April 4, 2002

PAGE 16

NBA

JORDAN GROUNDED: The Washington Wizards placed Michael Jordan on the injured list Wednesday and the future Hall of Famer said he was done for the season. Jordan decided to sit out the rest of the season follwing his lowest scoring game ever Tuesday night against the Lakers. Jordan woke up the next day with a swollen right knee and said enough was enough.

Jordan averaged 22.9 points per game, the lowest average in his career. In his second season with the Chicago Bulls (1985-86), he averaged 22.7 ppg in only 18 games. The 39year old said he would play next year once again if he is able.

NFL

S PORTS

■ Bronc Baseball . . . . . . .15

A former player and coach reminisce about the days when UTPA had a soccer program. Now both ponder why the Bronc athletic department hasn’t taken advantage of a resurgent interest in the sport throughou the country, especially in the predominantly Hispanic-populated Valley, and made an effort to reestablish the soccer program.

The Pan American

In the past, the University of Texas-Pan American has built athletic programs that have opened many doors for athletes as well as the university. But one door that remains closed is an organized soccer team.

Student athletes played soccer at UTPA for 28 years before the program was axed in 1998. The program was abolished in search of equity in the gender representation in sports at UTPA. There was one more male sport than female, so soccer was cut from intercollegiate competition at UTPA, according to vice president for business affairs Mark Saenz.

The program had its share of dominant players during its time.

Efren Lopez played four years with the Broncs in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, Mario Ribera of Santa Cruz, Bolivia scored 29 goals, a single-season Sun Belt Conference record, in his freshman year for UTPA. Salvador

THURSDAY

Campus VOICE Should the US be directly involved in the IsraeliPalestinian conflict?

Field of past dreams

By Mike Gonzalez

PARK IT IN HOUSTON: Everybody in the NFL knew it. Anybody who follows the NFL knew it. The Houston Texans knew it. The expansion team confirmed what everyone already knew. They’ll make Fresno State quarterback David Carr their number one pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

In 37 games with FSU, Carr completed 62.8 percent of his passes for 7,849 yards. He completed 70 touchdowns and had 23 interceptions. As a starter, Carr compiled an 18-8 record, including the postseason.

■ Sports Clipboard. . . . . ..15

April 4, 2002

An Inside Look: News ............................................3 A & E............................................7 ■ Sports ........................................16 ■ ■

CSBS adding new degrees

LOCAL NEWS ■

WHERE’S THE GOAL?: The Field once used by the UTPA soccer team now stands useless, surrounded by the track used by students and the Bronc track team.

UTPA fielded a soccer program for 28 years until 1998 when the program yielded to gender equity.

Garcia of Brownsville Hanna, who many consider one of the best high school soccer players in Valley history, also played four strong seasons for the squad.

At what used to be Pan American College, the soccer program began as a club organized by students in 1970.

Bronc soccer reached the Division I level when the team joined the Sun Belt Conference in 1991. From then until 1998, conference opponents included Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky, Jacksonville, and South Alabama.

Dr. Miguel Paredes, the last soccer coach (1995-98), has fond memories of his teams.

“It was an interesting period of time,” said Paredes, now a mathematics professor at UTPA. “It was a combination of academics and soccer. I thought I was

Anna Stowra/The Pan American

doing something important in terms of taking good care of them [players]...I have great memories of all of them, and they were great guys.”

Among those old players, many spoke of the benefits of the former program.

Former UTPA player Hector Lopez is disappointed in the university’s lack of a soccer team.

“I feel that kids in high school don’t have anywhere to go after graduation,” Lopez said. “Right now, you would have to be a very good player so that scouts from other universities can watch you play.”

Lopez played for UTPA from 1992-96 and feels it’s unfortunate

that Valley players are not able to compete locally at the collegiate level.

“I feel bad and I started thinking of all those kids that don’t have the money to go anywhere,” Lopez said.

Athletic Director William Weidner realizes the popularity of soccer in the area, not to mention internationally, but feels now is not the time for the re-formation of a soccer program at UTPA. “Right now, in terms of any particular sport, we have 14 Division I programs, and our immediate goal is to reinforce those programs so that they can See SOCCER page 14

REMINDER

Daylight-Saving Time begins April 7. Don’t forget to set clocks forward one hour.

■

Page 8

T h e S t u d e n t N e w s p a p e r o f T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f Te x a s - P a n A m e r i c a n

Page 4

MCALLEN— Gearing up for his U.S. Senate run-off against Victor Morales April 9, Ron Kirk received some needed support by way of endorsements of two Hispanic labor associations Tuesday.

Both the Hispanic Contractors Association de Tejas and the Texas Association of Hispanic Firefighters gave their nods to Kirk, who traveled to McAllen to accept the endorsements. Kirk, former mayor of Dallas, used promises to support legislation which promotes fair work standards to secure endorsements from other groups, including the United Farm Workers, in addition to local politicians. Although Morales fared well in Hidalgo County by earning over 50 percent of the vote in the March 12 Democratic Primary, local Democrats feel Kirk will have a stronger showing in a run-off election. Tuesday’s appearance marks the seventh time Kirk has visited the Valley area.

The run-off is a result of no one candidate receiving the majority of the vote in the primary.

The ROAD less TRAVELED

UTPA: Vision of Success FOURTH IN A CONTINUING SERIES

By Eladio Jaimez The Pan American

Mary Zuviri/The Pan American

BALLOTS —

Junior Billy Gonzalez casts his vote in the Student Government Association elections Wednesday as Junior Kenhya Longoria looks on. Voting took place Tuesday and Wednesday.

SGA election results wait for final vote tabulations

By Matt Lynch The Pan American

University of Texas-Pan American officials are hoping to announce a new Student Government Association president by Friday.

“We should have the results of the election by week’s end,” said Dana Garza, coordinator of student development.

UTPA students exercised their right to elect student representatives Tuesday and Wednesday. Although results of the SGA elections were not available at press time, student voter turnout was good, according to Garza.

“Last year, around 500 students voted,” Garza said. “But [Tuesday] alone about 600 students voted.”

Garza attributes increased voter turnout to a number of factors, and feels that student

participation in the SGA process makes a difference for both the university and for students.

“We encourage people to get involved on campus,” Garza said. “We went to several student organization meetings to get the word out, and we encouraged more students to run for office or to vote. Everyone on campus is really involved now.”

An increased number of candidates may have also played a role in improved student participation. According to Garza, 13 candidates ran for senate positions this year, compared to just four in last year’s elections. In the presidential race, UTPA students had four president and vice president tickets to choose from, compared to just two tickets last year.

One of four candidates will replace current president Zeke Moya. Junior William See SGA page 5

The recent rise in enrollment at the University of Texas-Pan American and the growth expected to take place in the next 10-to-15 years has increased the demand for new degree programs across campus.

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences is one of six colleges at UTPA with plans for new programs. Homer Garcia, dean of CSBS, said plans for a new doctoral program is just a few stages from becoming reality. Other plans for new graduate programs are on the drawing board and in the very early stages.

Garcia said at the top of the college’s agenda is the creation of a doctorate in clinical psychology.

“We’re in stage three of five,” Garcia said. “We need to get permission from the council of deans to further research this project.”

Garcia said it is the university’s responsibility to recognize the growing population in the region, and implement new programs to better serve the Valley.

“We have done studies to what extent clinical psychology would serve the Valley,” Garcia said. “The Valley is underserved in this area. We’re in great need of therapists and child psychologists.”

Garcia said one of the biggest catalysts in spearheading this new program is psychology department chairman Etzel Cardena.

“Etzel [Cardena] has done a splendid job,” Garcia said.

Garcia reiterated that right now the CSBS is in the third stage of the full proposal.

“We have to put a curriculum together,” Garcia said. “We have to estimate costs configured in terms of staffing.”

Garcia said a completed proposal should be ready and presented to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for their approval by June.

“We know there is a need,” Garcia said.

“We’re hiring psychologists to teach graduate and undergraduate classes, but will eventually become Ph.D. professors.”

Garcia said once the THECB grants the See NEW PROGRAMS page 6

PAGE 2

April 4, 2002

NEWS April 4 ELECTION HEATING UP:

SPORTS CLIPBOARD

2002

By Eladio Jaimez The Pan American

Celebrating 50 years 1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539 (956) 381-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122 http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican 50th Year – No. 23

Editor Matt Lynch mlynch@panam.edu

News Editor Cristina Reyna creyna826@aol.com

Copy Editor Melissa Ciomperlik ciomperlik@yahoo.com

Graphics Editor Gabriel O. Hernandez gabo296@hotmail.com

A & E Editor Ashley Brooks Magrew2@hotmail.com

Sports Editor Eladio Jaimez ejaimez@panam.edu

Layout Designers Gabriel Hernandez Celeste Y. Tello Reporters Blake Daniels Jaime Garcia Jr. Mike Gonzalez Elizabeth Martinez Linda Martinez Nikki Ramirez Belinda Reyes Cesar Trevino Photographers Anna Stwora Mary Zuviri Advertising Dagoberto Perez Circulation Jesus M. Gonzalez Advertising Coordinator Juanita Sanchez Adviser Greg Selber

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 university.

Letters policy The Pan American gladly accepts letters from students, staff and faculty regarding newspaper content or current issues.

The Pan American reserves the right to edit submissions for grammar and length. Please limit submission length to 300 words. The Pan American cannot publish anonymous letters, or submissions containing hate speech or gratuitous personal attacks.

Letters are printed at the discretion of the editor and must include the writer’s name, class/title and phone number.

Readers with disabilities may request an alternative format of this publication at The Pan American business office.

For special assistance to attend any event listed in this publication, contact the coordinator of the event at least one week prior to the advertised date.

“And down the stretch they come.”

ABC sportscaster Al Michaels excites thoroughbred racing fans everywhere with that simple phrase every summer.

Those same six words could also be used to describe the days preceeding Election Day. Run-off elections take place April 9, but candidates in Hidalgo County have been preparing for the photo finish since March 13, the day after the primary elections.

Incumbent Eloy Pulido and Edinburg attorney Ramon Garcia are vying for the Hidalgo County Judge seat and both agree intense campaigning has been necessary in the last three weeks.

Pulido said his campaign has run a few more television and radio ads, but has spent only $8,000 during the runoff stretch. Pulido said his campaign has spent approximately $360,000 to date.

The annual salary of the Hidalgo County Judge is $72,000.

“Ramon [Garcia] easily has spent over $1 million,” said Pulido, who added that he believes his past four years in office will will make the difference in the minds of voters come Tuesday.

“We’re telling people ‘this is what we’ve done,’” Pulido said. “We have a platform people can reflect on.”

Despite Pulido’s claims that residents of Hidalgo County are content with the way the county is being run, Garcia said county residents are ready for change.

We’re pushing for change, sixty-five percent of the voters already said they wanted change,” said Garcia, in reference to the percentage of votes in favor

County judge race enters homestretch, Pulido and Garcia run neck and neck of Garcia and Ricardo Perez in the primaries.

“Since Judge Pulido has been judge, taxes have gone up every year,” Garcia said. “It’s gone up 32 percent, and our taxes are actually higher than in places like Dallas, Austin, Houston, or El Paso.”

Garcia stressed that a serious financial problem is affecting the county, and something needs to done.

“We don’t have control over our spending problems,” Garcia said. “We need to go back to basics. We have to see what we have to work with.”

However, Pulido stands by his record and hopes his experience as a judge will be key on Tuesday.

“We’ve done a good job in the last three years,” Pulido said.

Pulido said Garcia’s record should also help him win the race. Pulido said Garcia may have burned a few too many bridges through his lawsuits against hospitals and businesses in the county.

“The medical community knows who the biggest enemy is,” Pulido said. “He [Garcia] has 55 lawsuits against McAllen Medical Center alone, and three to four hundred against doctors for malpractice.”

Valley doctors have scheduled a walkout April 8 in protest of what they consider lawsuit abuse in the area which is driving up insurance costs.

Meanwhile, Garcia said Pulido’s major contributors are lawyers.

“A substantial amount of my supporters are business people,” Garcia said.

Pulido believes he can come out of the runoff victorious, but it’ll be tough because of Garcia’s deep pockets.

“This will be a close race because we’re fighting against big money,” said Pulido said, who noted that Garcia rented over 40 vehicles used by “politiqueros,” to transport people to the polls.

“Some people are working with them on a full-time basis,” Pulido said.

Both candidates agreed getting the word out is expensive. Pulido said most of the money he’s spent on the campaign has come from contributors.

“If I had $350,000, I’d never spend it on running for judge,” Pulido said.

Garcia said money was not the deciding factor in this race and reiterated that people were ready for change.

“We have to evaluate every county position and bring people to the table that need to be there,” Garcia said.

He mentioned that several county officials have been vocal about opposing Pulido, including the county sheriff and county commissioners of precincts one and three, who decided to back Garcia.

Pulido said he can’t take the decision made by commissioners Sylvia Handy and Joe Flores personally. He said that if he wins things will continue to run as before.

“It’s politics,” Pulido said. “From what I’ve heard [La Joya mayor] Billy Leo asked Joe [Flores] to vote for Garcia.

Sylvia was supporting me, but then she switched over, but in politics you’re always cutting deals.”

Border bulletin Frontera fills in cracks The Pan American Staff There have never been as many news outlets as there are today, ranging from cable television to the Internet, to more traditional media such as newspapers. On-line information sources have proliferated since 1995, recognized as the year that the Internet came of age, as its use increased 37 percent.

For those seeking information about the border region that may not be found in detail in mainstream media, Greg Bloom has a solution. Bloom is the editor of Frontera NorteSur, a news service available online for no charge.

What started out as a newsletter nine years ago has blossomed into a subscription service with over 1,500 readers, one-third of whom are in Mexico.

“It went online in 1996,” said Bloom, whose service emanates from New Mexico

State University and acts as an outreach program for the Center for Latin American and Border Studies at the Las Cruces University.

“This allowed us to reach more people and save money on mailing costs which we can spend on traveling the border and producing original news."

When Bloom took over the FNS in 1997, the coverage area was limited to Paso del Norte (El Paso and Juarez), but he expanded the reach to the entire 2,000-mile length of the border connecting Mexico and the United States.

The service now focuses on a handful of populated areas from California to Texas, including Reynosa/McAllen and Rio Bravo and Matamoros/Brownsville. But it also attempts to report news from lightly populated areas as it arises.

“About one-third of the readers are professors and graduate students,” Bloom said.

“One-third are in government and another third in the private sector.”

He added that a number of professors have also begun to integrate the daily reading of FNS into their border or development classes.

One of the recent FNS stories was an update on the death of a rape-murder suspect after a police chase near Cuidad Juarez, which happened Feb. 5.

The site tries to plumb the depths of border events, and usually gives more indepth coverage than the average news consumer can get through national or even local channels of information.

