March 2, 2006

Bronc baseball hosts SHSU in three-game series

see Page 15

THE

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

March 2, 2006

Can’t walk the walk

Policy enforcement prevents some from graduating early

By ANA LEY The Pan American Applications.

Deadlines.

Reservations. Invitations. All in all, graduation time is hectic for most seniors. But it could get crazier.

Once the University of Texas-Pan American’s Registrar’s Office passes a policy that will keep students who have not finished all coursework from walking during May 2006 commencement exercises, the policy will become one more stress factor to add to the load.

After submitting her degree application to the Records and Registration Office Sept. 15, the deadline required to meet grad application deadlines, Marisa Cortez rested, assured she’d have a spot in the May 2006 commencement ceremony.

When she received a letter two weeks ago from the registrar’s office telling her she would not have the option of walking in May, she figured it was a mistake on the university’s part, and everything would still go according to plan.

“I used to have a minor in Spanish, and [Records and Registration] told me I couldn’t graduate because I didn’t have enough credits for it,” said Cortez, a senior communication studies major.

“Then they sent me to the registrar’s office, and they told me I still wouldn’t be able to walk because of some weird new policy. I already had everything planned out and turned everything in on

Spring Break schedules: March 6-10 Texas Lutheran Mission Consolidated ISD March 13-17 UT-Austin Texas A&M Texas Tech Texas A&M-Kingsville University of North Texas Rice University Sam Houston State University University of Houston Texas A&M-Corpus University of Texas-Brownsville McAllen ISD Edinburg ISD

time…I was so mad.”

Cortez, who will complete her degree requirements this June, is one many UTPA seniors who have chosen to walk during the commencement exercise prior to the her actual scheduled graduation. The university offers ceremonies in May and December.

Last week, Cortez, who is three hours short of finishing coursework, revisited the registrar’s office and explained the fact that she could not take the class this semester because it was only offered in the summer. Still, the office maintained its response to the matter. She will not walk.

“I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do in this case,” she said.

“How could they have expected me to know this last semester? They didn’t even know about it.”

While students like Cortez were confused as to why professors weren’t notified of the change earlier, William Morris, university registrar, says this was because word got out before a decision was reached. “[The change] was still just an idea when people found out about it.

But now it has been thought through, and it is very obvious now that this is what’s best for the graduating class,” he said.

He believes this should not come as much of a shock to students, because the rule has always existed. The difference is that now, unlike in the past, it will be strictly enforced.

So what is the reason behind the

school’s refusal to allow her and others to walk? Space.

Morris said that while UTPA used to allow students to walk without actually finishing course work first, space is becoming an issue. Starting this year, students must have completed all requirements, or be enrolled for all the coursework they need to graduate by the spring semester.

Still, Morris says the university will host a new August ceremony for students who will not be eligible to graduate in May. Between now and March 24, they will be given the chance to transfer their graduation date for free.

Normally, the registrar’s office charges a $10 fee.

“We just can’t accommodate students who haven’t met the requirements.

It just wouldn’t be fair to those who will graduate,” he explained. “If you’re taking a 3-credit history course in the summer to graduate, for example, you can’t register to walk in May.” Dora Saavedra, a professor of communication, said that her department has not been notified.

“We’ve always

allowed our students to walk if we feel they’re able to complete their coursework shortly after they do.

This is all sort of a surprise for faculty,” she said.

Ana Maria Rodriguez, vice president for undergraduate studies, said that while the school has tried to use ticket limits to control the number of individuals in the Field House during

See GRADUATION page 11

LyLony Cazares/The Pan American

Fund cuts threaten GEAR UP, others

By JAVIER CAVAZOS The Pan American Federally funded college prep programs are at risk of losing steam if President George W. Bush’s proposed budget for the fiscal year 2006-2007 is passed. The current financial plan issued by the White House doesn’t include funds for programs such as Upward Bound, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) and Educational Talent Search (ETS).

The University of Texas-Pan American participates in four college prep programs with area school districts and the proposed budget cuts could have negative effects on the recruitment of future students.

This year is not the first in which funding for these programs may be axed.

Last year the same programs were left off the federal budget as well. Along with the ongoing war in Iraq, the federal budget had to factor in the unforeseen expenses of rebuilding in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The university was able to circumvent the problem by starting a strong grass-roots campaign to communicate with area legislators to get funds reinstated before programs were affected.

Felipe Salinas, director of college access and support programs for UTPA,

See COLLEGE PREP page 11

Spring Break scheduling spurs complaints

By SANDRA GONZALEZ The Pan American This coming week, there is no doubt many students will be engaging in traditional Spring Break activities.

However, they will most likely be carrying out those actions without the company of their friends from Texas’ largest universities.

This year, the University of TexasPan American Spring Break does not

correspond with that of schools such as University of Texas-Austin, Texas A&M, or Texas Tech.

UTPA’s vacations and starting days are all set by the Academic Calendar Committee. The committee, made up of faculty, staff, administrators and students, decides them two years in advance. However, what may surprise some is that Spring Break scheduling often doesn’t cross the planners’ minds during the process.

POLICY ISSUES “To be very honest with you the main thrust of the calendar committee revolves around academics,” said Juan Gonzalez, assistant vice president for business affairs. “There is thought given to [Spring Break], but the priority is given to the academic side.”

Gonzalez, a member of the Academic Calendar Committee, added that the “academic side” means meeting the requirements set by the Texas Higher

Education Coordinating Board. Those include specifications about the number of class days, semester beginning dates, length of sessions, and end of sessions.

The university also has its own policy when setting Spring Break.

According to Bill Morris, registrar and recent re-appointee to the committee, UTPA policy states that Spring Break is supposed to occur eight weeks after the beginning of the spring semester.

See SCHEDULING page 11

PAGE 2

March 2 2006

OPINIONS UNPROTECTED TEXT

The Something-or-other Olympiad – A retrospective PAN AMERICAN Internet vs. Tivo: The real competition of the Olympics THE

1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539 (956) 381-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122 http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican 55th Year – No. 21

Editor Claudette Gonzalez claudetteelena @gmail.com News Editor Sandra Gonzalez sandra_panamerican @yahoo.com A & E Editor Meredith LaGrone meredith_lagrone @hotmail.com Sports Editors Daryl Gonzales daryl_gonzales2002@yahoo.com Graphics Editor LyLony Cazares lylony@gmail.com Photography Editor Joel de la Rosa delarosa.joel@gmail.com Designers Brian Carr carr.ba@gmail.com Erika Lopez lopez475@yahoo.com Laura C. Gomez lm.gomez@yahoo.com Advertising Mgr. Rafael Villarreal spubs@panam.edu Reporters Adriana Garza Ana Ley Angela Salazar Claralexis Rios David Rodriguez Frank Calvillo Jorge Hinojosa Luke Koong Maria Mazariegos

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.

Trey Serna Photographer Joey Cortez Translator Mercedes Cantu Adviser Dr. Greg Selber

Secretary Anita Casares

Delivery Thursday at Noon

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. Articles are written and published at the discretion of The Pan American newspaper. Should readers wish to submit story ideas to the editor, please allow two weeks for processing.

By DAVID RODRIGUEZ The Pan American After checking my phone a few nights ago, it dawned on me. I didn’t have any calls.

Text messages? Nope. I called the phone company because I was sure my service must have been cut off but as it turns out, I just didn’t have any calls.

But, oddly enough, it turns out I have quite a phone bill nevertheless.

So I succumbed to the realization that I had no plans for the evening. I turned to my phone again and scrolled through my numbers looking for a partner in crime. It never ceases to amaze me how I can amass so many phone numbers of people that, when it truly comes down to it, I can’t call.

Anyway, I decided I’d stay home. I figured it wasn’t a total loss, maybe I could finally watch some of this Olympics thing I had been hearing so much about. But when I checked around I found that it was over.

Completely over. I had even missed the ridiculous closing ceremony that no doubt included host country flavor, an ungodly amount of fireworks, at least nine elephants and juggling contortionist soprano gymnasts in costumes that would emasculate even Prince and Elton John.

I couldn’t believe it. How could I

have missed the Olympics? I mean, I think I made my point with that whole phone bit about my dance card being far from full. Yet still I hadn’t really seen one moment of international competition.

It seems there is some comfort for me though. Apparently, much of the country missed it right along with me.

This time around, the Olympics had dreadful ratings. It was thoroughly whipped by “American Idol” both weeks on successive days. I hate to admit it, but my mother and I contributed to that. Yeah, that’s right. I watch “American Idol” with my mother. And yet I’m naïve enough to wonder why my phone doesn’t ring…

But my own dreadful social life aside, I think there are a few reasons why the Olympics failed to truly capture the hearts, minds, and remotes of American’s this time around.

First off, I think Olympic athletes, in the month-long run-up before the actual games, suffer from over-exposure. The viewing public is subjected to so many vomit-inducing human interest stories about the athletes. I get the aim.

Run a heart-warming story about Joe Shmoe and how he overcame dyslexia and chronic dry-mouth syndrome to make it to the games and the audience is supposed to make an emotional connection with him and thus make it a point to watch his event. However, I think it has the complete opposite effect. Some of these stories are so formulaic they scream contrivance. So much so, that

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Re: “Group lobbies for immigration reform,” February 23, 2006 The matter of immigration remains a subject of contention among many Americans; however, I find Samuel Rodriguez’s, president of the NHCLC, support for illegal immigration to lack any foresight beyond that of temporal profits.

