this past weekend as part of United to Serve.

It may have not have received the attention it deserved, but students, faculty and staff are proud of their participation in a day that can be described as “selfless.”

Early Saturday morning, an estimated 48 students and members of faculty and staff gathered at the Chapel Lawn for United to Serve, a UT System-wide service project that is coordinated mainly by the Student Leadership Academy among other UTPA departments. Some of them include the Office of the Dean of Students, Office of Student Development, Physical Plant, and the Student Union.

Students from all majors and classifications were welcome to participate in the service effort’s fifth year at the university. While painting homes

and cleaning the yards of the disabled and elderly in McAllen last year was rewarding in its contribution, the latest project took a different turn and decided to stay on campus.

Vania Barrera, intern for the Student Leadership Academy, helped organize the event that concludes Student Leadership Week every spring at UTPA. “The one thing I’ve learned by participating in a project like this is that it helps to unify the campus,” said Barrera, who also participated last year as a student. “It unifies us as a team.”

Together students walked into the communication building on the west side of campus and started their way to the mathematics building, cleaning the social sciences and business edifices along the way. Some of the chores included sanitizing tables and chairs,

See UNITED || Page 6

ACADEMICS

Students display senior computer research projects

By John Gallagher & Sarahi Hernandez The Pan American From genetic sequencing to intelligent poker bots, the Engineering Department was filled with the innovative projects of UTPA students last Monday.

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and department of computer science organized and sponsored the 4th Annual Computer Science Student Research Day to display the college’s current computer science projects.

Zhixiang Chen is the chairman of the department of computer science and part of the ACM advisory committee. He commended the students on their ability to organize the event.

“They proposed, initialized, organized and financed the event,” he said. “This is something they can be proud of and it really shows the dedication of our computer science students.”

ACM Event Coordinator Moises Carillo, a 22-year old computer science engineer from Mission, is proud of his group’s accomplishments this year and thinks the event can spur in-

terest in the field.

“It gives computer science majors a chance to show what they can do and get interested in doing real projects and work,” he said. “We want people to see what we do in the engineering building and see why our work is important.”

Anyone was able to apply and present a project at the event. But the steering committee, consisting of three professors, screened the proposals to ensure only serious presentations appear.

The senior projects are required for them to graduate. Through this

event, students get to showcase their projects and show what they learned.

Some of the seniors, like first prizewinner, Eric Gonzales, took a whole year to finish their project.

The resulting project developed into new software that the department can now use to obtain genetic sequences and conduct further experiments in that area of study.

This year the first place prize went to Eric Gonzalez and his S2ST project, a ‘Next-Generation Relational RDF Storage Project’ that allows for more advanced database systems.

“It takes at least one semester for

the seniors to complete the project.

They all worked really hard,” said Andres Figueroa Lozano, CS Assistant Professor and one of the organizers for the event.

Many of the presentations were also senior projects, and some interesting designs at the event were an A.I. Chess Game, an Intelligent Poker Bot, and a first-person shooter game, all developed by students at UTPA. Seniors Joe Flores, Gloria Caballero and Alfredo Ramos came up with the poker bot that can bluff and has better strategic skills than the existing

See RESEARCH || Page 6

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April 23, 2009

Page 16

THE PAN AMERICAN

WOMEN’S TENNIS

April 23, 2009

Sports Commentary

Look no further; Give Gill a go

By Kevin Stich The Pan American

As Lady Broncs move to the Great West Conference, they ended their final National Independent Tournament in second

By Kevin Stich The Pan American

SERVES UP - Junior Stephanie Willerding hits a mean serve during Friday’s doubles match against NJIT. THE RIGHT MOMENT - In her doubles match against NJIT, junior Sarah Burton takes a brief moment before unleashing a serve.

Drenched in a glaze of sweat and contending with sweltering temperatures, players’ competitive attitudes took center stage at last weekend’s National Independent Tournament at the Orville Cox Tennis Center. The University of Texas-Pan American women’s tennis team earned second place in the tourney, as it won three of four matches.

In their third match the women met trouble against Chicago State University, the eventual tournament champions, dropping a 4-2 decision. The grief started when the duo of junior Luisa Cantu and junior Megan Bedeau lost its doubles match 8-6.

After having received warnings during the match, Cantu slammed her racquet into a chair, incurring a penalty and defaulting her match in singles versus CSU’s Dian Mayasari. The team could not recover, as Badeau and freshman Malin Andersen were the only Broncs to win singles matches.

“We expect our players here to act in a manner that reflects well on the school and unfortunately our team didn’t do that,” interim head coach Chris Gill said. “It hurt us, and Luisa is the one that ended up having to default her match, and the kind of person she is, she plays with a lot of emotion and a lot of heart.

“Sometimes if you don’t keep those things under control they tend to hurt you. Unfortunately, in a really tough situation she let those emotions go.”

Aside from the incident, the Lady Broncs strutted some of their best stuff, racking up two wins

Friday by defeating both Longwood University (40) and New Jersey Institute of Technology (4-1).

They had totaled only two wins going into the NIT, and added three more gave them a 5-14 record on the season.

“I’m very, very proud of the team,” Bedeau said.

“Everyone just went out and gave 110 percent every single match.”

In their fourth match of the event, a rain delay did nothing to deter UTPA from closing out Seattle University Sunday morning 4-2. Team No. 1 junior Stephanie Willerding had a strong showing, including a dominating performance against Seattle’s Audree Jenks, defeating her 6-2 in two straight sets.

“Individually I’m very pleased with my performance,” Willerding said. “Overall I think we could’ve done a little bit better… Our expectations were to win it, and we didn’t know much about the other teams, but it was still our goal.”

The event was certainly one of the more positive marks in a season that has seen its fair share of troubles. A bright spot was Andersen, who masterfully won all of her singles matches in straight sets.

“The girls played really well and (there’s) certainly nothing to complain about,” Gill said. “Coming in second place this weekend obviously we are a little disappointed that we came up short of our goal of winning – we wanted to win, especially having the tournament here.”

With former coach Rob Hubbard’s exit in December – one of many coaching positions left unresolved in the athletic department – the UTPA tennis program has waned both on the men and women’s side. It is still uncertain who will be the coach for next year’s campaign, but Gill said that he would definitely like a shot at it.