The site added photography in 2000 and all stories are archived for easy reference.

Bloom hopes to install a better search engine soon, to aid those doing research on border issues.

To see the site or subscribe for free, go to: http://frontera.nmsu.edu.

sports

Kreuser honored EDINBURG– It’s been over a month and the basketball honors still keep coming. However, this one isn’t coming the men’s way.

The Lady Broncs’ Kelli Kreuser was named to the first team All-Independent squad and named Newcomer of the Year for the 2001-2002 season.

Kreuser was chosen by head coaches and sports information directors at the nine Division I independent schools.

Kreuser averaged 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game this season.

The Bettendorf, Iowa native started all 28 games and averaged more than 37 minutes a game.

Kreuser made 72.7 percent of her free throws and and scored in double figures 23 times, including each of the last 20 games.

Chatman recognized thrice EDINBURG–He’s not done yet. Senior UTPA guard Mire Chatman continues to garner award after award after award. Even six weeks after the season ended.

Chatman was named Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year yesterday by coaches and sports information directors of the Division I independent schools, in addition to being named to the first team All-Independent. Chatman ranked third in Division I in scoring (26.2 points per game) and steals (3.6 per game) this season.

UTPA head coach Bob Hoffman was named Coach of the Year, in his third season at UTPA. Hoffman led the Broncs to their best season in 12 years, posting a 20-10 record, winning the championship of the San Juan Shootout, and receiving consideration for a berth in the National Invitational Tournament.

Senior center Marcus Quinn was also named first team All-Independent. Quinn was UTPA’s leading rebounder, averaging 7.2 rebounds per game, and their second leading scorer, averaging 12.5 points per game.

Junior guard Kevin Mitchell made the second team. Mitchell led UTPA by averaging five assists per game. He was the quarterback of the Broncs’ high-powered offense that ranked 24 nationally in scoring (79.6 points per game) and 21 nationally in field goal percentage (47.7 per cent).

Page 15

By the numbers BASEBALL

BASKETBALL

BRONC LEADERS

BRONCS

Batting Average Juan Saenz Matt Eichel Matt Sisk Adam Farek Tony Ortiz

.435 .344 .324 .304 .258

ALL-INDEPENDENT FIRST TEAM: Mire Chatman, UTPA Brian Evans, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Bruce Fields, Gardner-Webb Marcus Quinn, UTPA Andrew Wisniewski, Centenary

Homeruns Matt Eichel Matt Sisk Jarrad Maddox Sean Flynn Tony Ortiz

2 2 1 1 1

RBI Matt Sisk Matt Eichel Jarrad Maddox Tony Ortiz Sean Flynn Skip Weast

17 9 8 8 8 7

PLAYER OF THE YEAR-Mire Chatman, UTPA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR-Mire Chatman, UTPA NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR-Andrew Wisniewski, Centenary CO-FRESHMEN OF THE YEARJeff Dancy, Lipscomb Otis Daniels, Gardner-Webb Jakob Sigurdarson, Birmingham Southern COACH OF THE YEAR-Bob Hoffman, UTPA

Hits Matt Sisk Jerome McCoy Bruce Kennedy Tony Ortiz Jarrad Maddox

36 31 23 16 11

Runs Matt Sisk Jerome McCoy Jonathan Mason Bruce Kennedy Sean Flynn

19 17 9 12 9

TEAM NUMBERS Batting Average Homeruns RBI Hits Runs

.262 7 96 255 117

* junior guard Kevin Mitchell named to second team All-Independent

LADY BRONCS FIRST TEAM ALL-INDEPENDENT Lindsay Boyett, Birmingham Southern Casey Collins, Gardner-Webb Amy Gearlds, IUPU-Fort Wayne Kelli Kreuser, UTPA Kristin Rogers, Texas A&M-CC PLAYER OF THE YEAR-Lindsay Boyett, Birmingham-Southern NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR - Kelli Kreuser, UTPA FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - Lori Tanner Centenary DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Atia Agee, Birmingham-Southern COACH OF THE YEAR - Frank Bennett, Lipscomb

*baseball stats do not include last night’s game against SWT.

Pitching does Broncs in against Bobcats

By Blake Daniels The Pan American

Just a year ago, the Broncs went 12-40 and thought that it couldn’t get any worse, but their record so far this season suggests otherwise.

Left on their schedule are three teams in the NCAA Baseball Top 25 and one ranked five in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Top 25. The Broncs may not reach last year’s win total.

One problem is that Bronc batters have gone into hibernation at the plate. The team has only 62 hits in 277 at bats in the last nine games. The Broncs took it on the chin and the nose losing 7-3 to Southwest Texas State University Wednesday night in San Marcos.

The Broncs dropped their third straight game.

Senior Ed Marko took the mound against the Bobcats and threw a decent game, giving up six hits and two runs.

The breakdown came in the middle relief, though. Justin Dowd hurled twothirds of an inning only, but gave up four runs on three hits. Dowd’s record dropped to 0-6.

Jacob Casanova started for the Bobcats and pitched six innings, but Michael Gultz improved his record to 2-0 with the win.

The Broncs take their 8-23 record on the road to College Station to take on the 19thranked Aggies of Texas A&M tomorrow at 7 p.m.. The two play a second contest on Saturday at 7 and conclude the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Broncs return to Edinburg Stadium on Tuesday to take on Texas A&MKingsville in a double-header, and April 12-13 to play the Huskies of Houston Baptist in a three-game series. The Huskies are ranked fifth in the NAIA. On Tueday, Justin Bogy dropped to 2-2 with the 14-2 loss to the Bobcats. Mike Calvert relieved Bogy in the middle of the fourth. Mike Killian finished off the last two batters in the eighth after Calvert gave up five runs on three hits in four innings.

The Bobcats started things off with three runs on four hits and one error in the first inning. Then they scored four runs in the third with a three-run home run over the left center wall to highlight the game.

The Bobcats scored two more runs in the fourth on three hits before the Broncs got on the scoreboard when Mission native Marco Garza reached on an error and advanced on a wild pitch. Jerome McCoy doubled to right field to score Garza and Matt Sisk grounded out to shortstop to score McCoy. The Broncs ended the inning with two runs on one hit and two errors.

The Bobcats scored five runs on three hits before the bleeding stopped in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Broncs had seven hits in 35 at bats while leaving 11 on base against the Bobcats. They have left 67 runners on base in the last nine games and 223 this season.

“Our quality at-bats are not good right now,” said head coach Reggie Tredaway.

The stats only corraborate what coach Tredaway said. The Broncs’ team batting average is a measly .262 and the Broncs have only 96 runs batted in compared to their opponents’ 239 RBI. The Broncs are coming off five games in three days. They stole a win in a threegame series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and split with Houston Baptist March 29-31 at Edinburg Stadium.

The Broncs had to switch shortstop McCoy to second base and move Garza to shortstop due to McCoy’s sore throwing arm. The move proved a good choice by Tredaway as McCoy was error-free and stellar at second.

Travis Parker finished off his best effort this season in the top of the ninth by striking out one Islander and getting the next two batters to fly out.

Parker pitched a complete game, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out 10 to improve his season record to 2-6.

“We have had three pitchers sick this week. We played like two different teams in these two games, like night and day,” said assistant baseball coach John Johnson.

After dropping the first game of a double-header to Houston Baptist, Justin Bogy threw the team’s fourth complete game and his first of the season to help the Broncs win 7-2.

“The defense helped me to pitch well.

My curve ball and fast ball were working today. I have so much adrenaline right now I could go another nine,” said Bogy.

The Broncs held a 3-0 lead until the top of the seventh inning when the Huskies scored two runs to pull within one. But the Broncs pulled away with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to put the game away.

Lopez and Sisk reached on errors and Lopez scored after Adam Farek reached on a fielder’s choice. Mission native Juan Saenz doubled to right center to score Garza and Skip Weast singled to center field to score Saenz.

The Broncs added one run when Lopez reached on an error and scored Matt Eichel.

The Huskies scored one run in the ninth before Bogy retired the last batter.

“Pitching made the difference with the way we played in the two games,” Tredaway said.

sports

April 4, 2002

SOCCER

PAGE 3

continued from page 16

compete on a national and Division I level,” Weidner said. “As we seek funds and raise money and community support in Bronc athletic foundation, we’re reinforcing the existing programs.”

Weidner further explained that financing is another reason why UTPA lacks a soccer program.

“It’s certainly an issue that has to be considered because if we were to add any sport, we want to make sure that it is funded properly so that we provide a positive experience for the student athletes that are involved,” Weidner said.

“You can do more damage if you attempt to create a program that’s not properly funded. If you don’t have money to get quality coaching, you’re not going to have a real learning experience.”

There is another possible obstacle to getting soccer back at UTPA. Since the institution of Title IX in 1972, college programs have paid particular attention to gender equity. Title IX prevents colleges and universities from discriminating against athletes based on gender, by mandating equal creation and funding of both men’s and women’s athletics programs. Around the country, men’s sports such as wrestling, swimming, and soccer have been scaled back or eliminated altogether in the quest to ensure equal women’s access to collegiate sports.

But Weidner insists that Title IX is a non-issue in the creation of a soccer program at UTPA.

Page 14

“The direction that we’ve chosen to go is to ensure that women’s sports are fully funded because we feel we match up very well, and have made great strides in addressing 13 components of Title IX since I’ve been here,” Weidner said.

But Lopez also thinks that UTPA should not only bring back men’s soccer, but create a women’s soccer program as well.

“If you look around the high schools, girls are playing in high school now and are getting better and better,’’ Lopez said.

Lopez added he and his former teammates went to a Spanish radio station two months ago trying to learn why UTPA’s soccer program was slashed.

“We had a lot of people calling in explaining that they want to have soccer and would back it up by going to the games,” Lopez said.

Hispanics comprise approximately 85 percent of the Valley population, and the popularity of soccer in Latin American countries all over the world is dominant.

Considering this, Weidner has an open mind about bringing the sport back to UTPA. “Right now I can’t say, but never say never,” Weidner said. “We want a positive experience for our athletes, but at the present time we’re not moving in that direction. It doesn’t mean that we’re not for it.”

NEWS

■ Campus Voice . . . . . 4 ■ Global . . . . . . . . . . .12 ■ Retention . . . . . . . . . 6

Valley author honors Mexican beauties

By Nikki Ramirez The Pan American

A Mexican author has brought back the women of past Mexican cinema.

Rogelio Agrasanchez Jr. was at the University of Texas-Pan American Thursday, March 28 and discussed his new book “Bellezes del Cine Mexicano,” or “Beauties of Mexican Cinema.”

The book is divided into four sections and consists of over 250 black and white and color photographs of some of the most attractive female actresses of the 1940s through the 1960s, according to Agrasanchez.

Agrasanchez added that there were

many fans interested in beautiful female performers.

No one had published a book with images of all the Mexican stars so he began collecting graphic material and information. “ It took me two years to research and publish the book,” Agrasanchez said.

As a member of a family involved in the Mexican film industry, Agrasanchez has been writing books on Mexican cinema since 1995 and has published six books.

“The main idea behind this and other books that I have published is to introduce the general audience to Mexican movies — especially the

R o gelio Agrasanchez Jr.

Golden Age (1936-1956),” Agrasanchez said. “ I believe that this twenty-year period is one of the most attractive

and interesting periods of world cinema.”

Before Agrasanchez began writing books on Mexican cinema, he did research on 19th-century Mexican history.

Agrasanchez is from Mexico City and attended St. Edward’s University and the University of Texas at Austin.

He acquired a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in philosophy and continued his education by earning a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies.

Anyone interested in purchasing his new book can find it at the Hidalgo County Historical Museum in Edinburg or via the Internet at www.agrasfilms.com.

UTPA journalists compete at TIPA The Pan American Staff Feedback on performance comes in many packages. In college journalism, it results from student, staff, and faculty readership and comment. It also manifests itself in the form of awards from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.

When nine journalists from the University of Texas-Pan American attended the yearly TIPA conference in Fort Worth last week, they participated in on-site skills competitions and collected several awards for college publication work from the past fall semester.

There were over 30 Texas schools represented at the conference, held at the Radisson in downtown Fort Worth. Schools were sectioned off by enrollment for the fall work review, with UTPA in Division II, a section below major schools such as Texas A&M and the University of Texas. The on-site competitions lumped students of all schools into one free-for-all group.

In a review of last semester's work, The Pan American student newspaper finished fifth overall in its division. There were several students who won individual awards, including page designer Gabe Hernandez.

He received one second-place certificate and one honorable mention.

Current editor Matt Lynch placed in one category while former editor Ryan Henry placed in three. Current entertainment editor Ashley Brooks made a strong showing for the school, garnering three awards.

Melissa Ciomperlik, this semester's copy editor, placed first in the public relations crisis management on-site competition, and Eladio Jaimez came home second in the sports writing event.

The Gallery student literary magazine also brought home a handful of awards for last year's magazine, including second place overall in its division. Dara Kayla De la Rosa won first place and a third for illustration, while Edward De los Reyes took a second with his feature photo.

Matt Lynch/The Pan American

ROLLOVER University police fill out a report for the two-car accident that occurred Monday morning on Sugar Road just north of the crosswalk. The accident occurred when a 2000 Saturn SL (right) hit an ‘89 Pontiac Grand Am from the rear and flipped over the top of it, landing upside down, according to police. The driver of the Saturn sustained minimal injuries and the driver of the Grand Am, along with four children and one adult, were not injured.

THE PAN AMERICAN

April 4, 2002

Campus VO I C E

Page 4

April 4, 2002

THE PAN AMERICAN

Should the US be directly involved in the IsraelPalestine conflict?

– Anna Stwora

Fabian Cuellar Psychology Junior We shouldn’t risk anymore American lives and I think we have enough problems of our own.

Nazli Cantu Theater Junior No. They shouldn’t get involved because the US should take care of its conflicts before engaging in others.

Albert Contreras Pharmacy Junior Definitely. Because I figure if we don’t then the US will be affected eventually.

REPRODUCTIVE SERVICES & ADOPTION AFFILIATES SINCE 1973

Abby Lopez Spanish Sophomore

WE UNDERSTAND... WE CARE... AND WE HELP

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Daniel Pallais Computer Science Senior No. We agreed that there shouldn’t be any US involvement in their conflict.

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April 4, 2002

CAMPUS LIFE

■

What students are doing at UTPA

Faculty union has clout

By Belinda Reyes

Homosexual group seeks identity

By Celeste Y. Tello The Pan American

Denim Day gave them their 15 minutes of fame at the University of Texas-Pan American, but the misinterpreted posters were part of a message that this often marginalized group is trying to convey to the public.

The Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual Alliance (GLOBAL) co-sponsored Denim Day on March 7 to make a point that people should be judged not by their exteriors, but by the content of their character. Posters advertising the event were placed throughout the UTPA campus. Some posters had pictures of jeans while others bore pictures of the lower halves of people wearing jeans.

