April 17, 2014

Chivalry is not dead Men take a stand

Pages 4-5

April 17, 2014

Volume 70, No. 26

ONLINE CONTENT

panamericanonline.com

UT-RGV Future By Kristela Garza The Pan American

Division I coming soon

Arts and Life

Weekly events breakdown

Disaster Relief

UTPA hosts symposium

Blog Spot

Television cancellations

YouTube

SGA Inauguration

University distance runner Martin Casse is ranked eighth in the nation in the one-mile run, with a time of 4:05.14 set April 3 at the Texas Relays in Austin. The France native is not far behind Andrew Colley, a North Carolina State University athlete who holds the number one spot with a time of 3:59:34, set at the Blue Shoes Invitational in Greensville, S.C. April 12. Second is Graham Crawford, also a NCSU athlete, with a time of 4:00.01. Nathan Strum is ranked third with a time of 4:01:39, made at the Sun Angel Classic April 10. Casse has made major noise for himself, and the UTPA program, by breaking into the top 10. The Bronc graduate student has improved his mile from 4:17.80 at the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Championships in 2013 in Moscow, Idaho and is currently just over four seconds slower than third place Strum. Currently, Casse is balancing a full graduate schedule for a master’s of business administration while pursuing full-time athletics. Though it is a handful, he said he needs both for a balanced life. “I think it is good to have classes and to have something to do besides running,” Casse said. “I have friends in France...they stopped studying to focus on (running). I mean what happens if you get injured?” Currently Casse is looking to move back to his native country to obtain a second grad degree at Leon University in Leon, France. He has made a name for himself at UTPA in the track and field community. In the 2013 season, he competed in four meets and finished first in the

Francisco Rodriguez/ The Pan American 800 meter at the Great West Conference Championships with a time of 1:58.18. He often runs the mile, as well as various relays, and the 800 and 1000 meter dash at track and field events. In addition, he was awarded UTPA Performance of the Year honors April 4, 2013. UTPA Performance of the Year is an honor given to student-athletes that display discipline and do well in their chosen sport. Now that he has added a na-

tional ranking to his list, looking at his recent achievements, Casse has thought about living the life of a professional runner. But he feels that other work takes higher priority. “I don’t know if I’m good enough to (go professional),” Casse said. “And risk getting late on my studies, (or) not being able to do what I wanted to do as far as my academics.” Casse is still building up his running portfolio. During the

outdoor season at UTPA, he took first place during the Great West Conference Championship May 3-5 in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:05.49. During the season, which ends June 14, he finished in the top five in 10 of 11 events, including three first-place finishes, three seconds and two thirds. He is now preparing for the National Collegiate Athletic Association West Preliminary Round in Fayetteville, Ark. June

11-14, as well as the Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships in Orem, Utah April 14-17. “It’s more about the NCAA prelims,” Casse said. “I’m pretty confident this year because I gained a lot of experience. When I go into big races I’m not scared anymore. I really go to win and I think now I have the form and the mentality to perform well.”

2

opinion

April 17, 2014 COMIC

Itzel Lopez/ The Pan American

The Pan American

thepanamerican@gmail.com 1201 West University, ARHU 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539 Phone: (956) 665-2541 Fax: (956) 665-7122

Editor-in-Chief:

Susan Gonzalez

News Editor:

Andrew Vera

Sports Editor:

Marco Torres

Arts & Life Editor: May Ortega

Photography Editor: Jon Nutt

Design Editor:

Francisco Rodriguez

Multimedia Editor: Michael Aguilar

Social Media Editor: Jose S. DeLeon III

Copy Editor:

Victoria Valdez

Adviser:

Dr. Greg Selber

Administrative Associate: Anita Reyes

Advertising Manager: Elva Ramirez

The Panâ&#x20AC;&#x2C6;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.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Jon Nutt/ The Pan American Lynette May, a member of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association, displays a sign at the Autism Awareness event on the quad April 15. NSSLHAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal is to raise awareness of various communication disorders as well as the program itself.

