February 4, 2010

Volume 66, No. 16

THE PAN AMERICAN

February 4, 2010

Lisa Ling opens eyes, minds with tales of travels

By Brian Silva The Pan American

Taking off “American glasses” and viewing the tragedies of the world in a different perspective was the central message Tuesday brought by journalist celebrity Lisa Ling, who spoke to audience at the Fine Arts Theatre.

Ling, who was the third to appear in the Distinguished Speakers Series, talked for about an hour about her experiences covering stories on rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, child marriage, and sextrafficking of girls in the United States.

Part of Ling’s experiences traced back nearly 20 years ago when she got her first big break as a reporter at Channel 1, a national news and information outlet whose audience is mainly middle and high school students. She explained that many of her colleagues there were near college age, including current CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.

Ling wasn’t just satisfied with reporting average news, she told the audience. She wanted to make an effort to do “substantive journalism.”

“I had this burning desire to see the world,” said the

Sacramento, California native.

“I started volunteering to cover more of the international stories.”

That brought her to an area that she said most adult Americans could not point out on a map: Afghanistan. She told the UTPA audience about how she was greeted by boys with rocket launchers and weapons bigger than they were, who were eager to fire them.

“Usually I’m met by kids with questions,” she said. “But, these kids were just lifeless.”

Ling said that when she returned home after the Channel 1 assignment she was even more surprised upon finding out most of her colleagues were not aware of the Afghanistan situation.

She explained that Americans had filtered in billions of dollars in weaponry into an unstable country in the 1980s, and wondered what the consequences of doing so might be.

The notion of consequences popped up again when Ling traveled to Iraq a short time later. In preparing for the trip to the Middle East, she and her crew stopped by the closest U.S. embassy, located in Jordan, to be briefed on conditions and what

SEE LING || PAGE 6

Kristen Cabrera /THE PAN AMERICAN

OPENING MINDS - Distinguished Speaker and broadcast journalist Lisa Ling gives Bronc TV an interview backstage at the Fine Arts Auditorium shortly before her presentation in front of a packed house.

Revamped veterans center opens Leadership program issues the university’s approximate 600 veterans face and improve the quality of education they receive.

“Every student deserves quality With a new semester and a new year comes a new initiative from the service from any institution they University of Texas-Pan American attend,” Ysasi said. “This university, to better serve students who served I have always felt, has done the best their country, and a revamped in giving quality service. The only issue that effort to ensure their “The university, for quite was difficult academic success. before is that Starting this spring, some time, had wanted to there wasn’t with new management set-up and new programs, start a Veterans Services a appropriate the improved Veterans Center to better assist for our Services Center veterans. will offer veterans our veterans. ” But the a better approach to u n i v e r s i t y, managing their distinct Noel Ysasi for quite circumstances, guiding Director s o m e them through any time, had personal and academic to start a Veterans challenges in their college careers. wanted According to Noel Ysasi, director of Services Center to better assist our the center since December, much work veterans. It finally got approved needed to be done to address the specific and this is where we are today.”

By Minerva Morato The Pan American

Page 2 - Big business might Commentary: Campus rehave packed their bags, but mains pedestrian-unfriendly they never left

Page 3 - Jobs after Border health initiatives graduation becoming scarce

First established in August, the center lacked management, said the center’s secretary Rebecca Sanchez.

Under the leadership of Ysasi, a U.S. Navy veteran and UTPA alumnus, students who benefit from the center will obtain even more of the pertinent services specific to their needs.

These include guidance in the admissions process, GI Bill certification, academic advisement, a new Web page, a student organization, an honor society, and individual and group counseling.

“This office helps veterans because they get to sit with someone…and they’re going to get more service because the focus is on them,” Sanchez said. “The big difference between last semester and this semester is management. (Mr. Ysasi) envisions so much more for this office to better help the veterans…and that’s helping a lot.”

SEE VETERANS || PAGE 6

Sex11education movement Page - Holiday gift guide

promotes gender issues

By Roxann Garcia The Pan American

The Student Leadership Academy held a leadership seminar on gender with associate professor Jeffrey S. McQuillen, Jan. 28 in the Bronc Room.

During the seminar, McQuillen presented an array of issues regarding gender in leadership roles. The communication professor also discussed the different characteristics instilled in one another and the role of these traits in terms of various leadership tasks.

“Gender is a psychological disposition,” McQuillen insisted.

“Both men and woman carry different characteristics that when crossed, is looked upon as gender incongruence.”

Gender incongruity, continued McQuillen during his presentation,

Lady14Broncs reach higher, Page - Q&A with volleyball player Rebecca Toddy move forward

pertains to individuals that carry leadership skills of either gender.

Take for example a female who may find herself ‘assertive’ or a male who might find himself to be ‘timid’ in decision-making.

Through his research, McQuillen has begun to understand the different mindsets between the two. Men are known to be assertive, taskoriented, and unforgiving when it comes to failure. Many are accustomed to punishing instead of communicating, he suggested.

Women on the other hand, are generally more democratic and communicative, tending to concentrate more on equality among one another, while men are more competitive.

Ironically, much of this has to

SEE LEADERSHIP || PAGE 6

Photos: Featured scenes from around campus

February 4, 2010

Vol 66, No. 16

2

Illustrated Commentary

February 4 , 2010

1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539 Phone: (956) 381-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Brian Silva / brian.silva2@gmail.com ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Roxann Garcia/ nevaeh09@msn.com MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

Kristen Cabrera / kristenmichellecabrera@yahoo.com ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR

Andrielle Figuerroa / j27ig@yahoo.com SPORTS EDITOR

Sara Hernandez/ sarahdzm@hotmail.com PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Alma Hernandez / alma.e.hdz@gmail.com SENIOR DESIGNER

Roy Bazan / rbazanzz@utpa.edu

Anthony Salinas / The Pan American

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ADMINISTRATIVE ASSOCIATE

Anita Reyes / areyes18@utpa.edu

ADVERTISING MANAGER

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WEBMASTER

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

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

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

Commentary

Campus remains pedestrian-unfriendly Brian Silva Editor in Chief

Walking in mud, potholes or water is a common experience for students, so hearing a rant from someone about how horrible the infrastructure is around campus is nothing new.

It’s only gotten worse as the university has grown in recent years.

Other than the inconveniences of having to walking around huge water hazard after normally dry South Texas skies wet the ground, there are some more dangerous circumstances faced, especially by students.

Already this semester several have been hit by vehicles while trying to cross roads adjacent to and connecting with campus.

The fact that students get hit makes the university decidedly un-pedestrian-friendly.

Many make the trek across University Drive for lunch and other things. It’s quite common to see students darting across six lanes of traffic to make it to wherever. This is actually why one student was hit recently.

The safety officials on campus

will likely tell us that we just need to go to the nearest crosswalk to make it safely across. This would take us to the intersection of Sugar. and University, which is the nearest official crosswalk. However, are students really going to do that?

