September 30, 2004

PAGE 16

SPORTS

■ Sports Clipboard . . . . .13 ■ Rodeo. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

UTPA athletics will soon lose the driving force responsible for a six-year program renaissance.

On Tuesday William J. Weidner accepted the athletic director position at Weber State University in Odgen, UT, after being chosen from a national search that included more than 45 candidates.

Athletic department head trainer and veteran Jim Lancaster has been chosen to fill the position vacated by Weidner who will remain athletic director through October until taking his new position at Weber State in early November.

Lancaster, who has served under six athletic directors in 24 years, said he will “hold down the fort,” until a national search yields Weidner’s replacement. The veteran and the rest of the Bronc family now say goodbye to the man who helped them get back on their feet during troubled times.

“This is a positive opportunity,” said Weidner, who was a finalist for the job at Northern Arizona University in the spring.

“It’s a new challenge.”

Weidner actively sought the UTPA athletic inspection by the NCAA. He leaves a group department’s change from probationary status that will be certified for the next 10 years. to what he describes now as a “fully-certified, “We’re not the same program we were six compliance-driven years ago,” Weidner said, who program,” and this spoke at length about his career return to respectability at UTPA on 1240 KSOX-AM will be one of his main Wednesday afternoon. “I wouldlegacies. n’t have traded it (the experiIn 1998, his first ence) for anything.” year at UTPA, Weidner Under Weidner, the cumulative was a part of the unigrade-point average of studentversity’s full certificaathletes has risen from 2.40 to tion into the National 2.92 with 51 percent of UTPA Collegiate Athletic athletes earning a cumulative 3.0 Association (NCAA), or higher. shouldering the task of As a result, UTPA has been restructuring the athrecognized with an inaugural letic department, and USA Today/NCAA Foundation placing a priority on Academic Achievement Award integrity and student for finishing in the top 10 in stuachievement. The predent-athlete graduation rates vious series of years above student body average. had been difficult, as Through his efforts, and those rules violations and of his staff, athletic fundraising other problems dogged WILLIAM J. WEIDNER has increased 500 percent; the aththe program. letic department secured a televiIn August, Weidner witnessed the second sion broadcast contract for all men’s and stage of the certification process after close women’s basketball home games during the

MNF scores at Student Union

By JACOB ALEGRIA The Pan American He’s at the 20, the 15, the 10…and he could go all the waayyy! Yes, that’s right its football season again, and the annual madness has been welcomed with open arms, at the University of Texas Pan American.

For some, watching football has always been a great way to see some of the greatest athletes compete in a game they can no longer participate in, not professionally anyway. However, for others it’s a chance to be a fan and support a favorite team, even if you’re not at the stadium watching the game.

The best way to watch football is going to a live game; however the next best way is to watch it on a big screen TV. Another key necessity is the food and for many this is probably the main necessity. All these facets have now become reality at UTPA, thanks to the Kappa Sigma fraternity, the Student Union and the University Program Board, who are throwing a weekly party for fans of the NFL. Over the summer it was proposed that Monday Night Football games be shown at the Student Union, sponsored by a number if groups.

Though it is a fraternity hosting the event, many have not been discouraged from going. For some it has been a warm welcome.

“Everyone here came up to me and introduced themselves and I got to know them and it’s been a lot of fun being here” said Arnold Trejo, who attended a recent Monday event.

There have been three telecasts so far; the NFL plays a 16game regular season schedule and each Monday night game has been on ABC every year since 1970.

Although everyone isn’t cheering for the same team, people have managed to get along and have a good time. Luis Cantu, a longtime Cowboy fan, said, “I don’t like that guy

(Trejo), because he’s a Tampa Bay fan, but other than that he’s OK.” The project was approved during the summer on a fourweek trial circumstance. After three weeks, Kappa Sigma Vice President Michael McCarthy says “it has done well, but we want the numbers to increase in order to keep it going.”

The new project was put together in hopes of creating an interactive involvement chance for the student body of what is largely a commuter school. The idea is to increase the times that students hang out with other students.

“We want students to come together and socialize with other students that they don’t know” said McCarthy.

Although, for games the attendance has been just a shade over 100 people, the sponsors would still Courtesy of www.teamlorenz.com like to see some improvement there.

The crowd has also included some university faculty members, who are welcome to the event as well.

However, watching football and eating aren’t the only things going on, because at halftime of the game, prizes are given away through raffles. This is something that the fraternity does in order to thank its guests for coming to the Monday night get-together. It is also something they do in hopes of getting to know guests and encouraging them to come back.

Even if your favorite team doesn’t win on Monday night, you still have a chance at being a winner. For all you Dallas Cowboy fans, although the win wasn’t pretty, it was a win…and at least there was free food on hand.

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THE

■ Golf. . . . . . . . . . . .14

Long-time AD resigning after six years

By JOEY GOMEZ The Pan American

Athletic Director Weidner departs UTPA

1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons; and made a commitment to improve existing facilities evident in a $6.5 million baseball complex plus in-house training facilities.

Weidner said his achievements and success at UTPA impressed Weber State, a Division 1AA Big Sky Conference program. The word from Utah is more of the same.

“Bill is an outstanding individual with a demonstrated track record of success,” said Norm Tarbox, vice president of administrative services and chair of the search committee, on the WSU website. “He will be a great addition to our Wildcat athletics team.”

Weidner has 25 years of athletic and academic experience in athletic programs at Ashland (Ohio) University (1995-98), Southern Methodist (1988-95), Murray State (1983-82, 86-88), Ohio State University (1985-86), Stanford University (1983-85), Southern Connecticut (1981-82), and University of New Haven (1980-81).

He leaves UTPA after six years of success, and said it was a tough decision, but the right one for his career.

“I’m confident they’ll find an excellent replacement,” Weidner said. “My heart will always be with UTPA.”

PAN AMERICAN

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

HESTEC Photogr aphs on Page 4

The Future Broncs Club is becoming reality.

The project was developed last year, but will officially kick off soon at the University of Texas Pan American.

The club is an opportunity for young UPTA fans to interact with the sports programs offered at the university. It is designed for all Rio Grande Valley children in the 8th grade and older.

The director is April Cupp, a Texas A&M University May graduate, who joined the UTPA Athletics Department as marketing coordinator last month. She replaced former coordinator Craig Pintens, who accepted a position as assistant athletic director for marketing and sales at Marquette University. He was the pioneer developer of the Future Broncs club.

Prior to coming to Pan Am, Cupp served as a staff member in the promotions department with the Coastal Bend Aviators, an independent minor league baseball team in the Central Baseball League, and a rival of the Edinburg Roadrunners. She was also in the marketing and advertising department with Idea!

Worldwide, where she served as the project coordinator for the first annual Velocity Games, an extreme sports event held in Corpus Christi.

Now she is a Bronc, getting the new club on its feet, a process which

always has trial and error.

“We have five members signed up so far, but there has not been anything yet,” Cupp said. “The parents of the children are a bit disturbed that the club has not given out membership cards [among other offers].”

After given this project, five months ago – among other job duties – Cupp is optimistic this club will be successful.

“This will be the first year (the club) will start,” Cupp said. “We are getting ready.”

Despite the rocky start, the Future Broncs club, whose motto is the “Best Club in the Valley,” offers positive and interactive activities.

All members are supposed to receive an official Future Bronc Tshirt, membership card, Future Broncs newsletter and e-mail updates, team posters and info on Future Broncs-only events.

Members will also receive free tickets to all volleyball matches, men and women’s basketball games, eight baseball games and other UTPA athletic events.

Another feature the Future Bronc club offers exclusively to its members is a birthday bash party. Club members can host a birthday party at a UTPA basketball game for $35 a pop.

The club will advance technologically with it’s own Web site in the near future. The site will feature sports tips, events calendar, trivia contests and more. Members will also be able to e-mail their favorite Bronc.

UTPA follows the rhythm of HESTEC

By ANGELA I. CANALES The Pan American Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) week is designed for Hispanic students to consider a future career in one of these fields. With sponsors such as Ford Motor Company, Texas Instruments, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and many others, it is an opportunity for students to focus on what comes after graduation.

University of Texas-Pan American 2003 graduate, Aaron Acuña, is now the electrical systems engineer for CD 338-334378 Ford vehicles. Acuña is here to represent one of the companies that sponsor it.

“It’s gratifying to know that I can now provide opportunities to local students,” Acuña said. “From the feedback I have gotten from other Ford recruiters, they have said that the quality of students here in South Texas is excellent, the only downfall I see is hesitation from local students to re-locate.”

Acuña explained that this conference is a great way to inform younger students of fields that they may not be exposed to.

Michael John McArthy Jr, criminal justice major, attended one of the HEST events and walked away with a positive experience.

“I feel that Pan Am and the proper organizations have done their best to get the word out as far as HESTEC is concerned,” McArthy said. “There have been posters, fliers, advertising in the newspaper, different radio plugs from a bunch of the different radio stations across the Valley have all been advertising about this even for the past two or three weeks.”

Bronc kids program to kick off

By LORI CHAVEZ The Pan American

September 30, 2004

________________ Members of the UTPA mariachi perform in the Field House to celebrate HESTEC week. ______________________ Melissa Martinez/The Pan American

Bilingual Education: the Texas phenomenon

By EDWINA P. GARZA The Pan American Editor’s Note: This is the first installment of a two part series about bilingual education in the Rio Grande Valley.

Before the Civil Rights movement took root, tales of abuse against nonEnglish speakers were common across the United States. In some cases, students had to pay money for each non-English word they spoke, and in others they were punished by being forced to stand in a designated area for a certain amount of time or having to repeatedly write a promise to speak only English while at school.

But as times changed so did the schools’ attitudes toward these students. To help them get an education with their English-speaking peers, the federal and state governments passed laws to allow

non-English speaking students a chance at an education by learning with their native language whether it be German, French, or Spanish. The program called bilingual education has become one of the most debated topics in education over the past few decades. Opponents favor “immersion,” or forcing non-English speakers to dive in to using English, without much aid from their native language. Supporters of bilingual programs say that students learn better while learning from their native language.

Both sides want the group in question to get an education, they just differ on which method is better.

BACKGROUND Historians point out that bilingual education began in the 1800s when Ohio became the first state to adopt an act in order to teach German and English. Much

of the debate today deals with students speaking Spanish. The Valley is the most populous Spanish-speaking area in Texas and has been in the middle of the debate for years.

Recently, The University of Texas-Pan American invited Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., activist and associate professor of history at The University of Houston, to deliver a speech titled “The Rise and Fall of Federal Bilingual Education,” as part of the Rondel Davidson Lecture Series for 2004.

He explained to the audience why bilingual education has become such a controversial issue.

“Bilingual education is controversial in today’s world because it raises significant questions about this country’s national identity, the nature of federalism, about power of ethnicity,” San Miguel said. “It raises questions about how one defines an

American in general, and finally it raises questions about instructional methodology and its relationship with immigrants and native children.”

According to San Miguel here are nearly 24 million Mexican-American students in the nation’s schools today, and almost 14 million other Spanish-speaking students.

“The Mexican-Americans continue to be the largest group of Latinos in the United States,” he said.

In the 1950s, the Texas Department of Education, which was later renamed Texas Education Agency, and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) organized the “Little School for the 400” program for preschool Mexican-American students, to teach them English vocabulary that was necessary for school. From that, in

See BILINGUAL page 11

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September 30 2 0 0 4 THE

PAN AMERICAN 1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539 (956) 381-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122 http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican 54rd Year – No. 6

Editor

Arianna Vazquez gareyjup@aol.com News Editor

Clarissa Martinez clarissa_utpa@hotmail.com A & E Editor

Omaira Galarza omairang@yahoo.com Sports Editor

Ed Chrnko echrnko@yahoo.com Graphics Editors

Dägoberto Pérez bachur@mail.com

Ginmarie Mabry ohnesie@yahoo.com Photography Editor

Franco Caballero photomosaix@aol.com Copy Editor

Dulce Gonzalez bluetinky10@aol.com Graphics/Web Design

Eduardo Martinez emartinez23@panam.edu

Reporters

Angela Canales Cecilia Castaneda Emma Clark Edwina P. Garza Joey Gomez Daryl Gonzalez Christina Harris Joey Hinojosa Aaron Lozano Joey Rodriguez

Photographers

Delisa Guadarrama Joel de la Rosa Melissa Martinez Secretary

Diana Corpus Garza Adviser

Dr. 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.

OPINION

September 30, 2004

letters

■

editorials

■

cartoons

‘The Daily Show’ delivers punch lines, not news It takes smarts to be funny. The people at Comedy Central in the studio of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” have it, since January 1999 when Stewart took the reins of the show following fellow Edwina P. Garza comedian, Craig Kilborn. Stewart and his cast earned loads of respect, praise, and laughs after the last election with their now infamous “Indecision 2000” coverage.

The show was created by comediennes Madeleine Smithberg and Lizz Winstead in 1996 with the intent of being fake. Its purpose, similar the “Broadcast News” from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” was to expose the anchors for being fed information by people who work behind the scenes and make a complete mockery of the broadcast news establishment.

The format of the show is based on taking stabs at network news shows including going “behind the scenes,” asking the wrong questions, and making spectacles of the smallest issues. The main attraction of the show is Stewart’s opening monologue as he goes over the latest news, mocks political figures, and points out the fallacies of worldly affairs.

In both 2003 and 2004, “The Daily Show” earned Emmy Awards. In 2003, the show won for Best Variety, Musical, or Comedy; this year, the show took the same award and also took the Best Writing in a Variety, Musical, or Comedy category.

With “Indecision 2000,” Stewart and his co-conspirators have been nabbing the attention of political leaders who have started to make stops at the studio in order to discuss their political views during Stewart’s interview segment.

Recently the vice presidential candidate John Edwards announced that he was going to be running for president on a news segment with "The Daily Show.” And Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry went by to visit with Stewart.

The Kerry visit was of major importance for the show because he hadn’t yet made

efforts to meet with other actual news outlets, one of them being Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.”

Stewart was recently a guest of Bill O’Reilly in early September. During this meeting, O’Reilly did his best to try to get Stewart to admit that young people get their news from “The Daily Show.” In admitting it, O’Reilly wanted Stewart to realize that his show can have a major impact on this year’s election. O’Reilly called the situation “really frightening.”

According to the Pew Research Center for the People and Press, about 21 percent of people from the ages of 18-29 get their news from shows such as “Saturday Night Live” and “The Daily Show.”

O’Reilly said that Stewart’s audience was full of “stoned slackers” and that nearly 87 percent of these viewers watch the show while intoxicated.

What?

First thing’s first – it’s a fake news show.

It’s nearly impossible to understand what Stewart and the correspondents are making fun of unless the news is digested on a daily basis.

Many people watch this show to see some of the best jokes on the war on terror, politicians, and society in general. So if someone is getting all of their news from “The Daily Show,” chances are they don’t get half of the jokes and they don’t plan on voting this election year because they don’t know the issues.

For a lot of young people, it’s safe to say that they don’t find the news entertaining.

And really, it shouldn’t be – it’s serious business that at times can be hard to swallow in large doses. Then in comes Comedy Central with Stewart and his camp. They report on things that young viewers care about, they don’t stress for hours at a time discussing how someone’s breast was exposed on national television. They poke fun, they move on. It’s fast, it’s simple, and it’s funny.

But even that argument is faulty. A study by the National Annenberg Election Survey said that the viewers knew more about the election issues than people who regularly read the newspapers or watch television news shows.

So maybe those people will vote because they

know more about the election than their parents.

As for the intoxicated people…where to begin? Again, it’s entertainment and the 87 percent of these people that watch this show intoxicated are probably the people who don’t vote and probably, let’s face it, the people who contribute least to society.

Lastly, the “slackers” issue. A study by Nielsen Media Research found that Stewart’s audience are actually 78 percent more likely to have completed four years of college compared to O’Reilly’s 24 percent.

These very “slackers” are more likely to answer questions about politics correctly than a person who doesn’t, a National Annenberg Election Survey said.

Not so much slackers, but really overachievers without even trying.

It’s a crass and crude show; that’s its nature.

It presents equal-opportunity ridicule that gives people a different and entertaining view of some of the things that affect them directly.

To get all of the news from Stewart is irresponsible to one’s sense of humor because the news on its own is funny, and besides, if 87 percent of this large audience were intoxicated, the show would be easy to disregard. It certainly wouldn’t be winning prestigious awards for its writing.

As for the moment of Zen, the whole issue is summed by what Stewart said at this year’s Emmy Awards, “We don’t do it for the awards, we do it for the money.”

trumpeted, but we never hear of the United Negro College Fund or any Anglo, Oriental, Jewish or Muslim college funds?

We celebrate Mexican Independence Day, but not Texas Independence Day or the holidays for other ethnic groups.

Our former president and many of our commencement speakers go out of their way to congratulate, praise, and encourage Hispanic students, acting as if no one else were present or even worth consideration.

Consider this. What if in the words "Spanish speaking," were replaced in the material above with "English speaking," and the words "Hispanic," or "Mexican" were replaced with "Anglo?"

UTPA has long been accustomed to such racism and the racist patron system. To the very

last gasp, the Nevarez administration was steeped in cronyism, where unquestioned loyalty and obedience were rewarded over accomplishment, and where academic programs were financially robbed to benefit personal pet projects.

With our new university president, it is time for UTPA to face up to its racist tendencies and rid itself of them once and for all. We are a major Hispanic-Serving Institution not a "Hispanic-Only Institution." We are a Texas university and we serve a wide constituency with many different heritages.

UTPA should be an institution of higher learning with fair and equal opportunities for one and all.

Jack R. Stanley, Ph.D. Professor, Communication Department

Letter to the Editor But why is HESTEC the Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology Week?

Will there be an Engineering, Science and Technology Week for the rest of the population on and off campus? No. The message is: IF YOU ARE NOT OF SPANISH-SPEAKING HISPANIC MEXICAN HERITAGE, UTPA DOES NOT VALUE YOU. Over and over the message is pounded home. I see it in the eyes and on the faces of my non-Spanish-speaking, non-Hispanic, and non-Mexican students almost every day.

We proclaim Hispanic Heritage Week, visiting Mexican-American historians, authors, actors, musicians, and exhibits that boast of Notable Valley Hispanics.