Certainly, illegal immigrants procure work that Americans may consider exploitative and menial, but this very submission abets the economic discord among working class Americans. According to George Borjas of Harvard University, “a 10 percent increase in immigration populations reduces immigrant wages by 10 percent.” In addition, should one take into the account the 1.5 billion dollars we

spend incarcerating illegal immigrants each year, and the burden on our education and healthcare systems, the profits do not outweigh the losses. Even if we presuppose that illegal immigrants pay taxes, the income they generate will not counterbalance the expenditures of educating their children, which is approximately $6,000 a year. Not to mention Rodriguez’s supporters are the very people burdened most by these circumstances, assuming that they are primarily Latino Americans.

I do not demand a change in political position, just a mindful argument in support of that position.

Lucinda Gonzalez Junior, Psychology/English Major

you end up not caring if Joe simultaneously suffers a dry-mouth attack and blows out his knee during his ice-dancing routine. Frankly, I think it’s downright miraculous that any of our athletes make it to the medal stand with all the baggage they seem to be carrying.

Another problem is the Internet. I know it’s en vogue to blame the Net for everything, but I think it’s relevant here.

If you’re dying to know who won the 100-meter snowball toss, you can find out on the Internet 10 hours before the competition is aired. The real competition this year seemed to be The Internet vs. Tivo. I sat on a couch and watched a friend of mine nearly deck her mother when she thought she was going to be told the result of the U.S.-Finland hockey game that she had Tivo’ed. I felt like telling her it didn’t matter, nobody on the ice had all their teeth.

Also, more importantly, at least for me, than who you root for in the Olympics is who you root against. In this day and age, who is there to root against? The French? That’s way too easy. In the old days, you could always count on the Russians. You could sit and stew and watch their single-minded, steroid-fed and communist-funded Olympic machine try to run roughshod over everyone. And you could hate them. Every time an American beat a Russian it was like democracy and capitalism has been validated. You could yell at the television, “Suck on that Marx, another gold for the U.S.A!” But now, we don’t even have that option.

Walkway Perils

There are no more Ivan Dragos types to slay. Maybe it would be different if Al Qaeda fielded a team. You couldn’t drag me away from the television if those guys got off the monkey bars and strapped on a snowboard in lieu of a bomb.

In much the same way I believe modern medicine and training have sucked out much of the inherent joy of the Olympics. The regimen of all these athletes is pretty much the same. In fact, many of the teams go to different countries than their own to train. So even when we win, there’s no more of that good ole-fashioned ethnocentric pride in superior genes. The Germans know it. You can tell. They’re not even all blonde and blue-eyed anymore. What’s more, the ones that are don’t have that, “we will crush you” look.

All in all, the real fun of the Olympics is gone. All you have now is a bunch of pre-packaged stories, selfish whiny hot-dogging athletes who crumble when their moment actually comes.

I hear pretty much everyone fell down in the figure skating competition. If I wanted substandard athletic performances, I’d just watch a Killer Bees game where the only semblance of offense is dumping the puck in front of the net and hoping someone accidentally kicks it in.

For me the Olympics was a blur of channels I skipped by on my way to “American Idol,” with my mother.

Please do not tell any of the Killer Bees that they can reach me at davideric@gmail.com

(based on a true story)

P!!!!

E P BE E E B

by Laura C. Gomez

WHOOSH

Learn to drive, you maniac!!

NEWS

Q

New Orleans trip . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Q

ASL story time . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Q

Spotlight music fest. . . . . . . . . . 6

Empty Bowls fundraiser benefits Food Bank

By ADRIANA GARZA The Pan American Ernest Toribio, a sophomore art major enjoys using his talents to create functional art. Today, he will put his skills to the test when he provides 20 hand-crafted bowls to the Empty Bowls fundraiser for the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley.

As soon as Toribio heard of the idea, he rushed to get the bowls made. He was drawn to it because this community event had never been done in the Valley.

“It’s awesome what they’re doing,” Toribio said. “It’s a good way to use money wisely. More people should do stuff like that to help the community out, especially those in need.”

Today, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., the Food Bank will host the Empty Bowls

fundraiser at Knapp Medical Center to raise money for their capital campaign, and for building renovation. The University of Texas-Pan American art students, faculty and the Food Bank have been working as a team ever since the idea came about. South Texas College, the University of TexasBrownsville, and Texas State Technical College in Harlingen are also lending a helping hand.

The RGV Food Bank, a non-profit organization, has been in existence since 1983. It started out as a pantry out of a church in Pharr. Since then, it has become the fourth largest food bank in the state of Texas and 23rd in the nation, serving poor, disadvantaged people from Roma to Brownsville.

“It’s grown considerably since then

because there’s a need for food help in the Valley because of the socioeconomics that’s going on,” said Alicia Warner, Food Bank multimedia specialist and a UTPA graduate. “This is the second poorest region in the state. So, the need is there and the food bank is there to fill the need.”

The Empty Bowls fundraiser started in 1990. Fred Spaulding, UTPA art professor, participated in a similar fundraiser in Fort Worth and pitched the idea to Warner.

The fundraiser consists of a dinner which costs $25 per person. Combine that with the selling price of the bowls during an auction, which range from $100-300, and the Food Bank is hoping for a big turnout. The art community has also provided paintings, prints, photography, and much more to be auctioned off.

See FOOD BANK page 12

Health seminar draws crowd

By CAROLINA SANCHEZ The Pan American At any university, a full seminar room can mean one of two things: free food or interesting information.

On Feb. 23 and 24, the Border Health Seminar, sponsored by the University of Texas-Brownsville, was a success. Doctors, pre-med students and community members were there to hear the interesting topics that the speakers broached to inform the community about border health.

“The rooms were full at every instance so the attendance was good,” David Pearson, a professor of sociology at UTB and Academic Senate president, said.

The Border Health Seminar was coordinated by the Department of Biological Sciences and the University of Texas-School of Public Health’s regional campus in Brownsville.

During the seminar, four discussions were held.

David Pearson’s father, Dr. Howard Pearson, was one of the speakers.

Howard Pearson, a professor emeritus of pediatrics at Yale University, was one of the speakers. He has won several awards, including the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award, an award for Outstanding Contributions to Research in Sickle Cell Anemia, Yale’s Francis Gilman Blake Award and more.

His wide experience in the med-

ical field and his personal adventures with success in life made his participation in this seminar vital.

On Thursday at noon, Howard Pearson spoke about “Iron’s Effects on Learning and Behavior: Iphyclus, Morbus Virgineo, and the Strawberry Mansion Junior High School.”

The same day at dinner, Howard Pearson spoke about the idea to bring Hole-in-the-Wall-Gang, a free camp for children with cancer and serious blood diseases, down to the Valley.

Howard Pearson said the camp, or a similar organization, would be very helpful. Along with several colleagues, he is trying to find out what kind of necessities

See HEALTH page 12

Joel de la Rosa/ The Pan American CRAFTS - Fred Spaulding, a ceramics professor, prepares bowls for the Empty Bowls fundraiser. Money raised from the event will go toward helping the Food Bank renovate a building, as well as fund other programs.

Conference helps local business owners

By MARIA ALEJANDRA MAZARIEGOS The Pan American The Rio Grande Valley is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation.

Businesses can be seen popping up just about everywhere.

On March 8, individuals interested in joining that boom and starting a new business can attend the Development Entrepreneurial Leadership Conference, hosted by the University of Texas-Pan American’s Small Business Development Center.

The objective of the day-long event is to create a networking environment for

business owners and possible business owners. The conference will be held at Cimarron in Mission from 8:30 a.m.2:30 p.m.

“We want to highlight the business opportunities that are out there,” said Haitham Alhaddad, assistant director for the Center.

The conference will feature several speakers, among them State Rep. Veronica Gonzales, physician Dr. Linda Villareal, Sylvia Hatton, executive director for Edinburg Region One, and local business owner Tony Aguirre. All are business-people who once began

See BUSINESS page 12

Faculty, staff receive advice for retirement planning

By HECTOR CANO The Pan American There are few investments that are important in our lives, but one that Americans should be concerned about is retirement planning. Understanding rights and responsibilities associated with post-work plans is essential.

“It is important to attend retirement and investment planning seminars since it is never too late to become familiar with what options one might have to prepare for the future,” said Maria G.

Sanchez, human resources representative from The University of Texas-Pan American.

To help staff and faculty start planning early, Kelly Kidd Card with ING held one-on-one retirement planning sessions on Wednesday. Sessions are also available today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Math and General Chemistry Building, Room 3.114.

People have different ideas about retirement. Some may want to stay home, while others dream of traveling

See RETIREMENT page 12

10 ways to prepare for retirement 1. Review your finances

6. Review your benefit statement

2. Review your retirement needs or goals

7. Open an IRA

3. Develop a healthy lifestyle

8. Review your Social Security Statement

4. Talk to your HR representative

9. Discuss retirement goals with your loved ones

5. Discuss your spouse’s retirement plan

10. Think about how you will spend your time Jenny & Patrick McKinney, ING

NEWS

Page 4

March 2, 2006

CCC does spring cleaning

By LUKE KOONG The Pan American Seven months ago, the Spring Break experience in New Orleans was one of fun, sun, beaches and bikinis. But that’s not the case anymore.

Instead of having the experiences many will be enjoying during Spring Break 2006, members of The University of Texas-Pan American's Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) will be donning work gloves for a week to help rebuild the lives of individuals affected

by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

April Abesamis, a 2005 graduate of UTPA, said the March 4 trip is very necessary.

“I think people right now really need our help. I don’t see it like it’s taking up my time,” she said. “If we don’t initiate a service like this, who will help them?”

Abesamis, one of the co-leaders of UTPA's CCC, and other members of the organization decided at one of their recent meetings to spend time differently during this year's break.