“I’ve been told that I will be given consideration,” he said. “For someone that’s always tried to help, even when I was a volunteer coach and an assistant coach before, what I want to do is to help the program any way I can.

“I feel like I’ve done a really good job this year.

I feel like both teams have really helped me out in that respect.

Gill continued, discussing the opening.

“I feel like if I have the opportunity to do the job, I think I could do the job well,” he said. “In the meantime I know that Ricky (Vaughn, interim athletic director) is going to do everything he possibly can to find the best person for the job, and I hope that is me.”

Gill said that he would probably hear from Vaughn before the start of next season, but until then the program will continue to work over the summer to improve.

Photos by Ben Briones

If there is one theme that has been commonplace in the University of TexasPan American athletic department, it’s instability at coaching positions.

Former track and field coaches Dennis Darling and Hugo Cervantes, and former tennis coach Rob Hubbard all made their way out of their respective programs, leaving positions to be filled. In a no less controversial affair, former basketball coach Tom Schuberth’s contract was not renewed, only adding to the growing list of coaching positions needing appointments.

So, after watching this weekend’s NIT tournament and having the chance to talk with interim head coach Chris Gill, I say this, “Give him a chance.” Let him have a full season to prove himself.

There is no measure of the importance of teamwork, and just as intangible is the importance of coaching consistency.

Good routine breeds success, and the tennis program may just be on the upswing. It would be disappointing to see another coaching change when the teams are starting to experience some positive repetition in the form of winning.

It’s been a rocky road there, sure. But I would suggest that it’s growing pains -they’re to be expected. He came in to a job that didn’t exactly scream “winning season.”

Despite all that, the women managed to place second at this past weekend’s NIT tournament winning more matches in one weekend than they had all year, while the men defeated Lamar University earlier this month, earning them a second seed in the Southland Conference Tournament (April 24-26).

The men even earned a victory against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in March, a team that was ranked 39th in the country at the time.

Gill still has things to learn, as do his players, but in the matches that I have covered it appears that both the players and coaches have decent camaraderie going.

I’m not here to cheerlead for the guy, if the program doesn’t succeed, then change what doesn’t work.

No, I’m simply saying that both the men and women’s squads have the potential to compete and win, and that they are finally coming to a point where they seem to be able to do that. To change coaches now may disrupt momentum they’ve gathered.

It remains to be seen what Gill’s recruiting methods are and if he will be able to attract talent to the university. However, with all of the players from the men’s and women’s team returning for next season, winning will attract prospects on its own.

I’m not trying to anoint him as the key to success; it’s too early to tell. He still has a way to go before I give him that title.

Perhaps I am way off base, and maybe I’m wrong about the team being on the good end of a bad season. But there’s really only one way to find out.

Dates to Know: Escaparate Dance Concert May 1, 7:30 p.m.

Fine Arts Auditorium April 23, 2009

“Dream Sailors” April 30, 7 p.m.

Albert L. Jeffers Theatre

THE PAN AMERICAN

Page 11

COMMUNITY

Neil Simon classic offers UTPA drama, lust, comedy

By Victor Ituarte The Pan American If walls could talk, what would they say? Tonight through Sunday, drama fans can find out what the walls of Room 719 have witnessed in the Plaza Hotel when the University Theatre presents the tale of three tenant tales in the Neil Simon play “Plaza Suite” at The University of Texas-Pan American.

Stage manager and theater-TV/film student Daisy Alvarez recommends everyone see it.

“We follow these three different situations ranging from very serious and dramatic to lustful to complete comedy,” the Edinburg resident said. “Act Three is all fun and games and it’s not as serious as the others.”

Veronica Navarro, a master’s student in theater, portrays Norma Hubley in the third act. Her character attempts to persuade her daughter to leave the restroom and walk down the aisle to her wedding.

“She’s like everybody else’s mother,” said the 28-year-old Pharr native. “I would say she’s a bit self-centered. It’s not about her daughter’s wedding, it’s about her. She’s very fun, she’s sweet, self-centered, and a little bit ditzy.”

Navarro, who has been involved in

theater since she was 7, performed in “Brighton Beach Memoirs” last year, also written by Simon. Trey Mikolasky, a lecturer in communication at UTPA, was attached to both productions as director as well.

“What I really like about Neil Simon is that he’s very different from other writers and he really writes from the heart. His plays are so wholesome,” she said. “What I really enjoy about him is that he’s actor-friendly.”

Navarro added that the script is written in a way that one word in her line triggers another actor to say his line because he has to repeat the same word in the next line.

“It’s very easy to memorize and it feeds you your next line,” she explained. “It has been a pleasure working on both Neil Simon plays and both with the same director and same [stage] husband.”

Jonathan Torres, a 23-year-old from Mission, plays Hollywood producer Jesse Kiplinger, who has had a string of bad luck with women. He calls his old high school flame to try and get back with her even though she’s married and has three kids.

“I love doing Neil Simon’s plays. It has a lot to do with the actors,” the junior theater design major said. “A lot of other

plays are really technical or artistic in that you’re not really sure what’s going on, but a Neil Simon play is real cut and dry. The lights go up, the actors do their acting, and the lights go down.”

Alvarez mentioned audiences should expect a lighter play with more comedy

than what has been offered this spring so far.

“What we’ve had this last semester has been pretty dramatic I would have to say. We started off with ‘Hedda Gabler,’” she explained. “It’s a great show, it’s a powerful show and it’s very intense

and there are bits and pieces that are comical, but it’s all drama.”

“Plaza Suite” opens tonight in the Albert Jeffers Theatre at 8 p.m. and runs through Saturday at 8 p.m. each night.

There is a Sunday matinee showing at 2 p.m.

Ben Briones/THE PAN AMERICAN BEHIND THE SCENES - Freshman psychology major Edy Escamilla prepares for his part in the play ‘Plaza Suite’ which will be running from Thursday to Sunday in the Jeffers Theatre.

CAMPUS

‘Soul of a People’ doc chronicles Federal Writers Project

By Marco Carbajal The Pan American Their fate was uncertain. Unemployment was rampant, and the banking industry was sinking fast. Homes were lost as America’s sons and daughters could not pay mortgages. Ironically, this bleak state of the union is not America in 2009.

It is the America of the 1930s, an era forever ingrained in the psyche of a nation.

Now, with the help of a national grant, the Soul of a People will soon head to the heart of the Valley.