The Hispanic Scholarship Fund is widely

SPORTS

Page 15

Lady Broncs swept in Colorado; Sam Houston next

By JOEY GOMEZ The Pan American When UTPA (5-9) returns to Texas Oct.1 to take on Sam Houston State University (74), it will be with the experience of what assistant coach Stephanie Doran recently explained as the “ups and downs” of playing tough teams on the road.

After a much-needed win over Prairie View A&M Sept. 22, the Lady Broncs seemed poised to take its next three matches by storm. The Broncs faced Colorado Sept.

23 riding the momentum of having snapped a two-game losing streak, hitting the .500 mark (5-5), and posting a straight-set victory over Prairie View (30-17, 31-29, 30-18).

However, the Lady Broncs were swept in three consecutive matches in Colorado.

UTPA lost to Air Force (30-22, 30-22, 3018), Northern Colorado (30-19, 30-15, 3129) Sept. 24, and Robert Morris (30-18, 3017, 30-26) Sept. 25.

“We have to a get a little healthier we have a couple of people banged up,” said Coach Dave Thorn. “Hopefully we can use this week to get them healthy.”

Outside hitter Winker Cruz is listed as injured following last weekend’s matches.

She also sat out last season with an injury.

Libero Carol Marcengo is also injured.

The Lady Broncs will visit Sam Houston State in Huntsville Friday at 7 p.m. UTPA has come up short of last year’s record for this time in the season. In 2003, the Lady

now and hopefully we can get them and get back on the right track.”

Despite the losses, Thorn said UTPA is top 10 in the nation in digs per game (19.3). He said it’s important to accentuate what’s working and improve the struggling aspects of the program.

“We just need to keep doing the things we’re doing well which is our defense and improve the things we’re struggling with which is primarily our offense,” Thorn said.

The Lady Broncs are just two weeks away from ending the month-long road schedule where they Delisa Guadarrama/The Pan American have struggled to a 2LONG ROAD TRIP- The University of Texas-Pan American volleyball team will return to the Field House Oct. 12 when they take on 7 record. The volleyTexas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. The Lady Broncs last played a home match on Sept. 4 against the University of Oklahoma. ball team will return to Broncs were 10-8 at the beginning of have to look forward (because) we still have the Field House Oct. 12 against Texas A&MOctober and went on to a record-setting 19- two- thirds of our season in front of us (and) Corpus Christi. They last played at home on we have a lot of games to play,” Thorn said. Sept. 4 in the McAllen Holiday Inn UTPA 15 record.

“There’s no sense in looking back, we “So we’re preparing for Sam Houston right Invitational.

SPORTS

September 30, 2004

Page 14

Dodge Arena becomes showcase for pro rodeo show

By JOEY HINOJOSA The Pan American HIDALGO – Maybe the Valley has joined the regular cowboy circuit.

The Dodge Arena hosted its first complete PRCA-sanctioned rodeo where they showcased six events with approximately 50 participants each night before a trio of packed-house crowds last weekend.

“Well a lot of it goes back to the building, the facility,” said Marvin Wycuff, the event’s manager. “The fact (is) that the PRCA rodeo had not been here in the Valley in quite a few years.”

The 35-year veteran arranges rodeos for the Frontier Rodeo Company, a PRCA-sanctioned body whose schedule consists of 45 total events in a regular season.

Prior to coming to Hidalgo, the company was in Fort Smith, Ark., and next week will travel to Laredo. After the season ends Nov. 5 the rodeo’s final stop will be the Wrangler National Finals in Las Vegas the first week of December.

“Any money that (participants) win here counts toward going to Las Vegas for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, and that’s one of the reasons we brought good cowboys here,” Wycuff said.

Rodeo participants are on the road anywhere from 30 to 40 weekends a year. Cowboy Jake Metheny has traveled around the country to fulfill his dreams of being in the rodeo.

Sometimes he’s gone a couple of weeks before returning to his La Vernia, Texas home.

Despite the long trips, Metheny still enjoys the feeling he gets

from being in the competitions.

“Excitement, always excitement, always a rush,” Metheny said.

The 27-year-old has been participating in rodeos since he was 12. Metheny feels he reached a major accomplishment in 2002 when he was invited to the Roping Fiesta in San Angelo, an exclusive roping competition. Only 30 of the best ropers in the world are invited to this two-day event held each year.

There are also other people besides the cowboys that make the rodeo a success.

Blue Jeanes of Winnie, Texas, has been a bullfighter in PRCA rodeos since 1996. The 29-year-old’s job can be dangerous, and also very exciting.

“We have a job to go out there, and we basically distract the bull,” said Jeanes. “(Then) we lead him away, so the cowboy has an opportunity to get up (from the ground) and get on the fence.”

The 15-year veteran bullfighter found that he really enjoyed the rodeo competitions during the summers of his teenage years.

“When I was in high school I played football, baseball, and played a lot of (other) sports, so it was kind of a summer thing,” Jeanes said. “When I got out of high school I started pursuing it (as a career).”

Jeanes says the worst injury he’s had was a broken leg about four years ago, suffered at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show.

“I broke it pretty bad, but that’s how bad it has been. (Other than that I‘ve had) your average bruises, sprains, tears, and stuff like that.”

Injuries haven’t stopped Jeanes from continuing his rodeo career. He still has goals that he wants to accomplish.

“I’d like to work the national finals rodeo,” said Jeanes. “I believe that is all of our goals in this business.”

With the three-day event coming to a close last Sunday, event manager Wycuff already has plans for returning to the Dodge Arena.

“We’ll be here next April for just straight bullriding,” he declared.

Pan Am men’s golf team to face Southern Methodist, women to tee off season at Battle at the Lake Invite against a really good field. I just wanted them to go there and play their best and try their best.”

With one tournament down and the rest of the season The University of Texas Pan American men’s golf to go, Scott looks forward to seeing what his guys can team is young, but eager to improve at next week’s do. He said “excitement” is the watchword for this tournament at Southern Methodist University Oct. 3-5. year’s team.

“I think that we’ll get better every single week,” UTPA is coming off a ninth-place finish two weeks ago at the Fairway Club Invitational held in Lincoln, Scott said. “Luckily I have so many new guys, that I NE., where it had four freshmen and two upperclass- don’t know what their potential is going to be.”

Scott wants to see his two veterans, Norris and men competing.

Leading the way were freshmen Kyle Tudi and soph- Berger, come out firing and take charge of the team as they have in the past. omore Colin Norris, fin“They have a lot of ishing 36th and 40th experience when it comes respectively. The two down to tournaments,” underclassmen were Scott said. “I want them closely followed by to be looked up to as role teammates A.J. Hohn, models.”

Craig Berger, Alvaro Freshman Tudi says González, and Jeff that he is just trying to Hensley in the final cope with all the new standings. courses and fiercer com“I wasn’t expecting petition. He expects his the guys to go out and team to perform better as play extremely, extremethe season continues. ly well, especially the —Drew Scott, “I think all the guys on freshmen because it’s the team are really good,” their first experience,” UTPA Men’s Golf Coach Tudi said about his teamCoach Drew Scott said. mates. “I expect our team “It’s a big change for to do well.” them from high school Women’s Golf golf to collegiate golf.”

On the women’s side, the Lady Broncs will tee off The men’s golf team will be competing at the Stonebridge Invitational hosted by SMU, where it their season Oct. 4 at the Battle of the Lake faces fierce competition from SMU and Ohio State Invitational at Oral Roberts in Tulsa, OK. They are coming off their second National Minority University, both of whom competed at the national tournament last year. The Broncs are ready to try their Championship victory, last season. Coach Barb Odale returns for her sixth season as women’s golf coach. luck against the big boys.

Also returning is Odale’s one-two punch, the junior “They used it (last tournament) as a learning experiDelisa Guadarrama/The Pan American ence and we’re looking forward to going to SMU this tandem of Stefanie Maynard and Nikki Boychuk. The weekend and hopefully being a lot more mature team.” two veterans will lead this year’s team and build on the FORE- The University of Texas-Pan American women’s golf team will tee off its Scott said. “It’s a much stronger field. I’m looking for- experience from last year’s championship season season Oct. 4 at the Battle of the Lake Invitational in Tulsa, Ok. Here Christine ward to getting up there and seeing what we can do finale.

Treanor tees off.

By DARYL GONZALES The Pan American

“I wasn’t expecting the guys to go out and play extremely, extremely well, especially the freshmen because it’s their first experience.”

NEWS

■ HESTEC ■

photographs. . . . . . . . . 4

“The Great Debate”. . . . . . . . . . 6

■ Social

work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Healthcare need evident in South Texas, RGV

By EMMA CLARK The Pan American Putting food on the table or taking a sick child to the doctor is a dilemma faced by a growing number of Americans on a daily basis.

With the uninsured population reaching a high of 43 million, the U.S.Census Bureau predicts that this number will increase, and will eventually affect everyone.

“Lack of coverage compromises not only access to care and health of the uninsured, but also the health and economic wellbeing of our nation,” said Diane Rowland, vice president of the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, and executive director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

According to Rowland, of the 43 million uninsured 64 percent are classified as lowincome families, meaning those that have incomes 200 percent below the poverty level.

“Nourishing The Future,” a report published by the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, said that high poverty and low education are most prevalent along the Mexican border, making the Rio Grande Valley a prime example of an area where health care is simply not a priority.

Sue Day, editor of the report and professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the University of Texas School of Public

“Nine million uninsured children in the United States.”

-Starr County Health Department *

*

*

*

*

“Out of 43 million uninsured, 64 percent are classifed as lowincome families.”

-Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured Health in Houston, explained that of the one million residents here in the Rio Grande Valley, most are living below the federal poverty level.

“About one-third of residents over the age of 25 do not have a ninth-grade education,” Day said. “The national average is 5 percent. Persons who aren’t as educated have a harder time getting jobs which have good salaries to engage in better health care.”

Dora E. Garza, a medical assistant at the Starr County Health Department agreed that a vicious circle does exist in the Rio

Grande Valley.

“There’s a lack of education to begin with, a lack of information,” Garza said.

“They need promatora (promoters) to know about the services we have here.

They need help, they have no food. There is mostly unemployment here. And then they can’t build houses, or restore houses, or buy lots.

This cycle often makes the poor, sicker.

Even when jobs do exist, employees are not legally required to offer health insurance.

And if insurance is offered, many people in the Valley simply cannot afford to pay for

Immigration: Funding varies for citizens

By ANGELA I. CANALES The Pan American Hidalgo County is the seventh largest county in the state of Texas and the Edinburg-McAllen-Mission metropolitan area ranks third in the nation in rate of growth, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

The South Texas area is growing so rapidly due partly to the number of immigrants from Mexico. However, this growth can be seen in both positive and negative lights.

Consumers allow for the area to prosper financially, however, when these same immigrants use federal funding for healthcare a problem is created.

Federal funding is provided to hospitals under a Disproportionate Share Program which uses federal monies disbursed to hospitals that service underprivileged areas.

“Our emergency rooms are filled with residents and immigrants,” said Humberto Garza, border affairs specialist for Hidalgo County. “Our area hospitals, under federal law, are required to provide medical service to all individuals; including legal or non-legal immigrants.”

Although it may seem that these services are beneficial because hospitals are required to service all individuals, some individuals may or may not be legal residents. As a result legal individuals may not receive medical attention because illegals are filling the emergency rooms.

“Our area hospitals are filled everyday to their optimal service potential,” Garza said. “Recent studies show that at

least 78 percent of those filling the emergency rooms are recent immigrants, legal or non-legal.”

Hidalgo County, however, has other monies that assist in paying hospitals for services rendered to immigrants.

“Federal funding is provided to hospitals under a Disproportionate Share Program which works under the auspice of federal monies being disbursed to hospitals that service underprivileged areas,” Garza said. “Hidalgo County operates under a state mandate, an Indigent Healthcare Program.”

Basically with different funding to specific underprivileged areas such as the Valley, hospitals are provided with extra funding specifically for those who do not have assets to pay for health care.

their share of the premium.

According to a study by MSNBC, premiums in 2004 averaged $9,950 annually, for family coverage, and $3,695 for individual coverage, with the employee share of the premium rising nearly 60 percent since 2001.

Garza explained some of the problems Starr County currently faces. Many people need glasses, and good dental care.

Because of the high costs, she said, many travel to Mexico for this type of care.

Garza admitted that there is a lack of services in the area, but denied reports from Day that there are no gynecologists or obstetrician facilities in Starr County.

Willacy County was named as the other county with no OBGYN facilities. Officials were unavailable for comment.

MSNBC explains in a free information pack that having insurance helps reduce the financial uncertainty of health care as well as decreasing the mortality rate. The uninsured tend to be sicker when diagnosed, and are more likely to hospitalize for preventable diseases, such as diabetes, already prevalent in the Rio Grande Valley.

The uninsured are less likely to have a regular doctor, less likely to obtain care when needed and are less apt to get preventative and routine care, such as immunizations for children, and annual

See HEALTHCARE page 12

“The Indigent Program provides monetary assistance for those individuals qualifying under less restricted criteria,” he said. “Basically, an individual needs to prove that he/she is a resident of the county, has an economic burden (extremely poor), and has no assets. An individual under this program is allocated $30,000 or 30 days at a hospital for their respective medical needs.”

This, however, is a problem because the county does not have personnel to investigate whether these individuals are saying the truth and really do live in the United States.

“Hospitals send us people so we can help them to pay for the bills,” said Garza. “Unfortunately we don’t have an investigative team to help us make sure these people are telling us the truth about where they live and so forth.”

Yet another problem is that many hospitals are still waiting for the federal money promised to them to be delivered.

NEWS

September 30, 2004

Page 4

SPORTS CLIPBOARD

HESTEC

Week in photos 1. Maria Conchita Alonso, actress/singer, talks to teachers and administrators Monday at the Field House.

2. Students wait to see Lance Bass at the Quad Tuesday during activity hour.

3. Professor Narayan G. Bhat was one of the many chemisty faculty involved.

4. A group of women attend the lecture for the Texas Instruments’ Latinas in Science, Math, Engineering and Technology program.

UTPA Cross Country at Islander Invitational

1.

SPORTS

September 30, 2004

On Sept. 24, men and women’s cross country runners Aaron Castro and Bertha Castillo led their respective teams in a meet in San Antonio.

UTPA junior Castro placed first individually with a finishing time of 16:19 in the 5,000-meter race. David Trevino (16:22) and Jason Tejada (16:39) placed fourth and fifth respectively, while Beto Alvarado placed eighth (16:58) and Americo Ortiz came in 11th (17:11).

Those individual efforts added up to a solid showing the men’s team, which finished with 29 points, two points short of the team title claimed by UTSA. Texas State was third with 78 points.

“I was very happy for Aaron after winning his first evercollegiate race...this is going to be a very good team,” head coach RickyVaughn said in an online report.

On the women’s side, Castillo finished fifth, her second consecutive top 10 finish, in a time of 19:53 in the 5,000 meters.

Dannely Flores placed 13th (20:16), freshman Megan Mcguire finished 20th (20:45), Karla Hernandez took 23 (20:54), and Lorraine Garcia nabbed 25th with a time of 21:05.

Both teams will compete in the Islander Invitational in Corpus Christi on Friday, Oct. 1.

FOR THE RECORD NFL WEEK 3 Sunday, Sept. 26 Atlanta 6, Arizona 3 Philadelphia 30, Detroit 13 N.Y. Giants 27, Cleveland 10 Pittsburgh 13, Miami 3 Houston 24, Kansas City 21 New Orleans 28, St. Louis 25 OT Jacksonville 15, Tennessee 12 Baltimore 23, Cincinnati 9 Minnesota 27, Chicago 22 Denver 23, San Diego 13 Indianapolis 45, Green Bay 31

Seattle 34, San Francisco 0 Oakland 30, Tampa Bay 20

2.

3.

4.

The injury bug that has plagued the NFL hit close to home this week. Tight end Dan Campbell and starting cornerback Pete Hunter are out for the season after the Dallas Cowboys defeated Washington on Monday night.

According to an AP online report Campbell severely sprained his right foot and Hunter tore a ligament in his left knee during Monday’s 21-18 victory, the team’s 13th in its last 14 games against the ‘Skins.

Campbell’s injury came after a pass on Dallas’ drive in the final minutes of the game. Hunter was hurt in the first half. Seventh-round pick Jacques Reeves will become the starter at corner, and two other rookies will see time in the defensive backfield.

Campbell was the backup to starter Jason Witten, but a valuable reserve.

“It’s a very big blow for us,” head coach Bill Parcells said in an online AP report.

The AP reports that the Cowboys plan to put them on injured reserve once they’re ready to sign their replacements in time for Thursday’s practice. Dallas (2-1) has a bye week and then meets the New York Giants at Texas Stadium Oct. 10.

Sept. 15 Oakland

W-10-3

Sept. 16 Oakland

L-5-4

Sept. 17 Anaheim

L-9-5

Sept. 18 Anaheim

W-2-0

Sept. 19 Anaheim

W-1-0

Sept. 20 OPEN DATE Sept. 21 OAKLAND

England, N.Y. Jets

W-9-4

Sept. 22 OAKLAND

W-5-3

Sept. 23 OAKLAND

W-5-4

Sept. 24 SEATTLE

L-8-7

Sept. 25 SEATTLE

W-5-4

Sept. 26 SEATTLE

L-9-0

Sept. 27 ANAHEIM

L-5-3

Sept. 28 ANAHEIM

L-8-2

Sept. 29 ANAHEIM

L-8-7

UTPA SPORTS

Monday, Sept. 27

WOMEN’S GOLF

Dallas 21, Washington 18 Sunday, Oct 3

Date

Opponent

Oakland at Houston, Noon

Oct. 4

Battle at the Lake Invit.

Philadelphia at Chicago, Noon

Oct. 5

Battle at the Lake Invit.

N.Y. Giants at Green Bay, Noon

Oct. 11

Lady Indian Classic

Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, Noon

Oct. 12

Lady Indian Classic

New England at Buffalo, Noon

Oct. 24

Sam Houston State Tri-Match

Indianapolis at Jacksonville,Noon

Oct. 25

Ellingson/Shu Invitational

Washington at Cleveland, Noon

Oct. 26

Ellingson/SHSU Invitational

New Orleans at Arizona, 3:05 p.m.

Nov. 8

Lady Bronc Classic

Atlanta at Carolina, 3:05 p.m.

Nov. 9

Lady Bronc Classic

N.Y. Jets at Miami, 3:15 p.m.

Tennessee at San Diego,3:15 p.m.