“Residents can do the clean-up themselves, but it takes thousands of dollars. We can help them for free,” Abesamis said.

Currently, Campus Crusade has set a

goal of cleaning up 5,000 houses by June. With a house clean-up averaging around two days, the organization is trying to spread the word.

For CCC, this trip is more than just doing good deeds. Abesamis said it is also about practicing principles and values they hold in high regard.

“The thing that I always emphasize in our meetings is building relationships with God and other people. This opportunity, this trip, is the perfect way to practice those two values,” she said.

Tanya Martinez, a sophomore education major, has been looking forward to the trip since plans were announced. She said she wants to go to New Orleans to fulfill a personal sense of responsibility. In the end, she hopes she can help encourage hurricane victims and their families by getting to know them.

“I've never really experienced being in a place that has been damaged like that,” she said. “When I do go, I'm going to find out how it feels to be in a place that's been destroyed.”

Martinez also believes she will be able to relate with victims better the more she interacts with them.

“They can tell me how it feels, and

I can experience it by being there, by listening to their stories and what they did to help themselves little by little,” she added.

One way they will be relating to victims is through accommodations.

Instead of hotel rooms, the students attending the clean-up will be camping out in sleeping bags and tents at Camp Hope in St. Bernard Parish.

Had Hurricane Katrina not hit the Gulf Coast region, members of Campus Crusade would have gone to another traditional Spring Break destination.

UTPA's chapter of CCC attended Big Break last year, but voted to help in relief efforts this time. Erin O'Brien, CCC campus director for South Texas, hopes all the students will gain valuable experiences from the trip.

“One of the qualities of a Christian is to gain a heart and perspective about what it means to serve,” O'Brien said.

“I hope that it will be fun. I hope that they will become a better servant, and maybe more compassionate of people.” he said.

At the end of the trip, Martinez and the rest of Crusade group hope to remind victims there will always be a helping hand around to get them through it all.

Joel de la Rosa/The Pan American CROSS - Denise Mireles, freshman bilingual teaching major, receives the cross during the Ash Wednesday service at the University Chapel. The ceremony makes the beginning of Lent, which lasts 40 days and ends with Easter.

Professor, students use ASL to enrich community

By SANDRA GONZALEZ The Pan American To the side of the small stage in the back of Barnes and Noble in McAllen, Keith Sibley, a lecturer of communication disorders at the University of Texas-Pan American, stood looking on as his student began to read the book in sign language to a moderate-size group of onlookers.

Every last Saturday of the month, Sibley holds American Sign Language story time at the bookstore. On this particular Saturday, three of his students took the stage and had a go at signing for the group of parents, students and children.

Christina Garcia, a senior communication disorders major, signs smoothly, but admits she made up a few signs in the process. She says, however, she has no shame. She knows that Sibley, who has been deaf since he was very young, has been there before too.

“He was 17 when he learned, so he understands how it is for us to learn a whole new language,” Garcia said.

The audience

was full of students from Sibley’s class who, like Garcia, were relatively new to the language. Max Garza, a junior communication disorders major, says he attended story time because it was the “most fun” option for extra credit.

Although, after hearing Garza sing the praises of the class, it’s clear extra credit was only icing on the cake for this second year ASL student.

“He’s awesome. I love his class,” Garza said. “He’s by far the best teacher I’ve had.”

In fact, Garza enjoys the class so much, he says he wishes he were in the position to do it for a living.

“I think if I would have known more about this before I committed to SLP (Speech Language Pathologist), I probably would have wanted to be an ASL sign language teacher,” he said.

This would come much to the pleasure of his mother, Gloria G. Garza from Mercedes. The veteran teacher of 27 years says she attends ASL story time with her son as often as she can, even

putting off other plans to come.

“I keep coming with my son because I look forward to the day when he’s up there signing,” she said.

Gloria Garza, who got her master’s in special education, says the service Sibley provides is not only a great learning experience for the college students, but also makes young learners out of children in the audience.

“Their brains are still making connections,” she said.

Max Garza added that Sibley shows his appreciation to those students who attend the event.

“He thanks us for coming,” he said.

“I can tell it’s real big for him to have a big turn-out.”

Sibley, who has been teaching at UTPA for nine years, says he hold story time purely for the children. “[I hold story time] so the little ones can start learning and reading sign language at an early age,” he said. “They love books and watching us sign.”

SPOTLIGHT Born in Shreveport, La., Sibley had somewhat odd beginnings for such a passionate teacher. About 20 years ago, he was not teaching young minds, but crunching numbers as an accountant for the Department of Defense in Washington, D.C. After living in Dallas for a period of time, Sibley moved to the Valley and began teaching. Sibley credits his move from accounting to teaching to one main thing.

SIGNS - Keith Sibley signs stories at Barnes and Noble every last Saturday of the month.

Rebeca Cavazos/ The Pan American

“I needed a job,” he said with a laugh.

Students taking his class, however, would say they think it’s his love.

“He really cares. Since I’ve had him for my first semester, you can tell he legitimately cares about what he teaches,” said Max Garza.

March 2, 2006

NEWS

Page 5

ON STAGE Chauffer performs at Simon Sez in McAllen.

They are one of 10 bands who will be performiing at Spotlight Music Festival on Friday at City Music in San Juan.

Spotlight Music Festival highlights local talent

Joel de la Rosa/ The Pan American

By CLAUDETTE GONZALEZ The Pan American SAN JUAN - Valley music aficionados looking for opportunities to discover new talent will have the chance to check out 10 local bands here at Friday’s Spotlight Music Festival at City Music.

Organized by Daniela Tiscareno, 20, a sophomore political science major, the festival will feature the sounds of Driver 23, Abyss, Dead Letter Red, Beyond the Scars, Stillborne, Somwhat Legal, Tu Mama, Slow Grind, Justin and Kyle and Chauffer.

According to the McAllen resident, digging up local talent was half the fun.

Tiscareno was inspired by the atmosphere and sounds she found at local music venues, which is where Tiscareno first heard local band Chauffer.

According to Sergio Canales, 20, the band’s lead guitarist, the topic of the show came up in conversation months ago.

“We were playing at Art Awakenings one day months ago, and [Tiscareno] just showed up,” the sophomore political science major said. “She liked the atmosphere so much that she wanted to make her own show. She wanted it to be big, something

Joel de la Rosa/ The Pan American PERFORMER - Silver Trevino and his bandmates from Chauffer will be performers at Friday’s Spotlight Music Festival in San Juan.

really cool for everyone to come and check out.”

According to Tiscareno, while the music will fall under the big umbrella of the rock genre, it will by no means all sound the same.

“There’s going to be all types of rock,” Tiscareno said. “We have Tu Mama, which is Spanish rock. We have some metal. We have some indie, some punk. It’s just going to be a great rock scene.”

There will even be variety in band song lists, with each drawing influences from other genres outside of rock. Chauffer drummer Ray Ayala, 17, the youngest of the group, has musical influences that are a prime example of this diversity.

“I’m into everything – jazz, rock, Latin,” the Nikki Rowe High School junior said.

In keeping with the wide range of musical styles, Tiscareno also hopes to see a diverse demographic group show up at Friday’s festival.

“It’s really for everybody to come out and enjoy our culture and our music,” the Zacatecas, Mexico native said.

Depending on the success of Spotlight Music Festival 2006, Tiscareno hopes to do similar shows in the future, possibly varying the type of music offered.

“If it works out, I’d like to do another show, maybe do some jazzy thing,” Tiscareno said. “You know, get some different genres out there.”

Because of this, the festival’s success will depend a lot on word of mouth, with information and fliers being disseminated by those involved, and by helpful friends.

“We just need to let people know that there is something going on in the Valley, and that there are arts and culture,” Tiscareno said. “People need to open up their eyes to it.”

In her opinion, one of the coolest parts of the show is that all of the songs will be original compositions.

“Everything is going to be original,” Tiscareno said. “That’s the main purpose, you know – getting out of the mass media, doing something that’s not commercialized.”

Chauffer has been putting on all-original shows since 2003, when all the band members

were still in high school.

According to Tiscareno and Canales, the Valley’s music scene is more happening then might be obvious at first glance, and that McAllen is at the heart of it all.

“McAllen has the most frequent shows. Every night there’s something going on,” Canales said.

But Tiscareno stresses that while she is the one organizing everything, the spotlight is on the

musicians, not on her.

“It’s their show, not my show,” she said. “I just let them do whatever they have to do.”

For more information on the Spotlight Music Festival, contact Daniela Tiscareno at (956) 7896337. Tickets are available for $5 at the door or at Flipside Clothing, Metamorphis, Muir Guitars, Art Awakenings, Hermes Music, and Ralphy’s Skate Shop. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Page 6

EN ESPAÑOL

March 2, 2006

Pólica nueva causa complicaciones en graduacion Por ANA LEY

Traducido Por MERCEDES CANTU The Pan American Aplicaciones, fechas limites, reservaciones, invitaciones y mas. Es tiempo de graduaciones; un tiempo frenético para la mayoría de los estudiantes.

Pero esta vez podría ser más complicado.

La Oficina de Registros de la Universidad Panamericana pasara una póliza que retendrá a todos los estudiantes que aun no han terminado las horas requeridas para que no caminen durante Mayo del 2006, la póliza será factor de estrés para los estudiantes.

Después de haber sometido su aplicación de graduación a la Oficina de Record y Registros en Sep. 15; fecha limite para aplicaciones, Marisa Cortez se sentía tranquila y segura de tener un lugar en la ceremonia de graduación.