The UTPA Library is one of only 30 libraries across the nation to have been awarded the Soul of a People grant sponsored by the American Library Association and supported by a major assist from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

The purpose of the grant is to fund programs in support of the release of a major television documentary called “Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story” produced by Spark Media, a Washington, D.C.-based production and outreach company specializing in issues of social change. The program will chronicle the Federal Writers Project that was part of Franklin Roosevelt’s Works

Progress Administration, a New Deal program during the Depression. The documentary, five years in the making, will air in the fall of 2009 on the Smithsonian HD channel.

“We attended a conference in Washington DC in February, with 80 scholars and librarians working on this project,” said Rob Johnson, assistant professor in the English department and local scholar on the project. “Many commented on the eerie timeliness of the film, in terms of the current economic crisis at hand.

The filmmakers had no way of knowing that by the time they finished the film that our own times would mirror the Depression era in key ways.”

Roosevelt’s Federal Writers Project (FWP) employed 6,600 unemployed actors, writers, historians, archeologists and photographers to work across the nation to write America’s story. The collective effort penned a guide for each state known as the American Guide Series.

All 48 books included detailed histories of each state with descriptions of cities and towns, interviews on state history and culture, local stories and narratives, automobile tours of important attractions, and a portfolio of photographs.

“The first Texas guide came out in

will coincide with Juneteenth, the anni1940, and then in 1986 the book was reversary of African-American emancipareleased by Texas Monthly Press with an tion from slavery. introduction from Dr. Don Graham who “Our second program is going to be on holds the J. Frank Dobie Regents Profesthe slave narratives,” Gause said. “There sorship of American and English Literawere five or six slaves from this area that ture at UT Austin,” said Virginia Haynie were involved in the cotton industry in the Gause, UTPA web and marketing librarBrownsville area. We ian. “He teaches the course made famous “The new generation espe- will be calling on the African-Amerby Dobie, which is cially needs to be aware of local ican community to fitting because Dohelp us with this probie wrote the chap- where they came from.” gram presentation.” ter on literature in Scheduled keythe Texas Guide of note speaker for 1940 and also taught Farzaneh Razzaghi the slave narratives at UT Austin.”

University Library dean program, is Albert Graham, an exRodriguez, who earned his B.A. and pert on Texas literature and English proM.A. in history at UTPA and is curfessor at UT Austin, had previously been rently working on his dissertation at the scheduled to kick off the Soul of a People program series by speaking at UTPA University of Houston. Rodriguez will discuss the identities and narratives of April 16, but the event was cancelled the slaves whom he first wrote of in his when he fell ill. Graham’s presentation master’s thesis. on Texas writers of the Great Depression With startling similarities between has been tentatively rescheduled for the modern-day America and the Great Defall 2009 semester. pression, one can’t help but wonder if As part of the grant agreement to the generations of the future can really host five special presentations, Gause learn from the lessons of the past. now looks ahead to the second sched“No one is talking about funding uled presentation set for June 15 and 7 writers and artists as part of the new p.m. in the Student Union Theatre which

stimulus, yet they did during the Depression,” Johnson said. “It was very controversial, and proponents of the FWP were accused of being communists and socialists, but the program was a success beyond anyone’s expectations. We are still learning from their research, even today.” Farzaneh Razzaghi, University Library dean, says she is excited the grant will afford the library the opportunity to offer a wonderfully educational program for students who are poised to have a hand in shaping America’s future.

“The new generation especially needs to be aware of where they came from, how this country’s history was shaped, and why certain issues that they are faced with today can be dealt with and resolved,” Razzaghi said. “More knowledge and better understanding of historical events and personalities may help the new generation to make more informed decisions, once they are in a position to decide on the country’s direction in the future.”

For more information on the UTPA

Library programs supporting the “Soul of a People” documentary and on the documentary itself, contact Virginia Haynie Gause at 381-2303 or vgause@utpa.edu.

April 23, 2009

SPORTS

Page 15

LOCAL SPORTS

Bravos FC announces 10 players, Pequin the mascot

as a defender as well. The Harlingen native made a name for himself as a kicker for Los Fresnos High School With a year of soccer eligibility left on the football field and last played at at Hidalgo High School, junior and UT-Brownsville where in 2007 they member of the 4A state championship captured the NAIA Red River Athletic team Jesus Mireles relinquished his Conference Championship.

Four other Rio Grande Valley nasenior year to join the inaugural campaign of the Rio Grande Valley Bravos tives introduced were defenders Edgar Coria of Pharr, Oscar Aguirre of Football Club.

“It’s an awesome feeling for me San Juan, Reynol Fuentes of Misand I feel really proud,” Mireles said. sion, and midfielder Kendor Vasquez “There are a lot of people who sup- of Brownsville. Coria’s last club was Texas College in Tyler while Aguirre ported me in this (decision).”

Mireles, dominant on the high was a member of the Liga MASA school level for three seasons, knows 2008 Premier Division Championthat it’s going to be a different style of ship club Deportivo Alvarez. There he soccer in the USL Premier Develop- shared the field in battle with Fuentes, ment League. But the Pirate All-star is also a member of Deportivo Alvarez.

Vasquez was a member of the 2008 up for the challenge.

And the area’s latest pro franchise Class 5A Region IV Area Championwill be well represented by locals. ship campaign for Brownsville Lopez Along with Mireles, nine other players High School and his last club was San were announced at a press conference Antonio Elite.

Although Edgar Acuna wasn’t born Thursday at Poncho’s Mexican Restaurant in Pharr. Some are from the Valley, in the Valley, the Chicago native made a name for himself as midfielder at others not. Some are from both.

From Orange County, Calif., Eric Brownsville Porter and Brownsville Chapa will be the goalkeeper for the Lopez. Acuna was on the 2006 chamBravos FC. He was a member of the pionship Porter squad and last played for the Barracudas Brownsville Porter 2006 team that “We can lose to anybody but of the BISL league.

Samuel Shipp like this year’s Hidalgo group not Laredo. They’re going to comes to the Valbrought home a have to die on the field before ley from BYUIdaho. The defendstate title, in Class er is a native of 5A. Enrique Quin- they lose to Laredo.”