Denver at Tampa Bay, 3:15 p.m.

St. Louis at San Francisco,7:30 p.m.

Open: Seattle, Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota Kansas City at Baltimore, 8 p.m.

MEN’S GOLF

Date

Opponent

Sept. 14

St.Louis

Sept. 15

Oct. 5 Stonebridge Invitational at So. Methodist University

St.Louis

Oct. 11 Crown Classic at Stephen F. Austin Oct. 12 Crown Classic at Stephen F. Austin

W-7-5

Oct. 22 The Nelson Invitational at Stanford University

L-4-2

Sept. 16 St. Louis

W-8-3

Sept. 17 MILWAUKEE

W-2-1

Sept. 18 MILWAUKEE

W-4-3

Sept. 19 MILWAUKEE

W-1-0

Oct. 23 The Nelson Invitational at Stanford University Oct. 24 The Nelson Invitational at Stanford University

Sept. 20 OPEN DATE Sept. 21 San Francisco

L-9-2

Sept. 22 San Francisco

L-5-1

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

W-1-0

Sept. 25 Milwaukee

L-8-0

Sept. 26 Milwaukee

W-11-7

Sept. 27 ST. LOUIS

W-10-3

Sept. 28 ST. LOUIS

W-2-1

Sept. 29 ST. LOUIS

W-6-4

TEXAS RANGERS Date

Opponent

Score

Sept. 13 Oakland

L-7-6

Sept. 14 Oakland

W-12-9

Thursday, Sept. 23 AIRFORCE AIRFORCE DEF. UTPA

30-22, 30-22, 30-18 UTPA : kills, Heather Bravo 8; assists, Karen Lyons 14; digs, Carol Marcengo 15; blocks, Danielle Holthe 3; aces, Heather Bravo 1, Jen Dameworth 1 record: (5-6) Airforce: kills Kristin Hamlett 14; assists, Carly Siefken 42; digs, Jenalee Burke 11, Lamecca Jefferson 11; blocks Brooke Akers 4; aces Rebecca Gallegos 2, Kristin Hamlett 2, Jenalee Burke 2 record: (4-4)

BEST WESTERN REGENCY NO. COLORADO CLASSIC NO. COLORADO DEF. UTPA

30-19, 30-15, 31-29 UTPA : kills, Heather Bravo 9, Jen Dameworth 9, Danielle Holthe 9 ; assists, Karen Lyons 25; digs, Carol Marcengo 15; blocks, Jen Dameworth 3, Jaclyn Olvera 3; aces, Karen Lyons 1, Carol Marcengo 1 record: (5-7) No. Colorado: kills, Erin Deffenbaugh 17; assists, Corrinne Chapin 49; digs Terin Ledall 13; blocks Danelle Angus 3; aces Erin Deffenbaugh 1, Abby Mayne 1 record: (7-5) Saturday, Sept. 25 BEST WESTERN REGENCY

Sept. 23 San Francisco W-7-3 Sept. 24 Milwaukee

UTPA VOLLEYBALL

Friday, Sept. 24 Oct. 4 Stonebridge Invitational at So. Methodist University

Score

Sept. 13 OPEN DATE

Saturday, Oct. 2 District 31-5A Edinburg Economedes at PSJA High idle: La Joya, McAllen High, McAllen Rowe, Sharyland, Rio Grande City, Santa Rosa

Schedule

Note: All times Central Standard Time

HOUSTON ASTROS

District 32-5A Brownsville Hanna at Los Fresnos Browns. Rivera vs Browns. Porter Brownsville Pace at Harlingen High Harlingen South at San Benito District 32-4A Roma at Edcouch-Elsa Mercedes at PSJA Memorial Mission High at Weslaco East District 32-3A Port Isabel at Hidalgo La Feria at Progreso Rio Hondo at Raymondville

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

Idle: Buffalo, Carolina, New

Monday, Oct 4

Cowboys lose key players after Monday’s game

Page 13

Week 5 Thursday, Sept. 30 District 31-5A McAllen Memorial at Edinburg High Weslaco High at PSJA North District 32-4A Mission Vets at Brownsville Lopez Friday, Oct. 1 Non-district Lyford at St. Joseph La Villa at MMA District 31-5A Donna at Edinburg North

NO. COLORADO CLASSIC ROBERT MORRIS DEF. UTPA

30-18, 30-17, 30-26 UTPA : kills, Chrissie Carrigan 10; assists, Karen Lyons 23; digs, Carol Marcengo 20; blocks, Jen Damworth 2; aces, Karen Lyons 2 record: (5-8) Robert Morris: kills, Rachel Leitch 18; assists, Darcey Miller 40; digs Darcy Thompson 21; blocks Kallie Wasserman 3; aces 0 record: (9-6)

NEWS

September 30, 2004

HEALTHCARE

continued from page 3

mammograms for women.

The Center for Disease Control recently announced during the 2002-2003 flu season, only 4 percent of children aged six to 23 months were vaccinated against the virus.

Twenty-five states, including Texas, had childhood flu vaccination rates below the national average.

But we’re almost winning the fight for affordable health insurance in America.

Almost.

According to Garza, Medicaid helps many people in Starr County, while the State Children’s Health Insurance Program or CHIP, is there to help the 9 million uninsured children in the United States. Garza also explained that there are loans and financial services available.

However, one common problem exists with these agencies; if and only if you apply and are approved by the state will the help be given. This application, which is long, is based on income, credit status, and employment, Garza said.

CHIP benefits were cut recently by the Texas Legislature, including dental, eye and mental health services for children. Coupled with the time-consuming application process, many families are discouraged from applying, even though they may be eligible.

Women are also facing increasing uninsured rates, with 16 million women not covered across the country. The Kaiser Foundation reveals some reasons for this high number, explaining that Medicaid is only available to “low-income women who are parents, pregnant, disabled, or over 65 and who also meet the program’s very restrictive income eligibility criteria.”

UTPA students are shielded from these problems, if they are enrolled for classes full time. Student Health Services located on campus at Emilia Schunior Ramirez Hall, offers health assessments and treatment, as well as medical referrals and education opportunities from a qualified staff. But most importantly for a fraction of the cost.

“There are charges for many services and procedures to diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries, such as for laboratory and pharmacy services, but these charges are much lower than those for comparable services provided elsewhere,” according to the Student Health Services web site.

Despite the issues of unemployment and lack of education contributing to poor health and a serious lack of insurance in the Rio Grande Valley, cheap health care can keep students healthy. And most importantly, students have the opportunity many in America don’t; to be well informed in taking care of themselves and their family, financially and physically.

Page 12

September 30, 2004

NEWS

Page 5

September 30, 2004

NEWS

Page 6

The Great Debate to be held on campaign issues

By LYLONY CAZARES The Pan American Many students are still out of the loop when it comes to the presidential elections. The Great Debate today at 6 p.m. in the Social and Behavioral Sciences building Room 101 will help enlighten students about the major campaign issues.

Student organizations will come together and choose party platforms and defend key issues related to the war in Iraq, education, economy, terrorism, homeland security, the environment and health care. Students will also have the opportunity to engage in an audience discussion and watch the first presidential debate between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry and the University of Miami to air at 9 p.m.

According to Dawne Hill, student development coordinator, the Great Debate is the perfect opportunity to not only watch the presidential debate but to take an active role as a member of society and discuss current issues.

“This event provides students with a forum where their own voices and views can be heard, discussed, and also challenged by fellow students,” Hill said. “We feel it is important for our

students to be informed and active participants in discussing the issues that impact them currently and in the future.”

Some of the questions that will be debated by the party platforms at the event include how each party stands on supporting the constitutional amendment banning gay marriages, Bush’s justification on the war on Iraq, the cost of health care, and argumentation about the Patriot Act. Rodney Gomez, student development coordinator, believes the event will inform students on major issues for this very important election.

“Students are often neglected in the political process or else do not get involved, and this is one thing the Office of Student Development is doing to change that,” Gomez said. “We want students to understand that they don’t have to leave the political process to someone else.”

According to Gomez, the event will also help student organizations become a vehicle by which information about the elections can be transmitted to other students.

“Throughout the election season you will hear candidates, professors, newscasters, and all sorts of people ‘in the know’ tell you why and how to vote,” Gomez said. “But we want students themselves to inform other students. We think it’s a

Hosted by the Office of Student Development Where: Social and Behavioral Sciences building Room 101 When: 6 p.m.

Presidential Debate to be shown at 8 p.m. good thing when your peers talk to you about the issues in a way you can relate to. And, more likely than not, your peers will have the same concerns as you.”

Meanwhile, voter registrations booths are being set-up by SGA to encourage students to vote. On Tuesday, Lance Bass was one celebrity who participated in the registration drive at the Quad.

Social work students are preparing for community activism, counseling, with controversy in the air.

The students of Community Practice III, a social work class taught by Estela Soza Garza, were assigned to register to vote, and then were deputized to register other voters.

Each student was then required to sign up 10 other people to vote. William McIntyre, the dean of the College of Health Science and Human Services, approved of the project but Provost Rodolfo Arevalo thought the requirement unnecessary.

“It is difficult to require students to register to vote,” Arevalo said. “You can offer it as an option for students who want to. It also wasn’t originally part of the course syllabus.”

Still, a representative of the Hidalgo County Elections office visited Soza Garza’s Tuesday evening class to deputize the students. Currently, they are working to get others to vote, despite Arevalo’s opinion of the project.

“I was pretty headstrong about doing this project,” said Janis Smith, 22, a student of the Community Practice III class. “I have a lot of cousins going to Iraq so this project really hits home.”

Registering others to vote is a key element in social work because it identifies tactics that can improve and promote social change. The electoral process is one of the main methods to encourage social change, especially in an election year, according to Soza Garza.

Another responsibility of social workers is to champion social justice especially among vulnerable and oppressed groups of people, according to the Code of Ethics of the National Association of the Social Workers (NASW). For years, the Valley has been underrepresented and ignored because of lack of voting strength, according to some activists. Issues such as poverty and unemployment are ones social workers primarily focus on, according to the NASW Code of Ethics.

“It’s just a matter of registering,” Soza Garza said. “If our officials don’t see a good number then they’ll ignore us. In the past we were not included, but now they’ll know we’re here.”

The assignment encourages students to register on a nonpartisan basis; the objective is to gain more registered voters in general, not allegiance to any party. The students also learn about the specific duties of a social worker, and about working directly in the community.

“I think it’s excellent for students to get involved with the

community,” McIntyre said. “ We wanted to encourage social work by having students get other students to vote. This projects seemed like a great way to do this.”

For his part, Arevalo added that he does like the idea of the project, as long as it remains optional, not required.

“I think students should be involved in these civic-type activities,” Arevalo said. “I don’t have a problem with it because it allows them to see the political process.”

The project proves to be a learning process for the students; they are realizing the difficulty of doing activist work.

“Many people don’t want to register to vote,” said Rebecca Canales, Community Practice III student. “It’s sad because they don’t want to vote because they don’t want to do jury duty.”

Student Government Association senators were also deputized last year and are registering voters at the Quad this week. The national elections are in November, with a series of presidential debates beginning tonight in Miami.

The students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team at The University of Texas-Pan American is going through a transitional phase this year due to the retirement of Professor Gilbert Cardenas, the team’s adviser. He was dedicated to being the leader of this organization for 10 years.

SIFE was founded in 1975 and is an active organization on more than 1,600 college campuses in 40 countries around the world. This organization provides students the opportunity to develop leadership, communication skills, teamwork and the principles of free enterprise.

The organization has various community projects and helps local schools to learn about the economy with a program named Junior Achievement.

The SIFE organization attends competition each year and fights for the nation’s top spots. This past year the UTPA SIFE team placed among the top 10 teams at the national SIFE convention held in Kansas City. The UTPA team has been in the top 10 spots for eight years in a row in group competitions.

But the SIFE team is now in search of a new leader to guide the through their ongoing success. Unfortunately it is not the only problem that SIFE is facing; due to the retirement of Cardenas many students quit the organization.

Jesus D. Gonzales, the current president of the organization, said he is not planning to quit the team and is

BILINGUAL

Delisa Guadarrama/The Pan American

QUIET TIME— Senior Spanish major Oscar Reyes uses the privacy of the library to concentrate.

The library offers study areas on the second and third floors.

Page 11

Despite setbacks SIFE ready for semester tasks

By MARIANA CADENA The Pan American

Social work students assigned to register voters

By CECILIA CASTANEDA The Pan American

NEWS

September 30, 2004

Joel de la Rosa/The Pan American

MEETING- SIFE members gather in the Business Administration Building Tuesday to discuss the new projects for the semester. urging students to join.

“I know that some members are discouraged because Cardenas left, but I have faith in the team,” Gonzales said.

The team, according to Gonzales, encountered some problems in the year with some of the student leaders in charge of the functions.

“Some of the team members that were not happy in the

organization were simply not dedicated to it, the team simply wants to be the best and we want to surpass all our goals,” he said.

Last year SIFE hosted fundraisers for an orphanage in Reynosa. Some of the events that made the most money were hosted at a local bar in McAllen named Kafs. All the money from the cover charge was saved for the orphanage. Raul Cervantes, a former member of SIFE was a part of the event.

“One of the parties held at Kafs made a lot of money,” Cervantes said. “The team was very happy because we were going to use that money to paint the children’s rooms in the orphanage.”

Cervantes explained that the money raised from those events was allegedly not used for that purpose.

“I felt like the leaders were not making wise money decisions and lost perspective of what was really important, that is why I quit,” Cervantes said.

Though Cervantes didn’t explain exactly what the money in question was used for, he stands firm in his decision to leave.

The remaining members of the SIFE team are urging new members to join and are currently in search of a new adviser.

Professor of Economics Alberto Davila is supporting the organization by encouraging students to join and attending all of the meetings.

“Just because the head advisor left does not mean the energy is not there, we are very proud and confident in the team’s accomplishments.” Davila said. “This is a very energetic and active group likely to continue its success.”

continued from page 1

the 1960s, around 20,000 students in 173 school districts were learning English. According to Rodolfo Rodriguez of the Texas State Historical Association, Texas had the highest concentration of Mexican-American students enrolled in English as a second language, or ESL, programs in the southwest.

The Laredo United Consolidated School District, under Superintendent Harold Brantley, created the first bilingual program in Texas in 1964. Brantley used a school in Florida as a model. His idea traveled throughout the Rio Grande Valley, and schools began instructing their students for 30 minutes a day in Spanish, while the rest of the day’s instruction was in English.

Congress then passed the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 that gave funding to schools trying to incorporate native-language instruction. San Miguel said that the passing of the bill was important, but that it also proved to be challenging.

“First, it was a minor piece of legislation and problematically small, it only provided minimal funding,” San Miguel said. “For instance, it only authorized, but did not fund the appropriate $16 million for the first year. The legislation also did not mandate any specific program or courses for education; it allowed the [school] district to develop experimental programs without any accountability. Local school districts were free to choose whether they wanted to apply for the fund or whether they wanted to develop special education programs.”

He added that the bill was only aimed at low-income, non-English speaking children and that the purpose of the program was undefined. However, years later with the reform came a bit of progress.

“They transformed this minor monetary piece of legislation aimed at low-income, non-English speaking, or limited-English speaking children into a major reform aimed at all,” San Miguel said.

Within the first decade of the legislation, the bilingual education policy was strengthened and transformed as it was implemented despite resistance from both political and school leaders, according San Miguel. The first change that made the legislation stronger was when the once voluntary program became mandatory.

“Throughout the late 1970s, all schools throughout the country had to establish a bilingual education program

if they had limited-English speaking children enrolled in their school,” he said.

Proponents of bilingual education also eliminated the experimental approach to educating minority students and established a federal preference for using native-language instructional approaches. In Texas, nearly 16 school districts had bilingual programs that served 10,003 students

by May of 1969.

“The strengthening and expansion of federal bilingual education contributed to the enactment of state and local bilingual education policies,” San Miguel said. “In the late 1970s, over 34 states including Texas, and countless of local districts enacted their own bilingual education policies.”

The policy in Texas that San Miguel spoke of was created on June 3, 1973 by Gov. Dolph Briscoe and was called the Bilingual Education and Training Act. The bill meant that all schools with at least 20 students with limited-English ability in any grade level had to provide bilingual education. The educators involved in the program were to teach the students in their native-language and eventually transfer them to English-only programs.

TODAY’S SITUATION During the 2003-2004 school year, the total enrollment of students’ K-12 in Texas was 4,328,028. According to Texas Association on Bilingual Education, 660,707 of those students have limited English proficiency.

A 2002 snapshot of Texas schools provided by the Public Education Information Management System listed every school in the state and provided numbers for total enrollment as well as percentages of students involved in state-mandated programs.

In the Rio Grande Valley, the highest percentage of students involved in bilingual education in a large school district was the 40 percent of students being taught by bilingual or ESL programs in Brownsville. One of the lowest was Harlingen’s 12 percent.

Domenica Sutti of Region One explained how students are enrolled in bilingual or ESL programs in Rio Grande Valley schools.

“The process starts when a student is enrolled in a new school district,” Sutti said. “The family is given a

survey and it asks what language is spoken in the home and what language, or languages the student speaks. If they answer anything other than English, we give the student a [standardized] language test.”

If a student is limited-English proficient based on the results of the test, the school district makes a recommendation for the student.

“Ultimately, the parents decide to accept the recommendation to keep their children in bilingual or ESL education programs,” Sutti said. “Most parents accept and their children go through the program.”

Sutti claimed that bilingual or ESL programs in the Rio Grande Valley are not all alike. Each program, she said, vary depending on how the district chooses to address the educational needs of its bilingual students.

“Programs vary and a lot of it has to do with the time being set aside for English and Spanish,” she said.

Most children, she said, start bilingual education in Pre-Kindergarten and most of the day’s instruction, at the beginning, is taught in Spanish.

“The students then move on to English as a second language as they learn English, then more of the day’s instruction is in English,” Sutti said. “They move on progressively until a majority [of the instruction] is taught in English, which usually happens by the third grade.”

Suttie explained that a beginner bilingual student will learn using Spanish for 75 percent of the day and 25 percent is then dedicated to English. An intermediate student is taught half of the time in Spanish and half of the time in English. The advanced bilingual student will only spend 25 percent of their day learning with Spanish and 75 percent of the day devoted to English. The level of learning, she said, is determined through the language test administered at the beginning of the students’ career at the designated school district.