Después de haber recibido una carta hace dos semanas departe de la Oficina de Registros diciendo de que no tenia opción de caminar en la ceremonia de Mayo, Cortez pensó de que era un error por parte de Panam y que todo seguiría de acuerdo al plan.

“Yo tenia antes un segundo titulo para Español, y ellos (Oficina de Record y Registro) me dijeron que no podía graduarme ya que no tenia los suficientes créditos,” dijo Cortez, estudiante de comunicaciones. “Después me mandaron a la oficina de registros y ahí me dijeron que aun así no podría caminar en el evento gracias a una nueva y rara póliza. Yo ya tenia todo planeado y todo se volteo en mi contra… estaba muy enojada.”

Cortez, quien completara sus créditos requeridos este siguiente mes de Junio, es una de los muchos estudiantes de Panam que quiso caminar en el evento antes de terminar sus horas su programa original de graduación. La Universidad ofrece ceremonias en Mayo y Diciembre.

La semana pasada, Cortez, a quien le restan tres horas para llegar a graduarse, visito la Oficina de Registros para explicar el hecho de que no pudo tomar la clase que le faltaba ya que solamente la ofrecen durante el verano.

Aun así, la oficina se mantuvo con la misma respuesta.

No se graduara en Mayo.

“No entiendo que es lo que debo de hacer en este caso,” dijo. “¿Como esperan ellos que yo supiera de esto el semestre pasado, si ni siquiera ellos lo sabían?” ¿Cuál es la respuesta de que la universidad rechazara a Cortez y a otros estudiantes a graduarse?

El espacio.

William Morris, de registros, dice que antes la universidad dejaba que los estudiantes se graduaran antes de completar las horas requeridas, pero esto provoco un problema de falta de espacio.

Empezando este año, los estudiantes deberán tener todos los requisitos completos, o estar registrados para los créditos necesarios que les hace falta para el semestre de primavera.

Aun, Morris dice que la universidad hará una nueva recepción de ceremonias en Agosto, para aquellos estudiantes que no alcancen a graduarse para Mayo. Entre ahora y Marzo 24, se les dará la oportunidad de transferir su día de graduación gratis. Normalmente, la oficina de Registros cobra $10 de cuota.

“No podemos acomodar a estudiantes que no han terminado por completo sus horas y requisitos. No seria justo para aquellos que si las han completado y están -William Morris por graduarse,” explico.

“Si por ejemplo van a tomar una clase de tres créditos en verano, no podrán graduarse en Mayo.”

Dora Saavedra, profesora de comunicaciones, dice que su departamento no ha sido notificado.

“Nosotros siempre hemos dejado que nuestros estudiantes se gradúen si sentimos que son capaces de completar las horas que les hacen falta después de haber pasado el evento. Esto es como una sorpresa para la facultad,” dijo Saavedra.

Ana Maria Rodríguez, vicepresidente de estudios de bachiller, dice que mientras la escuela trata de usar ticket de límites para controlar el número de individuos en el “Field House” durante la ceremonia de graduación, aun así asisten personas de más.

“Se ha convertido en un evento tan grande que

Q “No podemos acomodar a estudiantes que no han terminado por completo sus horas y requisitos. No seria justo para aquellos que si las han completado y están por graduarse,”

no ayuda,” dijo Rodríguez. “Comoquiera, nosotros (Panam) tenemos que encontrar la manera de acomodar a los estudiantes, así que tendremos la ceremonia de Agosto solo para ellos.”

Mientras que Rodríguez aun no esta seguro de quienes tendrán que ser movidos y quienes se quedaran en la ceremonia de Mayo, Morris ha asegurado que esta decisión se tomara pronto.

“Estamos trabajando para notificar a los decanos y asesores durante la próxima semana,” dijo. “Hemos sido poco estrictos en los años pasados pero ahora es un hecho de que los estudiantes que no terminen por completo los créditos requeridos no se graduaran antes.”

Pero Cortez argumenta que esto no es justo para aquellos que ya tienen todo preparado para la ceremonia de Mayo.

“Si nos hubieran notificado esto el semestre pasado, o cuando pagamos en Sep. 15, Yo no tendría ningún problema,” explico. “Pero parece que seremos notificados durante Marzo… dos meses antes de la graduación. Obviamente hay mucha falta de comunicación aquí, no veo por que yo y muchos otros tengamos que sufrir por esto.”

“El espacio es problema, esto no es una razón suficiente para no graduarme, esta es mi graduación,” exclamo.

Los estudiantes que se graduaran pronto necesitan llenar una aplicación para su carrera en la oficina de Record y Registros. La librería de la universidad proporciona seis ticket para los familiares y amigos que quieran asistir. Los estudiantes pueden recogerlos en la librería.

7-Day banking.

Now at 14 area branches...you do the math.

To the student on the go that means convenience. And that’s important when you’ve got things to do, places to be, and exams to cram for. That’s why we offer full service banking every day of the week. And for a little extra convenience we’re happy to throw in:

FREE Checking with Overdraft Courtesy®* • FREE Bank Online • FREE** Online Bill Pay • 23 Area Branches with 14 Seven Day Locations • Student Loans (800-562-6408) •

Wal-Mart Branch 1724 W. University Dr., Ste. B Mon - Sat : 9am – 8pm Sun : 12pm – 5pm

956-688-3680 www.ibc.com

* Effective 30 days after account is opened and qualified.

Insufficient funds charges apply. ** Up to 15 items per month, $0.50 each thereafter.

Lender code: 820718

MEMBER FDIC/INTERNATIONAL BANCSHARES CORPORATION

A&E

Spring Break at Louie’s. . .8 & 9 ‘Cyborg’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Ballroom dancing . . . . . . . . .10

‘Time Well Wasted’ at Hidalgo’s Borderfest

By FRANK CALVILLO The Pan American Multi-platinum Arista records singing sensation Brad Paisley makes his South Texas debut next week at the Dodge Arena.

The immensely popular country crooner, whose past hits include “We Danced,” and “Hard to be a Husband, Hard to be a Wife,” is currently on the North American leg of his hit “Time Well Wasted” tour.

Aside from the March 3 show, a handful of lucky attendees will be treated to a “meet and greet” session with the awardwinning singer where they will be able to sit down for an intimate chat.

The tour, which is in support of Paisley’s fourth official studio album, began late last year in Portland, Ore. and will continue until fall 2006.

Those in attendance should expect to be treated to all tracks from Paisley’s newly certified platinum-selling album, as well as past hits from the country superstar.

Born in Glendale, W. Va. in 1972, Paisley began performing music for public audiences at age 10 and writing material at 12 before joining his first group, the “CNotes.”

After opening for the likes of such high-profile musical acts such as the Judds, Roy Clark and Little Jimmy Dickens, Paisley left the music world to concentrate on school, attending Nashville’s Belmont University.

Paisley returned to music through various contacts he’d made while working an internship with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), who secured him a contract with EMI records.

Eventually signing with Arista records in 1999 at age 29, he would go on to release four platinum selling albums and garner prestigious awards and nominations for accolades such as the Grammy and a Country Music Association award.

Shannon Farrell, a senior at the

University of Texas-Pan American, is a longtime Paisley fan.

“He’s what country music is about.

He makes songs that are funny, but that are also real and have a lot of meaning behind them,” said the advertising major.

Though aimed at a more mature group, Paisley’s show is expected to draw in a large crowd consisting of different age groups.

“The response was just incredible,” said Yajaira Flores, director of marketing and sales at Dodge Arena. “His music

attracts ages 8 to 80. We’ve had groups of Winter Texans and people in their 20s buying tickets. Now we’re almost sold out.”

Paisley’s appearance at Dodge Arena comes during a spring season featuring concerts from other popular acts such as international singing sensation Juan Gabriel and the legendary B.B. King, who played the Dodge Arena Monday.

All three acts are part of the events scheduled for the 30th annual Borderfest, the weeklong series of parades, musical

Brad Paisley

events, delicious food and fun for every member of the family.

Flores believes that the three musical acts scheduled to play throughout the week embody what Borderfest - centered in Hidalgo, where the Dodge Arena is located - is all about. The events last from March 2-5.

“By having Brad Paisley, Juan Gabriel and B.B. King it shows the amazing diversity that is out there,” she said.

According to borderfest.org, the occasion is “a cultural enrichment of arts, education and heritage preservation in South Texas.”

Deborah Cole, a UTPA English professor who teaches a class called Language and Culture, considers events such as Borderfest to be very important in celebrating the uniqueness of various generations.

“It’s an opportunity to celebrate our differences,” she said. “This reminds us of the immense potential of humans to see and experience the world in many ways.”

Farrell, who attended last year’s Borderfest events, is indeed looking forward to participating in the 2006 celebration.

“If it’s anything like the Borderfest they had last year, it should be a lot of fun. My friends and I are expecting a good time,” she said.

For more information, visit http://www.dodgearena.com and http://www.borderfest.org.

English curriculum gets creative with detective fiction class

By MEREDITH LAGRONE The Pan American The English department at the University of Texas Pan-American is known among its students for offering interesting and dynamic courses, such as The Monster in Literature or The Literary Vampire. One course being offered this semester that students find captivating is Ed Cameron’s Detective Fiction and Film Noir class.

The class examines many aspects of detective fiction, from Edgar Allen Poe’s works to Chicano fiction in the form of a novel by Lucha Corpi. Cameron has also chosen some films for the class from both the traditional era of film noir - from about 1945-1960 - and the Neo-noir period of the 1980s and 1990s.

Cameron, who designed the course in grad school, said he taught it several times when he was teaching in Washington, but this is the first time he’s done it at UTPA. “I have previously taught another sophomore literature course here at UTPA on Gothic Fiction and Horror Films,” he said. “Its success and popularity made me

decide to resurrect the Detective Fiction and Film Noir course this semester.”