For two reasons that situation is unlikely to happen. A simple inconvenience lies with the fact the intersection is too far away. It’s easier to just dart across. The other reason is that the intersection crosswalks allow very little time for one to actually walk across. It leaves a person with less than five seconds to run the gauntlet.

Even though the intersection has a semi-protected crosswalk, it is still dangerous because drivers rarely respect it. The chances of getting hit there are the same as darting across the six lanes of traffic.

A fix to this problem is a proposed new crosswalk that will coincide with a new street that will intersect with University Drive near the Visitor’s Center parking entrance.

This solution is too far down the road. Till that happens students will continue to get hit. What

will it take for administration to move immediately on this matter?

Yes, money is tight, but student safety is a problem the student government should be concerned about. It’s going to take innovation, but the risk of not doing anything is too great. Someone will be killed or crippled sooner or later.

Students have been hit at all corners of the university, so attention should not solely focus on the University Drive. area. Officials should also look at Schunior going west toward Jackson Road. A vast student population lives north of Schunior and west of Sugar.

It’s almost the forgotten population, of several hundred students. On the north side people often walk along the edge of the road or on the small beaten path half a foot from the road.

This is an additional risk area, but it is slightly further from the university.

Even though it may not be immediately adjacent to campus, university leaders should still advocate for an immediate resolution. A simple resolution could be a bus stop. It is needed, and would be widely used.

It should not take the death of a

student to motivate administration into taking immediate action. The potential for tragedy cannot be ignored like a milder, nuisance complaint from some unintelligent students.

I laud administrators who acknowledge the problem and hope to find a solution. I’ve seen the concern in their eyes and as students we should appreciate their concern.

However, being concerned and taking action are two different things.

I’d urge administrators to approach the subject with an open mind and meld their perceptions to the students’ reality.

In the outside world there is a tendency to criticize the wide gap in academic institutions between theory and actual practice. Sometimes administrators have a tendency to stick close to the theoretical resolutions and not realize the actual student mentality, and what must be done.

I would encourage our university officials to experience these situations because there’s no substitute sometimes for firsthand, physical knowledge of a situation. And if students want a more pedestrian-friendly campus community, they need to fight for it.

3 Lecture series focuses on border health disparities February 4, 2010

By Alejandra Martinez The Pan American Last week the South Texas Border Health Disparities Center at the University of Texas-Pan American welcomed Melissa Valerio from the University of Michigan as part of its lecture series, to discuss her research about health literacy and health disparities on both U.S. borders.

During the presentation, Valerio spoke briefly about the history of Detroit and compared the habits of its population to those people of McAllen

and the South Texas border, while also discussing the health disparities of both.

As an assistant professor at UM’s School of Public Health, her research interests include chronic disease management and prevention, the design and evaluation of effective health education materials, plus programs and survey methods.

Valerio’s main focus is health literacy, especially among children and adolescents. About 90 million people in the United States have difficulty using and understanding health information, the professor said.

“Even well educated people with strong reading or writing skills may have trouble comprehending a medical consent form or doctors’ instructions regarding drugs and procedures,” she explained.

Valerio mentioned that the reason she and her partners decided to target teens is due to the fact that when they transition into adulthood, they will become their own caregivers.

In terms of about teens and health literacy, 46 percent of students read below grade level, says Valerio. Graduation rates for Hispanics across the country are at 53 percent, and 56 percent for African

Americans. Something else worth mentioning is that one in every three teens has low health literacy, the speaker noted. These teens are twice as likely to exhibit aggressive or anti-social behavior, use tobacco, and misuse alcohol.

“Functional health literacy is the ability, attribution and skill to engage in the complex and multidimensional health care environment,” Valerio explained.

“We focus specifically on building those skills. We want to make sure we address the prevention, the clinical setting

“We need to think outside of the box and be innovative...”

Melissa Valerio

University of Michigan professor

SEE HEALTH || PAGE 7

New library database addition provides help

By Pamela Morales The Pan American

Tammy Ayala /THE PAN AMERICAN

DIGGING FOR DATA - Graduate student Tony Matamoros does research on a library computer Tuesday.

When a student is looking to do research for a term paper or assignment, the first place the majority of them turn to is on the computer. Many look to Wikipedia, but professors look upon it with some skepticism because of its occasionally unreliable information. Then there’s Google, the information giant that would seem to have everything a student would ever need. The problem there is that often that site comes up with tons of unrelated info.

In addition, both sites offer parts of articles, but seldom the entire text.

Ironically, the library, which has fallen out of favor in recent times with the advent of online research options, may be the right call.

Recently at the University Library

a collection of academic articles called JSTOR was added to the library’s catalogue of 200 different databases.

JSTOR, short for “journal storage,” was chosen after an evaluation of librarians, to help students, faculty, and staff fulfill their needs with full-text academic journals.

Any currently enrolled student, faculty, or staff member can get ahold of at least 120 titles from the Arts and Science VI collection focused on social sciences or 140 titles of Arts and Sciences VIII collection focused on humanities.

“We anticipate widespread usage of this material,” said library rep John Asbell. “This [JSTOR] is a popular source in many academic libraries.”

Carlton Nelson, an electronic resources librarian, said JSTOR is different from the SEE DATABASE || PAGE 7

Census Info Center gears up for count

By Alejandra Martinez The Pan American

With the 2010 Census just around the corner, it is important for every member of the population to be informed about this upcoming event. That’s why the Census Information Center (CIC) at The University of TexasPan American is working to get the message out that come April 1, everyone must be accounted for.

As part of the Data and Information Systems Center at UTPA, the CIC is in charge of making Census data and information available to

underserved communities which otherwise don’t have proper access to it. As an affiliate of the Census Bureau run by UTPA, the CIC is part of an engagement component of the university that is geared toward the economic development of the Rio Grande Valley.

As part of an economic and community development outreach, the CIC provides education, training and professional expertise to local, state, national and international communities, in order to create a better quality of life for underserved areas of the population, explained UTPA Data SEE CENSUS || PAGE 7

Alma Hernandez /THE PAN AMERICAN

RAINY DAY - Yvonne Quintanilla, director of international programs, walks in the rain outside the COAS building Wednesday.

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LING

LEADERSHIP

continued from Page 1 to expect in country. She was told to always keep extra cash around, because Iraqis didn’t like Americans and might take advantage of them.

When she got to the hotel, to their surprise they were only charged $13. “(The U.S.) seemed not to know even trivial things about Iraq,” Ling said. She then took a jab at America’s inability to find weapons of mass destruction by joking, “Good thing I wasn’t talking about WMDs.” Her experiences at Channel 1 propelled her to a new type of broadcast role: talk show host. In 2001 she joined “The View”, a women’s program that focuses on politics and pop culture. She said that while there, she pushed secular knowledge to the forefront of the show’s talking points agenda. Ling promoted lesser known issues from all around the world.