#UTPA Tweet at and follow us @ThePanAmerican

Where the hell are the vending machines #wtf #utpa -@guhloria @collegefession just made me want to drop all classes #UTPA -@JamesJ85 Finding a study cubical in the library is just as hard as finding parking #UTPA #Studysession -@littlenaomyy

AGES 6-11

Having to walk across campus in this weather is not cute. #hot #humid #utpasession -@itsmemikey88 Registered for the Fall! #utpa -@big_bob53

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. We cannot publish anonymous letters or submissions containing hate speech or gratuitous personal attacks. Please send all letters to:

thepanamerican @gmail.com

Vol. 70, No. 26

Learn to Swim

&

Waterbaby

Classes begin April 21, 2014

news By Melinda Garza The Pan American Caleb Elizondo, a senior computer information systems major at UTPA and public relations director for the Association of Information Technology Professionals, has found a way to use his education to help the less fortunate. He has been refurbishing and donating computers to an orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico through a volunteer project that promotes technology education to young children. The orphanage, Casa Hogar MAMI, is a shelter for girls where education, room and board and medical/psychological attention are offered 24 hours a day. MAMI is an acronym for Ministerio de Amor y Misericordia, or Ministry of Love and Mercy. The orphanage can care for up to 50 girls, according to its website. Jerald Hughes, an associate professor in computer information systems and quantitative measurement, started the project in fall 2013. “The City of San Juan...and also a local FBI office, donated some monitors, and individuals and faculty have donated parts and PCs to be given to (Casa Hogar),” Hughes said. “So my team’s job was to go through every single one of them, make sure they’re in good working or-

April 17, 2014

3

UTPA club helps Mexican orphanage der and remove the parts or replace the ones that weren’t.” AITP is a national organization that provides a community network for those seeking to be IT business professionals. They provide education programs for advancing technology and business skills, networking and online resources, according the main AITP website. “The students from the AITP chapter are the ones doing the work,” Hughes said. “There are probably around 10 of them all together that have done the majority of the work. And of course their benefit is a lot of hands-on experience in hardware and software (and) figuring out what the system’s needs are.” The members of AITP provided “operating systems” for all of the computers in addition to a program, which they wrote the code for, that made Linux easier to install. An operating system is software that supports a computer’s basic functions, such as executing applications and scheduling tasks. Elizondo explained that students in AITP who are knowledgeable in the IT field are often bilingual and have been

beneficial the organization in Mexico. “Since the orphanage is in Mexico, we decided to (install the software) entirely in Spanish, which was pretty interesting,” Elizondo said. “And to be honest, I think if another university or col-

The computers that were donated to AITP go through the process of being wiped clean, followed by “troubleshooting” at no cost to the organization. Troubleshooting is the process of tracing and correcting faults in an electronic or mechanical system.

These will be the first computers these students have ever touched. These children have not had access to anything like this kind of technology. - Jerald Hughes Associate professor

lege tried to do this, they might have had some difficulty...luckily (we) have some bilingual students that were able to run the code, install the software and everything in Spanish. So (this) was a learning process for those of us that don’t speak Spanish.”

“We had to resort to openbased software or freeware, which is why we chose a Linux operating system,” Elizondo explained. “If we were to go with some sort of Windows system (like) XP, 7, Vista, Windows 8, all of those would either have

to be obtained at a high price or would have to be obtained illegally (and) we’re not in the business of doing things illegally, so we resorted to a Linux-based operating system that the kids can use.” As of February 2011, there are 76.5 million Linux users. Linux is a computer operating system that is similar to Windows and OS X, which is the operating system powered by Apple computers, and is entirely free. According to Elizondo, the Linux operating system was originally difficult to operate, but they have since developed a new, user-friendly version that makes it easier for children to use. “My favorite part was being able to help other kids in need,” Elizondo said. “You know, develop their future and work with peers and other students from the organization and not only learn, but teach some of the underclassmen who have never worked with Linux before and installing antivirus software.” Ascension Mares, AITP president, said the organization likes to search for community engagement opportunities as a group to help out where it can.

“It involves the community and without this, a lot of our organization and the work that we do wouldn’t have any benefit,” said Mares, a Los Angeles native. “So we benefit and the orphanage benefits, so we would like to continue doing this so that we can continue our training and we can continue helping the orphanage.” The organization had done community service before they started with the Reynosa orphanage. The idea of donating computers began with members’ volunteer work in Peñitas. “We donated some computers to the local community center (in Peñitas) and I knew it was something our students would be good at and enjoy, so as soon as we found out that San Juan had surplus computers to use, we got right on it and figured out how to transfer them (to Mexico),” Hughes said. According to Hughes, this will be an ongoing project and he does not want to see it end. “The purpose of this is community outreach and engagement with the people of Rio Grande Valley,” he said. “These will be the first computers these students have ever touched. These children have not had access to anything like this kind of technology.”