Pocatello, Idaho. tero takes a spot First-year head as a defender for coach Ismael the new team. The Ismael “Moreira” Braga “Moreira” Braga Mexican national Head coach was excited about played for Mission High School and just recently the players that were announced and Juventus in Liga MASA, which is an is ready for opening day against the amateur soccer league based in McAl- Laredo Heat, May 2.

“We’re 99.9 percent ready,” Bralen. Pablo Degollado joins the squad

By Pedro Perez IV The Pan American

Hector J. Garcia/The Pan American

FOOTBALLERS - Rio Grande Valley Bravos FC unveil their new uniforms by Umbro along with a few major sponsors for their club, at Poncho’s Mexican Restaurant in Pharr. ga said. “We’re ready to go in two weeks, we’ve prepared, and everyone knows we started this team without anything and now we have a team, stadium, and we’re just waiting for May 2.”

Braga also said he expects for the Bravos FC to put on a great show because he knows the rivalry between the Valley and Laredo isn’t for the weak at heart.

“We can lose to anybody but not Laredo,” Braga said he told his team.

“They’re going to have to die on the field before they lose to Laredo.”

On hand at for opening day will be the Bravos FC new mascot Pequin.

Ed Salas, VP of Operations described Pequin as having several connotations (he’s a chili pepper), especially here in the Valley.

“The culture identifies with it,” said Salas, a UTPA grad who was editor of the sports section of The Pan American during his tenure at the university.

“It’s something that can become very animated so there are a lot of ideas that we can play with as far as the fans are concerned.”

Salas also said there had been one or two jalapenos used as mascots in the sport before so fans relate soccer to a similar type of figure like Pequin.

Salas also commented that soccer is

VOLLEYBALL

National letters of intent announced for Lady Broncs

By Ramiro Paez The Pan American Since joining the program in 2007, women’s volleyball coach Angela Hubbard hasn’t had to work so hard in the recruiting phase.

That’s because two years ago, Hubbard inherited a program that had a majority of its roster returning for the following year. But at the conclusion of last season, the team lost four key starting seniors in Chelsea Blakely, Kellie Phillips, Deanna Schneyer and Ytszel Trinidad, all of whom were key contributors.

Hubbard turned to recruiting to help fill those voids for the upcoming season, when the team will begin Great West Conference play. Last week, the volleyball program released the 2009 recruiting class list, with five new Lady Broncs joining Ijanae Holman, the team’s first newcomer, who signed in November.

“It’s going to add some depth on to our team that we’ve needed in the past,” Hubbard said. “Not only are we

bringing in new faces, but we’re also bringing in several players that have some experience. We’re going to be seeing a lot of new faces on the court next year.”

Hubbard said her goal when recruiting was trying to find players that would make an immediate impact.

The team was 8-18 last year, after going 15-18 in Hubbard’s initial season.

“I was looking for true athletes that know what it takes to win and know what they need to put in to understand what it takes to play Division I volleyball at a competitive level,” she added.

Setters Rita Gonzalez and Ariana Bermea are two players who Hubbard will try to engage in the Lady Broncs’ lineup this season.

Out of Phoenix College, Gonzalez finished with a school record in assists with 1,360 during her sophomore year, the most in a single season in Phoenix College history. She was named to the All-ACCAC first team and All-Region Division II first team. Gonzalez ranked first in the region and in the top five nationwide in assists in Division II.

She averaged 11.33 assists and 2.85 digs per game with a .168 hitting percentage. Gonzalez was also named the Gatorade Player of the Year out of high school in Phoenix, Ariz.

Bermea, from Laredo Community College, is an early signee, committing to the program in November, and has begun to workout with the team in its spring practices, which began in January 14 and concluded Friday.

Sarah Davis, a middle hitter from Calvary Murrieta High School in California, lettered three years and was named Most Valuable Player, cocaptain, All-League first team, and AllTournament team at the Pasadena Polytechnic Tournament. In addition, Davis was named the California Interscholastic Federation Player of the Year.

Meghan Fichtel from Corpus Christi comes from Hill College in Hillsboro as an outside hitter and middle blocker. Fichtel was named to the All-Conference first team and AllRegion first team for the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference.

Kristi Garcia stands as the only Val-

ley product to join the Lady Broncs’ unit this year. Garcia, an outside hitter and libero, played at McAllen Rowe High School, where she was recognized as one of the Valley’s elite. She was named to the All-Valley and AllDistrict first teams, and was the Most Outstanding Player during the ’06-’07 and ’07-’08 seasons.

Hubbard says a seventh player has committed to the program, but she cannot release the name at this time.

NOTES: The 2009 schedule was completed but remains unofficial.

The season will feature seven home games, eight on the road and seven at a neutral site. The Lady Broncs open the latest campaign at the Sam Houston Tournament Aug. 28 and will host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the season home opener Sept. 1. Great West Conference play begins Sept.

17 at the University of South Dakota with the first GWC home matchup Oct. 8 against the University of North Dakota. The GWC tournament will run Nov. 19-21 at Houston Baptist University.

a sport that many Valley residents can relate to and that a professional team is what they needed.

Actually it’s long overdue,” Salas said of the Bravos FC in the Valley.

“In the ‘70s the Liga MASA started and Pan Am had a soccer team. The soccer team disappeared and 40 years after the Liga MASA arrived with over five divisions and over 2000 players.

And that’s just the adult league in the McAllen area.”

The Bravos FC opens its inaugural season against the Laredo Heat May 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Valley View Tiger Stadium. Tickets are available at www. rgvbravos.com.

BRONC BRIEFS BASEBALL After the double-header against Stephen F. Austin last Thursday, the Broncs followed with another doubleheader against Texas Southern Saturday. The double-header was reminiscent of the previous one, resulting in a win for the Broncs with a score of 13-5 during game one and a win for Texas Southern 6-5 in game two.

The University of Texas-Pan American’s baseball program faced Texas Southern again the next day. Following a tough beginning, the Broncs were down 5-1 in the eight inning.

However, they were able to rally in the bottom of the ninth to pull out a 6-5 win, improving their record to 9-32.

UTPA faced The University of Texas-San Antonio Tuesday at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium. The Roadrunners proved to be too much for the Broncs in the 39-minute sixth inning, with UTSA scoring 13 runs, and hitting a grand slam. UTSA walked away with the 16-5 win.

The Broncs faced fellow Valley rival University of Texas-Brownsille Wednesday night. The Broncs beat the Scorpions once again, with a score of 8-1.