“I just knew there was a desire among Americans to know what was going on in the world,” she said.

Tuesday Ling acknowledged the controversy that emerged shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, when she suggested that Americans should think about why the United States was attacked. She said there was a firestorm of negative feedback, but maintained that “why” must be asked.

Her tenure at “The View” would come to a close and lead

February 4, 2010

NEWS

continued from Page 1 to a new role, her current post as the host of the National Geographic Channel’s “Explorer.”

While there she has reported on the drug cartel wars in Columbia, the effects of Chinese child limit laws on female babies, the gang MS 13, California’s maximum security prison, and is now working on reporting sex trafficking of young girls in America.

“It’s happening in every city in the United States,” Ling said, explaining that prostitution is not the blackand-white issue that many see it as: often participation is not a choice.

Ling later said that young girls are preyed upon by older men, who then use them for prostitution, and that the girls don’t make a penny of what is earned. Ling equated that to slaves, who work for nothing.

She slammed the fact that the word “pimp” as being glorified by urban pop culture, calling real-life pimps, “modern day slave owners,” With frustration, the journalist told the crowd that the term is pervasive in modern pop culture, and does not assign a negative connotation to pimp culture.

“When you’re glorifying pimps, you’re promoting slavery,” she said forcefully.

Her coverage of women’s

and children’s issues around the world led the Ling’s signing on as a correspondent for the Oprah Winfrey Show a few years ago. She admitted to the UTPA crowd she was asked to specifically report on those type of stories, but said she didn’t mind since it is a privilege to be on the wildly popular show.

When asked by a student if she sought out the more dangerous stories, she replied that it wasn’t the danger that attracted her, it was simply the story itself.

“I don’t seek out danger…

I’m not an adrenalin junkie,” she answered. “I have an insatiable curiosity for these stories.”

Toward the end of the presentation Ling admitted she had always struggled with religion because of the things she has seen around the world.

“If there is a God, then how can he allow this to happen?” she questioned, referring to the various tragedies she’s seen.

She explained that her husband had asked the same question one time after seeing a horrible situation.

She said he was hit with the answer, “(God) made you,” as she pointed three times across the crowd.

“Now that you know, you can’t pretend that you don’t,” Ling said.

VETERANS

continued from Page 1 After receiving his bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in rehabilitative counseling from UTPA, Ysasi worked as a guidance counselor at the College of Business Administration for nearly two years. His five-year experience in the U.S. Navy and knowledge as a guidance counselor at UTPA, he said, has helped structure his job duties as the director of the center.

“As a veteran myself, I always had a desire to work with veterans, and I wanted to make sure this was being pushed though,” Ysasi said. “My military experience plus my counseling training has, I think, been working well for me since I got here. Having been a guidance counselor as well has provided me with the educational tools I need to better assist the students.”

According to Ysasi, additional training will be available to faculty and staff starting this spring. Dr. Katherine Selber, a professor of social work at Texas State University in San Marcos, is a vital element in helping the center initiate these training sessions, Ysasi said. With a broad knowledge of veteran’s issues, Selber will be working directly with faculty and staff to help the center implement changes that will ultimately affect the university’s veterans.

“In March, we’re having (Dr. Selber) come down from Texas State University,” Ysasi said. “She has extensive training in working with veterans, difficulties they face, difficulties for the family, and the implications that service can have on the family and the service member. So she will be coming down and working with faculty and staff.”

MORE INNOVATIONS In addition to a new veteran’s student organization and honor society, one of the new programs to be implemented is group counseling, Ysasi said. In early February, the Veterans Services Center

will be welcoming a new counselor to the center, which currently employs a director, a secretary, and an advising coordinator.

To better connect with their students, the center is also on the edge of launching its Web page to provide students a more detailed view at what the center is about, as well as help answer any questions or concerns current and prospective students may have, Ysasi said. Being accessible to students, he added, is an essential component to raising student awareness of the center.

“Since I have been on board for about month, we have been working overtime to getting our Web page created,” Ysasi said.

“Hopefully, it will be fully operational by next week. It includes our location, our mission statement and our services, so it will be good.”

Located on the second floor of the University Center, the center is a place that welcomes all veterans looking for assistance with a related issue regarding academics, said Sanchez, whose main tasks includes aiding students with official admissions procedures and GI Bill certification.

“If they need any guidance or need any information, they can start with our office,” Sanchez said. “Whether it’s for their degree plan or applying for the GI Bill…we can show them the way.”

Although it has only been one month, Ysasi said, much has been improved to offer the university’s veterans the smooth college experience they deserve after serving their country. With this center established especially for them, he said, veterans are always welcome and supported.

“I’ve only been here for a short period, but during that time a lot of work has been implemented,” Ysasi said. “We have the whole semester to go, and I can only imagine what we will achieve in the next three or four months.”

do with child’s play. Both male and volunteerism, and conflict resolution.

“An important aspect of SLA is female adolescent games exhibit the same characteristics early on. to keep engaging students,” said Men are taught to win and become Erica Lopez, program coordinator very competitive while growing for the Office of Student Life & into adulthood while females are Transition Services. “Any way enthralled into making connections. that we can help bring UTPA into “Don’t get the impression the forefront as leaders would that women are smarter and better define SLA’s mission.”

The academy, which welcomes better-equipped or vice versa,” said McQuillen.

“If you’re all UTPA students, helps create going to be a leader, it’s meaningful learning experiences better to move to the middle.” in order to teach and challenge its members.

The middle is the best, he said.

“If you’re going to be SLA offers leadership That’s where one a leader, it’s better to s e m i n a r s , finds a little bit of networking androgyny, which move to the middle. ” sessions and means having relation customized with either gender. workshops, “Therefore we of charge. can begin to learn Jeffrey McQuillen free For further from one another,” Communication professor information, McQuillen noted. c o n t a c t The gender discussion was part of a series of the Office of Student Life and interactive presentations whose Transition Services at 381-2659.

The next seminar will cover the components are offered two to four times per month and are open to powerful effects that culture plays all students. The SLA seminars in everyday life, hosted by Richard incorporate speakers with different Trevino. The seminar is set for Feb. expertise in leadership areas, 16 but limited space available. For such as development, service and further information, call 381-2260.

February 4, 2010

NEWS

CENSUS

DATABASE

continued from Page 3 and Information Systems Center Coordinator Sai Mullapudi.

“Census data is used to help business entrepreneurs make sound business decisions,” said Mullapudi, whose organization provides training and technical assistance to businesses, local governments, and any community groups interested in accessing census data for things like research, program administration, planning, and decision-making purposes.

“It will also help design sales territories, set sales quotas, and evaluate new business opportunities,” he added.

The U.S. Census, which is required by the Constitution, takes place once every 10 years with its mission to count every single person in the nation. For this to happen, the message has to reach all 310 million people.