Cameron added that finding material for the course is almost as enjoyable as teaching it.

“I enjoy the genre of detective fiction itself,” he said, “but coming up with suitable film noirs that work well with the fiction we are reading is always complicated and satisfying.”

While many people may think this class is not normal for university study, Cameron disagrees. “[This characterization of abnormality] people might have may really be a misconception. Since the canon wars—where scholars and others debated the validity of the traditional literary canon—scholars have become more interested in more marginal genres of literature like detective fiction,” he explained. “As far as the inclusion of film goes, I have always tried to make film a part of the teaching of fiction whenever I have been able to because of its contemporary relevance.”

Just as Cameron finds pleasure in teaching the course, his students appreciate it as well.

Stacey Clark, a freshman pre-dental biology major, said she would take courses like Cameron’s again, not just because of the material, but also because of the instructor.

“Specialized classes like this one only aid the English department by expanding the range of topics and readings covered by the students. It allows students to choose courses in their major that might reflect their interests more closely,” she said. “Dr. Cameron engages his students with the readings of detective fiction very effectively and explains the material with clarity to make his points obvious to everyone.”

Steven Schneider, chair of the English department, thinks such classes may help both student and instructor equally.

“Courses like this benefit our students and department in a variety of ways,” he said. “They allow faculty to teach their special interests and provide new intellectual and stimulating experiences for our students.”

Cameron has his own ideas about why students sign up for, and finish, courses like his.

Rebeca Cavazos/The Pan American MYSTERIES - Ed Cameron, assistant professor in the English department, helps add to diversity of course offerings by teaching interesting classes, such as his Detective Fiction and Film Noir class.

“Initially, I think many students think, ‘I can get college credit for reading murder mysteries and ‘who-dun-its?’ But this initial enthusiasm leads to a genuine interest for learning the formal and historical development of the genre,” he said. “I think students are becoming attracted to the formal and political differences between the “classical” detective story and the “hard-boiled” detective novel that we are currently examining. I’m sure many students are also in it

for the film, even black and white films.

We’ve already viewed “Touch of Evil,” Orson Welles’ late film noir, and many students seemed captivated by Welles’ direction and the quasi-border issues that are dealt with in the film.”

In trying to explain the course’s popularity, Clark sums it up best.

“People will always tend to be more interested in a mystery detective story than just American literature.”

Page 8

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

March 2 , 2006

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

March 2, 2006

Page 9 A letter from Chief Robert Rodriguez, South Padre Island Police Department

March 7, res although the a az performer is still to C y on be announced.

L y Following acts throughout :L y b the month include Lil Flip, Petey ed n ig Pablo, Juvenile and Bubba Sparxxx, s De among others.

: by y r Sto

a ern S y Tre

M o s t

people around campus

during

the

spring semester have one thing in mind when March rolls around: Spring Break.

Some students simply enjoy the time off and make no solid plans.

“I plan just to hang out and relax,” Elsa Cavazos, a bilingual elementary education major, said. “Maybe I’ll take a trip to Houston or something.”

Other students pack their bags and head out for a week of beach fun.

The Rio Grande Valley is infamous for attracting Spring Breakers from all over the nation because of South Padre Island. According to an article on MSNBC.com, South Padre Island ranks no. five among top Spring Break destinations. “The island,” as it’s known locally, is described as having warm beaches, relaxing activities and good lodging facilities – all great for families and even for raucous Spring Breakers.

Besides swimming in the Gulf of Mexico and enjoying a little fun in the sun, the island offers numerous hot spots long after the sun has gone down.

Louie’s Backyard, a long-time fun spot located on South Padre Island at 2305 Laguna Blvd., hopes to attract the most attention during Spring Break month.

“We’re having so many great events taking place,” said Joe Ricco, general manager of Louie’s Backyard. “We’re hoping for a strong Texas Week.”

The business officially kicks off Spring Break celebrations March 1. Texas Week, when most state universities visit the island, is March 13-17, while UTPA’s break begins a week earlier. With a multitude of events almost every night, Louie’s offers something for everyone.

According to the business’s official Web site, there’s a drink special every night and free food on other selected nights. Great entertainment will be present, with the first concert on

Local college students have had a good time there in the past, and for many it has become the top choice for night-time fun.

“It was pretty fun. It was a little too packed but still fun,” Lisa Guerra, a criminal justice major, said. “The music was good, and compared to everywhere else on the island, I liked Louie’s the best.”

Even those who did not originally plan to go to Louie’s but ended up there anyway found it to be entertaining.

“We were going to go to another club [last year] but the lines were too long. So, we decided to go to Louie’s instead,” said Marcos Ontiveros, a freshman manufacturing engineering major. “We thought it wasn’t going to be that fun or packed, but it turned out good.

The atmosphere was great; they were giving out free T-shirts, and everyone was just partying.”

South Padre Island and Louie’s Backyard have been featured on segments of the E! Channel show “Wild On,” and on MTV’s Spring Break specials. It’s created a buzz beyond Valley residents.

“I’ve been to South Padre Island during Spring Break once,” said Kelly Scott, a junior consumer science/merchandising student at the University of Houston-University Park.

“We went to Louie’s Backyard one night, and they played great music. The drink specials were good, and the environment was really fun.

“People assume because we’re located so close to Galveston that we go there during Spring Break to party. To be honest, though, the club scene there isn’t that great, and the beach is pretty gross,” Scott said. “South Padre Island is so much better. It has two extremes with the fact that it’s a great vacation spot for families and a great party spot for college kids like me.”

Guests of Louie’s Backyard must be 18 or over and have a valid picture I.D. In order to purchase or consume alcohol, one must be 21 or older and have a valid state-issued I.D. or driver’s license. This policy is strictly enforced.

The cover at the door will be $5-$10, depending on the entertainment provided that night.

“The charge at the door is guaranteed to be no more than $10, no matter who’s playing that night,” Ricco said.

Louie’s is preparing for a great month and is looking forward to providing its customers with an exceptional atmosphere.

“We’re always hoping to provide a clean, safe, friendly environment for our guests,” Ricco said.

For more information on Louie’s Backyard, visit www.lbyspi.com

I want to start this letter by saying that we want everyone to have a great time while they are on this wonderful Island. As you might not know, the Police Department’s goals are to response to calls for service/assistance, preservation of peace and order, crime prevention and detection, criminal apprehension and prosecution, stolen property recovery, traffic control and accident investigations. Our mission is that South Padre Island Police Department officers and employees strive to provide a level of service to the public that we ourselves or a close member of our family would hope to receive, if ever in need of police service.

Whether you are a visitor or a residence of the Island, the South Padre Island Police Department will strive to be professional, courteous, and ambassadors of Good Will. We want you to feel safe and understand that this Agency is dedicated to the quality of service we provide. We will address any violation of law and handle any calls for service as needed. Remember, this Agency wants to make sure that SAFETY is the number one priority.

For those of you that visit our beautiful Island for the first time, we have some suggestions and tips to make your stay more memorable. * Please adhere to all State and Municipal laws. This will make it easier on your pocket book. *Obey the speed limit laws, parking, and any other traffic law that applies to your driving. *Do not leave items in your vehicle that are visible, or in the open areas of trucks, jeeps, etc. *Do not leave any suitcases, tote bags, or any other items unattended, especially while you check in or out. * Do not leave any valuables unattended while on the beach. Limit what you take and do not lose your room key/card. Make sure you secure all doors, especially sliding or a balcony door. * No glass, No firework, No camping, No motor vehicles, and no loose dogs are allowed on the beach. * So you and other can enjoy the beauty of this Island, we need everyone to NOT LITTER. Trash is a violation of the law and it will be enforced. We want our Island to look good at all time and your cooperation in helping us keep our island clean is appreciated. Do your part and DO NOT LITTER. * There are some Town Ordinances that everyone needs to be familiar with; - We do not allow open alcohol containers in the area between the 700 block and the 2500 block of Padre Blvd.

- There is a No Loitering law. You cannot just park and loiter.

- You cannot cling onto any vehicle or sit anywhere in the vehicle that obstructs the drivers view. * Make sure you are aware of the Liquor Laws, days and hours that you can purchase alcohol and/or drink in public. * DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE, you cannot afford it. There is no excuse to drink and drive. Designate drivers, taxi cabs, free shuttles, these are alternative to a police car, an ambulance, or even a hearse. Remember your visit, do not be remembered. Driving while intoxicated has ruin a lot of lives and it might ruin yours if you do not make the right choice. *Do not forget about our new state laws, open alcohol containers in the passenger compartment of any vehicle, no one under the age of 18 riding in the open bed of a truck and some of the alcohol laws have become stricter. *If you visit Mexico, make sure that you stay as a group, keep close to the bridge area and know what you can take or what you can bring back. You must carry identification and expect to be checked when you reenter the United States.

As you can see there are a lot of rules and regulations that govern the safety issues of our everyday life. We want everyone to have a great time and not experience the feeling of becoming a victim of a crime or a recipient of citation or an arrest. Common Sense, Good Judgment, and all those other traits that help us live a healthy normal live are very important. So, come and enjoy this beautiful Island and remember the wonderful experience it can bring.

Sincerely, Robert Rodriguez, Chief of Police

Page 8

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

March 2 , 2006

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

March 2, 2006

Page 9 A letter from Chief Robert Rodriguez, South Padre Island Police Department

March 7, res although the a az performer is still to C y on be announced.

L y Following acts throughout :L y b the month include Lil Flip, Petey ed n ig Pablo, Juvenile and Bubba Sparxxx, s De among others.