A letter to the editor of The Pan American expressed Samuel Cook’s opinion of Denim Day. According to Cook, it didn’t make sense to pick a general clothing item, such as jeans, to demonstrate affiliation with GLOBAL. In a later issue, GLOBAL president Nyssa Cruz, responded by saying that the point of the posters was not to demonstrate

affiliation but to show that “no one can judge a book by its cover.”

All controversy aside, GLOBAL is a recognized organization at UTPA. The organization has 36 members with about 15-20 active members.

Three-quarters of the organization is comprised of females. Nearly 10 percent of that population is known as the straight alliance. The straight alliance is a faction of the members who are heterosexual and still active in the organization.

“The straight alliance is there for support and to bounce ideas off,” Cruz said. “They help neutralize clashing ideologies.”

Numbers about nation-wide membership in homosexual clubs are hard to pin down.

Members of another GLOBAL organization, at Canada’s Wilfrid Laurier University, claim that they do not have a regular attendance, but that their “membership” is at about 50.

Laurier’s GLOBAL has 60 percent male members, and currently has no straight alliance. The group works to provide a supportive, positive, safe environment for gay, lesbian or bisexual individuals in the

Education expo heralds job opportunities for students

By Nikki Ramirez The Pan American

May is just around the corner, and students are getting ready to graduate.

For University of Texas-Pan American students majoring in education, UTPA’s Office of Career Placement Services is offering a teacher job expo Thursday April 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in The Fieldhouse.

UTPA’s Office of Career Placement Services work with the College of Education to have local school district representatives come on campus to interview students and inform them of career opportunities in education available in the area.

“It’s a chance for students to ask about salary, weigh their options and see which school and school district they would be interested in working at,” said Velinda Reyes, assistant director of the Office of Career Placement Services.

The teacher job expo is geared specifically to the College of Education, but any student interested in the field of education can attend and participate in the job expo.

“Anybody that is undecided whether education is something they want to do can come talk to the participants and ask them the daily work life of a teacher,” Reyes said.

According to Reyes, between 60 and 90 employers (schools) will attend the expo, including representatives from local school

districts, throughout Texas and outside of Texas.

The job expo benefits student teachers graduating in May because it allows them to visit with all the schools in one setting.

“We bring the school districts to the students, and we bring the job opportunities to them,” Reyes said. “ So we try to encourage the students to utilize it and take advantage of the job expo.”

It is recommended that students bring several resumes to hand out to different employers, giving an opportunity to be interviewed by prospective employers on the spot.

“We do advise students to come dressed professionally and to come with several resumes to hand out and a general cover letter introducing themselves” Reyes said.

The Office of Career Placement Services has eight career fairs throughout the year. The next event is the Health Science Job Expo April 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the north quad directly behind the student union.

This fair is held to get hospitals, government agencies and private industry to come down and provide students with career opportunities and inform them of what is available.

Reyes also added that if a student in Health Science and Human Services wishes to talk to a certain organization they can contact the Career Placement Services so they can send that particular organization an invitation.

Laurier community.

Cruz describes UTPA’s GLOBAL as “more of a support group” and a non-profit organization.

“We want people to know that it’s okay if they are gay, they will be accepted...our organization is here for support,” Cruz said.

GLOBAL is only one of the many gay alliances or organizations in the United States, according to the Valley Aids Council. It is difficult to tell how many gay organizations are in the United States., said a spokesperson at the council, who added that individuals on college campuses are probably more exposed to gay movements than the general population.

While one of GLOBAL’s main goals is to reach out to the gay community and provide support, it is currently in the process of restructuring its organization.

GLOBAL is currently working with organizations such as GLADD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) to ensure that they are following acceptable guidelines during the restructuring process.

“We’re trying to organize a somewhat disorganized organization,” Cruz said.

According to Cruz, the organization is currently rewriting its constitution, which was last revised in 1999. GLOBAL is also looking into a new name.

“They [GLOBAL] have been looking at a name change to make their purpose more clear,” said temporary adviser Christine Carruthers.

Carruthers said that the organization has been stronger this year than in past years, adding that GLOBAL has been trying to increase its participation in campus life.

GLOBAL took part in the “Stop the Hate” campaign this spring, where Cruz spoke about the need for open-mindedness and the need to be less judgmental about people. Aside from that on-campus activity, GLOBAL will be hosting a gay film festival at Montroe’s this weekend.

UTPA’s GLOBAL usually conducts informal meetings due to the hectic schedules of many members. Cruz hopes to implement a more formal meeting schedule in the future.

“I usually meet with some of the members between classes or on the phone,” said Cruz.

THE PAN AMERICAN

The Pan American

The Texas Faculty Association (TFA) is the state’s largest organization serving the interests and rights of university faculty.

On a local level, the Pan American United Faculty (PAUF) is the organization that represents University of Texas-Pan American in the state TFA with 109 tenuretrack members, according to Dr. Ken Buckman, professor of philosophy and president of PAUF. Buckman also serves on the executive committee of the state organization.

“Our campus has the largest membership (in the state) and by far we have the largest percentage of membership in the state,” Buckman said. “We have 109 members that are full-time tenured. That is a very large percentage and we have a tremendous influence at the state level.”

Charles Zucker, executive director of TFA, lobbies the legislature in support of faculty issues and been an instrumental in getting legislation to protect faculty rights, Buckman added.

At UTPA, PAUF helps members with any concerns that they may have within departments.

“We disseminate information face to face on issues that concern [members] locally.

We find grievance officers and [assign] them to [members] who may have problems in the department and try to resolve issues,” said Buckman.

“A lot of times administration can view the organization as antagonistic, but it is not about “us versus them,” we want to establish good working relationships between faculty and administration.”

SGA

Thomas Pozorski, professor of anthropology and treasurer and secretary for PAUF, feels that TFA provides a number of benefits to members such as legal counsel, optional life insurance, and discounts at certain hotels.

“TFA has done remarkably well in supporting legislative bills that help faculty and state universities and in general, have helped keep harmful legislation from becoming law,” Pozorski said.

“That is why TFA is vital for helping to maintain a quality university system and a quality core of faculty.”

Dr. James Aldridge, professor of psychology and president of TFA, said the history of the PAUF predates the existance of TFA. What is now known as PAUF was founded in 1981. TFA was founded in 1985 by a group of organizations including PAUF. Aldridge is serving his first term as president and running unopposed for a second term.

“Higher education faculty in Texas never had much clout. My personal goal is to remedy that and put together a strong organization,” Aldridge said.

Before TFA, there were organizations that PAUF cooperated with, American Federation of Teachers and American Organizations of University Professors.

The heirarchy begins with National Education Association and consists of Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) and TFA as the higher education division of TSTA. The TFA provides a monthly newsletter to all university faculty members that contains information about faculty laws, budgets for pay raises, and other topics.

continued from page 1

Vaughn, sophomore Francisco Vielma, senior Alyssa Munoz and junior Efrain Molina Jr. are all vying for SGA’s top position.

“Students have many tickets to choose from this year,” Garza said. “All of the candidates are very qualified.”

At press time, Garza was hard-pressed to pick any one candidate or ticket who was favored in the minds of students.

“Everyone has a good shot. It depends on campaigning and who students are seeing,” she said.

Garza feels all of the candidates have something to offer students, regardless of which candidates the final vote favors.

“It will be a learning experience for all of the candidates,” Garza said. “They are all qualified and eager to do something for students.”

Page 5

THE PAN AMERICAN

April 4, 2002

Page 6

Programs aid student performance URAP has eight separate plans designed to bolster retention rates

By Melissa Ciomperlik The Pan American

Many college students dread math courses, so the University of Texas-Pan American has implemented a project that may make college algebra easier and more comprehendible to students.

The University Retention Advisement Program was designed to fulfill UTPA’s goals to increase retention and graduation rates.

“The university itself has undergone lots of changes to help increase retention and graduation rates,” said Monica Trevino, student development specialist of URAP. “So we came along as one of their strategies.”

URAP started in 1999 and consists of one overall assistant director and six student development specialists, one within each of the university’s six colleges.

The student development specialists help students integrate into the university community and provide academic advisement for undeclared students.

URAP offers a variety of academic retention programs to students, including one that helps students pass college algebra. UTPA’s math department designed the College Algebra Project in spring 1998 and URAP joined the effort in 1999 to help increase the pass rate of the course.

“It was taking our students an average of two and a half to three times to get through the college algebra course,” said Rene Torres, lecturer in the mathematics department and coordinator of the College Algebra Project.

The College Algebra Project requires students to register for an additional classroom hour that gives them increased interaction with the professor and other members of the class. It also allows them the opportunity to have more frequent evaluations in the form of exams and quizzes.

Some students and professors say the increased interaction is what makes the project successful.

NEW PROGRAMS CSBS approval, the only thing left to do is offer the classes and graduate the first candidates with a clinical psychology doctoral degree.

“My hope is that within two or three years this will be off the ground,” Garcia said. “ Everyone in the community is excited about this and so are we.”

UTPA currently offers Ph.D.s in business administration (with an emphasis in international business), pharmacy, and educational leadership.

In addition to helping with the College Algebra Project, URAP heads a number of other different retention programs. The Early Warning System is a

fairly new program that started at UTPA in Fall 2000.

EWS is a device that targets primarily first-and-second-year students, or anyone who is enrolled in a gateway course such as history, political science, English, biology and math, all of which have high failure rates.

Gateway courses are those required for all students to take, and which lead to more advanced courses.

EWS allows the professor to receive a roster for their class in which they can check any of four categories to let students know when they have excessive absences, a low class average, when they should be referred to tutoring and when they submit incomplete work.

This roster is then put into the computer and letters are mailed out to students.

“We advise them early on so they can go to the faculty or they can come to us and hopefully they can pick up their average before it’s too late in the semester,” Trevino said.

There are currently 60 course sections that have the EWS available and there have been approximately 146 sections and 125 faculty members involved since Fall 2000.

According to Trevino, on average, nearly 60 professors are asked to participate and of those, 70 percent actually participate and fill out the information.

Professors are asked to contribute on a voluntary basis.

“We have had really great results with the faculty participation,” Trevnio said.

“They have been great.”

There are plans to put this service online in Fall 2002 and eventually make it available to all UTPA professors.

URAP offers an assortment of other projects, including the Fourth Hour Project, Learning Communities, the Honors Program, the Teacher Recruitment Center, and the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences program, in addition to the College Algebra Project and the Early Warning System.

stages and a preliminary proposal was put together only last year. The proposal would go before the graduate council and then the college could begin offering classes.

Garcia said it is time UTPA prepares professionals in international politics and foreign policy, especially following the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

“We have to consider the whole issue of globalization and its effects on multinational corporations,” Garcia said, adding that the graduate program would

be interdisciplinary and will include the College of Business and Arts and Humanities.

Garcia said a professional in foreign affairs should be sensitive to diverse cultures, and fluent in various languages.

Just like the graduate program in public administration, the international politics program must go before the graduate council and be approved before classes can be offered.

Next Week: the College of Business.

“

Originally there was a little uncertainty with some of the students but word has gotten around. Students are hearing that these are good classes. The professors are good and they care about you learning, so students are signing up for these classes. das

”

df

“We get an opportunity to cover more material,” said Monika Hannah, freshman pre-med major and participant in the project. “A lot of students are shy and don’t like to ask questions, but in here they feel comfortable.”

“We try to be clear and up front from the very beginning,” Torres said. “We feel that if you tell students what you want them to know, then they’ll go off and learn it.”

The project is open to all students who meet the prerequisites for the college algebra course, and it requires students to sign up for an additional lab hour that they do not have to pay for.

There are currently six faculty members working with the project and 18 college algebra sections available through the project.

Plans are in the works to make all of the college algebra courses part of the project, according to Torres. There are currently five sections that are threehour classes and not part of the project.

“This is primarily a commuter school,” Torres said. “We found that there were a limited number of students who would actually stay for extra quality time, either going to tutoring or coming in during office hours.”

The success rate of the program has caused those students who were leery of the additional hour to now welcome the project with open arms.

“Originally, there was a little uncer-

-Monica Trevino Student Development Specialist tainty with some of the students…but word has gotten around,” Trevino said.

“Students are hearing that these are good classes. The professors are good and they care about you learning, so students are signing up for these classes.”

The pass rate (a grade of C or higher) of students who are enrolled in the project compared to that of non-enrolees shows that the project has helped students.

In Fall 2001, there was a 78-percent pass rate for students enrolled in the College Algebra Project and a 39-percent pass rate for those just enrolled in the three-hour class itself.

In Fall 2001, there were 574 students enrolled in the project and 171 enrolled in just the three-hour classes.

This was up from Fall 2000, when 400 students were enrolled in the project and 398 were enrolled in the threehour courses.

“We surveyed the students [in the project] and over 90 percent of the students that were surveyed all said that the fourth hour was worth it,” Torres said.

OTHER RETENTION EFFORTS

continued from page 1 The CSBS also plans to make changes and improve a few existing graduate programs. Garcia said the college is currently talking about evolving the graduate program in public administration.

“We want to create an area of specialization, maybe in public health,” Garcia said. “We have future community leaders, politicians and government officials that will come out of this program.”

Garcia said another graduate program in the works is in international politics.

He said this program is in the very early

April 4, 2002

THE PAN AMERICAN

Page 11

Arts & Entertainment

April 4, 2002

UPB provides campus entertainment

By Elizabeth Martinez The Pan American

Tuesday evening, the Student Union at the University of Texas-Pan American was decorated to look like a coffee house, and filled with people gathered to hear folk musician Steven Jackson.

This was one of the many events sponsored by the University Program Board which is set up to allow students to host programs or events on campus that are of interest to students.

Five student committees comprise

“The movie program provides entertainment to students in school, those who live on campus and people in the community,” said Sara Sanchez, chair of the Diversions Committee.

The Special Events Committee is in charge of larger annual events such as the Carnival of the Great Pumpkin, Bronc Olympics, and Parent/Child Day Picnic.

The Showcase Committee organizes smaller (weekly or monthly) coffee house-style productions on campus.

Including Jackson’s performance.

Students involved in the committee

Anna Stwora/The Pan American

Guitarist and singer Steven Jackson performed Tuesday in the Student Union Food Court as one of the events sponsored by the University Program Board.

UPB. Diversions Committee is responsible for the movie programming on campus. In April, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius” and “Ali” are scheduled to be presented in the Student Union. Diversions has the advantage of showcasing movies before they are released on VHS or DVD.

ALCALA

listen to a pile of CDs, make decisions on the talent booked, and coordinate publicity.

The Ideas and Issues Committee focuses on health and cultural issues such as AIDS Awareness Day, Earth Day, or Hispanic Heritage Month. For these events, educational programs are arranged and lecturers are invited to speak on campus.