Via the Census, the government grants almost $500 billion in federal funds to communities for help with building hospitals, schools, job training centers, senior centers, bridges, and tunnels, along with providing emergency services to residents.

Page 7

continued from Page 3 The CIC also helps the Census group conduct research studies at the grassroots level of communities by asking people what their perception the questions are and what they think needs to be changed. This results in Census data products like the 2010 census questionnaire, and the design of the census web site Mullapudi says.

“We’d like to continue collaboration and communication among the university, Texas State Data Center, and the U.S. Bureau of the Census,” Mullapudi said.

“We are geared toward proving access and understanding of the value and uses of census data in the Hispanic-dominated region of the Rio Grande Valley.”

Census forms will be mailed out to every resident of the U.S. and Puerto Rico in March. The form consists of 10 questions, the shortest one ever, with the hope that it will also be easier to complete than past surveys. The Valley will receive bilingual questionnaires.

Residents who do not send back the forms will receive a visit from a census representative.

many other databases because all its articles are PDF files.

“PDF files are opened from this link into a full-text article,” he said. “It’s not limited just to the citation or abstract.”

Though the database is strong in the humanities, the subscription also includes articles from other subjects, such as anthropology.

It’s another addition to the library that many students, faculty, and staff can use as a reliable resource,

tailored better than the popular sites like Google and Wikipedia.

“It’s narrowed down completely to what anyone is looking for,” Nelson said. “Unlike Google where it searches for millions of articles that aren’t always reliable.”

The main drawback to using the library database is timeliness. The archive has many full-text academic journals but only up to 2005. This means that JSTOR’s use is circumscribed.

“This database is more for critique of literature of specific stories and poems, history of science, or anthropology,” Nelson added.

In the near future the library plans to subscribe to an enhanced database that includes current titles. But as for now, the online database is accessible and ready for students, faculty, and staff to use as a full-on resource. Interested parties may inquire on the second floor of the facility for help using it.

HEALTH

continued from Page 3 and the navigation of the health care system.”

Another matter of concern with health literacy is the amount of money spent in hospitalizations and clinical care; expenditures for these cost the U.S health care system anywhere from $50 billion to $73 billion per year.

Valerio, also a faculty member with the Center for Managing Chronic Disease at UM, talked about the Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR), a partnership approach to research that equitably involves community members, organizational representatives, and researches in all aspects of the research process.

“CBPR has the potential to build greater trust and respect between researchers and communities,” Valerio said. “We need to think

outside the box and be innovative and our partners are often times more innovative than we are.”

Regarding health disparities in the cities of Detroit and McAllen, Valerio found that the rate for people with good health in Detroit was 81.7 percent and 70.9 percent in McAllen. Residents in the city of Detroit with health care access make up 85.9 percent of the population, whereas in McAllen only 51.2 percent of the people are covered. In Detroit the number for adults who suffer from a chronic disease like high blood pressure is 30.7 percent, in McAllen the number is slightly lower at 24.3 percent. The percentages for overweight and obese people in Detroit are 35.9 and 32.7, in McAllen the situation is reversed with 32.6 percent of overweight population and 35.7 for obesity rate.

Daniel Flores /THE PAN AMERICAN

BORDER HEALTH - Melissa Valerio speaks about a comparison of health issues that plague the Rio Grande Valley and Detroit.

THE PAN AMERICAN

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Stephanie Corte

February 4, 2010

THE PAN AMERICAN

February 4, 2010

SAINTS

COLTS

I think (the Colts) are gonna win because they re a better team.

Angela Ramirez

Luke Curran

The Colts because of Manning.

I don t know if either of them should win; I hope the Saints will win because I m a Patriots fan so it s against my values to go for the Colts, so I m going for the Saints, I think they ll win.

Age: 31 Experience: 9 years College: Purdue Height: 6 0 Weight: 209 lbs Birthplace: Austin, Texas

Age: 33 Experience: 12 years College: Tennessee Height: 6 5 Weight: 230 lbs Birthplace: New Orleans 2009 YDS

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John Brush

DREW BREES #9

PEYTON MANNING #18

BY: ALVARO BALDERAS The Colts because Manning is awesome!

Adam Torres I think the Saints are gonna take it. I think Reggie Bush, the guy s all over the field, I don t think the Colts are gonna stop him.

The Colts because they ve won it before and they have the upper hand, I think they have better players.

Natalie Arreola

Page 9

Are you ready for the annual feast of Bar-BQ, pizza, chips, candy or whatever other provisions needed to stuff yourself this Sunday?

Unless you live under a rock, or in Dallas, everybody in America will be associated some way or another this weekend for Super Bowl XLIV as the Indianapolis Colts take on the New Orleans Saints in the most important game of the NFL season.

The Sunday of the Super Bowl has become a de facto United States holiday for the way it unites people, and this weekend will be no exception for the majority of UTPA students as they hit the party scene.

Who would’ve thought that a single game out of the entire year could bring people together who otherwise would never hang out. This is

2009

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95.2

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50,128 366

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109.6 4,388

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the case for Pan Am sophomore Carlos Martinez (Colts fan) who said enjoying some beers with his brother-in-law would be out of the question on any other day. But come Super Bowl Sunday, it’s a different story.

“I mean we hardly talk or see each other, but the last couple of years the game has brought our families together and we’ve enjoyed the game in a weird way,” said the criminal justice major from Pharr.

Of course for many students the big game is just another opportunity to eat oodles of chow and sip favorite beverages, so it’s no surprise that Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest day for U.S. food consumption, trailing only Thanksgiving.

“My best friend is going to make some Bar-BQ so I’ll enjoy the game at his house party,” said ju-

nior broadcast major Dionicio Rodriguez, a Saints.

“The Super Bowl is basically another excuse to hang out with friends and family to drink.”

According to the Nielsen ratings, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast with close to 100 million viewers, and annually promised very entertaining commercials for those who have no interest in the actual game.

And 2009 UTPA alumna Cecilia Pena is hoping this year’s ads, which cost between $2.5 and $2.8 million for 30-second spots, don’t disappoint her.

“I’m not going to watch the game but I’m curious to see what some companies have in store in their advertisements,” the public relations graduate said. “Also, the halftime shows are pretty entertaining to watch, but I mean without the wardrobe malfunctions, especially this year with The

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Who performing.”

So what’s in store Sunday as the Colts and Saints vie for the Vince Lombardi trophy? What more can a football fan ask for than to see the second-ranked passing offense (Colts) led by the legend that is Peyton Manning go up against the 26th-ranked pass defense (Saints), who feature native Texan Drew Brees plus Reggie Bush’s explosiveness on the offensive end.

The feel-good story of post-Katrina New Orleans looking for a bright spot has many fans siding with the Saints, but the prolific history of Manning slightly favors the Colts for the majority of UTPA students.