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April 23, 2009

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April 23, 2009

As another year comes to an end we here at The Pan American’s Sports Section take a look at all the different campaigns the UTPA athletic programs competed in, and in some cases dominated.

For most of the teams this was the inaugural year in the Great West

Conference and UTPA set the tone for future years to come winning two conference championships and crowning five individual champions in golf and cross-country.

For the Broncs winning campaigns came from the men’s Cross country and men’s tennis. Men’s basketball

finished the year with a 10-17 record and baseball is struggling in the slums with a 10-33 record. Men’s track and field qualified one member to the NCAA Regional Championships.

The Lady Broncs tied a record in basketball by collecting 14 single season wins ending the season at 14-16.

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The women’s tennis team finished the season at 5-14 after 2008’s recordbreaking campaign with 16-wins. The volleyball team finished the season at 8-18 and has already added six NLI’s for the 2009 campaign. The women’s track and field qualified two members for Regionals.

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Photo By: Hector J. Garcia

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THE PAN AMERICAN

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April 23, 2009

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April 23, 2009

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THE PAN AMERICAN

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LEFT TO RIGHT - 1. M.J. Camey; 2. Amanda Ferris; 3. Rachel Hester; 4. Danielle Reed; 5. Megan Bedeau

LEFT TO RIGHT - 1. Emmanuel Jones 2. Alex Tapia; 3. Armen Kirakossian; 4. Abraham Garcia; 5. Beau Bernstein (LEFT) Niruick Mohinta

Dates to Know: Men’s Tennis

Southland Conference Tourney April 24 Corpus Christi April 23, 2009

THE PAN AMERICAN

Track and Field

Great West Championships May 15 Houston Page 13

GOLF

Program takes crowns at Great West Championships

By Sara Hernandez The Pan American

Roxy Solis/The Pan American

QUEEN OF THE HILL - Sophomore Haley Hocott won the title of Great West Champion with an overall score of 235 (81-81-73).

As the Broncs and Lady Broncs saw the 2008-09 season come to an end, the golf crews stepped up to win first and second place in the Great West Championships Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

The University of Texas-Pan American women’s golf team brought home the conference title with a score of 961, jumping up one spot and 14 strokes from day one, after Houston Baptist had the lead with 634 in the first 36 holes as opposed to 648 of the Lady Broncs.

“They played and fought hard, gave everything they had,” head coach Ofelia Lopez said. “They wanted to win and they ended up winning.”

Haley Hocott found personal glory at the Sienna Plantation Golf Course in Houston. The sophomore had two consistent beginning rounds, hitting 81-81 on the first day and a 73 during the second, which brought her from sixth to first place with a score of 235.

“I’m still a little bit shocked, I’ve never won a tournament until now,” the San Antonio native said. “It’s exciting, it’s something that everyone dreams and hopes for.”

Senior Mariale Camey tied in second with 240 strokes obtaining 81, 79, and 80 in three rounds, while classmate Bronwyn Sandberg placed two notches behind with a score of 243.

Freshmen Maria Jose Camey and

Sarah Kothny finished tied in seventh and 16th with 246 and 254 strokes, respectively. The individual efforts added up to a fine team performance.

“Fourteen strokes behind, it seemed there was no way they’d come back to win the tournament,” Lopez said. “I’m very proud of them; all the hard work and dedication has paid off.”

Hocott said that although the first day’s participation wasn’t bad, the Lady Broncs knew they could improve in the third round to attain the conference championship.

“The team had the mindset that we could win it and after the first day we thought we could still come back and that’s what we did,” she said. “We are happy, we knew we could do it, and we finally accomplished it.”

On the men’s side, Armen Kirakossian led UTPA to a second place in the championship, where the team recorded 933 strokes behind Houston Baptist, which took the title with 900.

The Portland native hit 219 (72, 74, 73) to finish tied in first place with HBU’s Jordan Jeffers.

“It was a good performance, I liked the way I played and am happy for the result,” the junior said. “As a team, we’re making progress towards where we want to be.”

Only one stroke behind came senior Shane Pearce, who took third with 73, 74, 73, which placed him in third.

In 16th and 17th, junior High Wongchindawest and sophomore Or-

lando Moreno stroked 248 and 249 times, respectively. A.J. Gonzalez, also a sophomore, finished in 21st with 356 strokes, scoring 82, 84, and 90.

However, men’s head coach Santiago de Larrea said he is not satisfied with the performance of the Broncs, who in his opinion could have done more to strive for the conference championship, since only Kirakossian and Pearce placed in the top 10.

“We are disappointed that we didn’t win, but I know we didn’t play to the best of our abilities,” he said. “HBU played very well individually and played pretty good as a team.”

The Broncs and Lady Broncs will have more than a week to prepare for the last event of the season. They will head to Port St. Lucie, Fla., to participate in the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship May 8-10.

“We will go to the tournament playing at courses we have never seen before,” De Larrea said. “Hopefully we’ll perform much better.”

Hocott assured that with this week’s experience, the team goes into the last tournament of the season with renewed confidence.

“This tournament was just proof to ourselves that we can do it, we’re a good team, we can come back and win, and for Minority we just need to start well,” she said. “If we start well I think everything will be okay, and we’re perfectly capable of doing it.”

TRACK AND F IELD

UT Twilight ends with NCAA Regionals qualification for Hernandez, Perez

By Jose Betancourt The Pan American It was a sunny clear spring Saturday; the atmosphere was tense but relaxed as athletes shuffled on and off the track to compete in their events.

That was the scene at the Texas Twilight track and field meet in Austin last weekend where the UTPA Broncs managed to earn more spots for the upcoming NCAA regional championships.

“It was a great event to see where we are stacking up against some of the best competition in Texas,” head coach Dave Hartman said. “Overall I think it was a great meet for our track and field team.”

Senior J.J. Hernandez qualified for regionals after posting a qualifying time of 9:03.92 passing the NCAA regional mark of 9:07.00 and winning his event in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Hernandez showed his poise at the Saturday meet, giving one of his best performances of the season.

“I was actually pretty surprised I didn’t feel good heading into the meet,” he said. “I felt real heavy and flat and I just wanted to do the best I could on a day that I felt bad, when I do feel good I can run a lot better so I was kind of surprised the last 100 meters I didn’t think I was going to make it, it was kind of close but I came out J.J. HERNANDEZ alright.”