: by y r Sto

a ern S y Tre

M o s t

people around campus

during

the

spring semester have one thing in mind when March rolls around: Spring Break.

Some students simply enjoy the time off and make no solid plans.

“I plan just to hang out and relax,” Elsa Cavazos, a bilingual elementary education major, said. “Maybe I’ll take a trip to Houston or something.”

Other students pack their bags and head out for a week of beach fun.

The Rio Grande Valley is infamous for attracting Spring Breakers from all over the nation because of South Padre Island. According to an article on MSNBC.com, South Padre Island ranks no. five among top Spring Break destinations. “The island,” as it’s known locally, is described as having warm beaches, relaxing activities and good lodging facilities – all great for families and even for raucous Spring Breakers.

Besides swimming in the Gulf of Mexico and enjoying a little fun in the sun, the island offers numerous hot spots long after the sun has gone down.

Louie’s Backyard, a long-time fun spot located on South Padre Island at 2305 Laguna Blvd., hopes to attract the most attention during Spring Break month.

“We’re having so many great events taking place,” said Joe Ricco, general manager of Louie’s Backyard. “We’re hoping for a strong Texas Week.”

The business officially kicks off Spring Break celebrations March 1. Texas Week, when most state universities visit the island, is March 13-17, while UTPA’s break begins a week earlier. With a multitude of events almost every night, Louie’s offers something for everyone.

According to the business’s official Web site, there’s a drink special every night and free food on other selected nights. Great entertainment will be present, with the first concert on

Local college students have had a good time there in the past, and for many it has become the top choice for night-time fun.

“It was pretty fun. It was a little too packed but still fun,” Lisa Guerra, a criminal justice major, said. “The music was good, and compared to everywhere else on the island, I liked Louie’s the best.”

Even those who did not originally plan to go to Louie’s but ended up there anyway found it to be entertaining.

“We were going to go to another club [last year] but the lines were too long. So, we decided to go to Louie’s instead,” said Marcos Ontiveros, a freshman manufacturing engineering major. “We thought it wasn’t going to be that fun or packed, but it turned out good.

The atmosphere was great; they were giving out free T-shirts, and everyone was just partying.”

South Padre Island and Louie’s Backyard have been featured on segments of the E! Channel show “Wild On,” and on MTV’s Spring Break specials. It’s created a buzz beyond Valley residents.

“I’ve been to South Padre Island during Spring Break once,” said Kelly Scott, a junior consumer science/merchandising student at the University of Houston-University Park.

“We went to Louie’s Backyard one night, and they played great music. The drink specials were good, and the environment was really fun.

“People assume because we’re located so close to Galveston that we go there during Spring Break to party. To be honest, though, the club scene there isn’t that great, and the beach is pretty gross,” Scott said. “South Padre Island is so much better. It has two extremes with the fact that it’s a great vacation spot for families and a great party spot for college kids like me.”

Guests of Louie’s Backyard must be 18 or over and have a valid picture I.D. In order to purchase or consume alcohol, one must be 21 or older and have a valid state-issued I.D. or driver’s license. This policy is strictly enforced.

The cover at the door will be $5-$10, depending on the entertainment provided that night.

“The charge at the door is guaranteed to be no more than $10, no matter who’s playing that night,” Ricco said.

Louie’s is preparing for a great month and is looking forward to providing its customers with an exceptional atmosphere.

“We’re always hoping to provide a clean, safe, friendly environment for our guests,” Ricco said.

For more information on Louie’s Backyard, visit www.lbyspi.com

I want to start this letter by saying that we want everyone to have a great time while they are on this wonderful Island. As you might not know, the Police Department’s goals are to response to calls for service/assistance, preservation of peace and order, crime prevention and detection, criminal apprehension and prosecution, stolen property recovery, traffic control and accident investigations. Our mission is that South Padre Island Police Department officers and employees strive to provide a level of service to the public that we ourselves or a close member of our family would hope to receive, if ever in need of police service.

Whether you are a visitor or a residence of the Island, the South Padre Island Police Department will strive to be professional, courteous, and ambassadors of Good Will. We want you to feel safe and understand that this Agency is dedicated to the quality of service we provide. We will address any violation of law and handle any calls for service as needed. Remember, this Agency wants to make sure that SAFETY is the number one priority.

For those of you that visit our beautiful Island for the first time, we have some suggestions and tips to make your stay more memorable. * Please adhere to all State and Municipal laws. This will make it easier on your pocket book. *Obey the speed limit laws, parking, and any other traffic law that applies to your driving. *Do not leave items in your vehicle that are visible, or in the open areas of trucks, jeeps, etc. *Do not leave any suitcases, tote bags, or any other items unattended, especially while you check in or out. * Do not leave any valuables unattended while on the beach. Limit what you take and do not lose your room key/card. Make sure you secure all doors, especially sliding or a balcony door. * No glass, No firework, No camping, No motor vehicles, and no loose dogs are allowed on the beach. * So you and other can enjoy the beauty of this Island, we need everyone to NOT LITTER. Trash is a violation of the law and it will be enforced. We want our Island to look good at all time and your cooperation in helping us keep our island clean is appreciated. Do your part and DO NOT LITTER. * There are some Town Ordinances that everyone needs to be familiar with; - We do not allow open alcohol containers in the area between the 700 block and the 2500 block of Padre Blvd.

- There is a No Loitering law. You cannot just park and loiter.

- You cannot cling onto any vehicle or sit anywhere in the vehicle that obstructs the drivers view. * Make sure you are aware of the Liquor Laws, days and hours that you can purchase alcohol and/or drink in public. * DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE, you cannot afford it. There is no excuse to drink and drive. Designate drivers, taxi cabs, free shuttles, these are alternative to a police car, an ambulance, or even a hearse. Remember your visit, do not be remembered. Driving while intoxicated has ruin a lot of lives and it might ruin yours if you do not make the right choice. *Do not forget about our new state laws, open alcohol containers in the passenger compartment of any vehicle, no one under the age of 18 riding in the open bed of a truck and some of the alcohol laws have become stricter. *If you visit Mexico, make sure that you stay as a group, keep close to the bridge area and know what you can take or what you can bring back. You must carry identification and expect to be checked when you reenter the United States.

As you can see there are a lot of rules and regulations that govern the safety issues of our everyday life. We want everyone to have a great time and not experience the feeling of becoming a victim of a crime or a recipient of citation or an arrest. Common Sense, Good Judgment, and all those other traits that help us live a healthy normal live are very important. So, come and enjoy this beautiful Island and remember the wonderful experience it can bring.

Sincerely, Robert Rodriguez, Chief of Police

Page 10

A & E

March 2, 2006

Student resurrects Van Damme classic

By CLARALEXIS RIOS The Pan American Movies offer a way to escape reality for a while.

They can make people laugh, cry, think or allow them to express their opinions. But behind the scenes, a lot goes into making a movie.

One of the people who has taken film-making into his own hands is Adrian Guerrero, 25, a University of Texas-Pan American senior art major from Donna.

Guerrero is the producer and director of “Cyborg,” which is based on a 1989 movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. He chose to remake this movie for Jack Stanley’s Directing II class and will premiere it on April 13 at noon in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building, room 107.

“I am modernizing this movie for today’s era,” he said. “I am a martial artist and an actor, so I wanted to do an action flick so I could show what I could do. It is a love story and is told from a point of view that shows that the only way you can have your way is by fighting.”

Guerrero started acting three years ago at UTPA by playing small parts in plays and worked his way up to larger roles. He has also directed a theater version of “Beauty and the Beast” that ran last year, and is currently playing various roles in a TV show titled, “Green Ghost and Mexsican.”

“Cyborg” is about a man who leads a group to Atlanta in the post-apocalyptic future, and races against time to gain information about a cure for a plague that is sweeping the country while trying to avoid enemies at the same time.

Jesse Martinez, 24, a communication graduate student from Edinburg, is his assistant director.

Martinez and Guerrero believe in using creativity and originality when remaking a movie.

“We get scripts from famous movies and try to recreate them in our own way,” said Martinez.

While major movie directors spend thousands to millions of dollars to make movies, Martinez says that at the college level it is different.

“It is a non-budget production,” he said. “The department does not give us money but only loans us the equipment.”

He also said that his duties as assistant director

differ from the same job done on a big-budget film.

“At the college level, the assistant director takes the role of production manager, costume head, props master and tries to get the shooting of the production as smooth as possible,” he said. “I make sure that the actors are in costume and make sure the lighting is good for the director. I have to take on many roles because it is a small production. In the real world, the assistant director works with the production manager and there is a link between the director and production team.”

When Guerrero decided to remake “Cyborg,” he held auditions in a general classroom in the COAS building on Feb. 20 and 22. Martinez assisted Guerrero with the auditions and according to him, there are certain qualifications they look for in the actors.

“They need to have confidence, a good tone of voice and act the scene out,” he said. “They also do not necessarily need to have acting experience because sometimes it comes out naturally.”

Before auditioning, students were required to fill out an application and get a copy of the scene of the character or characters that they were interested in auditioning for.

One person that wanted to give acting a try was Adriana Winkler, 20, a junior international business major from Matamoros.

“I decided to audition because I am interested in getting some acting experience,” she said.

Winkler chose to try out for a character named Pearl Prophet because of the uniqueness of the role.

“I like the fact that she is a cyborg and that makes her seem like an interesting character,” she said. “I wanted to try something new.”

Another person who auditioned was Annette Perez, 23, a senior theatre/TV/film performance major from Donna.

Unlike Winkler, she has been involved in a few productions at UTPA and other student projects during her spare time. Not only has she acted but she has also helped behind the scenes of productions as well.