“As they go on, they add more English instruction until the child is in an English class,” she said. “The main effort here is taking time away from Spanish [as the student learns].”

But even as educators discuss their opinions and findings on the topic, the three decade-long debate continues with strong evidence and research from both sides trying to best explain the best way to educate the limited-English proficient students in the United States.

continued from page 7

Another celebrity who made an appearance for HESTEC was international actress Maria Conchita Alonso. A former Miss Teenager of the World and Miss Venezuela, the actress has been in over 50 movies, including “Chasing Papi” and “Heart of America.”

Alonso said she thought it was wonderful what HESTEC was doing, although the reasoning behind her appearance wasn’t too clear since she’s not in the math or science field.

“I always got a D in math,” Alonso said. “It’s not my forte.”

Ironically, Alonso prepared a video of her life, but the technology wasn’t working so instead, she gave a very brief speech. The message she wanted to pass along to the educators was to guide their students because life is hard and support is essential in their life.

Alonso said that it was important for students to have someone to believe in them, like educators. She also stressed that nothing is impossible if students have a strong person behind them making them feel like they’re number one.

“We are a minority but we’re moving ahead,” Alonso said. “When you want to obtain something, you can’t think that ‘I’m a minority.’ You have to think ‘I’m a person first.’ Don’t let anything bring you down.”

Mata makes music

By LAURA GARCIA The Pan American Pablo Mata’s passion for music has already given him a lifetime of memories.

Mata will graduate with a degree in music in May, which fulfills a lifelong dream.

“I was in middle school when I discovered I knew how to sing,” Mata, a senior at the University of Texas-Pan American said.

“After that I was hooked.”

Mata became a singer in the norteño band, Contrafuego when he was a 16-yearold. The band performed in cities in Mexico such as Monterrey, Tampico and Chihuahua, as well as cities in Texas such as Dallas, Houston and in the Rio Grande Valley.

Mata sang and composed songs on the band’s CD, Devorame.

During this time Mata began taking private music lessons with Vivian Munn.

“Not only was she a good teacher, but she inspired me to pursue a higher degree of Pablo skill,” Mata said. “The main reason I came to UTPA was because both Dr. Vivian Munn and her husband, Dr. Christopher Munn, worked in the music department.”

Mata is completing his fourth year in the men’s choir, and one of the highlights in Mata’s university choir career was singing in the Valley Symphony Chorale this fall.

“We sang ‘Carmina Burana’ by Carl Orff at the San Juan Shrine,” Mata said.

“It’s one of my most memorable choir experiences.”

Mata has made an impression in the instructors in the choir department, according to his professors who feel that he is an exemplary student.

“Pablo has been an outstanding student

since he first came here,” Christopher Munn said. “He is a phenomenal vocalist and has the advantage of already being in the professional business. He is at the top of his class and will have a brilliant career.”

Last spring Mata conducted UTPA’s men chorus at a basketball game, and led them in the National Anthem and alma mater.

“The professors were out of town and I was honored when [I was] asked to conduct the choir at a basketball game,” Mata said.

Mata also performs as a soloist; last year he became a second year soloist in “Mozart’s Requiem.”

“In choir you try to separate yourself from the others,” Mata said. “When you begin to excel high schools begin to notice you and that can eventually lead to a job.”

According to Mata, a common misconception people have about choir is that it is only about people standing around and singing.

“Choir is more Mata than just singing,” Mata said. “We have to learn every aspect of music, from its history, to music theory and vocal techniques.”

Mata’s dream is to become the head choir director of a 5A high school, which is the largest division a school can fall under in the University Interscholastic League (UIL.), but Mata realizes this field is competitive and has limited positions available.

“Like most people, I just want to have a paying job that has to do with my major when I graduate,” Mata said.

Mata is preparing for his future job by helping the choir at Economedes High School prepare for district and region UIL competitions.

Inside a woman’s head

By LAURA GARCIA The Pan American “The Women of Manhattan” is a racy play that goes inside the complicated lives of women trying to survive the dating world.

It is an independent production, which means it is separate from The University’s Theater Department. The play is free of charge, but donations, which will go toward the UTPA scholarship fund, will be accepted.

The play runs Oct. 1 and 2 at 8 p.m. in the Studio Theater, room 107 in the Communication Arts and Science building.

Due to the adult content, children 13 and under are not permitted.

This play is being produced by Girl’s Night Out Entertainment, a local company composed of four friends. The group consists of University of Texas-Pan American alumni Stacey G. Davila, Marissa Hernandez, and Holly A. Retherford, faculty member Kate Ellis.

The play can be compared to the hit T.V. show “Sex in the City.” Similar to the restaurant scenes in “Sex in the City,” the play begins with the women sitting around a coffee table sharing their tragic, yet humorous, tales of unrequited love.

According to Davila the main characters from “The Women of Manhattan,” Rhonda, Judy and Billie, can be compared to the women of “Sex in the City.” One night, while the women are having dinner they lament the fact that their careers are flourishing, but their emotional lives are a wreck.

Retherford’s character, Rhonda, has just broken up with her boyfriend, and her personality is most like the character of Carrie

Bradshaw. She is having trouble dealing with the fact that for the first time in her life she is single, and is searching within herself for answers.

Billie, who is played by Hernandez, is most like the character of Miranda Hobbs because both women are the only one among their friends that is married. Billie frets that she and her husband are stuck in their honeymoon phase, but unlike Miranda, who is a levelheaded businesswoman, Billie is a housewife struggling to find herself. She is bubbly and has genuine kindness like Charlotte York.

Ellis’ character Judy has the sass of Samantha Jones with her quick wit and foul mouth. However, Judy despairs over meeting an attractive man who is not gay, while Jones rarely ever frets over a man.

In a series of scenes, their situations change. Billie fixes up Judy with her exboyfriend, Billie’s husband gives her a black eye, and Rhonda summons up the courage to dispose of her ex-boyfriend’s sneakers.

“The play is a slice of life of three woman talking about relationships, sex, men, and love,” Davila said. “It is a great play that is technically and scenically easy.”

The play is a present-day comedy written

by John Patrick Shanley, who also wrote the screenplay for “Moonstruck” and directed “Joe Versus the Volcano.”

For Ellis, a professor in the UTPA theater department, this is her first studio production.

She feels that the play gives men an inside look into the world from a woman’s perspective.

“The play is mature,” Ellis said. “No sex is seen, but [it is] heavily talked about.”

Franco Caballero/The Pan American

CELEBRITY

Page 10

GIRL TALK- Marissa Hernandez and Holly Retherford (above from left) discuss relationships, sex, men and love at the table as Billie and Rhonda in “The Women of Manhattan.” In her UTPA stage debut, Kate Ellis (left) brings the character of Judy to life.

Franco Caballero/The Pan American

A&E

■ ■ ■ ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ■ Radio Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 & 9 ■ “The Women of Manhattan” . . . . . . 10 ■ Student Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Ex *NSYNC star visits UTPA

By CHRISTINA HARRIS The Pan American After spending one day in the Rio Grande Valley, Lance Bass’ new goal is to learn Spanish.

The former *NSYNC member spoke to over 500 students Tuesday, as part of the Hispanic Engineering Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week, about the importance of getting the Hispanic population involved in math and science.

Besides being an actor-singer-producer-manager-entrepreneur, Bass is also a certified cosmonaut since training at the Russian Space Agency in 2000. His celebrity status and knowledge of the cosmonaut training process made him an ideal keynote speaker during the HESTEC festivities.

Dressed in a button-down shirt and pants, Bass looked visibly hot in the afternoon Valley weather with sweat spotting the back of his shirt, but said that he was very comfortable. After joking about how students only wanted to hear him speak to get out of class, he explained his reasoning for wanting to speak at HESTEC. “I’m here because I’m a huge space enthusiast,” Bass said. “I’m here to tell you to stick with your goals and dreams.”

He spoke to UTPA students and a crowd comprised of Valley high school students, he first congratulated everyone for staying in school and continuing their education, and then emphasized a need for Hispanic scientists and engineers.

“One in four students right now are Hispanic,” he said.

“And only four percent are in science and engineering fields.

Before he became a pop musician and multi-hyphenated individual, Bass dreamed of being an astronaut at the age of eight. Inspired by his grandfather, he explored the field of space engineering and actually went to space camp.

He said that his music career fell into his lap later.

Opportunity stepped in two and a half years ago when he once again got to pursue his childhood dream.

When he was asked to become the youngest person to go into space, Bass jumped at the chance, however, there were a lot of people who questioned his ability.

“There were a lot of government people that didn’t want me to do it,” Bass said. “I really had to prove that I could do it so I worked my butt off.”

Cosmonaut training takes years to complete but the Russian Space Agency condensed the four-year course into about six months.

“I had no clue what I was getting into,” Bass said. “It was like going back to 1940 and nothing has changed at all.

I learned so much and it was such a great experience.”

Currently, Bass said that he is focusing on producing a movie with his production company, A Happy Place. Bass will play a role in the film, “Lovewrecked,” which stars Amanda Bynes (“What a Girl Wants”) and Chris Carmack (“The O.C.”).

While his dream of going into space has been delayed for a while due to financial problems, Bass said he definitely plans on going to space one day. According to MSNBC.com, Bass lost his spot on the space flight because his private financial backers didn’t come up with a significant payment toward the estimated $20 million cost of his training and flight. However, he did finish the program and became a certified cosmonaut.

After talking about his experience in the space program, Bass took questions from the crowd, which of course included queries about a newly married Britney Spears (no, he wasn’t invited to the wedding). He did, however, men-

tion the fate of a new *NSYNC album.

“Justin [Timberlake] doesn’t want to sign on,” he said. “Then again if you were with Cameron Diaz, you’d be preoccupied too.”

When someone from the crowd asked him of his political preference, Bass declined to voice his affiliation, but he did stress the importance of voting and pointed out the voter registration booth that the Student Government Association (SGA) set up in the quad.

President of the SGA, Nathan Schwarz, had the opportunity to meet Bass and said that he was surprised at the star’s easy-going and conversational personality.

“It’s a very unique experience to have such an exciting celebrity on campus,” Schwarz said.

Other audience members felt the same excitement as a crowd of high school students gathered in front of the stage. Chris Mendoza, a 16-year-old junior from PSJA, got to take a group picture with Bass as part of the GEAR UP program, and right away got a sense that Bass was modest and friendly.

“It was pretty cool,” Mendoza said. “He was really down to earth, he didn’t seem like a celebrity at all.”

Bass seemed to like the Valley, commenting on how this was the nicest town he’s ever been to in his life. Trying to appeal to the young Hispanic crowd, Bass attempted to sum up his speech in Spanish.

“Si Se Puede,” Bass said. “That’s the message I want to give to you.”

See CELEBRITY page 10

Melissa Martinez/The Pan American

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

September 30, 2004

Search for ‘premiere artist’

By AARON LOZANO The Pan American More than 80 community members are expected to participate in a poster contest that may land them a $1,000 cash prize, and a chance to be McAllen’s first “premiere artist.”

According to graphic design professor Dave Martinez this is a wonderful opportunity for the art community at The University of Texas-Pan American.

The winning selection will promote, market and display the essence of McAllen. It will also be mass printed and sold to the McAllen business community.

Artwork for the contest may be submitted in any of the following forms: painting, drawing, etching, serigraph (a print made by the silk-screen process), lithograph, photograph, or mixed media. Entries must be delivered to the McAllen Chamber of Commerce by Oct. 15, no later than 5 p.m.

A panel of qualified individuals, including art professional and business leaders in McAllen will judge the entries.

The winning selection will be made public at the arts and entertainment fair, Starry Nights, Oct. 30 and be the official poster of McAllen for two years.

“This contest will help solidify that we are a part of the community and the cities of Edinburg and McAllen,” Martinez said.

The first-year professor invited the McAllen Chamber of Commerce’s Cultural Arts and Entertainment Coordinator Tita Moreno to his digital illustration class to speak about the contest.

According to Moreno, the winner will be featured as

McAllen’s “premiere artist” for two years.

“This is the first time we’re doing it, but sooner of later we’ll have a hall of fame,” Moreno said to the group of art students. “Eventually they’ll become collectibles.”

This contest offers participants more than local fame; it provides opportunities, like hands-on career experience.

“It’s a great opportunity for the students because, number one, they will be working for a real client,” Martinez said. “And number two, the $1,000 cash prize is real nice.

Also, being able to do mass printing in full color is a big deal for them.”

Moreno encouraged the class to be creative and colorful, yet specific to what defines McAllen.

“Its kind of broad what we’re asking for, but that allows you to be as creative as you want,” said Moreno, who is a graduate student at UTPA. She also warned the artists that offensive or nude images are not accepted.

Martinez believes there is a high level of expectation from these students, and encourages them to participate in the community project.

“I sort of got the encouragement from Dean [Rodolfo] Rocha because he’d like to see more people associated with the university give back to the community,” Martinez said.

The chamber adopted the idea from a similar program in Santa Fe, N.M. According to Moreno, Santa Fe’s culture is artistic, and the poster contest is an attempt by the chamber to build the arts and entertainment culture community in McAllen.

For more information, contact Moreno at tmoreno@mcallencvb.com or (956) 682-2871.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Radio The university has a student newspaper and a literary magazine. Could it be possible for UTPA to add a campus radio station to this list? Even though having a campus radio station sounds appealing there are many factors that must be taken into consideration.

First of all, there are two types of radio services that can be used, which are carrier

current and traditional broadcast. According to Tom Pearson, associate professor of philosophy, the easiest and least expensive option would be to set up a carrier current friendly facility.This procedure would provide the radio station’s signal to various buildings on campus via landlines such as cable and telephone lines.The second type of service is the traditional broadcast radio station.

Establishing a broadcast service is a lengthier procedure. UTPA’s administration and The University of Texas System Board of Regents would have to first acquire a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license because of regulatory and liability issues. Next, a radio frequency must be obtained through the FCC, but that requires funding.

According to Jack Stanley,

Page 8

UTPA

communication professor, issues of space, equipment and programming would have to be addressed in a timely manner. A staff would have to be hired and those involved with the operation of the station would have to be trained.

Program materials, including syndicated programming and music, would have to be assembled according to FCC regulations.

A broadcast facility could take as long as three years to get started depending on the

various factors involved, whereas, a carrier current station could be up and running within a year if there is a diligent group of people willing to work along with the support

of the university’s administration, according to Pearson.

Benjamin Abbitt, Student Government Association (SGA) senator at large, is trying to get students interested in the idea of having a campus radio station. Abbitt said that he has tried to get the campus’ attention on two particular occasions. During last year’s SGA elections the computer science major distributed fliers promising to do his best to create a campus radio station. The second attempt took place recently in the form of a meeting Sept. 7 to recruit who would be responsible for making the station possible. Abbitt said that the idea of a campus radio station is not yet officially sponsored

by SGA. He expects the pro-

HANDS ON- Students at UTPA are getting experience with radio equipment, and now they want to work on putting their knowledge to use.

Franc o Cab allero /The Pan A m

erica n

September 30, 2004

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Page 9

Students often use forums and protests as a vehicle to voice their opinions, while others turn to the media. The University of Texas-Pan American does not have a broadcast outlet for student opinions; a STORY BY DULCE GONZALEZ change could be in store for the university. gram to support the idea once there is a proposal to present.

According to Abbitt, 43 students, staff and faculty members joined together in the effort to create a radio station.

Those involved have an option of joining any one of three groups: local, legal and technical working groups. As a starting point the committee has decided to try airing through the campus net and would eventually like to move up to traditional broadcast. The local working group is responsible for working within UTPA. The group’s tasks consist of securing studio space and transmission as well as fundraising and publicity.

The second group is the legal working group, which is responsible for working with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the FCC to secure licensing for broadcast material and a frequency license.The third group is the technical working group responsible for pricing and procurement of transmission and studio equipment. The groups are headed by different individuals who meet with members, set up meeting times, and assign tasks.

The 23-year-old student senator stated that he doesn’t recall where the idea of a campus radio station emerged, but his interest in copyright property as well as the free flow of ideas drew him to the issue.

"Honestly, I’m not sure from where the original idea came," Abbitt said. "I think that the university, entrusted by the taxpayers to educate and enlighten, has a distinct responsibility to spread the ideas hatched by its community to the surrounding community."

Abbitt added that the idea is to have students work as Disc Jockeys (DJs) at the station, which can help them accumulate experience as DJs or technicians.

Stanley said that he is concerned about whether there would be an audience for a campus radio station that is not already being served by commercial and public radio stations on the air. He also stated that as a former student station manager of KTCU at Texas Christian University, he learned that students who want a radio station are not usually individuals who want to reach any large segment of the student population. Rather, they are seeking to program to small segments of the population.

"My opinion is that there are some students who want this expensive toy to play with for a while, but have little or no interest, understanding, or commitment to the realities of what ’broadcasting’ is all about," Stanley said. "It will become clear very quickly that a continually operating radio sta-

Franco Caballero/The Pan American

September 30, 2004

BE READY- Marialicia Andrade, a junior communication major, practices at the sound board in the Media Theater.

tion becomes a monster that must be fed. Without professionals to guide the student disc jockeys, I see very little to be learned by anyone involved with such an operation."

There are those who are surprised to know that UTPA does not already have a fully functioning radio station. As a former general manager of two National Public Radio (NPR) stations in the Midwest, Pearson said that he is puzzled as to why UTPA has not had an NPR station on campus because the projected growth of the mid-Valley area and of the university would support an argument in favor of establishing such a station.

According to Pearson, managing an NPR station at the university level gave him the opportunity to see what that enterprise did for the institution in terms of public visibility and credibility in the community. It also served as a source for external funding and enhanced endowment opportunities.

"A student radio station, particularly a broadcast station affiliated with public radio, could be a great asset on this campus," Pearson said. "That kind of radio operation could serve as a laboratory for the development of a broadcast curriculum, and even a possible future radio-TV academic program as a component of the department of communications."

Abbitt stressed that students are getting organ-

ized and doing preliminary research for the project.

Anyone who is interested in a campus radio station and wants to participate in the development of it can reach Abbitt at babbitt@panam.edu.

Types of Radio Stations Traditional Broadcast Requirements: A Federal Communications Commission license must be obtained. Then, a radio frequency can be issued.

Setup: Expensive, lengthy process to establish Carrier Current Requirements: Uses landlines to spread the station s signal across campus.