Beside Manning’s deadly aerial assault and the Saints devastating pounding ground game, one thing is for sure: fans will come out the winners.

Michael Valdez The Saints have a chance to win because their team s more together because they could ve gone to the Super Bowl a couple of years ago after the Katrina accident and it looks like they want it more than the Colts right now.

Jerry Hernandez I m not really sure, but I ll go for the Saints because it s their first time going to a Super Bowl… they have a lot of people behind them they also have good players. I m just gonna go with the motivational part.

February 4 2010

10

High pregnancy rates feed sex education movement abstinence-only methods rather than informing teens of contraceptives and how they are used. Others Recently released data from the believe the glorification of teen Guttmacher Institute (a non partisan, pregnancy in movies and television nonprofit research group) shows teen may also be a factor.

Arlene Cornejo, a psychology pregnancies are on the rise in the USA; pregnancy among females aged major at UTPA and president of 15 to 19 has increased by 3 percent. VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood, With the rates going up, what about thinks it may be a mixture of the two.

“I think it’s kind the Deep South we of ridiculous, call home? they know the Local interested “ There is a lot of cultural correlation of parties, including abstinence-only a group bent on pressure to find love and programs and preventing the reproduce at a young age teen pregnancy, spread of STD’s yet they fail to and supporting in the Valley. Add that to create programs to the teachings sex teach students to education reacted understimulation in the practice safe sex,” to the statistical schools and cameras on Cornejo insisted. news.

T e e n a g e “The issue cell phones and youʼve got pregnancy rates is that it had actually dropped gone down over the flour used to make a significantly from the decade, but 2005 to 2006 in all of a sudden baby cake. ” Hidalgo County. it shows a 3 While this is good percent increase. news, numbers in Obviously it Simon Alexander the Rio Grande is a cause for Art studio major Valley are still concern,” said higher than the Katherine Hearn, average state rate community per 1,000 females services director for the Planned Parenthood aged 13 to 17. Texas considers 13- to Association of Hidalgo County. 17-year-olds teens, while the nation Though the latest statistics are from statistics include 15- to 19-year-olds.

UTPA art studio major Simon 2006, they’re the latest available, and experts have been waiting for them Alexander divulges what he in order to prove a point. Some of considers to be some of the issues these experts blame federally funded Valley teens face that push them to sexual education classes that stress being sexually active.

By Cecily Saldana cecilydino@yahoo.com

Matthew Broderick makes his television debut on NBC, playing a writer hired by a millionaire to run a Hamptons newspaper. Go-Go career.

Grab your girlfriends and drool over Channing Tatum alongside co-star Amanda Seyfried. ‘Dear John’ opens Feb. 5.

“There is a lot of cultural pressure to find love and reproduce at a young age in the Valley,” the 25-year-old stated. “Add that to understimulation in the schools and cameras on cell phones and you’ve got the flour used to make a baby cake.”

Planned Parenthood hosts weekend classes for teens and their parents to talk about safe sex. The group has also implemented a new program that gives free birth control to qualifying women ages 18 to 44.

Hearn says the program has led to a more than 25 percent increase of women going to the Planned Parenthood offices. If it’s cost that is holding a woman back, this program

will benefit them.

In addition, Planned Parenthood is attempting a statewide awareness campaign about the importance of waiting and eventual planning, but “money is tight” at the moment so it will have to be put off for the time being, Hearn noted.

The group has also started a student organization at UTPA to bring awareness to the campus. The goal of VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood is to create awareness about safer sex, healthy relationships, contraceptives and the importance of family planning.

“Our goal is to help UTPA students finish college by preventing pregnancies and STDs,” Hearn stated.

Tammy Ayala / the pan american

HELP ISN’T PHARR - Planned Parenthoods are located throughout the county and are equipped to take questions from inquiring minds.

Spoilers spoil everything; avoid them at all costs

By Victor Ituarte victorituarte@gmail.com

Blink 182 front man Tom DeLonge, along with his third music project band, is pushing their third effort called ‘Love,’ which ironically is to be released on Feb. 14.

Nick Prugo admits to being part of the “Bling Ring,” a group that has been stealing from celebrities’ homes.

During the weeks leading up to the premiere of “Avatar,” I did what any self-respecting movie enthusiast should do: I stayed away from reading or seeing anything about it. It is something I’ve practiced since the release of the seventh and final book of the Harry Potter series. Back then, news had hit the Internet that a leak of the entire book was online. That meant one thing: SPOILERS. Although I vowed to keep off the Internet, I broke my promise to look for music to download. I stumbled upon a file of the Potter leak. I wondered how exactly a book leaks. Curiosity got the better of me and I downloaded it.

The culprit photographed every single page and it was 99 percent readable.

After an internal struggle unrelated to what I ate, I came to the decision to begin reading the book. I did so to avoid overhearing a spoiler at the release party. If the book was going to be spoiled, it was going to be on my terms and how J.K. Rowling meant for it to happen. Sure enough, the day of the release, there were slips of paper all over Barnes & Noble listing every

character that dies.

I am an anti-spoiler advocate, but the leak made me realize I’m also an advocate for untainted storytelling, which is almost the same thing.

The consensus is that a spoiler is a piece of information that reveals a major plot point of a film or story (source: me) thus spoiling the surprise.

The twists that made M. Night Shyamalan of “The Sixth Sense” famous are a good example.

I’d push to broaden the definition to include anything revealed about any part of a story. That includes interviews with the storytellers (cast, crew, actors), trailers, sneak peeks, pictures, or data.

Directors and authors tell stories in a specific way. They want their audience to discover information in a specific sequence because they want to elicit a certain reaction. They also withhold information until it is appropriate to do so. Movies and books are all about storytelling. You wreck a storyteller’s vision by revealing any information ahead of time to one of their audience members/readers.

Ideally, you are never meant to know a single thing about a movie when you first watch it because that’s

www.beegs.com

how movies are made. Unfortunately, the only way the industry knows how to get you to watch their movies is by revealing information to pique interest.

At that point, why bother creating an allure or mystery about the plot if the person watching is probably doing so

already knowing what the plot is?

You owe it to yourself to practice this for the time you spend to download, rent, or attend a screening and for paying ridiculously high ticket prices. I for one refuse to pay for another pair of 3D glasses!

February 4, 2010

ARTS AND LIFE

Page 11

WHAT TV SHOW SHOULD I WATCH? Do you like when your TV shows get cancelled?

Are you a big music buff?

Live or previously recorded?

Live

Previously recorded

Comedy or drama?

Comedy

Charlie Sheen

Al Bundy

Drama

Would you rather be confused or annoyed?

Annoyed

Tina Fey Confused

Would you rather inherit money or crazy tendencies?