She says that she decided to audition because it will help expand her résumé for future roles.

“It helps me gain more experience with other aspects of film and theatre,” she said.

Perez, who tried out for the role of Nadi, said she

Ronald Claflin/The Pan American ACTION - Adrian Guerrero, the producer of “Cyborg,” demonstrates classic Van Damme moves with his cousin, Hector Guerrero.

enjoyed the attitude of the character.

“I liked the character description because it describes her as a smart-mouthed rebel,” she said.

“This role gets my blood pumping, and it sounds like fun.”

Guerrero and Martinez have already selected the actors, who are listed on fliers posted around campus, and they will start filming at a ranch, warehouse and downtown McAllen during Spring Break. After the break, they will start filming a beach scene.

Martinez says that he and Guerrero have to ask

the owner’s permission to film a business in a movie.

“When we use a business in a film, it helps to promote it as well,” he said. “It is also better to go to local businesses because franchises such as McDonalds require a lot of paperwork to fill out.”

In Guerrero’s opinion, the movie will make an impression on the film and theater department at UTPA. “This project will revolutionize the way things are done here,” he said. “I am going to produce quality stuff.”

Reality TV shows increase local interest in ballroom dancing

By ANGELA SALAZAR The Pan American Dance has always been a way for young teens and adults to express themselves. In clubs nationwide the reigning form is hip-hop, and techno has also been at the forefront of styles.

Artists such as Usher, Chris Brown and Fatboy Slim have conquered, leading the way as hip-hop and techno have become the norm in most dance clubs.

However, the sound of mix music and rap may be getting some competition from orchestras and dresses made of sequins. Ballroom dancing has grown in popularity in the past few years with shows like “Dancing with the Stars” on ABC and “Ballroom Boot Camp” on The Learning Channel.

These may be another attempt to prolong the shelf life of reality television, but they are offering more than just the usual fix of reality programming.

The ABC show, in its second season, finds its audience growing. On the show, celebrities train and dance with professionals in hopes of becoming king or queen of the ballroom.

According to abc.com, 10 couples compete for the title each week in dance steps ranging from the Quick Step to the Rumba.

Competing on this season’s show are celebrities such as Drew Lachey of former boy band 98 degrees, future NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice and WWE wrestler Stacy Keibler.

With shows like these fox-trotting out, Americans are flocking to local dance studios to experience it for themselves.

“It [dance] has shown people that there is another way to dance and get into better shape and condition,” said Orlando Perez, owner and director of Salsa Dance and Fitness in McAllen.

Not only have Latin and ballroom dancing

become popular, but the styles have also helped dancers shed unwanted pounds, so many aerobics classes have adopted them.

The Discovery Channel has also jumped on the dancing reality bandwagon with “Ballroom Boot Camp.” According to www.tlc.discovery.com, the show takes average Joes and Janes and places them into the real arena of professional dancing, where they compete for glory.

Do not be swayed by the name ballroom, which suggests that it may be aimed at a particular age bracket. Dance is for everyone.

“My youngest [student] is 7 years old,” said Perez, “my oldest is 84, so everyone is dancing.”

Perez is the creator of the Real Salsa Dance and Exercise program. His studio caters to people of all ages and fitness levels, with classes ranging from Merengue and Cha-Cha to Hip-Hop and belly dancing.

The shows not only appeal to the baby-boomer generation, but to the MTV generation as well.

Cathy Rodriguez, a freshman at the University of Texas-Pan American, says it’s the different dances that catch her attention and keeps her hooked her on “Dancing with the Stars.”

“Some dances are light and playful,” said the music education major, “and others are kind of risqué.”

After watching some others try to gain their dancing titles, Rodriguez herself is also thinking about taking a few classes and trying her luck at it.

“It’s more classy and elegant,” she said about ballroom dancing, “It’s not a childish thing; it’s more mature.”

For more information on anything mentioned in the article visit these Web sites: www.abc.com, www.tlc.discovery.com, www.salsadanceandfitness.com.

NEWS

March 2, 2006

COLLEGE PREP continued from page 1

SCHEDULING continued from page 1 Spring Break proposed dates: UTPA 2007= March 5-8 2008= March 17-22 (combining Spring Break AND Easter) UT-Austin 2007=March 12-17 Texas Tech 2007= March 12-17 2008= March 15-23 Texas A&M 2007= March 12-17 Luke Koong/The Pan American

But after doing some calculations, it is concluded that Spring Break is occurring only seven weeks after the beginning of the semester. So is UTPA breaking its own policy? Not exactly.

According to Deirdra Johnson, a junior accounting major and new appointee to the committee, there is a loophole which allows the university a one-week grace period. This means that the university can adjust the eight-week rule by making it seven or nine weeks.

Morris, who was not on the committee when this year’s calendar was made, said the shift in date can reflect anything from a miscalculation to preparation for mini-mester sessions.

WHOM TO PLEASE? When it comes to planning any break, Morris said that it is hard to meet needs for all students.

“People say ‘Well, why don’t you coordinate with the public schools in the Valley?’ he said. “And my response to that is ‘What school district do you want us to coordinate with? They aren’t all on the same one.’”

However, Morris added that the lack of corresponding dates is not always the university’s fault. UTPA plans its calendar two years before it is actually executed, which often gives local public schools the next move.

“We send them our calendar way ahead of time. A lot of times they want their spring break to be different than the college,” Morris said.

MISCOMMUNICATION The committee is so far ahead, in fact, that it met Feb. 22 to discuss the calendar for fiscal years 2007 and 2008. But while the proposal is ready to be put up to President Blandina Cardenas’ Council, one student representatives on the committee has not even seen it.

Jaime Ledesma, a senior finance major,

Page 11

received his confirmation of appointment to the committee just last week but said he received no word on the meeting. This came much to Ledesma’s dismay, as he had many ideas for the coming years.

“I wanted to see if we could get it to Texas Week so the major universities have off and obviously a lot of our friends and family are off as well,” he said. “It’d probably be better and more of a college experience where we could say ‘We’re a mid-major university, why don’t we get with the flow of everyone else?’”

However, Deirdra Johnson, a junior accounting major and the other new appointee, did receive word about the meeting but was unable to attend most of it due to class.

She said she was excited about representing students on the committee.

“Having spring break during ‘Texas Week’ isn’t a big deal to me personally. But it means something to my friends and my constituents,” Johnson said. “They want to celebrate with their friends from other colleges or vacation with their families who might be in K-12 and they have their vacation on a different week.”

Johnson added that she has been on several other committees and there has never been a problem with getting information about meetings to students involved.

Whatever the situation may be, Joey Nichols, a senior biology major and vice-president of the Student Government Association, said they will get to the bottom of it.

“As an organization, SGA works very hard to place these students on committees at the beginning of the fall semester,” he said. “If the students that we’ve placed on these committees are not being notified of when these committees are meeting, then there is a miscommunication occurring, and it is incumbent upon us to fix that situation.”

has worked closely with national organization Council for Opportunity in Education to ensure these programs aren’t lost completely.

“We have a national organization, and last year we encouraged former and current students who had benefited from these programs to write their congressional representatives to bring attention to the funding issue,” said Salinas.

There is also a newly formed national parents’ association for Upward Bound participants and their families, which is also a good base for initiating legislative action. Upward Bound is a federally funded program that focuses on lowincome or first-generation college students, “We even had UTPA President Dr. Blandina Cardenas write a letter explaining the benefits of these programs and the consequences if they were to lose funding,” Salinas added.

This year a similar effort will be launched to secure money for these programs to continue.

Virtually every congressional district in America is served by one or more of these programs so any issues regarding their funding usually elicits action on a legislative level.

“One thing we have going for us this year is that it is an election year and candidates will be eager to guarantee that they have done all they could to keep beneficial programs such as these,” said Dennis McMillan, associate vice president of enrollment and student services. “Congressman Hinojosa is a big supporter of UTPA and the University of Texas System has a federal relations office that is also helpful in keeping open communications between schools and policy makers.”

Along with contacting representatives from the Valley, the projects also rely heavily on parent interaction, hoping to gain support from parents whose children are enrolled in these programs.

Valley high schools have also had to confront the issue of losing money and support. Harlingen High School lost its Upward Bound program last year due to a lack of funds.

“We were able to get around the loss of Upward Bound by offering classroom services for students to help in their college and career choices,” said Beverly Kithcart, a counselor at Harlingen High School.

The school was still able to maintain its Upward Bound programs with UTB-TSC and TSTC. Approximately 11 students participate in the Upward Bound Math and Science program with University of Texas Brownsville-Texas Southmost College and 30 to 40 students are involved in a deal with TSTC. “These programs are wonderful and we would really be saddened if their financial backing was scrapped,” said Kithcart.

Every four to five years, UTPA submits grant proposals in order to make sure funding is continued. The lengthy proposals detail exactly what the money will be spent on and the program’s plan of action. Even though these same programs serve the entire nation they are not all carbon copies. Each institution submits grants that are specifically tailored to its individual needs.

Despite the budget crisis, UTPA will be submitting two grants for new programs to be implemented on campus. Veteran’s Upward Bound would focus on students from Starr and Hidalgo Counties who have served in the military.

The second program, McNair Scholars, is aimed at current college students who seek to obtain doctoral degrees.

The amount of money needed for the Upward Bound and ETS programs is a little more than $1.2 million. The two new programs would each request budgets of $220,000 each.

s

Texa

GRADUATION continued from page 1 graduation ceremonies, there are still too many people attending.

“We’ve gotten so big, even that isn’t helping,” Rodriguez said. “However, [the university] have to try to accommodate our students, so we’re having our August ceremony just for them.”