Inauguration Ceremony Executive officers, senators address student body By Melinda Garza The Pan American Newly elected Alberto Adame and Carla Fernanda Peña officially began their duties as president and vice president of the Student Government Association April 14. The UTPA Visitors Center lobby hosted the SGA’s 2014-2015 Inauguration Ceremony April 11, where Adame and Peña gave executive addresses. Adame and Peña will be the last executive team to serve a full year under the name UTPA. After merging UTPA and the University of Texas at Brownsville and creating the University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley, the 2015-2016 elected officials will divide their terms between both entities. Adame, a finance major, said

he is thankful to the students for giving him and Peña this opportunity and would like them to be involved with upcoming UTPA events. “I’m very excited, but there’s also a kind of melancholy because UTPA is going away, but still very exciting nonetheless,” said Adame, a Monterrey, Mexico native. “I’m also very grateful to the students because we couldn’t have done it without the support of the student body.” The inauguration began with Elections Committee Chair Yadira Mejia introducing Vice President for Student Affairs Martha Cantu for opening remarks. Following Cantu was the oath of office for every college, including senators for the College of Business Administration, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and

senators at large, which then led to the president and vice president’s oaths. “I’m very excited and a little bit nervous,” Peña said. “We definitely want to make changes for the better of the University and we’re hoping to get this done, but also (we don’t want to) forget about UTPA because we’re still here so we want to keep our Bronc spirit and just transition to Mary Paredes/The Pan American UT-RGV together.” Adame and Peña replaced Recently elected Student Government Association President Alberto Adame and Vice President SGA incumbents President Aar- Carla Fernanda Peña are sworn into office April 11 by Justice-in-Chief Sean Ramirez. The Inauguon Barreiro and Vice President ration Ceremony was held in the Visitors Center lobby. Their official duties began April 14. Erik Sanchez. “More than anything, I Their platform centered on they ever need anything, we’re us and if they need anything, want to thank every single healthier food options around always here for them. We’re here they’ll come to us as well and person in the University for the University, longer library for the students, not for us, so we’ll help them together.” giving us this opportunity and hours and larger parking lots. just stick with us. We want to just to stick with us. Also to “Our door is always open for make changes to the University come out to all the events we’ll (the students),” Peña said. “If and hopefully they’ll support have,” Adame said.

Page 4

April 17, 2014

THE PAN AMERICAN

RGV community speaks out against violence By Brittany Melendez The Pan American UTPA alumnus Robert De Leon said his father used to abuse his mother. Once he grew up, De Leon found that he was becoming abusive himself, not physically, but mentally and emotionally. According to The National Domestic Violence Hotline, between 1994 and 2010, approximately four in five victims in violent relationships in the U.S. were female. In 2012, 114 women were killed and there were 188,992 family incidents that included physical beating and verbal abuse among other types of violence in Texas. “I’m here to share my story as a domestic violence survivor because I witnessed and experienced domestic violence in my home from a very young age and through my adolescent years,” explained 33-year-old De Leon. “So I thought that was what men were supposed to do or how men were supposed to act.” In October 2013, De Leon founded “Bromodels” at his

home in San Juan. The Valleywide organization’s team consists of three other men that visit schools and universities to raise awareness about male violence toward women. Bromodels teaches men

those emotions and they can’t be expressive...because the moment that they shed a tear, their father, their friends, peers, media, they’ll say ‘stop acting like a girl’ or ‘that’s so gay,’” De Leon said. “That’s where men will see

I found that machismo is defined as someone that is worthy of imitation, and so we want to make people aware that machismo is actually a good thing. - Robert De Leon Bromodels founder

about gender equality and speaks about proper ways to treat women. This organization attempts to solve the problem at its root by reaching out to males of all ages. De Leon believes that boys are prone to being violent because manhood is defined as being tough. Crying is considered feminine, so young men try to hide their feelings. “As (boys) grow and get older, they’re suppressing

women as inferior to them, because they’ve learned that only women are submissive and only women cry.” The strong traditional influence of Mexican culture in the Rio Grande Valley often brings in “machismo,” meaning manhood or male pride. De Leon said people tend to associ-

ate machismo with the character of “el valiente” from Mexican bingo. El valiente is a card depicting a man in a fighting stance holding a bloody knife. In English, it translates to “the violent man.” That is what De Leon is trying to change, showing that there has been a basic misunderstanding about what the term means; often it is seen as derogatory. “I found that machismo is defined as someone that is worthy of imitation, and so we want to make people aware that machismo is actually a good thing,” De Leon explained. Many people have grown to see masculinity as a bad thing, he said, but nobody acquaints it with chivalry. To be chivalrous is to be courageous, to be courteous, loyal and considerate to women. That is the version of machismo De Leon subscribes to.