Money Crazy

Page 12

Arts & LIFE

February 4, 2010

13

March 24, 2010

Women’s basketball finishes season at GWC tournament

By Sara Hernandez The Pan American

Alma E. Hernandez/THE PAN AMERICAN

OUTSTANDING - Freshman Bianca Torre was the most effective scorer for the Lady Broncs this season with an average of 13.6 points per

The season is done. After defeating Houston Baptist 69-61 in the first round of the Great West Conference Tournament the University of Texas Pan-American women’s basketball program fell 72-61 against Utah Valley in the semifinals at Orem, Utah.

“We were very excited, it was the first time at a conference tournament for all of us,” freshman Bianca Torre said. “We were hopeful we’d win it all, but we gave it what we had, we worked hard and played well but fell in the second round.”

The loss was an unfortunate one.

The Lady Broncs led throughout the game until the last eight minutes, when the Wolverines caught up and overcame them.

Following the victory against UTPA, Utah Valley defeated North Dakota 70-62 Saturday. North Dakota came into the GWC Tournament as the leader in the standings but the host school came through with an upset.

For the Lady Broncs, the 2009-10 season demonstrated that a team can improve based on daily work and finding team chemistry. The record

stood at 2-12 by the end of 2009 but game this season.

“It’s a great honor, I think there improved to 11-6 in 2010 adding up to a 13-18 mark. The women fell one were a couple of girls in the team who triumph short of tying the school re- deserved it too, but I thank God and my teammates. I was cord for most wins in a very excited,” she season.

Coach Denny “It’s a great honor, I think said.

Now that the seaDowning, who came to there were a couple of UTPA last summer, re- girls in the team who son is over, Torre looks at her first camflected on his first year deserved it too” paign as a collegiate as head coach, mentioning that commitBianca Torre player as a good experience, which she ment to the program is GWC All-Tournament attributes to support what moved the squad from coaches and forward as the season teammates. Particuprogressed.

“I can’t say enough about the kids larly, she holds reverence for the exitI inherited. There is not a kid on the ing seniors – Rose Esther Jean, Aleeya team that I recruited,” he pointed out Grigsby, Marah Guzman, Rachel Hesin a press release. “We started the sea- ter, and Taylor Schneider – who set an son 0-8. Had we won today, we would example of the way a veteran player have tied the school record for most should lead.

“I’m really sad, they were very wins in a season.”

In addition, freshman Torre was good leaders; they made my first exnamed to the GWC All-Tournament perience very memorable,” Torre said.

Team, and is the conference Newcom- “Whoever is coming next as a senior er of the Year. Torre scored 22 points next year must fill in their shoes. We against Utah Valley, and led the stats are going to be wiser next year, we averaging 13.6 points per game with know other teams better, and we can a total of 407 points in 30 games. The adjust now because we want to win the Harlingen native started all but one conference.”

Broncs advance to semi-finals, Tennis wins one of three on SB weekend fall short against South Dakota

By Benny Salinas The Pan American

The Broncs spent the beginning of their Spring Break in Orem, Utah for the Great West Conference Basketball Tournament, advancing to the semi-finals after winning against Utah Valley in the first round, 56-53. They lost to South Dakota in the next round however, 76-71.

“From the standpoint of my team, I couldn’t be prouder of these guys,” Ryan Mark, head men’s basketball coach, said in a press release. Though the season ended in Utah, the program showed improvement as the year progressed, rebounding from a 1-17 start to go .500 the rest of the way.

“Our record at the end doesn’t really reflect the distance we have come as a team,” Marks said. “If you go back and watch games we played earlier through now and evaluate the caliber of basketball we are playing, we have come light-years.”

The first game of the tournament against Utah was a tough one, with the score remaining close until the end. Utah led at the half 25-23 and the second half was littered with ties and lead changes. Utah’s last advantage of the game was on a two-point jumper with only 58 seconds left on the clock, bringing them up 53-51.

The Broncs answered with a three pointer by junior Nick Weiermiller for a one-point bulge. Two free throws by junior Matt Mierzycki cinched the

By Neena Hernandez The Pan American

deal, giving the Broncs a 56-53 win.

Weiermiller, Mierzycki and junior Julius Hearn were all in double digits this game, scoring 18, 10 and 11 points respectively.

Following their victory against Utah, the Broncs faced the top team in the Great West Conference, the University of South Dakota. USD swept the Broncs in both meetings this season and compiled a 21-10 record heading into the tourney. USD would continue the dominance but not by much, winning by five in a close game featuring seven lead changes and a Bronc lead for the majority of the second half.

The broncs lost the momentum but stayed strong, with a pair of free throws from USD with fou seconds left finally sealing it.

The Broncs remained optimistic about their season. Marks said that despite the number of close losses the team went through they kept chipping away at things to become a better team. besides losing seniors Luis Valera and Ben Smith, the program welcomes back most of the cast that made strides in 2010.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the team for doing something of that magnitude,” Marks said. “I have a lot of returners and I look forward to building on this with them next year.”

Coming in with a streak of five straight wins, The University of TexasPan American men’s tennis team fell short in two tournaments last weekend.

Their first game took place at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La., March 20. Although the rain left the No. 6 spot hanging until the next day, it didn’t help any for UTPA. The tally overall was Nicholls 5, UTPA 4.

The only Bronc to beat out a Colonel for the singles competition was Ashwin Vijayaragavan, a junior from Andhrapradesh, India. He defeated Radu Ionescu in two out of three sets, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

The team’s overall record is now 6-9 heading into the next action Tuesday at home against TAMU-CC. “I believe the loss was disappointing, we didn’t come through but we take it in stride as a team to do better for a next match,” said Vijayaragavan, a finance major. “I think I did a good job in my matches, they weren’t easy but I’m glad I came through.”

For the doubles competition, UTPA won two out of three slots. The brothers from Sugar Land, Beau and Brett Bernstein, defeated Ionescu/Viad Popa 8-5 and the team of Vijayaragavan/Nirvick Mohinta defeated Phenyo Matong/ Dmitry Kozlonov 8-4.

Bouncing back that Sunday afternoon from their loss, the men came to win with doubles 3-0 and singles 5-1.

UTPA won all but one singles competition. Vijayragavan defeated Steffen

Daniel Flores/THE PAN AMERICAN

EYES ON THE BALL - Junior Aswin Vijayaragavan, UTPA’s number one player, won all three singles matches he played this weekend.

Giles-Osborn 6-2, 6-3. Brett Bernstein defeated Hassan Abbas 1-6, 6-2, (119). Beau Bernstein defeated Cameron Knowles 6-1, 6-1. Marcus Dornauf beat Mario Myles 7-5, 6-2. Andrew Irving bested Mikhail Vaval 6-3, 6-4.

In the doubles, all UTPA men won their matches. The Bernsteins defeated Giles-Osborn/Abbas 8-4. Nirvick Mohinta/Aswin topped Knowles/Sean

Richardson 8-4. Dornauf/Irving toppled Vaval/Myles 9-7.