The Band Booking Committee controls all aspects of musical entertainment. It recently produced Acoustic Night, a competition between UTPA students who play acoustic guitar.

This event gave students an opportunity to perform in front of their peers.

On April 9, Recycled Percussion, a band that creates music using recycled material, is scheduled to perform at the Student Union.

“UPB is an educational and cultural form of entertainment for students and gets them exposed to something they wouldn’t receive in the classroom,” said Hector Leal, UPB president.

“It gives students a chance to relax between classes and meet other students.”

Gregg Simmons, assistant director and adviser of UPB, said that the purpose of the program is not only to enhance the out-of-classroom experience, but provide a learning experience to members.

He said that each committee is student-run and each event is produced by students.

“We try to get the students to do most of the work,” said Simmons, who believes that through student involvement, a better idea of what students want is achieved.

With all of this action going on around campus, coordinators are surprised the student turnout isn’t higher.

Despite solid turnouts at some events, Simmons questions why more students do not take advantage of what UPB has to offer. He explained how the Carnival of the Great Pumpkin drew 1,000 people, including children, compared to the 13,000 students enrolled at UTPA. The funding for UPB comes from student activity fees and Student Union fees, receiving no money from the state. That’s why most events are free to students who present a valid college identification card.

“Students are paying the fees, so they should attend the events,” Simmons said. “I would like to see every person who attends school to show up to at least one event.”

“The first thing I would like to do is increase membership, then increase attendance and eventually increase the number of events we produce,” said Simmons. “I’d like to make everything bigger and better.”

Page 10

The

CULTURE CLUB What students like to read, listen to and surf.

Around Town

Pamela Reyes Sophomore Psychology CD: “Much Afraid”

by Jars of Clay Book: “The Outsiders”

by S.E. Hinton Movie: “Dazed and Confused”

Maritza Cantu Freshman Music CD: “A Perfect Circle”

by Mer de Noms Book: “Count of Monte Cristo”

by Alexander Dumas Movie: “Sense and Sensibility”

continued from page 7

been given the title of “Latino author.”

It’s a small title that carries a lot of weight.

Some authors with multicultural backgrounds find it difficult to reach mass audiences because their books are given a title like “Latino,” “Native American” or “African American.”

“I know a psychologist who is African American,

and when she finds her books just with the AfricanAmerican writers, she moves them over to the nonfiction/psychology books, which will be seen by many more people of all backgrounds.”

But whatever title she is given, Alcala’s focus is clear.

“What people call me doesn’t change who I am, or what I write about. Like

all writers, I hope that what I write has some universal basis and appeal,” Alcala said. “All good writing, from Shakespeare’s sonnets to Joanna Russ’s science fiction, is about the human condition. “ Although the road to achieving her dreams was fraught with difficulty, Alcala’s story is not based on pity, but instead is based on her strength as an indi-

vidual, her family and her heritage. She knew what she wanted and strove for it.

“Now that I have the opportunity to teach and lecture, I try to extend the ‘possibilities’ of being a writer, or achieving in other ways, to people who might feel as I did,” Alcala said.

“You cannot strive for something before you can imagine it. You have to know it’s there.”

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

PAGE 7

Sean Tempelton Freshman Comp. Graphics Website: dimmu-borgir.com Book: “Paradise Lost”

by John Milton Movie: “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”

Taste of the Valley 2002 April 4 from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Tickets: Tickets are $10 Place: Pharr International Convention Center Info: Various Valley restaurants give out samples of their food to patrons.

Call: (956) 787-1481 Harry Potter, and the Sorcerer’s Stone April 4 at 2 p.m. (student preview), April 5 at 2 and 6 p.m. and April 6 at 2 p.m.

Price: Students are free with a valid UTPA identification card, general admission is $1, and children under 12 are free with adult supervision (limit 5 children per adult).

Refreshments are free.

Place: Student Union Theater 3rd Annual Symphony in the Park April 6 Event: The award winning UTB/TSC Jazz Band will perform to benefit the Brownsville Literacy Center.

Place: Washington Park in Brownsville.

Faculty Trio Concert April 7 at 3 p.m.

Price: General admission is $3 and $2 for UTPA students with identification and senior citizens.

Place: Fine Arts Auditorium.

Call: (956) 381-3471 Psychology Colloquium April 9 from noon to 1 p.m.

Event: “Examining Basic Assumptions: Fertile Ground for Research,” by Dr. Grant Bentham.

Place: Room 119 in the SBS building.

■ Oscar Adame . . . .8 - 9 ■ UPB . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Weaving history and culture Author Kathleen Alcala uses her personal and family history, as well as her culture, as the basis for a number of novels and short stories

By Ashley Brooks The Pan American

To a writer, words mean everything. But especially when those words span cultural boundaries.

For author Kathleen Alcala, her ability to borrow words from both English and Spanish gives her an advantage in reaching readers of various cultures. But Alcala’s multicultural background, outside of writing, has had its disadvantages.

Alcala, an award-winning author of “Mrs. Vargas and the Dead Naturalist,” “Spirits of the Ordinary,” “The Flower in the Skull” and “Treasures in Heaven,” will read excerpts from her novels, sign books, and answer questions tonight in the Student Union Theater at 7:30 p.m.

She was raised in San Bernardino, Calif., an inland working town (about 64 miles from Los Angeles) that seemed secluded from the rest of society.

“We were aware that there was a world out there, but other than knowing that the world had a beach, we weren’t too sure about it,” Alcala said.

The community she lived in reflected the unrest of the 1960s, as changes and tribulations shook communities worldwide. Despite changing mind-sets around the nation, the San Bernardino area seemed to hold fast to stereotypes about non-white cultures.

“I came of age during the post’60s ‘hangover’; both Kennedys, MLK and Ruben Salazar had all been shot, and the [San Bernardino] Police Department dispatched their SWAT team on a regular basis to quell race riots at

KATHLEEN ALCALA

my high school,” Alcala said. “My father taught social studies at the baddest junior high in town, so his students knew me in [high school], which probably accounts for the fact that I am still alive.”

Armed police officers patrolled the rooftops of Alcala’s high school and anyone who could not prove where they were during a riot, or who appeared in a photo of a riot in the local newspaper, was automatically suspended.

While the road to reaching her potential took hard work and selfmotivation, Alcala’s efforts were eventually rewarded with a scholarship to attend Stanford University.

“

I didn’t know any writers growing up, but I was always drawn to the written word.

”

- Kathleen Alcala Author

“We may have had a dream [beyond San Bernardino], but no one was going to make it easy for us.”

According to Alcala, she comes from a working class MexicanAmerican family. Her father’s parents walked across the border from Jalisco, Mexico, to work for the railroads after losing almost everything in the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1917, a story not unlike that of other emigrating families of the time. Despite the hard times such families faced, her family was given an opportunity that many still dream of having come true: the chance to make a better life for themselves.

But the dream was double-edged in terms of social acceptance.

“The fact that my father was pulled off a truck of orange pickers and sent to Redlands University tuition-free meant that we skipped

a generation in terms of education,” Alcala said. “But not in terms of social attitudes.”

Alcala followed in the footsteps left by her father by attending college herself, but the battle to step out of the stereotypes of the time proved more difficult when some students at Stanford couldn’t look past the color of her skin.

Although she received the scholarships on her own merit, the racial tensions of the time began to surface when she was accepted to the college considered “the Harvard of the West.”

“I know I had a big chip on my shoulder that served as selfdefense. It served me well in a university full of extremely privileged people who assumed that I received ‘special consideration’ to get in...”

Alcala said that while at Stanford, she battled preconceived notions of other students who believed she was accepted based on her color, not her mind.

“When I got to Stanford, the general assumption by the white students was that all non-white students had been admitted according to lower standards. They said this to our faces. The only way to prove them wrong was to get better grades than they did.”

During her time at Stanford, Alcala studied linguistics and psychology, and found that writing for the Stanford Daily, the school newspaper, fulfilled part of her interest in writing. Alcala had always enjoyed writing, but found that doing it as a career was not considered an ideal profession.

“It was not a time when people were encouraged to be ‘writers,’ per se. Most of my classmates were pre-law or pre-med. Plus, I did not know any writers, so I focused my interest on language itself,” Alcala said. “I didn’t know any writers growing up, but I was always drawn to the written word.”

Although being a professional writer was a far cry from being a psychologist, Alcala hit a turning point in her life, while still at college, that pushed her love of writing further. A friend gave her a copy of the book “The New Journalism” and told her to read a particular essay about Alcala’s hometown.

‘SPIRITS OF THE ORDINARY’

‘SPIRITS OF THE ORDINARY’ (TRANSLATED)

‘FLOWERS IN SKULL’

THE

(TRANSLATED) “The essay was ‘Dreamers of the Golden Dream’ and that experience was a testament to the power of the printed word. It was also the first time I read about a place I know, people I recognized.”

Since graduating from Stanford in 1976, Alcala has published four novels, several of which are based on family stories from Mexico, and has had a number of short stories, reviews and articles published. Throughout the span of her writing career, Alcala has also See ALCALA page 10

April 4, 2002

Arts & Entertainment

T h e

“

Page 8

R OA

I remember his smile and thought he would make a very good T V pitchman, which is what he was for such a long time.

”

- Marian Monta

By Melissa Ciomperlik The Pan American

Melissa Ciomperlik/ The Pan American

Oscar Adame remembers being 34 years old and embarking on a new chapter in his life.

In fact, it was here at the University of Texas-Pan American where he decided to do just that and finish his degree after a long interruption.

Although it may seem as if he took the long way around, Adame’s life and career has been fulfilling, giving him a wealth of experience he will never forget.

Adame has been a news anchor at KRGV-TV Channel 5 since 1999, but has an extensive resume that reveals he is truly a jack-of-all-trades.

Adame grew up in Donna and graduated from Donna High School in 1972, starting college at UTPA the same year. With an increasingly demanding work schedule, he decided to put school on hold for a while, after attending for four semesters.

Adame’s radio career began in 1977 at KBFM where he stayed for two years until he decided to move to the Houston area to work for an oil field and shipping company. He soon decided to come back to the Valley in 1980 and was married that same year to his wife, Cris. That’s when he decided to finish what he had started at UTPA, enrolling part-time and going back to work at KBFM. He joined KRGV radio, a Top 40 station, in 1980 as the afternoon DJ, and also worked in on-camera produc-

Page 9

30 YEARS OF OSCAR

less

D TRAVELED

KRGV-TV Channel 5 news anchor Oscar Adame tells of his travels from Donna to Houston and back, high school graduate to UTPA alumnus, and everything in between

UTPA communication professor

Oscar Adame joined KRGV-TV Channel 5 in 1999 as a news anchor.

Arts & Entertainment

April 4, 2002

tion and television news.

“As I look back now, production was always my favorite part about radio,” Adame said.

On the job, Adame said he was given a script and told to make something of it, which he did.

“You had to be a little creative and it at least gave you the opportunity to be creative,” Adame said.

During this time, Adame was going to school in the morning and working fulltime in the afternoon. His oldest daughter, Andra, was born in 1981 and his priority quickly became focused on providing for the family rather than finishing school.

“It became more important to work full-time at that particular time in my life,” Adame said.

In 1988, Adame took a look at his career and wondered if he wanted to do radio broadcasting for the rest of his life.

“It was getting to a point where my pay wasn’t going to get any better,” Adame said. “So, it was really wanting more out of life and career.”

That same year he decided to go back to UTPA as a full-time student, at age 34.

“Going back to school was fun,”

“

said Adame. “I knew I just had a little more to go.”

Three of his professors at the time are still teaching at UTPA today and all attest to Adame’s great personality and dedication.

“What I recall most about him was his constantly pleasant personality,” said Marian Monta, communication professor at UTPA. “He always seemed to be in a good mood--cheerful. I remember his smile and thought he would make a very good TV pitchman, - Oscar Adame which is what he News anchor was for such a long time.”

George McLemore, associate professor of communication at UTPA, remembers Adame as being an energetic student who always had such interesting speeches because he had an attractive voice.

“He was just an all-around fine student,” McLemore said. “He had a really good sense of humor.”

Jack Stanley, professor of communication at UTPA, said that Adame always took his work seriously and kept his focus, absorbing everything that was given to him.

It was these qualities that his professors saw years ago that led him to earn a degree and eventually hold several

Take all of life’s experiences and file them away, because you never know when you might be needing that.

”

positions in public relations, marketing, sales and to even own his own business.

In 1990, Adame worked as director of public relations marketing for McAllen Medical Center Rehabilitation Institute for nine months and left to become a pharmaceutical sales representative.

He was a sales representative for Bristol-Myers until 1994 when he and his wife decided to start their own business, Mi Casa Home Care. In 1999, they sold their business because it was consuming too much of their time.

Once he sold his business he began another job hunt and was just about to accept another pharmaceutical sales position when KRGV-TV called and told Adame about an open position for a weekend anchor and weekday reporter.

“This was something that I had wanted to do since I worked in radio here [at KRGV],” said Adame. “The door never did open and now the door was opening.”

Adame had wanted to do TV when he was in radio and finally 15 years later, made the career change. He currently works as a news anchor at Channel 5 News and has lived in McAllen for 20 years with his wife and two daughters Andra, 20, Alina, 15 and son, Adrian, 11.

He was on campus last year and noticed the changes that have taken place at UTPA, since he was last here.

“I was really impressed,” Adame

said. “I hadn’t been there in such a long time, but it looked very nice.”

Adame feels that education is very important and tells high school students and even his own daughter, a sophomore at UTPA, to take advantage of the time they have in school.

“As I look back now, going to college and getting my degree gave me the confidence that I could do anything that I wanted,” Adame said.

“I have done so many different things,” Adame said.

“Had I not had my degree—bottom line, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of that.”

Adame said there are so many options out there for students right now, from four-year colleges to technical schools.

“Whatever that choice is, go in complete and finish,” Adame said. “The bottom line is to go and get your degree. Then if you decide to go and do something different, you can.”

When asked if he had a message for students, he replied with advice that he has learned over the years.

“Take advantage of the time you have because it’s so easy to get side tracked,” Adame said. “Just stay focused and really follow your heart.”

“Sometimes you have to long take the long way around,” Adame said.

“But, learn as much as you can about everything you can. Take all of life’s experiences and file them away, because you never know when you might be needing that.”

• 1972 - Began college at UTPA. • 1977-79 - Worked at KBFM radio station in the Valley.

• 1979 - Moved to Houston area.

• 1980 - Returned to the Valley, got married, started college at UTPA again, worked at KRGV radio as a DJ. • 1988 - Went back to UTPA as a fulltime student.

• 1990 - Worked as director of ppublic relations marketing for McAllen Medical Center Rehabilitation Institute.

• 1990-94 Pharmaceutical Sales Representative for Bristol-Myers.