QUALIFYING TIME: Hartman 9:03.92 echoed his runner’s thoughts on how he performed on a day that could have ended on a different note.

“There was a lot of pressure on him to get it done and I think he performed admirably as far as knowing the pres-

sure is on, knowing this is the perfect night and getting it done with, now we can focus on the rest of the season,” Hartman said. “A nice way to cap his career here would be to qualify for the national championships.”

Sophomore James Strachan set a new school record in the outdoor 400 meters with a time of 47.28, ousting the previous mark of 47.42 set by Jamie Guzman in 1997. Along with a 10th-place finish in the 200 meters and a fifth place overall finish, Strachan and his teammates held their own in a tough pool of competition.

Wally Gonzalez and Omar Doria helped the team along in the 800 meters with sixth and ninth place overall finishes, respectively, with times of 1:52.17 and 1:54.27.

Gilroy Martinez earned a seventhplace finish in the 1,500 fast section with a time of 3:57.72 and Oscar Barrera finished fifth in the hammer toss with a distance of 45.06 meters.

“I think the team performed pretty

well, everybody came out and did what they were supposed to do, improve,” Gonzalez said of the Bronc efforts.

On the woman’s side, senior Amanda Ferris threw her to way to a first -lace finish and a regional qualifying performance in the hammer toss with a throw of 54.32, surpassing the top regional mark of AMANDA FERRIS 54.15. Fer- QUALIFYING DISTANCE: ris summed 54.32 up her performance with a relaxed demeanor.

“You just need one throw to get there and that’s all you need,” Ferris said of her win.

Her coach was pleased.

“Amanda did an awesome job, it

was right at her personal best and she continues to be consistently right there in that range, which I think is going to set her up potentially to win the Great West Conference Championships and then go on to the regional championships with a shot to qualify for the nationals,” Hartman said.

Fellow thrower Michelle Elizondo earned fourth place in the hammer toss with a distance of 49.08 and Stephanie Perez also placed fourth in the discus with a 47.19 throw.

Assistant coach Jennifer Leatherman assessed the school’s performance with optimism for the future.

“I’m very pleased with how they competed against really good competition and in the next few weeks everyone should start peeking into top form,” she said.

The men’s next event is the Ohio Valley Conference championships on May 1-2 in Richmond, Ky., while the women are set to compete at the Great West Championships May 15-16 in Houston.

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ARTS AND LIFE

April 23, 2009

T ENTERTAINMENT

OK Go offers exclusive, discusses new album

By Isaac Garcia The Pan American For those who don’t know, Dashboard Confessional is not the only band that will be performing at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium April 25. Grammy Award-winning OK Go will also be rocking out and their energetic stage presence is sure to please the crowd.

Mostly known for their unique fashion sense and innovative music videos, Ok Go has been cranking out tunes since 1998 and has released two full-length records, “Ok Go” and “Oh no.” Recently the band has been locked away recording their new and untitled record, which is expected in stores some time in September. During a break bassist Tim Nordwind spoke exclusively with The Pan American.

Q: What has Ok Go been up to since 2007?

A: Since October of this past year, we have been in upstate New York working with producer David Friedman, who produced the last MGMT record. He has a converted Amish barn that he turned into a studio and we have been living there under 15 feet of snow recording for the past six months. That’s kind of what we’ve been up to. Hopefully we put a single

out this summer and release the record in early September.

Q: Rolling Stone recently reported that the title to your new record would be “Help is On the Way.” Can you confirm or deny that report?

A: “Help is On the Way” is a working title, I’m not sure that it will actually be the title, but Rolling Stone wanted us to give them something to work with. It may still end up being the title. It just depends on what we feel at the end of the recording process.

Q: Since you mentioned David Friedman, does that offer any insight as to what your sound will be like?

A: Our sound is more expansive.

We have been listening to a lot of “Purple Rain” over the winter and I feel that this will be the most soulful and honest record we’ve ever made.

With our first record we made it feel like a party, our second record we wanted to focus on what we do live, and with our third record we’ve sort of come to testify, more or less.

Q: Are you at all apprehensive about taking your sound in a new direction?

A: No, I feel like it’s about time.

Between each of our records there has been a span of three to four years.

In my mind each record is pretty significant from the one before. But this

Jeremy and Claire Weiss

album feels like us now and not us four years ago. I think that when you let so much time go by, you’re four years older…listen to four more years of music, watch four more years of movies, read four more years worth of books and had four more years of relationships. We are all at very different places than when we made the last record and I think this record sort of echoes where we are as a band and as people; it’s a correct document of who we are right now.

Q: How did you guys end up in the end credits to “I Love You Man?” A: A good friend of ours and sort of a rock hero, Craig Wedren, asked us to do that. He went to college with a lot of the guys who were in “I Love You Man,” and they asked him to be the wedding singer in the film. So then he asked us if we wanted to be part of the wedding band. It was a fun thing to do and the shoot took two days.

Q: How friendly was the cast?

A : Paul Rudd and Jason Siegel were extremely nice.

It’s funny because when you do something like this you find out that there is a sort of mutual admiration between musicians and actors. At some point one of them said to us, “What you guys do is what we wish we could do.” And we were like, “Why? You guys are actors; we wish we could be you.” It’s funny to get into a conversation like that with Paul Rudd, who is fucking hilarious.

He came up to us and told us that what we do is so cool.

Q: Whose idea was it to use wallpa-

per Outfits to the Grammy’s?

A: I can’t remember whose idea it was to use those outfits. I remember getting fitted for them and at that point we had been invited to the Grammy’s already, so we figured that we’d put them to use. I remember that we confused the media because our faces were covered. One reporter thought we were Buckcherry and did the entire interview without knowing who we were.

April 23, 2009

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NGO continued from Page 3

UNITED continued from Page 3 scraping gum from under desks, and ference, but it makes you stand out. wiping down blackboards. Other stu- It teaches you to be selfless instead dents walked the UTPA grounds pick- of selfish,” Galvan said about student ing up trash and taking down outdated participation in this year’s project.

“I’ll be able to come in and say, ‘That posters along the walkway.

Various fraternities, sororities, stu- building is clean because I helped dent organizations and honor societies clean it.’”