Setup: Less expensive, less time to establish

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Radio The university has a student newspaper and a literary magazine. Could it be possible for UTPA to add a campus radio station to this list? Even though having a campus radio station sounds appealing there are many factors that must be taken into consideration.

First of all, there are two types of radio services that can be used, which are carrier

current and traditional broadcast. According to Tom Pearson, associate professor of philosophy, the easiest and least expensive option would be to set up a carrier current friendly facility.This procedure would provide the radio station’s signal to various buildings on campus via landlines such as cable and telephone lines.The second type of service is the traditional broadcast radio station.

Establishing a broadcast service is a lengthier procedure. UTPA’s administration and The University of Texas System Board of Regents would have to first acquire a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license because of regulatory and liability issues. Next, a radio frequency must be obtained through the FCC, but that requires funding.

According to Jack Stanley,

Page 8

UTPA

communication professor, issues of space, equipment and programming would have to be addressed in a timely manner. A staff would have to be hired and those involved with the operation of the station would have to be trained.

Program materials, including syndicated programming and music, would have to be assembled according to FCC regulations.

A broadcast facility could take as long as three years to get started depending on the

various factors involved, whereas, a carrier current station could be up and running within a year if there is a diligent group of people willing to work along with the support

of the university’s administration, according to Pearson.

Benjamin Abbitt, Student Government Association (SGA) senator at large, is trying to get students interested in the idea of having a campus radio station. Abbitt said that he has tried to get the campus’ attention on two particular occasions. During last year’s SGA elections the computer science major distributed fliers promising to do his best to create a campus radio station. The second attempt took place recently in the form of a meeting Sept. 7 to recruit who would be responsible for making the station possible. Abbitt said that the idea of a campus radio station is not yet officially sponsored

by SGA. He expects the pro-

HANDS ON- Students at UTPA are getting experience with radio equipment, and now they want to work on putting their knowledge to use.

Franc o Cab allero /The Pan A m

erica n

September 30, 2004

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Page 9

Students often use forums and protests as a vehicle to voice their opinions, while others turn to the media. The University of Texas-Pan American does not have a broadcast outlet for student opinions; a STORY BY DULCE GONZALEZ change could be in store for the university. gram to support the idea once there is a proposal to present.

According to Abbitt, 43 students, staff and faculty members joined together in the effort to create a radio station.

Those involved have an option of joining any one of three groups: local, legal and technical working groups. As a starting point the committee has decided to try airing through the campus net and would eventually like to move up to traditional broadcast. The local working group is responsible for working within UTPA. The group’s tasks consist of securing studio space and transmission as well as fundraising and publicity.

The second group is the legal working group, which is responsible for working with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the FCC to secure licensing for broadcast material and a frequency license.The third group is the technical working group responsible for pricing and procurement of transmission and studio equipment. The groups are headed by different individuals who meet with members, set up meeting times, and assign tasks.

The 23-year-old student senator stated that he doesn’t recall where the idea of a campus radio station emerged, but his interest in copyright property as well as the free flow of ideas drew him to the issue.

"Honestly, I’m not sure from where the original idea came," Abbitt said. "I think that the university, entrusted by the taxpayers to educate and enlighten, has a distinct responsibility to spread the ideas hatched by its community to the surrounding community."

Abbitt added that the idea is to have students work as Disc Jockeys (DJs) at the station, which can help them accumulate experience as DJs or technicians.

Stanley said that he is concerned about whether there would be an audience for a campus radio station that is not already being served by commercial and public radio stations on the air. He also stated that as a former student station manager of KTCU at Texas Christian University, he learned that students who want a radio station are not usually individuals who want to reach any large segment of the student population. Rather, they are seeking to program to small segments of the population.

"My opinion is that there are some students who want this expensive toy to play with for a while, but have little or no interest, understanding, or commitment to the realities of what ’broadcasting’ is all about," Stanley said. "It will become clear very quickly that a continually operating radio sta-

Franco Caballero/The Pan American

September 30, 2004

BE READY- Marialicia Andrade, a junior communication major, practices at the sound board in the Media Theater.

tion becomes a monster that must be fed. Without professionals to guide the student disc jockeys, I see very little to be learned by anyone involved with such an operation."

There are those who are surprised to know that UTPA does not already have a fully functioning radio station. As a former general manager of two National Public Radio (NPR) stations in the Midwest, Pearson said that he is puzzled as to why UTPA has not had an NPR station on campus because the projected growth of the mid-Valley area and of the university would support an argument in favor of establishing such a station.

According to Pearson, managing an NPR station at the university level gave him the opportunity to see what that enterprise did for the institution in terms of public visibility and credibility in the community. It also served as a source for external funding and enhanced endowment opportunities.

"A student radio station, particularly a broadcast station affiliated with public radio, could be a great asset on this campus," Pearson said. "That kind of radio operation could serve as a laboratory for the development of a broadcast curriculum, and even a possible future radio-TV academic program as a component of the department of communications."

Abbitt stressed that students are getting organ-

ized and doing preliminary research for the project.

Anyone who is interested in a campus radio station and wants to participate in the development of it can reach Abbitt at babbitt@panam.edu.

Types of Radio Stations Traditional Broadcast Requirements: A Federal Communications Commission license must be obtained. Then, a radio frequency can be issued.

Setup: Expensive, lengthy process to establish Carrier Current Requirements: Uses landlines to spread the station s signal across campus.

Setup: Less expensive, less time to establish

continued from page 7

Another celebrity who made an appearance for HESTEC was international actress Maria Conchita Alonso. A former Miss Teenager of the World and Miss Venezuela, the actress has been in over 50 movies, including “Chasing Papi” and “Heart of America.”

Alonso said she thought it was wonderful what HESTEC was doing, although the reasoning behind her appearance wasn’t too clear since she’s not in the math or science field.

“I always got a D in math,” Alonso said. “It’s not my forte.”

Ironically, Alonso prepared a video of her life, but the technology wasn’t working so instead, she gave a very brief speech. The message she wanted to pass along to the educators was to guide their students because life is hard and support is essential in their life.

Alonso said that it was important for students to have someone to believe in them, like educators. She also stressed that nothing is impossible if students have a strong person behind them making them feel like they’re number one.

“We are a minority but we’re moving ahead,” Alonso said. “When you want to obtain something, you can’t think that ‘I’m a minority.’ You have to think ‘I’m a person first.’ Don’t let anything bring you down.”

Mata makes music

By LAURA GARCIA The Pan American Pablo Mata’s passion for music has already given him a lifetime of memories.

Mata will graduate with a degree in music in May, which fulfills a lifelong dream.

“I was in middle school when I discovered I knew how to sing,” Mata, a senior at the University of Texas-Pan American said.

“After that I was hooked.”

Mata became a singer in the norteño band, Contrafuego when he was a 16-yearold. The band performed in cities in Mexico such as Monterrey, Tampico and Chihuahua, as well as cities in Texas such as Dallas, Houston and in the Rio Grande Valley.

Mata sang and composed songs on the band’s CD, Devorame.

During this time Mata began taking private music lessons with Vivian Munn.

“Not only was she a good teacher, but she inspired me to pursue a higher degree of Pablo skill,” Mata said. “The main reason I came to UTPA was because both Dr. Vivian Munn and her husband, Dr. Christopher Munn, worked in the music department.”

Mata is completing his fourth year in the men’s choir, and one of the highlights in Mata’s university choir career was singing in the Valley Symphony Chorale this fall.

“We sang ‘Carmina Burana’ by Carl Orff at the San Juan Shrine,” Mata said.

“It’s one of my most memorable choir experiences.”

Mata has made an impression in the instructors in the choir department, according to his professors who feel that he is an exemplary student.

“Pablo has been an outstanding student

since he first came here,” Christopher Munn said. “He is a phenomenal vocalist and has the advantage of already being in the professional business. He is at the top of his class and will have a brilliant career.”

Last spring Mata conducted UTPA’s men chorus at a basketball game, and led them in the National Anthem and alma mater.

“The professors were out of town and I was honored when [I was] asked to conduct the choir at a basketball game,” Mata said.

Mata also performs as a soloist; last year he became a second year soloist in “Mozart’s Requiem.”

“In choir you try to separate yourself from the others,” Mata said. “When you begin to excel high schools begin to notice you and that can eventually lead to a job.”

According to Mata, a common misconception people have about choir is that it is only about people standing around and singing.

“Choir is more Mata than just singing,” Mata said. “We have to learn every aspect of music, from its history, to music theory and vocal techniques.”

Mata’s dream is to become the head choir director of a 5A high school, which is the largest division a school can fall under in the University Interscholastic League (UIL.), but Mata realizes this field is competitive and has limited positions available.

“Like most people, I just want to have a paying job that has to do with my major when I graduate,” Mata said.

Mata is preparing for his future job by helping the choir at Economedes High School prepare for district and region UIL competitions.

Inside a woman’s head

By LAURA GARCIA The Pan American “The Women of Manhattan” is a racy play that goes inside the complicated lives of women trying to survive the dating world.

It is an independent production, which means it is separate from The University’s Theater Department. The play is free of charge, but donations, which will go toward the UTPA scholarship fund, will be accepted.

The play runs Oct. 1 and 2 at 8 p.m. in the Studio Theater, room 107 in the Communication Arts and Science building.

Due to the adult content, children 13 and under are not permitted.

This play is being produced by Girl’s Night Out Entertainment, a local company composed of four friends. The group consists of University of Texas-Pan American alumni Stacey G. Davila, Marissa Hernandez, and Holly A. Retherford, faculty member Kate Ellis.

The play can be compared to the hit T.V. show “Sex in the City.” Similar to the restaurant scenes in “Sex in the City,” the play begins with the women sitting around a coffee table sharing their tragic, yet humorous, tales of unrequited love.

According to Davila the main characters from “The Women of Manhattan,” Rhonda, Judy and Billie, can be compared to the women of “Sex in the City.” One night, while the women are having dinner they lament the fact that their careers are flourishing, but their emotional lives are a wreck.

Retherford’s character, Rhonda, has just broken up with her boyfriend, and her personality is most like the character of Carrie

Bradshaw. She is having trouble dealing with the fact that for the first time in her life she is single, and is searching within herself for answers.

Billie, who is played by Hernandez, is most like the character of Miranda Hobbs because both women are the only one among their friends that is married. Billie frets that she and her husband are stuck in their honeymoon phase, but unlike Miranda, who is a levelheaded businesswoman, Billie is a housewife struggling to find herself. She is bubbly and has genuine kindness like Charlotte York.

Ellis’ character Judy has the sass of Samantha Jones with her quick wit and foul mouth. However, Judy despairs over meeting an attractive man who is not gay, while Jones rarely ever frets over a man.

In a series of scenes, their situations change. Billie fixes up Judy with her exboyfriend, Billie’s husband gives her a black eye, and Rhonda summons up the courage to dispose of her ex-boyfriend’s sneakers.

“The play is a slice of life of three woman talking about relationships, sex, men, and love,” Davila said. “It is a great play that is technically and scenically easy.”

The play is a present-day comedy written

by John Patrick Shanley, who also wrote the screenplay for “Moonstruck” and directed “Joe Versus the Volcano.”

For Ellis, a professor in the UTPA theater department, this is her first studio production.

She feels that the play gives men an inside look into the world from a woman’s perspective.

“The play is mature,” Ellis said. “No sex is seen, but [it is] heavily talked about.”

Franco Caballero/The Pan American

CELEBRITY

Page 10

GIRL TALK- Marissa Hernandez and Holly Retherford (above from left) discuss relationships, sex, men and love at the table as Billie and Rhonda in “The Women of Manhattan.” In her UTPA stage debut, Kate Ellis (left) brings the character of Judy to life.

Franco Caballero/The Pan American

A&E

■ ■ ■ ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ■ Radio Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 & 9 ■ “The Women of Manhattan” . . . . . . 10 ■ Student Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Ex *NSYNC star visits UTPA

By CHRISTINA HARRIS The Pan American After spending one day in the Rio Grande Valley, Lance Bass’ new goal is to learn Spanish.

The former *NSYNC member spoke to over 500 students Tuesday, as part of the Hispanic Engineering Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week, about the importance of getting the Hispanic population involved in math and science.

Besides being an actor-singer-producer-manager-entrepreneur, Bass is also a certified cosmonaut since training at the Russian Space Agency in 2000. His celebrity status and knowledge of the cosmonaut training process made him an ideal keynote speaker during the HESTEC festivities.

Dressed in a button-down shirt and pants, Bass looked visibly hot in the afternoon Valley weather with sweat spotting the back of his shirt, but said that he was very comfortable. After joking about how students only wanted to hear him speak to get out of class, he explained his reasoning for wanting to speak at HESTEC. “I’m here because I’m a huge space enthusiast,” Bass said. “I’m here to tell you to stick with your goals and dreams.”

He spoke to UTPA students and a crowd comprised of Valley high school students, he first congratulated everyone for staying in school and continuing their education, and then emphasized a need for Hispanic scientists and engineers.

“One in four students right now are Hispanic,” he said.

“And only four percent are in science and engineering fields.

Before he became a pop musician and multi-hyphenated individual, Bass dreamed of being an astronaut at the age of eight. Inspired by his grandfather, he explored the field of space engineering and actually went to space camp.

He said that his music career fell into his lap later.

Opportunity stepped in two and a half years ago when he once again got to pursue his childhood dream.

When he was asked to become the youngest person to go into space, Bass jumped at the chance, however, there were a lot of people who questioned his ability.

“There were a lot of government people that didn’t want me to do it,” Bass said. “I really had to prove that I could do it so I worked my butt off.”

Cosmonaut training takes years to complete but the Russian Space Agency condensed the four-year course into about six months.

“I had no clue what I was getting into,” Bass said. “It was like going back to 1940 and nothing has changed at all.

I learned so much and it was such a great experience.”

Currently, Bass said that he is focusing on producing a movie with his production company, A Happy Place. Bass will play a role in the film, “Lovewrecked,” which stars Amanda Bynes (“What a Girl Wants”) and Chris Carmack (“The O.C.”).

While his dream of going into space has been delayed for a while due to financial problems, Bass said he definitely plans on going to space one day. According to MSNBC.com, Bass lost his spot on the space flight because his private financial backers didn’t come up with a significant payment toward the estimated $20 million cost of his training and flight. However, he did finish the program and became a certified cosmonaut.

After talking about his experience in the space program, Bass took questions from the crowd, which of course included queries about a newly married Britney Spears (no, he wasn’t invited to the wedding). He did, however, men-

tion the fate of a new *NSYNC album.

“Justin [Timberlake] doesn’t want to sign on,” he said. “Then again if you were with Cameron Diaz, you’d be preoccupied too.”

When someone from the crowd asked him of his political preference, Bass declined to voice his affiliation, but he did stress the importance of voting and pointed out the voter registration booth that the Student Government Association (SGA) set up in the quad.

President of the SGA, Nathan Schwarz, had the opportunity to meet Bass and said that he was surprised at the star’s easy-going and conversational personality.

“It’s a very unique experience to have such an exciting celebrity on campus,” Schwarz said.

Other audience members felt the same excitement as a crowd of high school students gathered in front of the stage. Chris Mendoza, a 16-year-old junior from PSJA, got to take a group picture with Bass as part of the GEAR UP program, and right away got a sense that Bass was modest and friendly.

“It was pretty cool,” Mendoza said. “He was really down to earth, he didn’t seem like a celebrity at all.”

Bass seemed to like the Valley, commenting on how this was the nicest town he’s ever been to in his life. Trying to appeal to the young Hispanic crowd, Bass attempted to sum up his speech in Spanish.

“Si Se Puede,” Bass said. “That’s the message I want to give to you.”

See CELEBRITY page 10

Melissa Martinez/The Pan American

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

September 30, 2004

Search for ‘premiere artist’

By AARON LOZANO The Pan American More than 80 community members are expected to participate in a poster contest that may land them a $1,000 cash prize, and a chance to be McAllen’s first “premiere artist.”

According to graphic design professor Dave Martinez this is a wonderful opportunity for the art community at The University of Texas-Pan American.

The winning selection will promote, market and display the essence of McAllen. It will also be mass printed and sold to the McAllen business community.

Artwork for the contest may be submitted in any of the following forms: painting, drawing, etching, serigraph (a print made by the silk-screen process), lithograph, photograph, or mixed media. Entries must be delivered to the McAllen Chamber of Commerce by Oct. 15, no later than 5 p.m.

A panel of qualified individuals, including art professional and business leaders in McAllen will judge the entries.

The winning selection will be made public at the arts and entertainment fair, Starry Nights, Oct. 30 and be the official poster of McAllen for two years.

“This contest will help solidify that we are a part of the community and the cities of Edinburg and McAllen,” Martinez said.

The first-year professor invited the McAllen Chamber of Commerce’s Cultural Arts and Entertainment Coordinator Tita Moreno to his digital illustration class to speak about the contest.

According to Moreno, the winner will be featured as

McAllen’s “premiere artist” for two years.

“This is the first time we’re doing it, but sooner of later we’ll have a hall of fame,” Moreno said to the group of art students. “Eventually they’ll become collectibles.”

This contest offers participants more than local fame; it provides opportunities, like hands-on career experience.

“It’s a great opportunity for the students because, number one, they will be working for a real client,” Martinez said. “And number two, the $1,000 cash prize is real nice.

Also, being able to do mass printing in full color is a big deal for them.”

Moreno encouraged the class to be creative and colorful, yet specific to what defines McAllen.

“Its kind of broad what we’re asking for, but that allows you to be as creative as you want,” said Moreno, who is a graduate student at UTPA. She also warned the artists that offensive or nude images are not accepted.

Martinez believes there is a high level of expectation from these students, and encourages them to participate in the community project.

“I sort of got the encouragement from Dean [Rodolfo] Rocha because he’d like to see more people associated with the university give back to the community,” Martinez said.

The chamber adopted the idea from a similar program in Santa Fe, N.M. According to Moreno, Santa Fe’s culture is artistic, and the poster contest is an attempt by the chamber to build the arts and entertainment culture community in McAllen.

For more information, contact Moreno at tmoreno@mcallencvb.com or (956) 682-2871.

September 30, 2004

NEWS

Page 6

The Great Debate to be held on campaign issues

By LYLONY CAZARES The Pan American Many students are still out of the loop when it comes to the presidential elections. The Great Debate today at 6 p.m. in the Social and Behavioral Sciences building Room 101 will help enlighten students about the major campaign issues.