“After a tough loss to Nicholls, I’m happy with how the guys rebounded in the afternoon,” Coach Chris Taylor concluded. “I wouldn’t say we’re playing our best tennis right now but the guys came out strong in the doubles and did a great job of keeping the momentum through the singles.”

February 11, 2010

Page 14

sports

Lady Broncs stand fourth in GWC

By Sara Hernandez sarahdzm@hotmail.com

Alma Hernandez/The Pan American

recognized - Tuesday, Edinburg native Marah Guzman was named Great West Conference Player of the Week. The senior scored 12 points and rebounded seven balls in UTPA’s win 79-66 against Houston Baptist.

After kicking off conference play with four home games the University of Texas-Pan American women’s basketball team hit the road to face Utah Valley and Chicago State, adding one win and a loss.

Then they came home to improve their Great West Conference record to a glittering 5-2 with a win over Houston Baptist.

The Lady Broncs had defeated Utah Valley 71-62 at Orem Thursday but fell against Chicago State 78-63 Saturday. They next play Saturday at 4:30 against Utah once again.

“We played very well, I thought, we had a lot of bench help at Utah Valley,” said first-year head coach Denny Downing.

Freshman Bianca Torre, leading the team in scoring and assists, fouled out early against Chicago State and that hurt the effort.

“We tried to play without her,” Downing said. “I think there was an adjustment, I think there was also a little bit of a letdown because she wasn’t on the floor, she’s that valuable to what we’ve been doing.”

The Lady Broncs returned to the

UTPA Field House to beat Houston Baptist 79-66 with Torre, from Harlingen South, getting 21 points, six in 30 seconds during the second half; her two three-pointers sent the team onto a roll that captured the triumph.

Other Lady Broncs contributed to the win. Senior Jean Hester Jean scored 19 points and completed 12 rebounds while classmate Aleeya Grigsby had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Senior Marah Guzman, named GWC Player of the Week Tuesday, attained 12 points and seven rebounds.

UTPA completed .54 of the shots attempted and scored 14 of 18 free throws shot.

Torre pointed out that as things are going well for the Lady Broncs their focus is on playing as a team and not on individual achievement.

“Everybody is going out there and playing hard, we’re not thinking about ourselves, we’re thinking about everyone on the team,” she said. “It’s good that it’s not about somebody, it’s about the whole team.”

The winning conference record has built high expectations for the last stretch of the season. Although Downing maintains the position that the squad is taking the season

game by game, he mentioned that the team’s fourth place standing gives them a chance to dream.

South Dakota, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Chicago State hold the first three spots in the table as UTPA stands in the middle.

“We know we’re still on the hunt half way through,” said Downing earlier this week. “I think they realize they’re still on the hunt and it’s exciting this time a year to still have that mentality that we have a chance to win the conference.”

Downing added that in the second half of the conference season, teams facing each other have seen each other before.

“This far along in the season you understand what everybody’s strengths and weaknesses are whether it being in your team or the opposing team, you just adjust to that,” he said.

As the Lady Broncs wrapped up the win Wednesday and began to prepare for their next game, against Utah Valley Saturday at 4:30 p.m., Jean’s expression as she left the court illustrated the mindset.

“It felt good, we’re trying to get conference” she said with a smile of satisfaction. “Five more, five more steps.”

Men’s basketball returns home after on-the-road setbacks

ing into the second half.”

And that’s exactly what they did.

Utah was able to score 16 points The Bronc’s basketball team coming out of halftime before the had a competitive but unsuccessful Broncs could make a single basket. weekend as road losses at Utah and Luis Valera stopped that run with a Chicago dropped the overall record two-pointer at the 11:55 mark. Howto 4-22, 3-4 in conference. Against ever, by the time the clock came Utah Valley Feb. 4, after significant down to 4:41 Utah had extended lead changes, the Broncs lost 67- its lead to 10, finishing 14 up. The 53. In Chicago two days later, the Broncs finished the game with a Broncs went down 76-69.

44.9% field goal percentage.

“Overall I think the guys “There were a lot of easy played well,” said men’s shots that didn’t go in for basketball coach Ryan us,” Marks said. “We Wednesday’s Marks. “It’s always weren’t playing poorresult hard playing on road, ly, but Utah was just but they did a good playing better.”

UTPA - 82 job of it.”

The Broncs then Houston Baptist - 84 The game against made the long trek to (OT) Utah was one of opChicago State for Satposites and runs. From urday’s game, leaving an eight-point deficit them weary. The last time early on in the first half, the the two teams faced off was Broncs went on a 7-1 run, coming in Edinburg, resulting in a 21-point within three. After a series of three- win for the Broncs. However, Saturpoint shots by Jared Maree and Nick day’s outcome was quite different.

Weiermiller the team was able to “We were pretty tired going into enter halftime with a 10-point lead.

Saturday’s game and it showed,” “It was such an odd first half go- Marks admitted. “We started off ing from being down eight to being pretty slow with a pretty low energy ahead by ten,” Marks said. “How- level. But by the end of the first half ever, Utah Valley almost never loses I think we found our stride.” at home so we knew that they were At the end of the first half the going to make some adjustments goBy Benny Salinas Bsalinas@broncs.utpa.edu

Broncs were down 41-24. The stride UTPA found themselves in at the end of the first half wouldn’t lead them to a win, however, as they finished the game down seven, 76-69 “Chicago did change a lot of things since the last time we played them,” Marks said. “When they played in the Valley their leading scorer got into some foul trouble.

That didn’t happen this time. They were a lot more aggressive offensively and we were pretty fatigued.”

The Broncs get a chance to redeem themselves on Saturday when they play Utah at the Field House at 7 p.m.

“It’s always kind of interesting to re-play a team after a short period of timew,” Marks said. “Both teams get to make adjustments. Last time Utah did a lot of things to put the ball in the paint and they made big points that way. We’re going to make to address that next time.”

Houston Baptist defeated the Broncs 84-82 in overtime. UTPA will play again at home Wednesday against Houston Baptist. They have six Great West Conference games left, and then the conference tournament which will be at Orem, Utah on March 10.

Judy Chavez/The Pan American

give me some height- Ben Smith attempts a dunk at practice. The Broncs are preparing for the stretch run before the GWC Tournament.

15

February 11, 2010

Victory out of reach for Lady Broncs

By Benny Salinas Bsalinas@broncs.utpa.edu

The home court advantage wasn’t much of one for the women’s tennis team during their first home game of the season against the Texas State Bobcats Saturday. After a strong start during doubles competition, the Lady Broncs lost a series of singles matches, resulting in a 6-1 overall defeat, making their record 0-5.

“There were a couple of girls who came out strong and played well and then there were others who just slumped,” graduate assistant Maria Klokotsky said. “Texas State is definitely beatable team and we weren’t able to do that this time.”