Though it was a successful event, all took part in this project, with several members registered to represent the project received less attention this year. It also got a late start due to the them at United to Serve.

Josué Galvan, a 20-year-old junior fact that the previous coordinator for biology major from Palmview, arrived the SLA, Amy Martin, left UTPA in on campus on that cloudy and humid December. Planning began in February, giving the involved organizations Saturday morning.

“Community service is really im- approximately two months to prepare, portant because it really allows you short of the usual five or six, for the to get really involved, not only in yearly routine.

Barrera, now a campus life but in teaches you to be graduate student serving others and “It in serving your selfless...I’ll be able to come in working toward a master’s degree in community,” Galvan said. and say, ‘That building is clean sociology, explained that only about 75 Galvan has students registered some experience because I helped clean it.’” to volunteer on Satin this sort of efurday, compared to fort. As commuthe estimated 150 nity service direc- Josue Galvan that have participattor for Golden Key Junior biology major ed annually in the Honor Society, an honor society for students within the past. Nevertheless, students are eager top 15 percent of their class, he ex- to help any way they can.

“It’s pretty easy to have students plained that students should do more for their campus, a place where they participate, especially in community live in the present and learn for their projects,” Barrera said. “They get very future. It was the honor society’s first excited and they’re very willing.”

Even if the number of participants time to be involved with the project was not as high as expected, and while and plans are to do it again next year.

“Not only does it make you feel some of those registered did not show, good to know that you’ve made a dif- the contribution from those who came

April 23, 2009

NEWS

to dedicate their time to the community was appreciated.

As a reward for their hard work, students, faculty and staff received a voucher for a free meal at the UTPA home baseball game that followed the tiresome yet fulfilling service project that ended on a hot mid-afternoon.

Despite struggling to discard bags full of dried gum from underneath desks, project evaluations handed out by the SLA during lunch indicated that 100 percent of the volunteers would do it again.

“I’ve learned so much here, been involved in so many things and had so many opportunities,” Galvan said.

“It’s the very least I could do to give back to my university.”

DID YOU KNOW? Several other UT System schools also participating in the United to Serve project.

-UT Arlington -UT Brownsville -UT Dallas -UT Permian Basin -UT San Antonio -UT Tyler

both sides of the border, topics such as economic development and health services will be issued.

“Many concerns are to promote economic development, alleviate poverty, improve education and health services, provide other social services and elevate living standards-in collaborations with the independent of both government and business,” Ocanas said.

Seven organizations from both

countries will be chosen to become a part of the council, according to Ocanas.

UTPA-SBNRC provides technical assistance for individuals who are interested in starting a non-profit or expand on an existing one by providing grant writing classes; help filing for a 501(c3) and/or help search for grants through the Foundation Center Cooperating Collective.

RESEARCH continued from Page 3 poker games do. The game has artifi- interesting,” Lizeth Cantu, a UTPA cial intelligence, which can make the business major attending the research average poker player sweat in order day said. “They give you an insight on what technology is and what’s to win.

“I felt a huge relief when I fin- coming next,” David Egle, a professor of enished. We all worked really hard,” gineering who is Flores said. “ It feels good to ac- “I felt a huge relief when I fin- also on the advicommittee, complish some- ished. We all worked really sory is amazed at the thing.”

Another project hard...It feels good to accom- resources some of the students used to that might interdevelop successful est students is a plish something.” projects, some of Youtube style Web which have bensite that would let efited other departUTPA students Joe Flores ments in the colupload and watch Senior, poker bot team lege.

UTPA related vid“The chemistry department at eos. Esteban Tristan, ACM president and Senior Raul De Leon created the UTPA needed to update its genetic Web site. The purpose of the project sequence aligner software, which is to promote interest in campus ac- gave our students the opportunity to make a project which would help the tivities to students.

“I found the presentations really university,” he said.

April 23, 2009

NEWS

MEDICAL continued from Page 1

CHIEF continued from Page 1 cies like the Edinburg Police Department. He maintains that communication between both departments is key.

“There’s going to be situations where their officers may be backing our officers up on calls and vice versa,” Stearns said. “Many times, the criminals don’t limit themselves to our community boundaries, so we need to make sure as a law enforcement agency that we’re exchanging our share of information. So we can better serve our community as well as assist our surrounding agencies.”

He says he wishes to facilitate communication between community members and police officers to make sure every issue or concern gets addressed.

“I don’t want there to be an ‘us vs. them’ mentality between the community and the police department,” he explained. “I think that we can better serve the community if we view ourselves as a participat-

ing member of the community.”

To build a more user-friendly approach, he plans to develop a system that brings campus community and the police department closer together.

Stearns plans to implement a program that will allow students, faculty and staff to attend orientation meetings and training sessions to learn more about the department’s role in the university and encourage everyone to contribute toward making the campus a safer place.

“I consider these programs to be foundation programs for the partnership effort we want to create with the community,” he added.

The new chief, who recently served at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, joins UTPA with a vision for the campus precinct.

Stearns replaces Chief Howard Miller, who was removed from office in October 2008 after an unspecified investigation conducted

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by UT System officials.

Stearns received a law enforcement degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1997 and served as security coordinator for residence life while he was still a student.

Shortly after graduating, he became employed with the University of Texas at Dallas police department where he served as an advisor for various student groups on campus.

There he established the law enforcement explorer program, the community liaison officer program and the student patrol programs.

He was also honored by the university’s student government with an Outstanding Service Award, Student Life recognized him as Advisor of the Year, the Division of Business Affairs gave him an Outstanding Employee Award and the police department honored him with awards for Officer of the Year and Supervisor of the Year.

tion to begin. This component has Cigarroa testified in favor it.

“We have overcome numerous not yet been built into the legislation.

Still, a clause in the bill says that challenges and obstacles that culminated in this monumental feat - our if it passes both the House and Senate own medical school serving the fast- with a two-thirds majority vote, it augrowing and medically underserved tomatically becomes eligible for UT South Texas border region,” he System funds. With the Senate enabling unanimous said, when the bill passed April 8.

“We have overcome numer- approval, all that’s left is the House to According to the bill, the medi- ous challenges and obstacles be able to meet the cal school may that culminated in this monu- requirement.