Student organizations will come together and choose party platforms and defend key issues related to the war in Iraq, education, economy, terrorism, homeland security, the environment and health care. Students will also have the opportunity to engage in an audience discussion and watch the first presidential debate between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry and the University of Miami to air at 9 p.m.

According to Dawne Hill, student development coordinator, the Great Debate is the perfect opportunity to not only watch the presidential debate but to take an active role as a member of society and discuss current issues.

“This event provides students with a forum where their own voices and views can be heard, discussed, and also challenged by fellow students,” Hill said. “We feel it is important for our

students to be informed and active participants in discussing the issues that impact them currently and in the future.”

Some of the questions that will be debated by the party platforms at the event include how each party stands on supporting the constitutional amendment banning gay marriages, Bush’s justification on the war on Iraq, the cost of health care, and argumentation about the Patriot Act. Rodney Gomez, student development coordinator, believes the event will inform students on major issues for this very important election.

“Students are often neglected in the political process or else do not get involved, and this is one thing the Office of Student Development is doing to change that,” Gomez said. “We want students to understand that they don’t have to leave the political process to someone else.”

According to Gomez, the event will also help student organizations become a vehicle by which information about the elections can be transmitted to other students.

“Throughout the election season you will hear candidates, professors, newscasters, and all sorts of people ‘in the know’ tell you why and how to vote,” Gomez said. “But we want students themselves to inform other students. We think it’s a

Hosted by the Office of Student Development Where: Social and Behavioral Sciences building Room 101 When: 6 p.m.

Presidential Debate to be shown at 8 p.m. good thing when your peers talk to you about the issues in a way you can relate to. And, more likely than not, your peers will have the same concerns as you.”

Meanwhile, voter registrations booths are being set-up by SGA to encourage students to vote. On Tuesday, Lance Bass was one celebrity who participated in the registration drive at the Quad.

Social work students are preparing for community activism, counseling, with controversy in the air.

The students of Community Practice III, a social work class taught by Estela Soza Garza, were assigned to register to vote, and then were deputized to register other voters.

Each student was then required to sign up 10 other people to vote. William McIntyre, the dean of the College of Health Science and Human Services, approved of the project but Provost Rodolfo Arevalo thought the requirement unnecessary.

“It is difficult to require students to register to vote,” Arevalo said. “You can offer it as an option for students who want to. It also wasn’t originally part of the course syllabus.”

Still, a representative of the Hidalgo County Elections office visited Soza Garza’s Tuesday evening class to deputize the students. Currently, they are working to get others to vote, despite Arevalo’s opinion of the project.

“I was pretty headstrong about doing this project,” said Janis Smith, 22, a student of the Community Practice III class. “I have a lot of cousins going to Iraq so this project really hits home.”

Registering others to vote is a key element in social work because it identifies tactics that can improve and promote social change. The electoral process is one of the main methods to encourage social change, especially in an election year, according to Soza Garza.

Another responsibility of social workers is to champion social justice especially among vulnerable and oppressed groups of people, according to the Code of Ethics of the National Association of the Social Workers (NASW). For years, the Valley has been underrepresented and ignored because of lack of voting strength, according to some activists. Issues such as poverty and unemployment are ones social workers primarily focus on, according to the NASW Code of Ethics.

“It’s just a matter of registering,” Soza Garza said. “If our officials don’t see a good number then they’ll ignore us. In the past we were not included, but now they’ll know we’re here.”

The assignment encourages students to register on a nonpartisan basis; the objective is to gain more registered voters in general, not allegiance to any party. The students also learn about the specific duties of a social worker, and about working directly in the community.

“I think it’s excellent for students to get involved with the

community,” McIntyre said. “ We wanted to encourage social work by having students get other students to vote. This projects seemed like a great way to do this.”

For his part, Arevalo added that he does like the idea of the project, as long as it remains optional, not required.

“I think students should be involved in these civic-type activities,” Arevalo said. “I don’t have a problem with it because it allows them to see the political process.”

The project proves to be a learning process for the students; they are realizing the difficulty of doing activist work.

“Many people don’t want to register to vote,” said Rebecca Canales, Community Practice III student. “It’s sad because they don’t want to vote because they don’t want to do jury duty.”

Student Government Association senators were also deputized last year and are registering voters at the Quad this week. The national elections are in November, with a series of presidential debates beginning tonight in Miami.

The students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team at The University of Texas-Pan American is going through a transitional phase this year due to the retirement of Professor Gilbert Cardenas, the team’s adviser. He was dedicated to being the leader of this organization for 10 years.

SIFE was founded in 1975 and is an active organization on more than 1,600 college campuses in 40 countries around the world. This organization provides students the opportunity to develop leadership, communication skills, teamwork and the principles of free enterprise.

The organization has various community projects and helps local schools to learn about the economy with a program named Junior Achievement.

The SIFE organization attends competition each year and fights for the nation’s top spots. This past year the UTPA SIFE team placed among the top 10 teams at the national SIFE convention held in Kansas City. The UTPA team has been in the top 10 spots for eight years in a row in group competitions.

But the SIFE team is now in search of a new leader to guide the through their ongoing success. Unfortunately it is not the only problem that SIFE is facing; due to the retirement of Cardenas many students quit the organization.

Jesus D. Gonzales, the current president of the organization, said he is not planning to quit the team and is

BILINGUAL

Delisa Guadarrama/The Pan American

QUIET TIME— Senior Spanish major Oscar Reyes uses the privacy of the library to concentrate.

The library offers study areas on the second and third floors.

Page 11

Despite setbacks SIFE ready for semester tasks

By MARIANA CADENA The Pan American

Social work students assigned to register voters

By CECILIA CASTANEDA The Pan American

NEWS

September 30, 2004

Joel de la Rosa/The Pan American

MEETING- SIFE members gather in the Business Administration Building Tuesday to discuss the new projects for the semester. urging students to join.

“I know that some members are discouraged because Cardenas left, but I have faith in the team,” Gonzales said.

The team, according to Gonzales, encountered some problems in the year with some of the student leaders in charge of the functions.

“Some of the team members that were not happy in the

organization were simply not dedicated to it, the team simply wants to be the best and we want to surpass all our goals,” he said.

Last year SIFE hosted fundraisers for an orphanage in Reynosa. Some of the events that made the most money were hosted at a local bar in McAllen named Kafs. All the money from the cover charge was saved for the orphanage. Raul Cervantes, a former member of SIFE was a part of the event.

“One of the parties held at Kafs made a lot of money,” Cervantes said. “The team was very happy because we were going to use that money to paint the children’s rooms in the orphanage.”

Cervantes explained that the money raised from those events was allegedly not used for that purpose.

“I felt like the leaders were not making wise money decisions and lost perspective of what was really important, that is why I quit,” Cervantes said.

Though Cervantes didn’t explain exactly what the money in question was used for, he stands firm in his decision to leave.

The remaining members of the SIFE team are urging new members to join and are currently in search of a new adviser.

Professor of Economics Alberto Davila is supporting the organization by encouraging students to join and attending all of the meetings.

“Just because the head advisor left does not mean the energy is not there, we are very proud and confident in the team’s accomplishments.” Davila said. “This is a very energetic and active group likely to continue its success.”

continued from page 1

the 1960s, around 20,000 students in 173 school districts were learning English. According to Rodolfo Rodriguez of the Texas State Historical Association, Texas had the highest concentration of Mexican-American students enrolled in English as a second language, or ESL, programs in the southwest.

The Laredo United Consolidated School District, under Superintendent Harold Brantley, created the first bilingual program in Texas in 1964. Brantley used a school in Florida as a model. His idea traveled throughout the Rio Grande Valley, and schools began instructing their students for 30 minutes a day in Spanish, while the rest of the day’s instruction was in English.

Congress then passed the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 that gave funding to schools trying to incorporate native-language instruction. San Miguel said that the passing of the bill was important, but that it also proved to be challenging.

“First, it was a minor piece of legislation and problematically small, it only provided minimal funding,” San Miguel said. “For instance, it only authorized, but did not fund the appropriate $16 million for the first year. The legislation also did not mandate any specific program or courses for education; it allowed the [school] district to develop experimental programs without any accountability. Local school districts were free to choose whether they wanted to apply for the fund or whether they wanted to develop special education programs.”

He added that the bill was only aimed at low-income, non-English speaking children and that the purpose of the program was undefined. However, years later with the reform came a bit of progress.

“They transformed this minor monetary piece of legislation aimed at low-income, non-English speaking, or limited-English speaking children into a major reform aimed at all,” San Miguel said.

Within the first decade of the legislation, the bilingual education policy was strengthened and transformed as it was implemented despite resistance from both political and school leaders, according San Miguel. The first change that made the legislation stronger was when the once voluntary program became mandatory.

“Throughout the late 1970s, all schools throughout the country had to establish a bilingual education program

if they had limited-English speaking children enrolled in their school,” he said.

Proponents of bilingual education also eliminated the experimental approach to educating minority students and established a federal preference for using native-language instructional approaches. In Texas, nearly 16 school districts had bilingual programs that served 10,003 students

by May of 1969.

“The strengthening and expansion of federal bilingual education contributed to the enactment of state and local bilingual education policies,” San Miguel said. “In the late 1970s, over 34 states including Texas, and countless of local districts enacted their own bilingual education policies.”

The policy in Texas that San Miguel spoke of was created on June 3, 1973 by Gov. Dolph Briscoe and was called the Bilingual Education and Training Act. The bill meant that all schools with at least 20 students with limited-English ability in any grade level had to provide bilingual education. The educators involved in the program were to teach the students in their native-language and eventually transfer them to English-only programs.

TODAY’S SITUATION During the 2003-2004 school year, the total enrollment of students’ K-12 in Texas was 4,328,028. According to Texas Association on Bilingual Education, 660,707 of those students have limited English proficiency.

A 2002 snapshot of Texas schools provided by the Public Education Information Management System listed every school in the state and provided numbers for total enrollment as well as percentages of students involved in state-mandated programs.

In the Rio Grande Valley, the highest percentage of students involved in bilingual education in a large school district was the 40 percent of students being taught by bilingual or ESL programs in Brownsville. One of the lowest was Harlingen’s 12 percent.

Domenica Sutti of Region One explained how students are enrolled in bilingual or ESL programs in Rio Grande Valley schools.

“The process starts when a student is enrolled in a new school district,” Sutti said. “The family is given a

survey and it asks what language is spoken in the home and what language, or languages the student speaks. If they answer anything other than English, we give the student a [standardized] language test.”

If a student is limited-English proficient based on the results of the test, the school district makes a recommendation for the student.

“Ultimately, the parents decide to accept the recommendation to keep their children in bilingual or ESL education programs,” Sutti said. “Most parents accept and their children go through the program.”

Sutti claimed that bilingual or ESL programs in the Rio Grande Valley are not all alike. Each program, she said, vary depending on how the district chooses to address the educational needs of its bilingual students.

“Programs vary and a lot of it has to do with the time being set aside for English and Spanish,” she said.

Most children, she said, start bilingual education in Pre-Kindergarten and most of the day’s instruction, at the beginning, is taught in Spanish.

“The students then move on to English as a second language as they learn English, then more of the day’s instruction is in English,” Sutti said. “They move on progressively until a majority [of the instruction] is taught in English, which usually happens by the third grade.”

Suttie explained that a beginner bilingual student will learn using Spanish for 75 percent of the day and 25 percent is then dedicated to English. An intermediate student is taught half of the time in Spanish and half of the time in English. The advanced bilingual student will only spend 25 percent of their day learning with Spanish and 75 percent of the day devoted to English. The level of learning, she said, is determined through the language test administered at the beginning of the students’ career at the designated school district.

“As they go on, they add more English instruction until the child is in an English class,” she said. “The main effort here is taking time away from Spanish [as the student learns].”

But even as educators discuss their opinions and findings on the topic, the three decade-long debate continues with strong evidence and research from both sides trying to best explain the best way to educate the limited-English proficient students in the United States.

NEWS

September 30, 2004

HEALTHCARE

continued from page 3

mammograms for women.

The Center for Disease Control recently announced during the 2002-2003 flu season, only 4 percent of children aged six to 23 months were vaccinated against the virus.

Twenty-five states, including Texas, had childhood flu vaccination rates below the national average.

But we’re almost winning the fight for affordable health insurance in America.

Almost.

According to Garza, Medicaid helps many people in Starr County, while the State Children’s Health Insurance Program or CHIP, is there to help the 9 million uninsured children in the United States. Garza also explained that there are loans and financial services available.

However, one common problem exists with these agencies; if and only if you apply and are approved by the state will the help be given. This application, which is long, is based on income, credit status, and employment, Garza said.

CHIP benefits were cut recently by the Texas Legislature, including dental, eye and mental health services for children. Coupled with the time-consuming application process, many families are discouraged from applying, even though they may be eligible.

Women are also facing increasing uninsured rates, with 16 million women not covered across the country. The Kaiser Foundation reveals some reasons for this high number, explaining that Medicaid is only available to “low-income women who are parents, pregnant, disabled, or over 65 and who also meet the program’s very restrictive income eligibility criteria.”

UTPA students are shielded from these problems, if they are enrolled for classes full time. Student Health Services located on campus at Emilia Schunior Ramirez Hall, offers health assessments and treatment, as well as medical referrals and education opportunities from a qualified staff. But most importantly for a fraction of the cost.

“There are charges for many services and procedures to diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries, such as for laboratory and pharmacy services, but these charges are much lower than those for comparable services provided elsewhere,” according to the Student Health Services web site.

Despite the issues of unemployment and lack of education contributing to poor health and a serious lack of insurance in the Rio Grande Valley, cheap health care can keep students healthy. And most importantly, students have the opportunity many in America don’t; to be well informed in taking care of themselves and their family, financially and physically.

Page 12

September 30, 2004

NEWS

Page 5

NEWS

September 30, 2004

Page 4

SPORTS CLIPBOARD

HESTEC

Week in photos 1. Maria Conchita Alonso, actress/singer, talks to teachers and administrators Monday at the Field House.

2. Students wait to see Lance Bass at the Quad Tuesday during activity hour.

3. Professor Narayan G. Bhat was one of the many chemisty faculty involved.

4. A group of women attend the lecture for the Texas Instruments’ Latinas in Science, Math, Engineering and Technology program.

UTPA Cross Country at Islander Invitational

1.

SPORTS

September 30, 2004

On Sept. 24, men and women’s cross country runners Aaron Castro and Bertha Castillo led their respective teams in a meet in San Antonio.

UTPA junior Castro placed first individually with a finishing time of 16:19 in the 5,000-meter race. David Trevino (16:22) and Jason Tejada (16:39) placed fourth and fifth respectively, while Beto Alvarado placed eighth (16:58) and Americo Ortiz came in 11th (17:11).

Those individual efforts added up to a solid showing the men’s team, which finished with 29 points, two points short of the team title claimed by UTSA. Texas State was third with 78 points.

“I was very happy for Aaron after winning his first evercollegiate race...this is going to be a very good team,” head coach RickyVaughn said in an online report.

On the women’s side, Castillo finished fifth, her second consecutive top 10 finish, in a time of 19:53 in the 5,000 meters.

Dannely Flores placed 13th (20:16), freshman Megan Mcguire finished 20th (20:45), Karla Hernandez took 23 (20:54), and Lorraine Garcia nabbed 25th with a time of 21:05.

Both teams will compete in the Islander Invitational in Corpus Christi on Friday, Oct. 1.

FOR THE RECORD NFL WEEK 3 Sunday, Sept. 26 Atlanta 6, Arizona 3 Philadelphia 30, Detroit 13 N.Y. Giants 27, Cleveland 10 Pittsburgh 13, Miami 3 Houston 24, Kansas City 21 New Orleans 28, St. Louis 25 OT Jacksonville 15, Tennessee 12 Baltimore 23, Cincinnati 9 Minnesota 27, Chicago 22 Denver 23, San Diego 13 Indianapolis 45, Green Bay 31

Seattle 34, San Francisco 0 Oakland 30, Tampa Bay 20

2.

3.

4.

The injury bug that has plagued the NFL hit close to home this week. Tight end Dan Campbell and starting cornerback Pete Hunter are out for the season after the Dallas Cowboys defeated Washington on Monday night.

According to an AP online report Campbell severely sprained his right foot and Hunter tore a ligament in his left knee during Monday’s 21-18 victory, the team’s 13th in its last 14 games against the ‘Skins.

Campbell’s injury came after a pass on Dallas’ drive in the final minutes of the game. Hunter was hurt in the first half. Seventh-round pick Jacques Reeves will become the starter at corner, and two other rookies will see time in the defensive backfield.

Campbell was the backup to starter Jason Witten, but a valuable reserve.

“It’s a very big blow for us,” head coach Bill Parcells said in an online AP report.

The AP reports that the Cowboys plan to put them on injured reserve once they’re ready to sign their replacements in time for Thursday’s practice. Dallas (2-1) has a bye week and then meets the New York Giants at Texas Stadium Oct. 10.

Sept. 15 Oakland

W-10-3

Sept. 16 Oakland

L-5-4

Sept. 17 Anaheim

L-9-5

Sept. 18 Anaheim

W-2-0

Sept. 19 Anaheim

W-1-0

Sept. 20 OPEN DATE Sept. 21 OAKLAND

England, N.Y. Jets

W-9-4

Sept. 22 OAKLAND

W-5-3

Sept. 23 OAKLAND

W-5-4

Sept. 24 SEATTLE

L-8-7

Sept. 25 SEATTLE

W-5-4

Sept. 26 SEATTLE

L-9-0

Sept. 27 ANAHEIM

L-5-3

Sept. 28 ANAHEIM

L-8-2

Sept. 29 ANAHEIM

L-8-7

UTPA SPORTS

Monday, Sept. 27

WOMEN’S GOLF

Dallas 21, Washington 18 Sunday, Oct 3

Date

Opponent

Oakland at Houston, Noon

Oct. 4

Battle at the Lake Invit.

Philadelphia at Chicago, Noon

Oct. 5

Battle at the Lake Invit.

N.Y. Giants at Green Bay, Noon

Oct. 11

Lady Indian Classic

Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, Noon

Oct. 12

Lady Indian Classic

New England at Buffalo, Noon

Oct. 24

Sam Houston State Tri-Match

Indianapolis at Jacksonville,Noon

Oct. 25

Ellingson/Shu Invitational

Washington at Cleveland, Noon

Oct. 26

Ellingson/SHSU Invitational

New Orleans at Arizona, 3:05 p.m.