The team’s sole win during singles competition was senior Nina Ciric’s swift 6-0, 6-2 decision over Mariana Perez. Senior Megan Bedeau put up a considerable fight against Andrea Giraldo, but was unable to pull out a victory in the third set super-tie-breaker. Senior Luisa Cantu also gave the Bobcats some competition during her match, but was unable to bring out a win after a 6-2, 7-6(3) finish. Sarah Burton and Andrea Salvetoa also fell short.

In doubles Bedeau and Cantu won their match 8-6 but Ciric and Burton were unable to repeat the win however, losing 8-4.

The Lady Broncs are winless this season, with earlier losses to Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston and

Southern Methodist. They next play on the road against The University of Houston Feb. 20 and then it’s off to El Paso for a Feb. 25 try against UTEP. “It’s been discouraging not being able to pull in a win,” said Klokotsky, the only coach present on Saturday’s match. “Everyone comes having worked hard and hoping for a win. It’s hard on the girls and it’s hard on the coaches to not translate all that work into a win.”

Adding to their frustrations is an injury to sophomore and Swedish native, Malin Anderson, who has not been able to participate since November due to a torn knee ligament that required surgery.

“It’s tough having to sit here and watch your team and not be able to do anything,” Anderson said from the sidelines Saturday. “I haven’t even started running yet.”

Anderson’s injury plays a major factor for a team that needs all the help it can get. Last year the Lady Broncs finished 5-14, after a recordsetting season in 2008, when they were 18-6.

“It’s a huge deficit to be missing a player, both on the field and psychologically,” Klokotsky said.

“We go into a match already down a point and it puts pressure on the girls because now that means they have to win four out of five games to pull out a win.” The Broncs, led by two first-year coaches, Klokotsky and head coach Chris Taylor, are op-

Alma Hernandez/The Pan American

unsuccessful return - Senior Luisa Cantu reaches for the ball Saturday. She fell short against Lady Bobcat Melissa Hadad 6-2, 7-6(3). timistic about some aspects of their performance however.

“Everything is new right now.

We’re changing the culture of this team,” said Klokotsky, a recent graduate from Fresno Pacific Uni-

versity. “We’ve had huge improvement in our doubles, but it’s not overnight. Every match we play is a learning experience, a stepping stone. We are seeing improvements but there’s still a long way to go.”

Thus, the two-week break between now and their next match will be no break at all.

“There’s going to be a lot of practice between now and our next match,” she promised.

DID YOU KNOW THAT...

All members of the women’s tennis team are from a foreign country?

Where are they from?

3 1

1. Megan Bedeau & Sarah Burton---Ontario, Canada

4 5 6

2

2. Luisa Cantu---Tamaulipas, Mexico 3. Malin Anderson---Sweden 4. Reeta Raty---Finland 5. Andrea Salvetova---Czech Republic 6. Nina Ciric---Serbia

February 4, 2010

16

Lady Broncs reach higher, move forward

By Alvaro Balderas Alvaro_tx@msn.com The University of Texas-Pan American Lady Broncs have their fans excited about a 3-1 start in the Great West Conference. After the team dropped 13 of its first 15 games of the season one can see why the recent success has been noticeable.

After easily dispatching NJIT and Chicago State to open up conference, UTPA (7-13, 3-1 conference) went into home games Thursday and Saturday against North and South Dakota averaging double-digit wins in their last four games.

Down throughout most of Saturday’s game against South Dakota, the Lady Broncs showed resiliency and aggressiveness in the second half as they rallied on a 12-3 run in the last nine minutes of the game to pick up the 60-57 win.

UTPA’s ferocity in the paint earned 34 trips to the free throw line compared to only five for the Lady Coyotes. Although shooting 53 percent from the line in the first half dug the Lady Broncs an unnecessary hole, head coach Denny Downing says Shaquille O’Neal’s theory on free throws sums up his team’s answer in the second half.

“Shooting better from the line would have had us in the ball game earlier but like Shaq says, ‘I make them when they count,’ and that’s what we did in the second,” Downing said. “We hit them when they counted.”

South Dakota (8-10, 2-3) had a

chance to tie the game at the end of regulation with a three but was unable to make it after an apparent no call which drove Lady Coyotes head coach Ryun Williams into a frenzy.

He ended up walking toward the official, putting his hands near and around his neck, but was restrained by his assistants.

After the game Williams expressed disappointment in his team’s lack of aggressiveness and impatience with the ball in the second half. He admitted he had no problem with the referee and denied choking him.

Attack, attack, attack is the style of play Downing wants his Lady Bronc team to play with and in Saturday’s game his All-Valley backcourt tandem gave him just, that leaving him impressed.

Senior Edinburg native Marah Guzman scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Harlingen South alumna Bianca Torre chipped in with 11 and five assists.

“We kept our composure when we needed to,” Torre said. “We just want to win and hang up that championship banner up here.”

Number 1 rebounder in conference Aleeya Grigsby attained a double-double of 16 and 10 while Lady Sioux Abby Hinder led all scorers with 19 in the losing effort.

STREAK SNAPPED The Lady Broncs had come into Thursday’s game against North Dakota on 12 days rest and according to Downing it seemed like they’d been on a 30-day vacation the way

See more sports exclusives online

panamericanonline.com

they played in a 63-47 loss.

Quick passing from the Lady Sioux had UTPA on its heels throughout the game as defenders were late rotating, resulting in a barrage of open three-pointers for UND. Down six at the half, the Lady Broncs looked to make a push in the second and would do it as they took the lead at the 12-minute mark.

But the Lady Sioux responsed with three straight 3’s and regained momentum, finishing the game on an 18-4 run.

The Lady Sioux (12 for 38) shot 18 more 3’s than the Lady Broncs.

UND’s Mallory Youngblut led in three categories with 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Downing expressed disappointment for losing the home conference game and believes the 12-day layoff made them rusty.

“We just weren’t hitting on all cylinders,” he said.

Grigsby led UTPA with 13 points and nine boards while senior Rose Esther Jean chipped in with six points, six rebounds and five steals.

Torre played one of her worst games in conference play with four turnovers and five points in 2-of-11 shooting.

“We didn’t run that well as we usually do, plus they made some very good shots,” the freshman said.

UTPA returns to the hardwood for conference play in Orem, Utah, today as it takes on GWC cellardweller Utah Valley University (05, 4-18).

Alma Hernandez/THE PAN AMERICAN

GETTING THINGS DONE - Aleeya Grigsby makes her way between Sioux defense. The senior is the number one rebounder in the Great West Conference.

c Basketball n o r Women’s Men’s b Basketball

Feb. 9 Feb. 10

Feb.13

Basketball

Homecoming Pep-Rally Noon @ Chapel Lawn Houston Baptist 5:45 p.m.

8 p.m.

Homecoming Games Utah Valley 4:30 p.m.

7 p.m.