• 1994 - Opened his own business, Mi Casa Home Care, with his wife, Cris.

• 1999 - Started working at KRGV-TV Channel 5 as a weekend anchor and weekday reporter.

• Currently Weekday news anchor for KRGV-TV Channel 5.

April 4, 2002

Arts & Entertainment

T h e

“

Page 8

R OA

I remember his smile and thought he would make a very good T V pitchman, which is what he was for such a long time.

”

- Marian Monta

By Melissa Ciomperlik The Pan American

Melissa Ciomperlik/ The Pan American

Oscar Adame remembers being 34 years old and embarking on a new chapter in his life.

In fact, it was here at the University of Texas-Pan American where he decided to do just that and finish his degree after a long interruption.

Although it may seem as if he took the long way around, Adame’s life and career has been fulfilling, giving him a wealth of experience he will never forget.

Adame has been a news anchor at KRGV-TV Channel 5 since 1999, but has an extensive resume that reveals he is truly a jack-of-all-trades.

Adame grew up in Donna and graduated from Donna High School in 1972, starting college at UTPA the same year. With an increasingly demanding work schedule, he decided to put school on hold for a while, after attending for four semesters.

Adame’s radio career began in 1977 at KBFM where he stayed for two years until he decided to move to the Houston area to work for an oil field and shipping company. He soon decided to come back to the Valley in 1980 and was married that same year to his wife, Cris. That’s when he decided to finish what he had started at UTPA, enrolling part-time and going back to work at KBFM. He joined KRGV radio, a Top 40 station, in 1980 as the afternoon DJ, and also worked in on-camera produc-

Page 9

30 YEARS OF OSCAR

less

D TRAVELED

KRGV-TV Channel 5 news anchor Oscar Adame tells of his travels from Donna to Houston and back, high school graduate to UTPA alumnus, and everything in between

UTPA communication professor

Oscar Adame joined KRGV-TV Channel 5 in 1999 as a news anchor.

Arts & Entertainment

April 4, 2002

tion and television news.

“As I look back now, production was always my favorite part about radio,” Adame said.

On the job, Adame said he was given a script and told to make something of it, which he did.

“You had to be a little creative and it at least gave you the opportunity to be creative,” Adame said.

During this time, Adame was going to school in the morning and working fulltime in the afternoon. His oldest daughter, Andra, was born in 1981 and his priority quickly became focused on providing for the family rather than finishing school.

“It became more important to work full-time at that particular time in my life,” Adame said.

In 1988, Adame took a look at his career and wondered if he wanted to do radio broadcasting for the rest of his life.

“It was getting to a point where my pay wasn’t going to get any better,” Adame said. “So, it was really wanting more out of life and career.”

That same year he decided to go back to UTPA as a full-time student, at age 34.

“Going back to school was fun,”

“

said Adame. “I knew I just had a little more to go.”

Three of his professors at the time are still teaching at UTPA today and all attest to Adame’s great personality and dedication.

“What I recall most about him was his constantly pleasant personality,” said Marian Monta, communication professor at UTPA. “He always seemed to be in a good mood--cheerful. I remember his smile and thought he would make a very good TV pitchman, - Oscar Adame which is what he News anchor was for such a long time.”

George McLemore, associate professor of communication at UTPA, remembers Adame as being an energetic student who always had such interesting speeches because he had an attractive voice.

“He was just an all-around fine student,” McLemore said. “He had a really good sense of humor.”

Jack Stanley, professor of communication at UTPA, said that Adame always took his work seriously and kept his focus, absorbing everything that was given to him.

It was these qualities that his professors saw years ago that led him to earn a degree and eventually hold several

Take all of life’s experiences and file them away, because you never know when you might be needing that.

”

positions in public relations, marketing, sales and to even own his own business.

In 1990, Adame worked as director of public relations marketing for McAllen Medical Center Rehabilitation Institute for nine months and left to become a pharmaceutical sales representative.

He was a sales representative for Bristol-Myers until 1994 when he and his wife decided to start their own business, Mi Casa Home Care. In 1999, they sold their business because it was consuming too much of their time.

Once he sold his business he began another job hunt and was just about to accept another pharmaceutical sales position when KRGV-TV called and told Adame about an open position for a weekend anchor and weekday reporter.

“This was something that I had wanted to do since I worked in radio here [at KRGV],” said Adame. “The door never did open and now the door was opening.”

Adame had wanted to do TV when he was in radio and finally 15 years later, made the career change. He currently works as a news anchor at Channel 5 News and has lived in McAllen for 20 years with his wife and two daughters Andra, 20, Alina, 15 and son, Adrian, 11.

He was on campus last year and noticed the changes that have taken place at UTPA, since he was last here.

“I was really impressed,” Adame

said. “I hadn’t been there in such a long time, but it looked very nice.”

Adame feels that education is very important and tells high school students and even his own daughter, a sophomore at UTPA, to take advantage of the time they have in school.

“As I look back now, going to college and getting my degree gave me the confidence that I could do anything that I wanted,” Adame said.

“I have done so many different things,” Adame said.

“Had I not had my degree—bottom line, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of that.”

Adame said there are so many options out there for students right now, from four-year colleges to technical schools.

“Whatever that choice is, go in complete and finish,” Adame said. “The bottom line is to go and get your degree. Then if you decide to go and do something different, you can.”

When asked if he had a message for students, he replied with advice that he has learned over the years.

“Take advantage of the time you have because it’s so easy to get side tracked,” Adame said. “Just stay focused and really follow your heart.”

“Sometimes you have to long take the long way around,” Adame said.

“But, learn as much as you can about everything you can. Take all of life’s experiences and file them away, because you never know when you might be needing that.”

• 1972 - Began college at UTPA. • 1977-79 - Worked at KBFM radio station in the Valley.

• 1979 - Moved to Houston area.

• 1980 - Returned to the Valley, got married, started college at UTPA again, worked at KRGV radio as a DJ. • 1988 - Went back to UTPA as a fulltime student.

• 1990 - Worked as director of ppublic relations marketing for McAllen Medical Center Rehabilitation Institute.

• 1990-94 Pharmaceutical Sales Representative for Bristol-Myers.

• 1994 - Opened his own business, Mi Casa Home Care, with his wife, Cris.

• 1999 - Started working at KRGV-TV Channel 5 as a weekend anchor and weekday reporter.

• Currently Weekday news anchor for KRGV-TV Channel 5.

Arts & Entertainment

April 4, 2002

UPB provides campus entertainment

By Elizabeth Martinez The Pan American

Tuesday evening, the Student Union at the University of Texas-Pan American was decorated to look like a coffee house, and filled with people gathered to hear folk musician Steven Jackson.

This was one of the many events sponsored by the University Program Board which is set up to allow students to host programs or events on campus that are of interest to students.

Five student committees comprise

“The movie program provides entertainment to students in school, those who live on campus and people in the community,” said Sara Sanchez, chair of the Diversions Committee.

The Special Events Committee is in charge of larger annual events such as the Carnival of the Great Pumpkin, Bronc Olympics, and Parent/Child Day Picnic.

The Showcase Committee organizes smaller (weekly or monthly) coffee house-style productions on campus.

Including Jackson’s performance.

Students involved in the committee

Anna Stwora/The Pan American

Guitarist and singer Steven Jackson performed Tuesday in the Student Union Food Court as one of the events sponsored by the University Program Board.

UPB. Diversions Committee is responsible for the movie programming on campus. In April, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius” and “Ali” are scheduled to be presented in the Student Union. Diversions has the advantage of showcasing movies before they are released on VHS or DVD.

ALCALA

listen to a pile of CDs, make decisions on the talent booked, and coordinate publicity.

The Ideas and Issues Committee focuses on health and cultural issues such as AIDS Awareness Day, Earth Day, or Hispanic Heritage Month. For these events, educational programs are arranged and lecturers are invited to speak on campus.

The Band Booking Committee controls all aspects of musical entertainment. It recently produced Acoustic Night, a competition between UTPA students who play acoustic guitar.

This event gave students an opportunity to perform in front of their peers.

On April 9, Recycled Percussion, a band that creates music using recycled material, is scheduled to perform at the Student Union.

“UPB is an educational and cultural form of entertainment for students and gets them exposed to something they wouldn’t receive in the classroom,” said Hector Leal, UPB president.

“It gives students a chance to relax between classes and meet other students.”

Gregg Simmons, assistant director and adviser of UPB, said that the purpose of the program is not only to enhance the out-of-classroom experience, but provide a learning experience to members.

He said that each committee is student-run and each event is produced by students.

“We try to get the students to do most of the work,” said Simmons, who believes that through student involvement, a better idea of what students want is achieved.

With all of this action going on around campus, coordinators are surprised the student turnout isn’t higher.

Despite solid turnouts at some events, Simmons questions why more students do not take advantage of what UPB has to offer. He explained how the Carnival of the Great Pumpkin drew 1,000 people, including children, compared to the 13,000 students enrolled at UTPA. The funding for UPB comes from student activity fees and Student Union fees, receiving no money from the state. That’s why most events are free to students who present a valid college identification card.

“Students are paying the fees, so they should attend the events,” Simmons said. “I would like to see every person who attends school to show up to at least one event.”

“The first thing I would like to do is increase membership, then increase attendance and eventually increase the number of events we produce,” said Simmons. “I’d like to make everything bigger and better.”

Page 10

The

CULTURE CLUB What students like to read, listen to and surf.

Around Town

Pamela Reyes Sophomore Psychology CD: “Much Afraid”

by Jars of Clay Book: “The Outsiders”

by S.E. Hinton Movie: “Dazed and Confused”

Maritza Cantu Freshman Music CD: “A Perfect Circle”

by Mer de Noms Book: “Count of Monte Cristo”

by Alexander Dumas Movie: “Sense and Sensibility”

continued from page 7

been given the title of “Latino author.”

It’s a small title that carries a lot of weight.

Some authors with multicultural backgrounds find it difficult to reach mass audiences because their books are given a title like “Latino,” “Native American” or “African American.”

“I know a psychologist who is African American,

and when she finds her books just with the AfricanAmerican writers, she moves them over to the nonfiction/psychology books, which will be seen by many more people of all backgrounds.”

But whatever title she is given, Alcala’s focus is clear.

“What people call me doesn’t change who I am, or what I write about. Like

all writers, I hope that what I write has some universal basis and appeal,” Alcala said. “All good writing, from Shakespeare’s sonnets to Joanna Russ’s science fiction, is about the human condition. “ Although the road to achieving her dreams was fraught with difficulty, Alcala’s story is not based on pity, but instead is based on her strength as an indi-

vidual, her family and her heritage. She knew what she wanted and strove for it.

“Now that I have the opportunity to teach and lecture, I try to extend the ‘possibilities’ of being a writer, or achieving in other ways, to people who might feel as I did,” Alcala said.

“You cannot strive for something before you can imagine it. You have to know it’s there.”

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

PAGE 7

Sean Tempelton Freshman Comp. Graphics Website: dimmu-borgir.com Book: “Paradise Lost”

by John Milton Movie: “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”

Taste of the Valley 2002 April 4 from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Tickets: Tickets are $10 Place: Pharr International Convention Center Info: Various Valley restaurants give out samples of their food to patrons.

Call: (956) 787-1481 Harry Potter, and the Sorcerer’s Stone April 4 at 2 p.m. (student preview), April 5 at 2 and 6 p.m. and April 6 at 2 p.m.

Price: Students are free with a valid UTPA identification card, general admission is $1, and children under 12 are free with adult supervision (limit 5 children per adult).

Refreshments are free.

Place: Student Union Theater 3rd Annual Symphony in the Park April 6 Event: The award winning UTB/TSC Jazz Band will perform to benefit the Brownsville Literacy Center.

Place: Washington Park in Brownsville.

Faculty Trio Concert April 7 at 3 p.m.

Price: General admission is $3 and $2 for UTPA students with identification and senior citizens.

Place: Fine Arts Auditorium.

Call: (956) 381-3471 Psychology Colloquium April 9 from noon to 1 p.m.

Event: “Examining Basic Assumptions: Fertile Ground for Research,” by Dr. Grant Bentham.

Place: Room 119 in the SBS building.

■ Oscar Adame . . . .8 - 9 ■ UPB . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Weaving history and culture Author Kathleen Alcala uses her personal and family history, as well as her culture, as the basis for a number of novels and short stories

By Ashley Brooks The Pan American

To a writer, words mean everything. But especially when those words span cultural boundaries.

For author Kathleen Alcala, her ability to borrow words from both English and Spanish gives her an advantage in reaching readers of various cultures. But Alcala’s multicultural background, outside of writing, has had its disadvantages.

Alcala, an award-winning author of “Mrs. Vargas and the Dead Naturalist,” “Spirits of the Ordinary,” “The Flower in the Skull” and “Treasures in Heaven,” will read excerpts from her novels, sign books, and answer questions tonight in the Student Union Theater at 7:30 p.m.

She was raised in San Bernardino, Calif., an inland working town (about 64 miles from Los Angeles) that seemed secluded from the rest of society.

“We were aware that there was a world out there, but other than knowing that the world had a beach, we weren’t too sure about it,” Alcala said.

The community she lived in reflected the unrest of the 1960s, as changes and tribulations shook communities worldwide. Despite changing mind-sets around the nation, the San Bernardino area seemed to hold fast to stereotypes about non-white cultures.

“I came of age during the post’60s ‘hangover’; both Kennedys, MLK and Ruben Salazar had all been shot, and the [San Bernardino] Police Department dispatched their SWAT team on a regular basis to quell race riots at

KATHLEEN ALCALA

my high school,” Alcala said. “My father taught social studies at the baddest junior high in town, so his students knew me in [high school], which probably accounts for the fact that I am still alive.”

Armed police officers patrolled the rooftops of Alcala’s high school and anyone who could not prove where they were during a riot, or who appeared in a photo of a riot in the local newspaper, was automatically suspended.

While the road to reaching her potential took hard work and selfmotivation, Alcala’s efforts were eventually rewarded with a scholarship to attend Stanford University.

“

I didn’t know any writers growing up, but I was always drawn to the written word.

”

- Kathleen Alcala Author

“We may have had a dream [beyond San Bernardino], but no one was going to make it easy for us.”

According to Alcala, she comes from a working class MexicanAmerican family. Her father’s parents walked across the border from Jalisco, Mexico, to work for the railroads after losing almost everything in the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1917, a story not unlike that of other emigrating families of the time. Despite the hard times such families faced, her family was given an opportunity that many still dream of having come true: the chance to make a better life for themselves.

But the dream was double-edged in terms of social acceptance.

“The fact that my father was pulled off a truck of orange pickers and sent to Redlands University tuition-free meant that we skipped

a generation in terms of education,” Alcala said. “But not in terms of social attitudes.”