Nov. 8

Lady Bronc Classic

Atlanta at Carolina, 3:05 p.m.

Nov. 9

Lady Bronc Classic

N.Y. Jets at Miami, 3:15 p.m.

Tennessee at San Diego,3:15 p.m.

Denver at Tampa Bay, 3:15 p.m.

St. Louis at San Francisco,7:30 p.m.

Open: Seattle, Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota Kansas City at Baltimore, 8 p.m.

MEN’S GOLF

Date

Opponent

Sept. 14

St.Louis

Sept. 15

Oct. 5 Stonebridge Invitational at So. Methodist University

St.Louis

Oct. 11 Crown Classic at Stephen F. Austin Oct. 12 Crown Classic at Stephen F. Austin

W-7-5

Oct. 22 The Nelson Invitational at Stanford University

L-4-2

Sept. 16 St. Louis

W-8-3

Sept. 17 MILWAUKEE

W-2-1

Sept. 18 MILWAUKEE

W-4-3

Sept. 19 MILWAUKEE

W-1-0

Oct. 23 The Nelson Invitational at Stanford University Oct. 24 The Nelson Invitational at Stanford University

Sept. 20 OPEN DATE Sept. 21 San Francisco

L-9-2

Sept. 22 San Francisco

L-5-1

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

W-1-0

Sept. 25 Milwaukee

L-8-0

Sept. 26 Milwaukee

W-11-7

Sept. 27 ST. LOUIS

W-10-3

Sept. 28 ST. LOUIS

W-2-1

Sept. 29 ST. LOUIS

W-6-4

TEXAS RANGERS Date

Opponent

Score

Sept. 13 Oakland

L-7-6

Sept. 14 Oakland

W-12-9

Thursday, Sept. 23 AIRFORCE AIRFORCE DEF. UTPA

30-22, 30-22, 30-18 UTPA : kills, Heather Bravo 8; assists, Karen Lyons 14; digs, Carol Marcengo 15; blocks, Danielle Holthe 3; aces, Heather Bravo 1, Jen Dameworth 1 record: (5-6) Airforce: kills Kristin Hamlett 14; assists, Carly Siefken 42; digs, Jenalee Burke 11, Lamecca Jefferson 11; blocks Brooke Akers 4; aces Rebecca Gallegos 2, Kristin Hamlett 2, Jenalee Burke 2 record: (4-4)

BEST WESTERN REGENCY NO. COLORADO CLASSIC NO. COLORADO DEF. UTPA

30-19, 30-15, 31-29 UTPA : kills, Heather Bravo 9, Jen Dameworth 9, Danielle Holthe 9 ; assists, Karen Lyons 25; digs, Carol Marcengo 15; blocks, Jen Dameworth 3, Jaclyn Olvera 3; aces, Karen Lyons 1, Carol Marcengo 1 record: (5-7) No. Colorado: kills, Erin Deffenbaugh 17; assists, Corrinne Chapin 49; digs Terin Ledall 13; blocks Danelle Angus 3; aces Erin Deffenbaugh 1, Abby Mayne 1 record: (7-5) Saturday, Sept. 25 BEST WESTERN REGENCY

Sept. 23 San Francisco W-7-3 Sept. 24 Milwaukee

UTPA VOLLEYBALL

Friday, Sept. 24 Oct. 4 Stonebridge Invitational at So. Methodist University

Score

Sept. 13 OPEN DATE

Saturday, Oct. 2 District 31-5A Edinburg Economedes at PSJA High idle: La Joya, McAllen High, McAllen Rowe, Sharyland, Rio Grande City, Santa Rosa

Schedule

Note: All times Central Standard Time

HOUSTON ASTROS

District 32-5A Brownsville Hanna at Los Fresnos Browns. Rivera vs Browns. Porter Brownsville Pace at Harlingen High Harlingen South at San Benito District 32-4A Roma at Edcouch-Elsa Mercedes at PSJA Memorial Mission High at Weslaco East District 32-3A Port Isabel at Hidalgo La Feria at Progreso Rio Hondo at Raymondville

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

Idle: Buffalo, Carolina, New

Monday, Oct 4

Cowboys lose key players after Monday’s game

Page 13

Week 5 Thursday, Sept. 30 District 31-5A McAllen Memorial at Edinburg High Weslaco High at PSJA North District 32-4A Mission Vets at Brownsville Lopez Friday, Oct. 1 Non-district Lyford at St. Joseph La Villa at MMA District 31-5A Donna at Edinburg North

NO. COLORADO CLASSIC ROBERT MORRIS DEF. UTPA

30-18, 30-17, 30-26 UTPA : kills, Chrissie Carrigan 10; assists, Karen Lyons 23; digs, Carol Marcengo 20; blocks, Jen Damworth 2; aces, Karen Lyons 2 record: (5-8) Robert Morris: kills, Rachel Leitch 18; assists, Darcey Miller 40; digs Darcy Thompson 21; blocks Kallie Wasserman 3; aces 0 record: (9-6)

SPORTS

September 30, 2004

Page 14

Dodge Arena becomes showcase for pro rodeo show

By JOEY HINOJOSA The Pan American HIDALGO – Maybe the Valley has joined the regular cowboy circuit.

The Dodge Arena hosted its first complete PRCA-sanctioned rodeo where they showcased six events with approximately 50 participants each night before a trio of packed-house crowds last weekend.

“Well a lot of it goes back to the building, the facility,” said Marvin Wycuff, the event’s manager. “The fact (is) that the PRCA rodeo had not been here in the Valley in quite a few years.”

The 35-year veteran arranges rodeos for the Frontier Rodeo Company, a PRCA-sanctioned body whose schedule consists of 45 total events in a regular season.

Prior to coming to Hidalgo, the company was in Fort Smith, Ark., and next week will travel to Laredo. After the season ends Nov. 5 the rodeo’s final stop will be the Wrangler National Finals in Las Vegas the first week of December.

“Any money that (participants) win here counts toward going to Las Vegas for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, and that’s one of the reasons we brought good cowboys here,” Wycuff said.

Rodeo participants are on the road anywhere from 30 to 40 weekends a year. Cowboy Jake Metheny has traveled around the country to fulfill his dreams of being in the rodeo.

Sometimes he’s gone a couple of weeks before returning to his La Vernia, Texas home.

Despite the long trips, Metheny still enjoys the feeling he gets

from being in the competitions.

“Excitement, always excitement, always a rush,” Metheny said.

The 27-year-old has been participating in rodeos since he was 12. Metheny feels he reached a major accomplishment in 2002 when he was invited to the Roping Fiesta in San Angelo, an exclusive roping competition. Only 30 of the best ropers in the world are invited to this two-day event held each year.

There are also other people besides the cowboys that make the rodeo a success.

Blue Jeanes of Winnie, Texas, has been a bullfighter in PRCA rodeos since 1996. The 29-year-old’s job can be dangerous, and also very exciting.

“We have a job to go out there, and we basically distract the bull,” said Jeanes. “(Then) we lead him away, so the cowboy has an opportunity to get up (from the ground) and get on the fence.”

The 15-year veteran bullfighter found that he really enjoyed the rodeo competitions during the summers of his teenage years.

“When I was in high school I played football, baseball, and played a lot of (other) sports, so it was kind of a summer thing,” Jeanes said. “When I got out of high school I started pursuing it (as a career).”

Jeanes says the worst injury he’s had was a broken leg about four years ago, suffered at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show.

“I broke it pretty bad, but that’s how bad it has been. (Other than that I‘ve had) your average bruises, sprains, tears, and stuff like that.”

Injuries haven’t stopped Jeanes from continuing his rodeo career. He still has goals that he wants to accomplish.

“I’d like to work the national finals rodeo,” said Jeanes. “I believe that is all of our goals in this business.”

With the three-day event coming to a close last Sunday, event manager Wycuff already has plans for returning to the Dodge Arena.

“We’ll be here next April for just straight bullriding,” he declared.

Pan Am men’s golf team to face Southern Methodist, women to tee off season at Battle at the Lake Invite against a really good field. I just wanted them to go there and play their best and try their best.”

With one tournament down and the rest of the season The University of Texas Pan American men’s golf to go, Scott looks forward to seeing what his guys can team is young, but eager to improve at next week’s do. He said “excitement” is the watchword for this tournament at Southern Methodist University Oct. 3-5. year’s team.

“I think that we’ll get better every single week,” UTPA is coming off a ninth-place finish two weeks ago at the Fairway Club Invitational held in Lincoln, Scott said. “Luckily I have so many new guys, that I NE., where it had four freshmen and two upperclass- don’t know what their potential is going to be.”

Scott wants to see his two veterans, Norris and men competing.

Leading the way were freshmen Kyle Tudi and soph- Berger, come out firing and take charge of the team as they have in the past. omore Colin Norris, fin“They have a lot of ishing 36th and 40th experience when it comes respectively. The two down to tournaments,” underclassmen were Scott said. “I want them closely followed by to be looked up to as role teammates A.J. Hohn, models.”

Craig Berger, Alvaro Freshman Tudi says González, and Jeff that he is just trying to Hensley in the final cope with all the new standings. courses and fiercer com“I wasn’t expecting petition. He expects his the guys to go out and team to perform better as play extremely, extremethe season continues. ly well, especially the —Drew Scott, “I think all the guys on freshmen because it’s the team are really good,” their first experience,” UTPA Men’s Golf Coach Tudi said about his teamCoach Drew Scott said. mates. “I expect our team “It’s a big change for to do well.” them from high school Women’s Golf golf to collegiate golf.”

On the women’s side, the Lady Broncs will tee off The men’s golf team will be competing at the Stonebridge Invitational hosted by SMU, where it their season Oct. 4 at the Battle of the Lake faces fierce competition from SMU and Ohio State Invitational at Oral Roberts in Tulsa, OK. They are coming off their second National Minority University, both of whom competed at the national tournament last year. The Broncs are ready to try their Championship victory, last season. Coach Barb Odale returns for her sixth season as women’s golf coach. luck against the big boys.

Also returning is Odale’s one-two punch, the junior “They used it (last tournament) as a learning experiDelisa Guadarrama/The Pan American ence and we’re looking forward to going to SMU this tandem of Stefanie Maynard and Nikki Boychuk. The weekend and hopefully being a lot more mature team.” two veterans will lead this year’s team and build on the FORE- The University of Texas-Pan American women’s golf team will tee off its Scott said. “It’s a much stronger field. I’m looking for- experience from last year’s championship season season Oct. 4 at the Battle of the Lake Invitational in Tulsa, Ok. Here Christine ward to getting up there and seeing what we can do finale.

Treanor tees off.

By DARYL GONZALES The Pan American

“I wasn’t expecting the guys to go out and play extremely, extremely well, especially the freshmen because it’s their first experience.”

NEWS

■ HESTEC ■

photographs. . . . . . . . . 4

“The Great Debate”. . . . . . . . . . 6

■ Social

work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Healthcare need evident in South Texas, RGV

By EMMA CLARK The Pan American Putting food on the table or taking a sick child to the doctor is a dilemma faced by a growing number of Americans on a daily basis.

With the uninsured population reaching a high of 43 million, the U.S.Census Bureau predicts that this number will increase, and will eventually affect everyone.

“Lack of coverage compromises not only access to care and health of the uninsured, but also the health and economic wellbeing of our nation,” said Diane Rowland, vice president of the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, and executive director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

According to Rowland, of the 43 million uninsured 64 percent are classified as lowincome families, meaning those that have incomes 200 percent below the poverty level.

“Nourishing The Future,” a report published by the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, said that high poverty and low education are most prevalent along the Mexican border, making the Rio Grande Valley a prime example of an area where health care is simply not a priority.

Sue Day, editor of the report and professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the University of Texas School of Public

“Nine million uninsured children in the United States.”

-Starr County Health Department *

*

*

*

*

“Out of 43 million uninsured, 64 percent are classifed as lowincome families.”

-Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured Health in Houston, explained that of the one million residents here in the Rio Grande Valley, most are living below the federal poverty level.

“About one-third of residents over the age of 25 do not have a ninth-grade education,” Day said. “The national average is 5 percent. Persons who aren’t as educated have a harder time getting jobs which have good salaries to engage in better health care.”

Dora E. Garza, a medical assistant at the Starr County Health Department agreed that a vicious circle does exist in the Rio

Grande Valley.

“There’s a lack of education to begin with, a lack of information,” Garza said.

“They need promatora (promoters) to know about the services we have here.

They need help, they have no food. There is mostly unemployment here. And then they can’t build houses, or restore houses, or buy lots.

This cycle often makes the poor, sicker.

Even when jobs do exist, employees are not legally required to offer health insurance.

And if insurance is offered, many people in the Valley simply cannot afford to pay for

Immigration: Funding varies for citizens

By ANGELA I. CANALES The Pan American Hidalgo County is the seventh largest county in the state of Texas and the Edinburg-McAllen-Mission metropolitan area ranks third in the nation in rate of growth, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

The South Texas area is growing so rapidly due partly to the number of immigrants from Mexico. However, this growth can be seen in both positive and negative lights.

Consumers allow for the area to prosper financially, however, when these same immigrants use federal funding for healthcare a problem is created.

Federal funding is provided to hospitals under a Disproportionate Share Program which uses federal monies disbursed to hospitals that service underprivileged areas.

“Our emergency rooms are filled with residents and immigrants,” said Humberto Garza, border affairs specialist for Hidalgo County. “Our area hospitals, under federal law, are required to provide medical service to all individuals; including legal or non-legal immigrants.”

Although it may seem that these services are beneficial because hospitals are required to service all individuals, some individuals may or may not be legal residents. As a result legal individuals may not receive medical attention because illegals are filling the emergency rooms.

“Our area hospitals are filled everyday to their optimal service potential,” Garza said. “Recent studies show that at

least 78 percent of those filling the emergency rooms are recent immigrants, legal or non-legal.”

Hidalgo County, however, has other monies that assist in paying hospitals for services rendered to immigrants.

“Federal funding is provided to hospitals under a Disproportionate Share Program which works under the auspice of federal monies being disbursed to hospitals that service underprivileged areas,” Garza said. “Hidalgo County operates under a state mandate, an Indigent Healthcare Program.”

Basically with different funding to specific underprivileged areas such as the Valley, hospitals are provided with extra funding specifically for those who do not have assets to pay for health care.

their share of the premium.

According to a study by MSNBC, premiums in 2004 averaged $9,950 annually, for family coverage, and $3,695 for individual coverage, with the employee share of the premium rising nearly 60 percent since 2001.

Garza explained some of the problems Starr County currently faces. Many people need glasses, and good dental care.

Because of the high costs, she said, many travel to Mexico for this type of care.

Garza admitted that there is a lack of services in the area, but denied reports from Day that there are no gynecologists or obstetrician facilities in Starr County.

Willacy County was named as the other county with no OBGYN facilities. Officials were unavailable for comment.

MSNBC explains in a free information pack that having insurance helps reduce the financial uncertainty of health care as well as decreasing the mortality rate. The uninsured tend to be sicker when diagnosed, and are more likely to hospitalize for preventable diseases, such as diabetes, already prevalent in the Rio Grande Valley.

The uninsured are less likely to have a regular doctor, less likely to obtain care when needed and are less apt to get preventative and routine care, such as immunizations for children, and annual

See HEALTHCARE page 12

“The Indigent Program provides monetary assistance for those individuals qualifying under less restricted criteria,” he said. “Basically, an individual needs to prove that he/she is a resident of the county, has an economic burden (extremely poor), and has no assets. An individual under this program is allocated $30,000 or 30 days at a hospital for their respective medical needs.”

This, however, is a problem because the county does not have personnel to investigate whether these individuals are saying the truth and really do live in the United States.

“Hospitals send us people so we can help them to pay for the bills,” said Garza. “Unfortunately we don’t have an investigative team to help us make sure these people are telling us the truth about where they live and so forth.”

Yet another problem is that many hospitals are still waiting for the federal money promised to them to be delivered.

PAGE 2

September 30 2 0 0 4 THE

PAN AMERICAN 1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539 (956) 381-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122 http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican 54rd Year – No. 6

Editor

Arianna Vazquez gareyjup@aol.com News Editor

Clarissa Martinez clarissa_utpa@hotmail.com A & E Editor

Omaira Galarza omairang@yahoo.com Sports Editor

Ed Chrnko echrnko@yahoo.com Graphics Editors

Dägoberto Pérez bachur@mail.com

Ginmarie Mabry ohnesie@yahoo.com Photography Editor

Franco Caballero photomosaix@aol.com Copy Editor

Dulce Gonzalez bluetinky10@aol.com Graphics/Web Design

Eduardo Martinez emartinez23@panam.edu

Reporters

Angela Canales Cecilia Castaneda Emma Clark Edwina P. Garza Joey Gomez Daryl Gonzalez Christina Harris Joey Hinojosa Aaron Lozano Joey Rodriguez

Photographers

Delisa Guadarrama Joel de la Rosa Melissa Martinez Secretary

Diana Corpus Garza Adviser

Dr. 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.

OPINION

September 30, 2004

letters

■

editorials

■

cartoons

‘The Daily Show’ delivers punch lines, not news It takes smarts to be funny. The people at Comedy Central in the studio of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” have it, since January 1999 when Stewart took the reins of the show following fellow Edwina P. Garza comedian, Craig Kilborn. Stewart and his cast earned loads of respect, praise, and laughs after the last election with their now infamous “Indecision 2000” coverage.

The show was created by comediennes Madeleine Smithberg and Lizz Winstead in 1996 with the intent of being fake. Its purpose, similar the “Broadcast News” from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” was to expose the anchors for being fed information by people who work behind the scenes and make a complete mockery of the broadcast news establishment.

The format of the show is based on taking stabs at network news shows including going “behind the scenes,” asking the wrong questions, and making spectacles of the smallest issues. The main attraction of the show is Stewart’s opening monologue as he goes over the latest news, mocks political figures, and points out the fallacies of worldly affairs.

In both 2003 and 2004, “The Daily Show” earned Emmy Awards. In 2003, the show won for Best Variety, Musical, or Comedy; this year, the show took the same award and also took the Best Writing in a Variety, Musical, or Comedy category.