“Although we emanate from the now await action Regional Academ- mental feat...” on the House side, ic Health Center in it certainly isn’t Harlingen. The fatoo early to concility would be the Eddie Lucio sider the enormous most logical start- Senator impact that this bill ing place for the will have on South school, according to the bill, because the infrastructure Texas,” Lucio said in the statement.

“From this point forward, we can is already there.

The school, however, would not begin to count on a school that will come with immediate funding. Ap- eventually train our own doctors and propriations would have to be set by health care professionals right in our the Legislature in order for construc- own backyard.”

and demanded the government stick to its constitutional limits.

“We are entitled to from the federal government proper management of the currency…not to tell us what doctor to go to or what kind of mortgage the market should make,” said Hagenbach mentioning the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2007 and proposal for what he termed nationalized health insurance. “The Constitution does not permit socialism.”

Though many protesters disagreed with the recent administration’s handling of the economic crisis, such as creating a lofty $3.5 trillion spending plan to help alleviate a dominating recession and a rolling deficit, many others also blamed the previous administration for the fiscal state of the country.

“In the Bush years we had an unfortunate increase in the budget that was unjustified” said former Republicans for UTPA President Adrian Torralbo, a UTPA political science graduate in 2007. “George Bush had the war, and I was in favor of it, but he spent so much on the war that he never put into consideration that maybe

we need to scale it back.”

About $860 billion has been spent on the wars in Iraq and Afhghanistan.

Political science professor William Turk did not attend the TEA party but explained the protesters’ fears.

“People are concerned about the deficit. We are going to increase the national debt by $2 trillion this years,” Turk noted. “They are concerned about the spending and also the spending of money that is not there.”

However Turk disagreed with their fears about creeping socialism.

“Whether it’s (stimulus spending) too much or not enough, I don’t know, even the economists are mixed,” he said. “But I don’t want the government to be on the sidelines, during a time of economic crisis the government has to take a more direct approach, but historically the government withdraws after.”

Turk added that government intervention helped the country during the Great Depression of the 1930s, through the creation of social programs such as Social Security and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corpora-

tion (FDIC), which insured banks. He also explained that though these were socialist-type programs, a socialist government would have to have complete ownership and control over the country’s capital.

English Professor Philip Zwerling, who was a Students for a Democratic Society organizer during the ‘60s and protested against the Vietnam War, believed the tea parties were more “flash in the pan” from a politically disenfranchised group.

“The people that are organizing these parties are politically lost,” Zwerling said. “They haven’t gotten over the election; Obama is making a lot of decisions that are different… and they want to hang onto the piece of the pie.”

Though many remain skeptical of the protest group’s ability to wield power and its future effects on the country, Turk believes the grass-roots party movement could still be the sign of something new.

“Right now it’s a fairly small number, but that’s how most social groups start, with a small number and then they grow in importance,” Turk said.

ings about citizens of the Valley over the past three years have been published in online journals. He said they have found Dr. Michael A. Escamilla, a psychiatrist at HSCSA Genetic Center and researcher at ERAHC, is leading the epidemiologic study. Several of Escamilla’s studies have been published, including a schizophrenic study in the American Journal of Medical Genetics in spring 2007.

Escamilla’s led-study found that chromosomes 1, 5 and 18 were very likely to contribute to schizophrenia in those of Mexican and Central American descent.

Escamilla was out of town and unreachable for comment about the past study or current Valley study.

With Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr.’s filing of a bill for a medical school in the Rio Grande Valley, Figueroa said the possibility of getting such a facility would be beneficial in multiple ways for the Valley.

“There will be lots of benefits if we get a medical school,” he said.

“It brings employment opportunities and it will attract people to the Valley.”

The study is funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health and HSCSA. The NIMH wants to

help scientists learn more about how genes affect the development of mental disorders.

TEA continued from Page 1 going to be paying a lot of them for someone else’s spending.”

The event was part of a nationwide grass-roots effort responding the planned economic direction of the Barack Obama administration. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered across the country on Tax Day to demonstrate.

The Tea Parties, part of whose acronym stands for “taxed enough already,” takes its cue from the American revolutionaries who dumped tea into the Boston Harbor in 1773 as a protest of British King George III’s taxes. Last week it was celebrated on a day many Americans would spend scrambling to finish their taxes. The national event took place in over 800 locations and arose from collective fears of over-taxing, careless stimulus spending and what many felt was a largely interfering and socialist government.

Though news sources estimated that only several hundred showed up to the McAllen event, the RGV Tea Party Web site reported about 1,200 and the party in Harlingen drew in about 200 - most other tea parties

around the country varied from a handful to several thousands - plenty of passion for the cause was heard loud and clear as four speakers addressed the crowd in front of the park’s gazebo, and patriotic songs were sung between each speech.

PROS AND CONS The crowd was armed with signs reinforcing fears of the country’s supposed turn to socialism, including one that read “Karl Marx wants his teleprompter back.” President of the RGV Tea party chapter Glenn Hagenbach spoke to the crowd about his frustrations with the current economic plans.

“We will and we must bring our country back to the past,” yelled Hagenbach before audience members chanted “USA” in support. “I don’t know about you, but if these guys can’t put the breaks on spending, then I don’t want them touching my transmission.”

Hagenbach, who also owns Hagenbak Deli in McAllen, later explained that the government had no right to give bailouts to corporations like AIG

GENETIC continued from Page 1 ticipants are compensated $50. Participants may be asked to participate in follow-up interviews and questionnaires for which they will also be financially compensated.

The screening interview is 15 minutes long. If they qualify, participants will complete an interview and questionnaire which takes anywhere from an hour and a half to three hours. Patient health information is semi-confidential, as it is only seen by those involved in the research.

According to Andres Figueroa, an assistant professor of computer science who is involved with the study, researchers are seeking a control

group of healthy individuals to conduct the study. As of now, Figueroa said there are more than 300 subjects.

The study, according to Figueroa, aims at providing new information for the medical world including treatment options for both mental and physical disorders.

He added that the study is scheduled to end in August but the ERAHC and HSCSA have hopes of renewing the study once again.

“It was very hard this past year,” Figueroa said about funding for the study. “With Obama, new funding opportunities have come across.”

Figueroa said some of their find-

QUALIFICATIONS * You are between the ages of 18 and 90 * You live in the Rio Grande Valley.

Contact Nelda Ybarra at (956) 393-6423 or Michael Freeman at (956) 393-6417.