Alcala followed in the footsteps left by her father by attending college herself, but the battle to step out of the stereotypes of the time proved more difficult when some students at Stanford couldn’t look past the color of her skin.

Although she received the scholarships on her own merit, the racial tensions of the time began to surface when she was accepted to the college considered “the Harvard of the West.”

“I know I had a big chip on my shoulder that served as selfdefense. It served me well in a university full of extremely privileged people who assumed that I received ‘special consideration’ to get in...”

Alcala said that while at Stanford, she battled preconceived notions of other students who believed she was accepted based on her color, not her mind.

“When I got to Stanford, the general assumption by the white students was that all non-white students had been admitted according to lower standards. They said this to our faces. The only way to prove them wrong was to get better grades than they did.”

During her time at Stanford, Alcala studied linguistics and psychology, and found that writing for the Stanford Daily, the school newspaper, fulfilled part of her interest in writing. Alcala had always enjoyed writing, but found that doing it as a career was not considered an ideal profession.

“It was not a time when people were encouraged to be ‘writers,’ per se. Most of my classmates were pre-law or pre-med. Plus, I did not know any writers, so I focused my interest on language itself,” Alcala said. “I didn’t know any writers growing up, but I was always drawn to the written word.”

Although being a professional writer was a far cry from being a psychologist, Alcala hit a turning point in her life, while still at college, that pushed her love of writing further. A friend gave her a copy of the book “The New Journalism” and told her to read a particular essay about Alcala’s hometown.

‘SPIRITS OF THE ORDINARY’

‘SPIRITS OF THE ORDINARY’ (TRANSLATED)

‘FLOWERS IN SKULL’

THE

(TRANSLATED) “The essay was ‘Dreamers of the Golden Dream’ and that experience was a testament to the power of the printed word. It was also the first time I read about a place I know, people I recognized.”

Since graduating from Stanford in 1976, Alcala has published four novels, several of which are based on family stories from Mexico, and has had a number of short stories, reviews and articles published. Throughout the span of her writing career, Alcala has also See ALCALA page 10

THE PAN AMERICAN

April 4, 2002

Page 6

Programs aid student performance URAP has eight separate plans designed to bolster retention rates

By Melissa Ciomperlik The Pan American

Many college students dread math courses, so the University of Texas-Pan American has implemented a project that may make college algebra easier and more comprehendible to students.

The University Retention Advisement Program was designed to fulfill UTPA’s goals to increase retention and graduation rates.

“The university itself has undergone lots of changes to help increase retention and graduation rates,” said Monica Trevino, student development specialist of URAP. “So we came along as one of their strategies.”

URAP started in 1999 and consists of one overall assistant director and six student development specialists, one within each of the university’s six colleges.

The student development specialists help students integrate into the university community and provide academic advisement for undeclared students.

URAP offers a variety of academic retention programs to students, including one that helps students pass college algebra. UTPA’s math department designed the College Algebra Project in spring 1998 and URAP joined the effort in 1999 to help increase the pass rate of the course.

“It was taking our students an average of two and a half to three times to get through the college algebra course,” said Rene Torres, lecturer in the mathematics department and coordinator of the College Algebra Project.

The College Algebra Project requires students to register for an additional classroom hour that gives them increased interaction with the professor and other members of the class. It also allows them the opportunity to have more frequent evaluations in the form of exams and quizzes.

Some students and professors say the increased interaction is what makes the project successful.

NEW PROGRAMS CSBS approval, the only thing left to do is offer the classes and graduate the first candidates with a clinical psychology doctoral degree.

“My hope is that within two or three years this will be off the ground,” Garcia said. “ Everyone in the community is excited about this and so are we.”

UTPA currently offers Ph.D.s in business administration (with an emphasis in international business), pharmacy, and educational leadership.

In addition to helping with the College Algebra Project, URAP heads a number of other different retention programs. The Early Warning System is a

fairly new program that started at UTPA in Fall 2000.

EWS is a device that targets primarily first-and-second-year students, or anyone who is enrolled in a gateway course such as history, political science, English, biology and math, all of which have high failure rates.

Gateway courses are those required for all students to take, and which lead to more advanced courses.

EWS allows the professor to receive a roster for their class in which they can check any of four categories to let students know when they have excessive absences, a low class average, when they should be referred to tutoring and when they submit incomplete work.

This roster is then put into the computer and letters are mailed out to students.

“We advise them early on so they can go to the faculty or they can come to us and hopefully they can pick up their average before it’s too late in the semester,” Trevino said.

There are currently 60 course sections that have the EWS available and there have been approximately 146 sections and 125 faculty members involved since Fall 2000.

According to Trevino, on average, nearly 60 professors are asked to participate and of those, 70 percent actually participate and fill out the information.

Professors are asked to contribute on a voluntary basis.

“We have had really great results with the faculty participation,” Trevnio said.

“They have been great.”

There are plans to put this service online in Fall 2002 and eventually make it available to all UTPA professors.

URAP offers an assortment of other projects, including the Fourth Hour Project, Learning Communities, the Honors Program, the Teacher Recruitment Center, and the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences program, in addition to the College Algebra Project and the Early Warning System.

stages and a preliminary proposal was put together only last year. The proposal would go before the graduate council and then the college could begin offering classes.

Garcia said it is time UTPA prepares professionals in international politics and foreign policy, especially following the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

“We have to consider the whole issue of globalization and its effects on multinational corporations,” Garcia said, adding that the graduate program would

be interdisciplinary and will include the College of Business and Arts and Humanities.

Garcia said a professional in foreign affairs should be sensitive to diverse cultures, and fluent in various languages.

Just like the graduate program in public administration, the international politics program must go before the graduate council and be approved before classes can be offered.

Next Week: the College of Business.

“

Originally there was a little uncertainty with some of the students but word has gotten around. Students are hearing that these are good classes. The professors are good and they care about you learning, so students are signing up for these classes. das

”

df

“We get an opportunity to cover more material,” said Monika Hannah, freshman pre-med major and participant in the project. “A lot of students are shy and don’t like to ask questions, but in here they feel comfortable.”

“We try to be clear and up front from the very beginning,” Torres said. “We feel that if you tell students what you want them to know, then they’ll go off and learn it.”

The project is open to all students who meet the prerequisites for the college algebra course, and it requires students to sign up for an additional lab hour that they do not have to pay for.

There are currently six faculty members working with the project and 18 college algebra sections available through the project.

Plans are in the works to make all of the college algebra courses part of the project, according to Torres. There are currently five sections that are threehour classes and not part of the project.

“This is primarily a commuter school,” Torres said. “We found that there were a limited number of students who would actually stay for extra quality time, either going to tutoring or coming in during office hours.”

The success rate of the program has caused those students who were leery of the additional hour to now welcome the project with open arms.

“Originally, there was a little uncer-

-Monica Trevino Student Development Specialist tainty with some of the students…but word has gotten around,” Trevino said.

“Students are hearing that these are good classes. The professors are good and they care about you learning, so students are signing up for these classes.”

The pass rate (a grade of C or higher) of students who are enrolled in the project compared to that of non-enrolees shows that the project has helped students.

In Fall 2001, there was a 78-percent pass rate for students enrolled in the College Algebra Project and a 39-percent pass rate for those just enrolled in the three-hour class itself.

In Fall 2001, there were 574 students enrolled in the project and 171 enrolled in just the three-hour classes.

This was up from Fall 2000, when 400 students were enrolled in the project and 398 were enrolled in the threehour courses.

“We surveyed the students [in the project] and over 90 percent of the students that were surveyed all said that the fourth hour was worth it,” Torres said.

OTHER RETENTION EFFORTS

continued from page 1 The CSBS also plans to make changes and improve a few existing graduate programs. Garcia said the college is currently talking about evolving the graduate program in public administration.

“We want to create an area of specialization, maybe in public health,” Garcia said. “We have future community leaders, politicians and government officials that will come out of this program.”

Garcia said another graduate program in the works is in international politics.

He said this program is in the very early

April 4, 2002

THE PAN AMERICAN

Page 11

PAGE 12

April 4, 2002

CAMPUS LIFE

■

What students are doing at UTPA

Faculty union has clout

By Belinda Reyes

Homosexual group seeks identity

By Celeste Y. Tello The Pan American

Denim Day gave them their 15 minutes of fame at the University of Texas-Pan American, but the misinterpreted posters were part of a message that this often marginalized group is trying to convey to the public.

The Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual Alliance (GLOBAL) co-sponsored Denim Day on March 7 to make a point that people should be judged not by their exteriors, but by the content of their character. Posters advertising the event were placed throughout the UTPA campus. Some posters had pictures of jeans while others bore pictures of the lower halves of people wearing jeans.

A letter to the editor of The Pan American expressed Samuel Cook’s opinion of Denim Day. According to Cook, it didn’t make sense to pick a general clothing item, such as jeans, to demonstrate affiliation with GLOBAL. In a later issue, GLOBAL president Nyssa Cruz, responded by saying that the point of the posters was not to demonstrate

affiliation but to show that “no one can judge a book by its cover.”

All controversy aside, GLOBAL is a recognized organization at UTPA. The organization has 36 members with about 15-20 active members.

Three-quarters of the organization is comprised of females. Nearly 10 percent of that population is known as the straight alliance. The straight alliance is a faction of the members who are heterosexual and still active in the organization.

“The straight alliance is there for support and to bounce ideas off,” Cruz said. “They help neutralize clashing ideologies.”

Numbers about nation-wide membership in homosexual clubs are hard to pin down.

Members of another GLOBAL organization, at Canada’s Wilfrid Laurier University, claim that they do not have a regular attendance, but that their “membership” is at about 50.

Laurier’s GLOBAL has 60 percent male members, and currently has no straight alliance. The group works to provide a supportive, positive, safe environment for gay, lesbian or bisexual individuals in the

Education expo heralds job opportunities for students

By Nikki Ramirez The Pan American

May is just around the corner, and students are getting ready to graduate.

For University of Texas-Pan American students majoring in education, UTPA’s Office of Career Placement Services is offering a teacher job expo Thursday April 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in The Fieldhouse.

UTPA’s Office of Career Placement Services work with the College of Education to have local school district representatives come on campus to interview students and inform them of career opportunities in education available in the area.

“It’s a chance for students to ask about salary, weigh their options and see which school and school district they would be interested in working at,” said Velinda Reyes, assistant director of the Office of Career Placement Services.

The teacher job expo is geared specifically to the College of Education, but any student interested in the field of education can attend and participate in the job expo.

“Anybody that is undecided whether education is something they want to do can come talk to the participants and ask them the daily work life of a teacher,” Reyes said.

According to Reyes, between 60 and 90 employers (schools) will attend the expo, including representatives from local school

districts, throughout Texas and outside of Texas.

The job expo benefits student teachers graduating in May because it allows them to visit with all the schools in one setting.

“We bring the school districts to the students, and we bring the job opportunities to them,” Reyes said. “ So we try to encourage the students to utilize it and take advantage of the job expo.”

It is recommended that students bring several resumes to hand out to different employers, giving an opportunity to be interviewed by prospective employers on the spot.

“We do advise students to come dressed professionally and to come with several resumes to hand out and a general cover letter introducing themselves” Reyes said.

The Office of Career Placement Services has eight career fairs throughout the year. The next event is the Health Science Job Expo April 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the north quad directly behind the student union.

This fair is held to get hospitals, government agencies and private industry to come down and provide students with career opportunities and inform them of what is available.

Reyes also added that if a student in Health Science and Human Services wishes to talk to a certain organization they can contact the Career Placement Services so they can send that particular organization an invitation.

Laurier community.

Cruz describes UTPA’s GLOBAL as “more of a support group” and a non-profit organization.

“We want people to know that it’s okay if they are gay, they will be accepted...our organization is here for support,” Cruz said.

GLOBAL is only one of the many gay alliances or organizations in the United States, according to the Valley Aids Council. It is difficult to tell how many gay organizations are in the United States., said a spokesperson at the council, who added that individuals on college campuses are probably more exposed to gay movements than the general population.

While one of GLOBAL’s main goals is to reach out to the gay community and provide support, it is currently in the process of restructuring its organization.

GLOBAL is currently working with organizations such as GLADD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) to ensure that they are following acceptable guidelines during the restructuring process.

“We’re trying to organize a somewhat disorganized organization,” Cruz said.

According to Cruz, the organization is currently rewriting its constitution, which was last revised in 1999. GLOBAL is also looking into a new name.

“They [GLOBAL] have been looking at a name change to make their purpose more clear,” said temporary adviser Christine Carruthers.

Carruthers said that the organization has been stronger this year than in past years, adding that GLOBAL has been trying to increase its participation in campus life.

GLOBAL took part in the “Stop the Hate” campaign this spring, where Cruz spoke about the need for open-mindedness and the need to be less judgmental about people. Aside from that on-campus activity, GLOBAL will be hosting a gay film festival at Montroe’s this weekend.

UTPA’s GLOBAL usually conducts informal meetings due to the hectic schedules of many members. Cruz hopes to implement a more formal meeting schedule in the future.

“I usually meet with some of the members between classes or on the phone,” said Cruz.

THE PAN AMERICAN

The Pan American

The Texas Faculty Association (TFA) is the state’s largest organization serving the interests and rights of university faculty.

On a local level, the Pan American United Faculty (PAUF) is the organization that represents University of Texas-Pan American in the state TFA with 109 tenuretrack members, according to Dr. Ken Buckman, professor of philosophy and president of PAUF. Buckman also serves on the executive committee of the state organization.

“Our campus has the largest membership (in the state) and by far we have the largest percentage of membership in the state,” Buckman said. “We have 109 members that are full-time tenured. That is a very large percentage and we have a tremendous influence at the state level.”

Charles Zucker, executive director of TFA, lobbies the legislature in support of faculty issues and been an instrumental in getting legislation to protect faculty rights, Buckman added.

At UTPA, PAUF helps members with any concerns that they may have within departments.

“We disseminate information face to face on issues that concern [members] locally.

We find grievance officers and [assign] them to [members] who may have problems in the department and try to resolve issues,” said Buckman.

“A lot of times administration can view the organization as antagonistic, but it is not about “us versus them,” we want to establish good working relationships between faculty and administration.”

SGA

Thomas Pozorski, professor of anthropology and treasurer and secretary for PAUF, feels that TFA provides a number of benefits to members such as legal counsel, optional life insurance, and discounts at certain hotels.

“TFA has done remarkably well in supporting legislative bills that help faculty and state universities and in general, have helped keep harmful legislation from becoming law,” Pozorski said.

“That is why TFA is vital for helping to maintain a quality university system and a quality core of faculty.”

Dr. James Aldridge, professor of psychology and president of TFA, said the history of the PAUF predates the existance of TFA. What is now known as PAUF was founded in 1981. TFA was founded in 1985 by a group of organizations including PAUF. Aldridge is serving his first term as president and running unopposed for a second term.