LEARNED BEHAVIOR Mujeres Unidas is a local organization that has provided shelter and programs for 32

years to women, men and children who have experienced domestic violence and sexual assault. This organization has two branches that serve people in different ways. The section of MU that most people are familiar with is for women and children who have been in an abusive setting. With two McAllen offices and one in Weslaco, MU helps individuals by offering shelter, counseling and legal services. Yesenia Ibarra, the coordinator of MU’s other section, the Batterers Intervention and Prevention Program (BIPP), said abusers grow up with domestic violence around them and they inherit that behavior. BIPP focuses more on the batterers rather than the victims themselves. The 24-week program is similar to anger management but targets family violence. Ibarra believes this program is more effective because in group sessions, participants are able to give each other feedback. “Many (abusers) have seen violence in their home. They go on seeing that their father was violent towards their mother, so when they get older they think that that’s normal,” said Ibarra, who has been BIPP’s coordinator for eight years. According to childhelp-usa. com, 30 percent of children who were abused will later go on to abuse their own children. “That’s one of the reasons I do these presentations. To get more men involved and (so they can learn) how we as men can prevent violence against women,” De Leon said. The National Network

April 17, 2014

to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) recorded 1,907 answered domestic violence hotline calls in Texas the day they conducted their 2013 census Sept. 17, which means more than 79 calls were answered each minute. UTPA engineering major Victor Diaz feels one reason men might feel the need to treat women violently is because do not respect females. “These men will use violence against women if they are mad or upset and think it’s alright to abuse them whenever and however they want,” Diaz said. “I believe Bromodels is a good cause because the more males that are aware of this abuse, then statistically the percentage of women being abused will decrease.” Ibarra believes Bromodels can have a positive impact on the community and that it is important to start talking to children as young as 11 years old about stopping or avoiding violent behavior. “I think it’s a really good approach to try to catch them at a younger age and the people that (BIPP) deals with have already offended, so they’re already in the system,” she said. According to the Domestic Abuse Shelter of the Florida Keys (DASFK), about 4,000 women die from domestic violence each year. Ibarra mentioned that children may also be indirectly affected, adding to the toll of the problem. “Most people associate family violence with just the physical aspect. They don’t think about the verbal abuse or the emotional abuse and even a lot of the participants that we get don’t see that being violent towards their partner is affecting their children,” Ibarra explained. DASFK’s website also lists different types of domestic abuse including intimidation and guilt or scare tactics. Because of his history with abuse, De Leon said drinking would only make things

THE PAN AMERICAN

worse, so he began to search for a solution. “(I began) to abuse alcohol to express myself when I was angry, confused or frustrated,” he explained. “That was when I started to make something of these feelings and finding a way to let them out, which was talking to other men about it and saying, ‘You know what? It’s OK that I’m hurting right now.’” THE CHALLENGE To spread awareness, Bromodels participates in the annual Walk-a-Mile In Her Shoes, hosted by Mujeres Unidas. The latest edition will take place April 26 at the Edinburg Municipal Park. The 5K marathon will be followed by a mile challenge, where men wear high heels and walk a mile to spread awareness of violence against women. The 5K is available to men and women but, the 1K challenge is a menonly event. The public is able to register at MU’s main office for $25 at 511 N. Cynthia St. in McAllen or online at rgvevents.net. Registration is open until the day of the event. While he appreciates the event, De Leon said it doesn’t compare to some of the struggles women face, but believes it is a great way to raise awareness of some issues. He said the ultimate Bromodel is supposed to “encourage and empower” all males to become the solution when it comes to ending violence against females. “At the end of the day, I know that there is a lot of violence against women and girls, but at the same time we have to recognize that these behaviors attribute to violence against ourselves as men,” De Leon said. “We have to do a better job of taking care of ourselves, but at the same time with an understanding that we have to respect, and when I say women and girls, I’m talking about all women and girls.”

Page 5