With “Indecision 2000,” Stewart and his co-conspirators have been nabbing the attention of political leaders who have started to make stops at the studio in order to discuss their political views during Stewart’s interview segment.

Recently the vice presidential candidate John Edwards announced that he was going to be running for president on a news segment with "The Daily Show.” And Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry went by to visit with Stewart.

The Kerry visit was of major importance for the show because he hadn’t yet made

efforts to meet with other actual news outlets, one of them being Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.”

Stewart was recently a guest of Bill O’Reilly in early September. During this meeting, O’Reilly did his best to try to get Stewart to admit that young people get their news from “The Daily Show.” In admitting it, O’Reilly wanted Stewart to realize that his show can have a major impact on this year’s election. O’Reilly called the situation “really frightening.”

According to the Pew Research Center for the People and Press, about 21 percent of people from the ages of 18-29 get their news from shows such as “Saturday Night Live” and “The Daily Show.”

O’Reilly said that Stewart’s audience was full of “stoned slackers” and that nearly 87 percent of these viewers watch the show while intoxicated.

What?

First thing’s first – it’s a fake news show.

It’s nearly impossible to understand what Stewart and the correspondents are making fun of unless the news is digested on a daily basis.

Many people watch this show to see some of the best jokes on the war on terror, politicians, and society in general. So if someone is getting all of their news from “The Daily Show,” chances are they don’t get half of the jokes and they don’t plan on voting this election year because they don’t know the issues.

For a lot of young people, it’s safe to say that they don’t find the news entertaining.

And really, it shouldn’t be – it’s serious business that at times can be hard to swallow in large doses. Then in comes Comedy Central with Stewart and his camp. They report on things that young viewers care about, they don’t stress for hours at a time discussing how someone’s breast was exposed on national television. They poke fun, they move on. It’s fast, it’s simple, and it’s funny.

But even that argument is faulty. A study by the National Annenberg Election Survey said that the viewers knew more about the election issues than people who regularly read the newspapers or watch television news shows.

So maybe those people will vote because they

know more about the election than their parents.

As for the intoxicated people…where to begin? Again, it’s entertainment and the 87 percent of these people that watch this show intoxicated are probably the people who don’t vote and probably, let’s face it, the people who contribute least to society.

Lastly, the “slackers” issue. A study by Nielsen Media Research found that Stewart’s audience are actually 78 percent more likely to have completed four years of college compared to O’Reilly’s 24 percent.

These very “slackers” are more likely to answer questions about politics correctly than a person who doesn’t, a National Annenberg Election Survey said.

Not so much slackers, but really overachievers without even trying.

It’s a crass and crude show; that’s its nature.

It presents equal-opportunity ridicule that gives people a different and entertaining view of some of the things that affect them directly.

To get all of the news from Stewart is irresponsible to one’s sense of humor because the news on its own is funny, and besides, if 87 percent of this large audience were intoxicated, the show would be easy to disregard. It certainly wouldn’t be winning prestigious awards for its writing.

As for the moment of Zen, the whole issue is summed by what Stewart said at this year’s Emmy Awards, “We don’t do it for the awards, we do it for the money.”

trumpeted, but we never hear of the United Negro College Fund or any Anglo, Oriental, Jewish or Muslim college funds?

We celebrate Mexican Independence Day, but not Texas Independence Day or the holidays for other ethnic groups.

Our former president and many of our commencement speakers go out of their way to congratulate, praise, and encourage Hispanic students, acting as if no one else were present or even worth consideration.

Consider this. What if in the words "Spanish speaking," were replaced in the material above with "English speaking," and the words "Hispanic," or "Mexican" were replaced with "Anglo?"

UTPA has long been accustomed to such racism and the racist patron system. To the very

last gasp, the Nevarez administration was steeped in cronyism, where unquestioned loyalty and obedience were rewarded over accomplishment, and where academic programs were financially robbed to benefit personal pet projects.

With our new university president, it is time for UTPA to face up to its racist tendencies and rid itself of them once and for all. We are a major Hispanic-Serving Institution not a "Hispanic-Only Institution." We are a Texas university and we serve a wide constituency with many different heritages.

UTPA should be an institution of higher learning with fair and equal opportunities for one and all.

Jack R. Stanley, Ph.D. Professor, Communication Department

Letter to the Editor But why is HESTEC the Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology Week?

Will there be an Engineering, Science and Technology Week for the rest of the population on and off campus? No. The message is: IF YOU ARE NOT OF SPANISH-SPEAKING HISPANIC MEXICAN HERITAGE, UTPA DOES NOT VALUE YOU. Over and over the message is pounded home. I see it in the eyes and on the faces of my non-Spanish-speaking, non-Hispanic, and non-Mexican students almost every day.

We proclaim Hispanic Heritage Week, visiting Mexican-American historians, authors, actors, musicians, and exhibits that boast of Notable Valley Hispanics.

The Hispanic Scholarship Fund is widely

SPORTS

Page 15

Lady Broncs swept in Colorado; Sam Houston next

By JOEY GOMEZ The Pan American When UTPA (5-9) returns to Texas Oct.1 to take on Sam Houston State University (74), it will be with the experience of what assistant coach Stephanie Doran recently explained as the “ups and downs” of playing tough teams on the road.

After a much-needed win over Prairie View A&M Sept. 22, the Lady Broncs seemed poised to take its next three matches by storm. The Broncs faced Colorado Sept.

23 riding the momentum of having snapped a two-game losing streak, hitting the .500 mark (5-5), and posting a straight-set victory over Prairie View (30-17, 31-29, 30-18).

However, the Lady Broncs were swept in three consecutive matches in Colorado.

UTPA lost to Air Force (30-22, 30-22, 3018), Northern Colorado (30-19, 30-15, 3129) Sept. 24, and Robert Morris (30-18, 3017, 30-26) Sept. 25.

“We have to a get a little healthier we have a couple of people banged up,” said Coach Dave Thorn. “Hopefully we can use this week to get them healthy.”

Outside hitter Winker Cruz is listed as injured following last weekend’s matches.

She also sat out last season with an injury.

Libero Carol Marcengo is also injured.

The Lady Broncs will visit Sam Houston State in Huntsville Friday at 7 p.m. UTPA has come up short of last year’s record for this time in the season. In 2003, the Lady

now and hopefully we can get them and get back on the right track.”

Despite the losses, Thorn said UTPA is top 10 in the nation in digs per game (19.3). He said it’s important to accentuate what’s working and improve the struggling aspects of the program.

“We just need to keep doing the things we’re doing well which is our defense and improve the things we’re struggling with which is primarily our offense,” Thorn said.

The Lady Broncs are just two weeks away from ending the month-long road schedule where they Delisa Guadarrama/The Pan American have struggled to a 2LONG ROAD TRIP- The University of Texas-Pan American volleyball team will return to the Field House Oct. 12 when they take on 7 record. The volleyTexas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. The Lady Broncs last played a home match on Sept. 4 against the University of Oklahoma. ball team will return to Broncs were 10-8 at the beginning of have to look forward (because) we still have the Field House Oct. 12 against Texas A&MOctober and went on to a record-setting 19- two- thirds of our season in front of us (and) Corpus Christi. They last played at home on we have a lot of games to play,” Thorn said. Sept. 4 in the McAllen Holiday Inn UTPA 15 record.

“There’s no sense in looking back, we “So we’re preparing for Sam Houston right Invitational.

PAGE 16

SPORTS

■ Sports Clipboard . . . . .13 ■ Rodeo. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

UTPA athletics will soon lose the driving force responsible for a six-year program renaissance.

On Tuesday William J. Weidner accepted the athletic director position at Weber State University in Odgen, UT, after being chosen from a national search that included more than 45 candidates.

Athletic department head trainer and veteran Jim Lancaster has been chosen to fill the position vacated by Weidner who will remain athletic director through October until taking his new position at Weber State in early November.

Lancaster, who has served under six athletic directors in 24 years, said he will “hold down the fort,” until a national search yields Weidner’s replacement. The veteran and the rest of the Bronc family now say goodbye to the man who helped them get back on their feet during troubled times.

“This is a positive opportunity,” said Weidner, who was a finalist for the job at Northern Arizona University in the spring.

“It’s a new challenge.”

Weidner actively sought the UTPA athletic inspection by the NCAA. He leaves a group department’s change from probationary status that will be certified for the next 10 years. to what he describes now as a “fully-certified, “We’re not the same program we were six compliance-driven years ago,” Weidner said, who program,” and this spoke at length about his career return to respectability at UTPA on 1240 KSOX-AM will be one of his main Wednesday afternoon. “I wouldlegacies. n’t have traded it (the experiIn 1998, his first ence) for anything.” year at UTPA, Weidner Under Weidner, the cumulative was a part of the unigrade-point average of studentversity’s full certificaathletes has risen from 2.40 to tion into the National 2.92 with 51 percent of UTPA Collegiate Athletic athletes earning a cumulative 3.0 Association (NCAA), or higher. shouldering the task of As a result, UTPA has been restructuring the athrecognized with an inaugural letic department, and USA Today/NCAA Foundation placing a priority on Academic Achievement Award integrity and student for finishing in the top 10 in stuachievement. The predent-athlete graduation rates vious series of years above student body average. had been difficult, as Through his efforts, and those rules violations and of his staff, athletic fundraising other problems dogged WILLIAM J. WEIDNER has increased 500 percent; the aththe program. letic department secured a televiIn August, Weidner witnessed the second sion broadcast contract for all men’s and stage of the certification process after close women’s basketball home games during the

MNF scores at Student Union

By JACOB ALEGRIA The Pan American He’s at the 20, the 15, the 10…and he could go all the waayyy! Yes, that’s right its football season again, and the annual madness has been welcomed with open arms, at the University of Texas Pan American.

For some, watching football has always been a great way to see some of the greatest athletes compete in a game they can no longer participate in, not professionally anyway. However, for others it’s a chance to be a fan and support a favorite team, even if you’re not at the stadium watching the game.

The best way to watch football is going to a live game; however the next best way is to watch it on a big screen TV. Another key necessity is the food and for many this is probably the main necessity. All these facets have now become reality at UTPA, thanks to the Kappa Sigma fraternity, the Student Union and the University Program Board, who are throwing a weekly party for fans of the NFL. Over the summer it was proposed that Monday Night Football games be shown at the Student Union, sponsored by a number if groups.

Though it is a fraternity hosting the event, many have not been discouraged from going. For some it has been a warm welcome.

“Everyone here came up to me and introduced themselves and I got to know them and it’s been a lot of fun being here” said Arnold Trejo, who attended a recent Monday event.

There have been three telecasts so far; the NFL plays a 16game regular season schedule and each Monday night game has been on ABC every year since 1970.

Although everyone isn’t cheering for the same team, people have managed to get along and have a good time. Luis Cantu, a longtime Cowboy fan, said, “I don’t like that guy

(Trejo), because he’s a Tampa Bay fan, but other than that he’s OK.” The project was approved during the summer on a fourweek trial circumstance. After three weeks, Kappa Sigma Vice President Michael McCarthy says “it has done well, but we want the numbers to increase in order to keep it going.”

The new project was put together in hopes of creating an interactive involvement chance for the student body of what is largely a commuter school. The idea is to increase the times that students hang out with other students.

“We want students to come together and socialize with other students that they don’t know” said McCarthy.

Although, for games the attendance has been just a shade over 100 people, the sponsors would still Courtesy of www.teamlorenz.com like to see some improvement there.

The crowd has also included some university faculty members, who are welcome to the event as well.

However, watching football and eating aren’t the only things going on, because at halftime of the game, prizes are given away through raffles. This is something that the fraternity does in order to thank its guests for coming to the Monday night get-together. It is also something they do in hopes of getting to know guests and encouraging them to come back.

Even if your favorite team doesn’t win on Monday night, you still have a chance at being a winner. For all you Dallas Cowboy fans, although the win wasn’t pretty, it was a win…and at least there was free food on hand.

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Long-time AD resigning after six years

By JOEY GOMEZ The Pan American

Athletic Director Weidner departs UTPA

1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons; and made a commitment to improve existing facilities evident in a $6.5 million baseball complex plus in-house training facilities.

Weidner said his achievements and success at UTPA impressed Weber State, a Division 1AA Big Sky Conference program. The word from Utah is more of the same.

“Bill is an outstanding individual with a demonstrated track record of success,” said Norm Tarbox, vice president of administrative services and chair of the search committee, on the WSU website. “He will be a great addition to our Wildcat athletics team.”

Weidner has 25 years of athletic and academic experience in athletic programs at Ashland (Ohio) University (1995-98), Southern Methodist (1988-95), Murray State (1983-82, 86-88), Ohio State University (1985-86), Stanford University (1983-85), Southern Connecticut (1981-82), and University of New Haven (1980-81).

He leaves UTPA after six years of success, and said it was a tough decision, but the right one for his career.

“I’m confident they’ll find an excellent replacement,” Weidner said. “My heart will always be with UTPA.”

PAN AMERICAN

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

HESTEC Photogr aphs on Page 4

The Future Broncs Club is becoming reality.

The project was developed last year, but will officially kick off soon at the University of Texas Pan American.

The club is an opportunity for young UPTA fans to interact with the sports programs offered at the university. It is designed for all Rio Grande Valley children in the 8th grade and older.

The director is April Cupp, a Texas A&M University May graduate, who joined the UTPA Athletics Department as marketing coordinator last month. She replaced former coordinator Craig Pintens, who accepted a position as assistant athletic director for marketing and sales at Marquette University. He was the pioneer developer of the Future Broncs club.

Prior to coming to Pan Am, Cupp served as a staff member in the promotions department with the Coastal Bend Aviators, an independent minor league baseball team in the Central Baseball League, and a rival of the Edinburg Roadrunners. She was also in the marketing and advertising department with Idea!

Worldwide, where she served as the project coordinator for the first annual Velocity Games, an extreme sports event held in Corpus Christi.

Now she is a Bronc, getting the new club on its feet, a process which

always has trial and error.

“We have five members signed up so far, but there has not been anything yet,” Cupp said. “The parents of the children are a bit disturbed that the club has not given out membership cards [among other offers].”

After given this project, five months ago – among other job duties – Cupp is optimistic this club will be successful.

“This will be the first year (the club) will start,” Cupp said. “We are getting ready.”

Despite the rocky start, the Future Broncs club, whose motto is the “Best Club in the Valley,” offers positive and interactive activities.

All members are supposed to receive an official Future Bronc Tshirt, membership card, Future Broncs newsletter and e-mail updates, team posters and info on Future Broncs-only events.

Members will also receive free tickets to all volleyball matches, men and women’s basketball games, eight baseball games and other UTPA athletic events.

Another feature the Future Bronc club offers exclusively to its members is a birthday bash party. Club members can host a birthday party at a UTPA basketball game for $35 a pop.

The club will advance technologically with it’s own Web site in the near future. The site will feature sports tips, events calendar, trivia contests and more. Members will also be able to e-mail their favorite Bronc.

UTPA follows the rhythm of HESTEC

By ANGELA I. CANALES The Pan American Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) week is designed for Hispanic students to consider a future career in one of these fields. With sponsors such as Ford Motor Company, Texas Instruments, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and many others, it is an opportunity for students to focus on what comes after graduation.

University of Texas-Pan American 2003 graduate, Aaron Acuña, is now the electrical systems engineer for CD 338-334378 Ford vehicles. Acuña is here to represent one of the companies that sponsor it.

“It’s gratifying to know that I can now provide opportunities to local students,” Acuña said. “From the feedback I have gotten from other Ford recruiters, they have said that the quality of students here in South Texas is excellent, the only downfall I see is hesitation from local students to re-locate.”

Acuña explained that this conference is a great way to inform younger students of fields that they may not be exposed to.

Michael John McArthy Jr, criminal justice major, attended one of the HEST events and walked away with a positive experience.

“I feel that Pan Am and the proper organizations have done their best to get the word out as far as HESTEC is concerned,” McArthy said. “There have been posters, fliers, advertising in the newspaper, different radio plugs from a bunch of the different radio stations across the Valley have all been advertising about this even for the past two or three weeks.”

Bronc kids program to kick off

By LORI CHAVEZ The Pan American

September 30, 2004

________________ Members of the UTPA mariachi perform in the Field House to celebrate HESTEC week. ______________________ Melissa Martinez/The Pan American

Bilingual Education: the Texas phenomenon

By EDWINA P. GARZA The Pan American Editor’s Note: This is the first installment of a two part series about bilingual education in the Rio Grande Valley.

Before the Civil Rights movement took root, tales of abuse against nonEnglish speakers were common across the United States. In some cases, students had to pay money for each non-English word they spoke, and in others they were punished by being forced to stand in a designated area for a certain amount of time or having to repeatedly write a promise to speak only English while at school.

But as times changed so did the schools’ attitudes toward these students. To help them get an education with their English-speaking peers, the federal and state governments passed laws to allow

non-English speaking students a chance at an education by learning with their native language whether it be German, French, or Spanish. The program called bilingual education has become one of the most debated topics in education over the past few decades. Opponents favor “immersion,” or forcing non-English speakers to dive in to using English, without much aid from their native language. Supporters of bilingual programs say that students learn better while learning from their native language.

Both sides want the group in question to get an education, they just differ on which method is better.

BACKGROUND Historians point out that bilingual education began in the 1800s when Ohio became the first state to adopt an act in order to teach German and English. Much

of the debate today deals with students speaking Spanish. The Valley is the most populous Spanish-speaking area in Texas and has been in the middle of the debate for years.

Recently, The University of Texas-Pan American invited Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., activist and associate professor of history at The University of Houston, to deliver a speech titled “The Rise and Fall of Federal Bilingual Education,” as part of the Rondel Davidson Lecture Series for 2004.

He explained to the audience why bilingual education has become such a controversial issue.

“Bilingual education is controversial in today’s world because it raises significant questions about this country’s national identity, the nature of federalism, about power of ethnicity,” San Miguel said. “It raises questions about how one defines an

American in general, and finally it raises questions about instructional methodology and its relationship with immigrants and native children.”

According to San Miguel here are nearly 24 million Mexican-American students in the nation’s schools today, and almost 14 million other Spanish-speaking students.

“The Mexican-Americans continue to be the largest group of Latinos in the United States,” he said.

In the 1950s, the Texas Department of Education, which was later renamed Texas Education Agency, and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) organized the “Little School for the 400” program for preschool Mexican-American students, to teach them English vocabulary that was necessary for school. From that, in

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