“Higher education faculty in Texas never had much clout. My personal goal is to remedy that and put together a strong organization,” Aldridge said.

Before TFA, there were organizations that PAUF cooperated with, American Federation of Teachers and American Organizations of University Professors.

The heirarchy begins with National Education Association and consists of Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) and TFA as the higher education division of TSTA. The TFA provides a monthly newsletter to all university faculty members that contains information about faculty laws, budgets for pay raises, and other topics.

continued from page 1

Vaughn, sophomore Francisco Vielma, senior Alyssa Munoz and junior Efrain Molina Jr. are all vying for SGA’s top position.

“Students have many tickets to choose from this year,” Garza said. “All of the candidates are very qualified.”

At press time, Garza was hard-pressed to pick any one candidate or ticket who was favored in the minds of students.

“Everyone has a good shot. It depends on campaigning and who students are seeing,” she said.

Garza feels all of the candidates have something to offer students, regardless of which candidates the final vote favors.

“It will be a learning experience for all of the candidates,” Garza said. “They are all qualified and eager to do something for students.”

Page 5

THE PAN AMERICAN

April 4, 2002

Campus VO I C E

Page 4

April 4, 2002

THE PAN AMERICAN

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Fabian Cuellar Psychology Junior We shouldn’t risk anymore American lives and I think we have enough problems of our own.

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Albert Contreras Pharmacy Junior Definitely. Because I figure if we don’t then the US will be affected eventually.

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Page 13

sports

April 4, 2002

SOCCER

PAGE 3

continued from page 16

compete on a national and Division I level,” Weidner said. “As we seek funds and raise money and community support in Bronc athletic foundation, we’re reinforcing the existing programs.”

Weidner further explained that financing is another reason why UTPA lacks a soccer program.

“It’s certainly an issue that has to be considered because if we were to add any sport, we want to make sure that it is funded properly so that we provide a positive experience for the student athletes that are involved,” Weidner said.

“You can do more damage if you attempt to create a program that’s not properly funded. If you don’t have money to get quality coaching, you’re not going to have a real learning experience.”

There is another possible obstacle to getting soccer back at UTPA. Since the institution of Title IX in 1972, college programs have paid particular attention to gender equity. Title IX prevents colleges and universities from discriminating against athletes based on gender, by mandating equal creation and funding of both men’s and women’s athletics programs. Around the country, men’s sports such as wrestling, swimming, and soccer have been scaled back or eliminated altogether in the quest to ensure equal women’s access to collegiate sports.

But Weidner insists that Title IX is a non-issue in the creation of a soccer program at UTPA.

Page 14

“The direction that we’ve chosen to go is to ensure that women’s sports are fully funded because we feel we match up very well, and have made great strides in addressing 13 components of Title IX since I’ve been here,” Weidner said.

But Lopez also thinks that UTPA should not only bring back men’s soccer, but create a women’s soccer program as well.

“If you look around the high schools, girls are playing in high school now and are getting better and better,’’ Lopez said.

Lopez added he and his former teammates went to a Spanish radio station two months ago trying to learn why UTPA’s soccer program was slashed.

“We had a lot of people calling in explaining that they want to have soccer and would back it up by going to the games,” Lopez said.

Hispanics comprise approximately 85 percent of the Valley population, and the popularity of soccer in Latin American countries all over the world is dominant.

Considering this, Weidner has an open mind about bringing the sport back to UTPA. “Right now I can’t say, but never say never,” Weidner said. “We want a positive experience for our athletes, but at the present time we’re not moving in that direction. It doesn’t mean that we’re not for it.”

NEWS

■ Campus Voice . . . . . 4 ■ Global . . . . . . . . . . .12 ■ Retention . . . . . . . . . 6

Valley author honors Mexican beauties

By Nikki Ramirez The Pan American

A Mexican author has brought back the women of past Mexican cinema.

Rogelio Agrasanchez Jr. was at the University of Texas-Pan American Thursday, March 28 and discussed his new book “Bellezes del Cine Mexicano,” or “Beauties of Mexican Cinema.”

The book is divided into four sections and consists of over 250 black and white and color photographs of some of the most attractive female actresses of the 1940s through the 1960s, according to Agrasanchez.

Agrasanchez added that there were

many fans interested in beautiful female performers.

No one had published a book with images of all the Mexican stars so he began collecting graphic material and information. “ It took me two years to research and publish the book,” Agrasanchez said.

As a member of a family involved in the Mexican film industry, Agrasanchez has been writing books on Mexican cinema since 1995 and has published six books.

“The main idea behind this and other books that I have published is to introduce the general audience to Mexican movies — especially the

R o gelio Agrasanchez Jr.

Golden Age (1936-1956),” Agrasanchez said. “ I believe that this twenty-year period is one of the most attractive

and interesting periods of world cinema.”

Before Agrasanchez began writing books on Mexican cinema, he did research on 19th-century Mexican history.

Agrasanchez is from Mexico City and attended St. Edward’s University and the University of Texas at Austin.

He acquired a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in philosophy and continued his education by earning a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies.

Anyone interested in purchasing his new book can find it at the Hidalgo County Historical Museum in Edinburg or via the Internet at www.agrasfilms.com.

UTPA journalists compete at TIPA The Pan American Staff Feedback on performance comes in many packages. In college journalism, it results from student, staff, and faculty readership and comment. It also manifests itself in the form of awards from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.

When nine journalists from the University of Texas-Pan American attended the yearly TIPA conference in Fort Worth last week, they participated in on-site skills competitions and collected several awards for college publication work from the past fall semester.

There were over 30 Texas schools represented at the conference, held at the Radisson in downtown Fort Worth. Schools were sectioned off by enrollment for the fall work review, with UTPA in Division II, a section below major schools such as Texas A&M and the University of Texas. The on-site competitions lumped students of all schools into one free-for-all group.

In a review of last semester's work, The Pan American student newspaper finished fifth overall in its division. There were several students who won individual awards, including page designer Gabe Hernandez.

He received one second-place certificate and one honorable mention.

Current editor Matt Lynch placed in one category while former editor Ryan Henry placed in three. Current entertainment editor Ashley Brooks made a strong showing for the school, garnering three awards.

Melissa Ciomperlik, this semester's copy editor, placed first in the public relations crisis management on-site competition, and Eladio Jaimez came home second in the sports writing event.

The Gallery student literary magazine also brought home a handful of awards for last year's magazine, including second place overall in its division. Dara Kayla De la Rosa won first place and a third for illustration, while Edward De los Reyes took a second with his feature photo.

Matt Lynch/The Pan American

ROLLOVER University police fill out a report for the two-car accident that occurred Monday morning on Sugar Road just north of the crosswalk. The accident occurred when a 2000 Saturn SL (right) hit an ‘89 Pontiac Grand Am from the rear and flipped over the top of it, landing upside down, according to police. The driver of the Saturn sustained minimal injuries and the driver of the Grand Am, along with four children and one adult, were not injured.

PAGE 2

April 4, 2002

NEWS April 4 ELECTION HEATING UP:

SPORTS CLIPBOARD

2002

By Eladio Jaimez The Pan American

Celebrating 50 years 1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539 (956) 381-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122 http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican 50th Year – No. 23

Editor Matt Lynch mlynch@panam.edu

News Editor Cristina Reyna creyna826@aol.com

Copy Editor Melissa Ciomperlik ciomperlik@yahoo.com

Graphics Editor Gabriel O. Hernandez gabo296@hotmail.com

A & E Editor Ashley Brooks Magrew2@hotmail.com

Sports Editor Eladio Jaimez ejaimez@panam.edu

Layout Designers Gabriel Hernandez Celeste Y. Tello Reporters Blake Daniels Jaime Garcia Jr. Mike Gonzalez Elizabeth Martinez Linda Martinez Nikki Ramirez Belinda Reyes Cesar Trevino Photographers Anna Stwora Mary Zuviri Advertising Dagoberto Perez Circulation Jesus M. Gonzalez Advertising Coordinator Juanita Sanchez Adviser Greg Selber

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 university.

Letters policy The Pan American gladly accepts letters from students, staff and faculty regarding newspaper content or current issues.

The Pan American reserves the right to edit submissions for grammar and length. Please limit submission length to 300 words. The Pan American cannot publish anonymous letters, or submissions containing hate speech or gratuitous personal attacks.

Letters are printed at the discretion of the editor and must include the writer’s name, class/title and phone number.

Readers with disabilities may request an alternative format of this publication at The Pan American business office.

For special assistance to attend any event listed in this publication, contact the coordinator of the event at least one week prior to the advertised date.

“And down the stretch they come.”

ABC sportscaster Al Michaels excites thoroughbred racing fans everywhere with that simple phrase every summer.

Those same six words could also be used to describe the days preceeding Election Day. Run-off elections take place April 9, but candidates in Hidalgo County have been preparing for the photo finish since March 13, the day after the primary elections.

Incumbent Eloy Pulido and Edinburg attorney Ramon Garcia are vying for the Hidalgo County Judge seat and both agree intense campaigning has been necessary in the last three weeks.

Pulido said his campaign has run a few more television and radio ads, but has spent only $8,000 during the runoff stretch. Pulido said his campaign has spent approximately $360,000 to date.

The annual salary of the Hidalgo County Judge is $72,000.

“Ramon [Garcia] easily has spent over $1 million,” said Pulido, who added that he believes his past four years in office will will make the difference in the minds of voters come Tuesday.

“We’re telling people ‘this is what we’ve done,’” Pulido said. “We have a platform people can reflect on.”

Despite Pulido’s claims that residents of Hidalgo County are content with the way the county is being run, Garcia said county residents are ready for change.

We’re pushing for change, sixty-five percent of the voters already said they wanted change,” said Garcia, in reference to the percentage of votes in favor

County judge race enters homestretch, Pulido and Garcia run neck and neck of Garcia and Ricardo Perez in the primaries.

“Since Judge Pulido has been judge, taxes have gone up every year,” Garcia said. “It’s gone up 32 percent, and our taxes are actually higher than in places like Dallas, Austin, Houston, or El Paso.”

Garcia stressed that a serious financial problem is affecting the county, and something needs to done.

“We don’t have control over our spending problems,” Garcia said. “We need to go back to basics. We have to see what we have to work with.”

However, Pulido stands by his record and hopes his experience as a judge will be key on Tuesday.

“We’ve done a good job in the last three years,” Pulido said.

Pulido said Garcia’s record should also help him win the race. Pulido said Garcia may have burned a few too many bridges through his lawsuits against hospitals and businesses in the county.

“The medical community knows who the biggest enemy is,” Pulido said. “He [Garcia] has 55 lawsuits against McAllen Medical Center alone, and three to four hundred against doctors for malpractice.”

Valley doctors have scheduled a walkout April 8 in protest of what they consider lawsuit abuse in the area which is driving up insurance costs.

Meanwhile, Garcia said Pulido’s major contributors are lawyers.

“A substantial amount of my supporters are business people,” Garcia said.

Pulido believes he can come out of the runoff victorious, but it’ll be tough because of Garcia’s deep pockets.

“This will be a close race because we’re fighting against big money,” said Pulido said, who noted that Garcia rented over 40 vehicles used by “politiqueros,” to transport people to the polls.

“Some people are working with them on a full-time basis,” Pulido said.

Both candidates agreed getting the word out is expensive. Pulido said most of the money he’s spent on the campaign has come from contributors.

“If I had $350,000, I’d never spend it on running for judge,” Pulido said.

Garcia said money was not the deciding factor in this race and reiterated that people were ready for change.

“We have to evaluate every county position and bring people to the table that need to be there,” Garcia said.

He mentioned that several county officials have been vocal about opposing Pulido, including the county sheriff and county commissioners of precincts one and three, who decided to back Garcia.

Pulido said he can’t take the decision made by commissioners Sylvia Handy and Joe Flores personally. He said that if he wins things will continue to run as before.

“It’s politics,” Pulido said. “From what I’ve heard [La Joya mayor] Billy Leo asked Joe [Flores] to vote for Garcia.

Sylvia was supporting me, but then she switched over, but in politics you’re always cutting deals.”

Border bulletin Frontera fills in cracks The Pan American Staff There have never been as many news outlets as there are today, ranging from cable television to the Internet, to more traditional media such as newspapers. On-line information sources have proliferated since 1995, recognized as the year that the Internet came of age, as its use increased 37 percent.

For those seeking information about the border region that may not be found in detail in mainstream media, Greg Bloom has a solution. Bloom is the editor of Frontera NorteSur, a news service available online for no charge.

What started out as a newsletter nine years ago has blossomed into a subscription service with over 1,500 readers, one-third of whom are in Mexico.

“It went online in 1996,” said Bloom, whose service emanates from New Mexico

State University and acts as an outreach program for the Center for Latin American and Border Studies at the Las Cruces University.

“This allowed us to reach more people and save money on mailing costs which we can spend on traveling the border and producing original news."

When Bloom took over the FNS in 1997, the coverage area was limited to Paso del Norte (El Paso and Juarez), but he expanded the reach to the entire 2,000-mile length of the border connecting Mexico and the United States.

The service now focuses on a handful of populated areas from California to Texas, including Reynosa/McAllen and Rio Bravo and Matamoros/Brownsville. But it also attempts to report news from lightly populated areas as it arises.

“About one-third of the readers are professors and graduate students,” Bloom said.

“One-third are in government and another third in the private sector.”

He added that a number of professors have also begun to integrate the daily reading of FNS into their border or development classes.

One of the recent FNS stories was an update on the death of a rape-murder suspect after a police chase near Cuidad Juarez, which happened Feb. 5.

The site tries to plumb the depths of border events, and usually gives more indepth coverage than the average news consumer can get through national or even local channels of information.

The site added photography in 2000 and all stories are archived for easy reference.

Bloom hopes to install a better search engine soon, to aid those doing research on border issues.

To see the site or subscribe for free, go to: http://frontera.nmsu.edu.

sports

Kreuser honored EDINBURG– It’s been over a month and the basketball honors still keep coming. However, this one isn’t coming the men’s way.

The Lady Broncs’ Kelli Kreuser was named to the first team All-Independent squad and named Newcomer of the Year for the 2001-2002 season.

Kreuser was chosen by head coaches and sports information directors at the nine Division I independent schools.

Kreuser averaged 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game this season.

The Bettendorf, Iowa native started all 28 games and averaged more than 37 minutes a game.

Kreuser made 72.7 percent of her free throws and and scored in double figures 23 times, including each of the last 20 games.

Chatman recognized thrice EDINBURG–He’s not done yet. Senior UTPA guard Mire Chatman continues to garner award after award after award. Even six weeks after the season ended.

Chatman was named Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year yesterday by coaches and sports information directors of the Division I independent schools, in addition to being named to the first team All-Independent. Chatman ranked third in Division I in scoring (26.2 points per game) and steals (3.6 per game) this season.

UTPA head coach Bob Hoffman was named Coach of the Year, in his third season at UTPA. Hoffman led the Broncs to their best season in 12 years, posting a 20-10 record, winning the championship of the San Juan Shootout, and receiving consideration for a berth in the National Invitational Tournament.

Senior center Marcus Quinn was also named first team All-Independent. Quinn was UTPA’s leading rebounder, averaging 7.2 rebounds per game, and their second leading scorer, averaging 12.5 points per game.

Junior guard Kevin Mitchell made the second team. Mitchell led UTPA by averaging five assists per game. He was the quarterback of the Broncs’ high-powered offense that ranked 24 nationally in scoring (79.6 points per game) and 21 nationally in field goal percentage (47.7 per cent).

Page 15

By the numbers BASEBALL

BASKETBALL

BRONC LEADERS

BRONCS

Batting Average Juan Saenz Matt Eichel Matt Sisk Adam Farek Tony Ortiz

.435 .344 .324 .304 .258

ALL-INDEPENDENT FIRST TEAM: Mire Chatman, UTPA Brian Evans, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Bruce Fields, Gardner-Webb Marcus Quinn, UTPA Andrew Wisniewski, Centenary

Homeruns Matt Eichel Matt Sisk Jarrad Maddox Sean Flynn Tony Ortiz

2 2 1 1 1

RBI Matt Sisk Matt Eichel Jarrad Maddox Tony Ortiz Sean Flynn Skip Weast

17 9 8 8 8 7

PLAYER OF THE YEAR-Mire Chatman, UTPA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR-Mire Chatman, UTPA NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR-Andrew Wisniewski, Centenary CO-FRESHMEN OF THE YEARJeff Dancy, Lipscomb Otis Daniels, Gardner-Webb Jakob Sigurdarson, Birmingham Southern COACH OF THE YEAR-Bob Hoffman, UTPA

Hits Matt Sisk Jerome McCoy Bruce Kennedy Tony Ortiz Jarrad Maddox

36 31 23 16 11

Runs Matt Sisk Jerome McCoy Jonathan Mason Bruce Kennedy Sean Flynn

19 17 9 12 9

TEAM NUMBERS Batting Average Homeruns RBI Hits Runs

.262 7 96 255 117

* junior guard Kevin Mitchell named to second team All-Independent

LADY BRONCS FIRST TEAM ALL-INDEPENDENT Lindsay Boyett, Birmingham Southern Casey Collins, Gardner-Webb Amy Gearlds, IUPU-Fort Wayne Kelli Kreuser, UTPA Kristin Rogers, Texas A&M-CC PLAYER OF THE YEAR-Lindsay Boyett, Birmingham-Southern NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR - Kelli Kreuser, UTPA FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - Lori Tanner Centenary DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Atia Agee, Birmingham-Southern COACH OF THE YEAR - Frank Bennett, Lipscomb

*baseball stats do not include last night’s game against SWT.

Pitching does Broncs in against Bobcats

By Blake Daniels The Pan American

Just a year ago, the Broncs went 12-40 and thought that it couldn’t get any worse, but their record so far this season suggests otherwise.

Left on their schedule are three teams in the NCAA Baseball Top 25 and one ranked five in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Top 25. The Broncs may not reach last year’s win total.

One problem is that Bronc batters have gone into hibernation at the plate. The team has only 62 hits in 277 at bats in the last nine games. The Broncs took it on the chin and the nose losing 7-3 to Southwest Texas State University Wednesday night in San Marcos.

The Broncs dropped their third straight game.

Senior Ed Marko took the mound against the Bobcats and threw a decent game, giving up six hits and two runs.

The breakdown came in the middle relief, though. Justin Dowd hurled twothirds of an inning only, but gave up four runs on three hits. Dowd’s record dropped to 0-6.

Jacob Casanova started for the Bobcats and pitched six innings, but Michael Gultz improved his record to 2-0 with the win.

The Broncs take their 8-23 record on the road to College Station to take on the 19thranked Aggies of Texas A&M tomorrow at 7 p.m.. The two play a second contest on Saturday at 7 and conclude the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Broncs return to Edinburg Stadium on Tuesday to take on Texas A&MKingsville in a double-header, and April 12-13 to play the Huskies of Houston Baptist in a three-game series. The Huskies are ranked fifth in the NAIA. On Tueday, Justin Bogy dropped to 2-2 with the 14-2 loss to the Bobcats. Mike Calvert relieved Bogy in the middle of the fourth. Mike Killian finished off the last two batters in the eighth after Calvert gave up five runs on three hits in four innings.

The Bobcats started things off with three runs on four hits and one error in the first inning. Then they scored four runs in the third with a three-run home run over the left center wall to highlight the game.

The Bobcats scored two more runs in the fourth on three hits before the Broncs got on the scoreboard when Mission native Marco Garza reached on an error and advanced on a wild pitch. Jerome McCoy doubled to right field to score Garza and Matt Sisk grounded out to shortstop to score McCoy. The Broncs ended the inning with two runs on one hit and two errors.

The Bobcats scored five runs on three hits before the bleeding stopped in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Broncs had seven hits in 35 at bats while leaving 11 on base against the Bobcats. They have left 67 runners on base in the last nine games and 223 this season.

“Our quality at-bats are not good right now,” said head coach Reggie Tredaway.

The stats only corraborate what coach Tredaway said. The Broncs’ team batting average is a measly .262 and the Broncs have only 96 runs batted in compared to their opponents’ 239 RBI. The Broncs are coming off five games in three days. They stole a win in a threegame series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and split with Houston Baptist March 29-31 at Edinburg Stadium.

The Broncs had to switch shortstop McCoy to second base and move Garza to shortstop due to McCoy’s sore throwing arm. The move proved a good choice by Tredaway as McCoy was error-free and stellar at second.

Travis Parker finished off his best effort this season in the top of the ninth by striking out one Islander and getting the next two batters to fly out.

Parker pitched a complete game, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out 10 to improve his season record to 2-6.

“We have had three pitchers sick this week. We played like two different teams in these two games, like night and day,” said assistant baseball coach John Johnson.

After dropping the first game of a double-header to Houston Baptist, Justin Bogy threw the team’s fourth complete game and his first of the season to help the Broncs win 7-2.

“The defense helped me to pitch well.

My curve ball and fast ball were working today. I have so much adrenaline right now I could go another nine,” said Bogy.

The Broncs held a 3-0 lead until the top of the seventh inning when the Huskies scored two runs to pull within one. But the Broncs pulled away with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to put the game away.

Lopez and Sisk reached on errors and Lopez scored after Adam Farek reached on a fielder’s choice. Mission native Juan Saenz doubled to right center to score Garza and Skip Weast singled to center field to score Saenz.

The Broncs added one run when Lopez reached on an error and scored Matt Eichel.

The Huskies scored one run in the ninth before Bogy retired the last batter.

“Pitching made the difference with the way we played in the two games,” Tredaway said.

PAGE 16

NBA

JORDAN GROUNDED: The Washington Wizards placed Michael Jordan on the injured list Wednesday and the future Hall of Famer said he was done for the season. Jordan decided to sit out the rest of the season follwing his lowest scoring game ever Tuesday night against the Lakers. Jordan woke up the next day with a swollen right knee and said enough was enough.

Jordan averaged 22.9 points per game, the lowest average in his career. In his second season with the Chicago Bulls (1985-86), he averaged 22.7 ppg in only 18 games. The 39year old said he would play next year once again if he is able.

NFL

S PORTS

■ Bronc Baseball . . . . . . .15

A former player and coach reminisce about the days when UTPA had a soccer program. Now both ponder why the Bronc athletic department hasn’t taken advantage of a resurgent interest in the sport throughou the country, especially in the predominantly Hispanic-populated Valley, and made an effort to reestablish the soccer program.

The Pan American

In the past, the University of Texas-Pan American has built athletic programs that have opened many doors for athletes as well as the university. But one door that remains closed is an organized soccer team.

Student athletes played soccer at UTPA for 28 years before the program was axed in 1998. The program was abolished in search of equity in the gender representation in sports at UTPA. There was one more male sport than female, so soccer was cut from intercollegiate competition at UTPA, according to vice president for business affairs Mark Saenz.

The program had its share of dominant players during its time.

Efren Lopez played four years with the Broncs in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, Mario Ribera of Santa Cruz, Bolivia scored 29 goals, a single-season Sun Belt Conference record, in his freshman year for UTPA. Salvador

THURSDAY

Campus VOICE Should the US be directly involved in the IsraeliPalestinian conflict?

Field of past dreams

By Mike Gonzalez

PARK IT IN HOUSTON: Everybody in the NFL knew it. Anybody who follows the NFL knew it. The Houston Texans knew it. The expansion team confirmed what everyone already knew. They’ll make Fresno State quarterback David Carr their number one pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

In 37 games with FSU, Carr completed 62.8 percent of his passes for 7,849 yards. He completed 70 touchdowns and had 23 interceptions. As a starter, Carr compiled an 18-8 record, including the postseason.

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April 4, 2002

An Inside Look: News ............................................3 A & E............................................7 ■ Sports ........................................16 ■ ■

CSBS adding new degrees

LOCAL NEWS ■

WHERE’S THE GOAL?: The Field once used by the UTPA soccer team now stands useless, surrounded by the track used by students and the Bronc track team.

UTPA fielded a soccer program for 28 years until 1998 when the program yielded to gender equity.

Garcia of Brownsville Hanna, who many consider one of the best high school soccer players in Valley history, also played four strong seasons for the squad.

At what used to be Pan American College, the soccer program began as a club organized by students in 1970.

Bronc soccer reached the Division I level when the team joined the Sun Belt Conference in 1991. From then until 1998, conference opponents included Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky, Jacksonville, and South Alabama.

Dr. Miguel Paredes, the last soccer coach (1995-98), has fond memories of his teams.

“It was an interesting period of time,” said Paredes, now a mathematics professor at UTPA. “It was a combination of academics and soccer. I thought I was

Anna Stowra/The Pan American

doing something important in terms of taking good care of them [players]...I have great memories of all of them, and they were great guys.”

Among those old players, many spoke of the benefits of the former program.

Former UTPA player Hector Lopez is disappointed in the university’s lack of a soccer team.

“I feel that kids in high school don’t have anywhere to go after graduation,” Lopez said. “Right now, you would have to be a very good player so that scouts from other universities can watch you play.”

Lopez played for UTPA from 1992-96 and feels it’s unfortunate

that Valley players are not able to compete locally at the collegiate level.

“I feel bad and I started thinking of all those kids that don’t have the money to go anywhere,” Lopez said.

Athletic Director William Weidner realizes the popularity of soccer in the area, not to mention internationally, but feels now is not the time for the re-formation of a soccer program at UTPA. “Right now, in terms of any particular sport, we have 14 Division I programs, and our immediate goal is to reinforce those programs so that they can See SOCCER page 14

REMINDER

Daylight-Saving Time begins April 7. Don’t forget to set clocks forward one hour.

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T h e S t u d e n t N e w s p a p e r o f T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f Te x a s - P a n A m e r i c a n

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MCALLEN— Gearing up for his U.S. Senate run-off against Victor Morales April 9, Ron Kirk received some needed support by way of endorsements of two Hispanic labor associations Tuesday.

Both the Hispanic Contractors Association de Tejas and the Texas Association of Hispanic Firefighters gave their nods to Kirk, who traveled to McAllen to accept the endorsements. Kirk, former mayor of Dallas, used promises to support legislation which promotes fair work standards to secure endorsements from other groups, including the United Farm Workers, in addition to local politicians. Although Morales fared well in Hidalgo County by earning over 50 percent of the vote in the March 12 Democratic Primary, local Democrats feel Kirk will have a stronger showing in a run-off election. Tuesday’s appearance marks the seventh time Kirk has visited the Valley area.

The run-off is a result of no one candidate receiving the majority of the vote in the primary.

The ROAD less TRAVELED

UTPA: Vision of Success FOURTH IN A CONTINUING SERIES

By Eladio Jaimez The Pan American

Mary Zuviri/The Pan American

BALLOTS —

Junior Billy Gonzalez casts his vote in the Student Government Association elections Wednesday as Junior Kenhya Longoria looks on. Voting took place Tuesday and Wednesday.

SGA election results wait for final vote tabulations

By Matt Lynch The Pan American

University of Texas-Pan American officials are hoping to announce a new Student Government Association president by Friday.

“We should have the results of the election by week’s end,” said Dana Garza, coordinator of student development.

UTPA students exercised their right to elect student representatives Tuesday and Wednesday. Although results of the SGA elections were not available at press time, student voter turnout was good, according to Garza.

“Last year, around 500 students voted,” Garza said. “But [Tuesday] alone about 600 students voted.”

Garza attributes increased voter turnout to a number of factors, and feels that student

participation in the SGA process makes a difference for both the university and for students.

“We encourage people to get involved on campus,” Garza said. “We went to several student organization meetings to get the word out, and we encouraged more students to run for office or to vote. Everyone on campus is really involved now.”

An increased number of candidates may have also played a role in improved student participation. According to Garza, 13 candidates ran for senate positions this year, compared to just four in last year’s elections. In the presidential race, UTPA students had four president and vice president tickets to choose from, compared to just two tickets last year.

One of four candidates will replace current president Zeke Moya. Junior William See SGA page 5

The recent rise in enrollment at the University of Texas-Pan American and the growth expected to take place in the next 10-to-15 years has increased the demand for new degree programs across campus.

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences is one of six colleges at UTPA with plans for new programs. Homer Garcia, dean of CSBS, said plans for a new doctoral program is just a few stages from becoming reality. Other plans for new graduate programs are on the drawing board and in the very early stages.

Garcia said at the top of the college’s agenda is the creation of a doctorate in clinical psychology.

“We’re in stage three of five,” Garcia said. “We need to get permission from the council of deans to further research this project.”

Garcia said it is the university’s responsibility to recognize the growing population in the region, and implement new programs to better serve the Valley.

“We have done studies to what extent clinical psychology would serve the Valley,” Garcia said. “The Valley is underserved in this area. We’re in great need of therapists and child psychologists.”

Garcia said one of the biggest catalysts in spearheading this new program is psychology department chairman Etzel Cardena.

“Etzel [Cardena] has done a splendid job,” Garcia said.

Garcia reiterated that right now the CSBS is in the third stage of the full proposal.

“We have to put a curriculum together,” Garcia said. “We have to estimate costs configured in terms of staffing.”

Garcia said a completed proposal should be ready and presented to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for their approval by June.

“We know there is a need,” Garcia said.

“We’re hiring psychologists to teach graduate and undergraduate classes, but will eventually become Ph.D. professors.”

Garcia said once the THECB grants the See NEW PROGRAMS page 6