While Rodriguez is still not sure who will have to be moved up and who will stay in the May ceremony, Morris has assured that the decision will be made soon.

“We’re working on sending out letters to notify deans and advisers next week,” she said.

“We’ve been lax about this in years past, but the fact of the matter is, if a student hasn’t completed requirements or is on the brink of doing so, they can’t march anymore.”

But Cortez argues this is also unfair to those who have already made preparations for the May ceremony.

“If they had told us last semester, or when we

paid by the Sept. 15 deadline, I wouldn’t be so upset,” she explained. “But we’re probably going to get notified sometime in early March…two months before graduation. There’s obviously a lack of communication going on here, and I don’t see why I or anybody else have to suffer from it.”

Cortez added that she feels as though she has done her part to get to graduation, and the university has not done its part.

“Space is probably an issue, but this is my graduation, and it’s not a good enough reason for me,” she said.

Soon-to-be graduates must file an application for degree form with the office of Records and Registration. The University Bookstore provides six tickets for the relatives and friends of those wishing to walk during the commencement exercise. These students may pick up their tickets from the University Bookstore.

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NEWS

Page 12

March 2, 2006

BUSINESS continued from page 3 with limited resources.

All speakers will be presenting different topics pertinent to their area of expertise and relating to business. Presentations include the power of communication and success, retailing on a local basis, and the journey of the Hispanic community and businesses.

Alhaddad said she has high hopes for the speakers.

“We expect for small-business owners to be inspired by the speakers and want them to see that they can make it in the market,” said Alhaddad.

Another speaker, Massey Villareal made the 2002 list of Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics, as determined by Hispanic Business. He was appoint-

ed by Gov. Rick Perry. in 2001 as chairman of the nine-member governing board of Texas Economic Development.

Gonzales will be making a presentation at the conference about the importance of knowing the law and having effective leadership skills.

“I want people who are starting their business to know that if they use the correct skills and get to know the law, this will keep them out of trouble and away from lawsuits,” said Gonzales.

According to Alhaddad, one of the most common mistakes made by new small-business owners is that they begin under-capitalized and without enough planning. While the conference will not deal with what to do to have a successful business,

care. I am the medical director, but for this area we are still researching to see what are the needs of the kids,” said Howard Pearson.

On Friday, University of Texas-Pan American professor Elena Bastida talked about “The Border Epidemiologic Study of Aginge: (BESA): An overview and selected findings,” and again Pearson talked about the rewards of a career in medicine.

“I am very pleased about the seminar; the questions were excellent which makes me very happy, because I see the interest of the people,” Howard Pearson said. “I definitely feel delightful about this seminar.”

FOOD BANK continued from page 3 The art department has been firing and glazing bowls for the past three weeks. Spaulding made 75 bowls of the event’s 200-300 pieces.

At the end of the fiscal year 2004, the Food Bank provided 194 agencies with assistance.

Members also circulated about 20 million pounds of non-perishable and frozen product, and fresh produce in the same year.

The Food Bank has outgrown its current warehouse and is looking into getting a new building, which they plan to move into in 2007. The building they are looking at is run-down a bit and needs updating.

The organization does not receive any government funding. According to Warner, the monies earned at the fundraiser will help the Food Bank grow and keep it up and running, continuing to serve those in need.

Several professors at UTPA hope to aid the Food Bank in keeping its mission alive.

“We just hope to support the Food Bank and to get people involved a little bit,” said Spaulding.

“One of the things that we try to do is get students to become aware of the different ways they can function in our culture, in our society, in our community and this is one way that we can help directly.”

GIVING OTHERS A HAND The Food Bank also has various programs that help the community in other ways, all of which will benefit from the fundraiser. The Second Chance Program, in which Lopez state prison inmates work at the Bank, helps provide experience and job skills.

“They’ve built a lot of stuff. They do handyman work, painting, cleaning, and packing the groceries,”

speakers and will keep event-goers posted on new developments for the event,” said Alhaddad.

The main goal of the event is for new and future business owners to be able to learn from those who have been successful and network with them as well.

“Overall it is about how to become more effective business leaders and to understand what type of business leadership skills will work for them and what better than to get advice from those who have made it in business within different areas,” said Gonzales.

For more information on this conference contact the Small Business Development Center at (956) 292-7535.

RETIREMENT continued from page 3

HEALTH continued from page 3 the children of the Rio Grande Valley have.

“We already have been working with children for 15 years here in Connecticut. We work with children that have cancer and we help them in all the ways we can,” he said. “The camps are during summer time and we have nine different sessions where we work with 125 children.”

However, Howard Pearson said establishing these special camps is anything but a one-person job. In fact it would require lots of cooperation from Valley professonals.

“These camps need help from a lot of medical and nursing staff so they can supervise the

it is intended to give some guidance.

“We want to explain to people what not to do,” said Alhaddad.

And that’s exactly what Alberto Gabriel Aguirre, a UTPA graduate student in engineering, wants to know. He plans to open his own business in the cement industry.

“I’m going to attend this conference to learn and to get some direction from those who have made it and also hopefully to make some useful contact for the future,” said Aguirre.

Speakers are still being added to the list and Alhaddad believes it is sure to be a worthwhile event for business enthusiasts.

“We are still getting confirmations from

Warner said. “We try to show them our appreciation all the time because they do a really good job.”

For parents who are not able to feed their kids, the Kid’s Café Program provides children with a hot meal before they go home from school for the day.

“There was a story of this little kid who went to school to put spaghetti in the backpack and took it home to try to feed himself and his brothers and sisters,” Warner explained.

She also mentioned that some families are not lucky enough to get even a little help from the government.

“They’re families that fall through the cracks, too rich to get food stamps, but still too poor to eat,” Warner said. “So we try to help out in those kinds of areas.”

Commodity Assistance Reaching the Elderly gives the elderly extra commodities and food. Warner said that most elderly individuals do not have enough money to cover everything that they need.

“We found out the elderly have to make choices between medicine, rent, electricity and things like that,” Warner said. “Some people only get $10 of food stamps, and even if you live by yourself, how far is that going to go?”

In addition, there is also Healthy Living, which teaches proper dieting, and School Tools, which provide students school supplies.

Spaulding and others taking part in the fundraiser are happy they can participate and give something valuable to the community.

“It’s really a privilege and an opportunity to be able to do something positive for the community,” Spaulding said.

around the world. Both goals require the preparation of a retirement plan in advance. Sanchez said that any age is a good age to start planning your golden years.

“There is no perfect age to plan for retirement, but the sooner the better since you may invest on a 403b and be accruing interest throughout the years you have invested your monies in,” Sanchez said.

“This would be in addition to your Teacher Retirement System or Optional Retirement Program account, which is mandatory for all employees.”

According to Sanchez, however, many people

do not have any type of plan for retirement. Many do not even have a plan for saving now or for the future, but the few that planned their future recommend starting investing or saving in the 401K. Benny Serna, a finance major at the UTPA, recommends depositing 10 percent of your paycheck into a 401K account as soon as possible and then investing it all into Texas Regional Bank Shares Stock.

Anyone interested in scheduling an appointment can contact Laura Alfaro at (800) 774-0566 or contact Maria G. Sanchez, UTPA human resources representative, at (956) 381-2491.

SPORTS

March 2, 2006

Page 13

FOR THE RECORD UTPA SPORTS

Smith 6-7 3-6 0-3-3 Mitchell 3-5 0-0 0-3-3 Nelson 1-2 0-0 1-2-3 Williams 0-0 2-4 0-2-2 Teague 0-0 0-0 0-2-2 Holt 1-2 0-0 1-2-3 Totals 33-66 18-24 12-33-45

Baseball

Onydia Garza/The Pan American SERVE UP - Rehman Esmail serves the ball during practice last week. The men’s team will be in competition this weekend at the HEB Invitational.

Men’s tennis prepares for HEB Invitational

By FERNANDO MARTINEZ PECHS

The Pan American The University of Texas-Pan American men’s tennis team is out next weekend to another tournament in Corpus Christi. The HEB Invitational is hosted by the University of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and will showcase some of the top teams in the nation.

Universities like South Alabama, Marquette, Texas Tech, Tennessee State, Western Michigan, Nebraska, University of Nevada and University of Texas-San Antonio will compete in this annual classic.

Head Coach Robert Hubbard is excited about this weekend’s competition, and is confident that the Broncs will make an outstanding showing.

“We want to play good teams.

Competing with good teams make us a better squad and gives us a lot of experience,” Hubbard said “We are looking forward to this competition.”

In their last action the men’s and women’s teams faced a difficult schedule as they participated in two tournaments in Louisiana. On Feb. 24 in Hammond, the two squads were defeated by Southland Conference foe Southeastern Louisiana.

In men’s doubles action Broncs Nik Porter from England and Rehman Esmail from British Columbia were beaten 8-1 by the 58th-ranked duo of Haris Huremovic and Ondrej Krivka.

The other two Bronc double duos also lost by 8-1 counts.

In singles action, Porter was defeated 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7) by Huremovic in the initial match while Oliver Steil from the Netherlands was beaten by Matthieu Leboucher 6-2 and 6-3. Sophomore Valley native Alberto Gomez and freshman Andrew Bost both lost their duels 6-1, 6-2.

“My team performance against

Southeastern was a bit disappointing.

Missing Gary Bianco in the lineup hurts us. We could have done better,” Hubbard said of the former Bronc still vying for reinstatement this spring.

In women’s action, forceful Parisian Marine de Bourqueney was defeated by Emilija Arnaudovska 6-4, 6-1. Silke Buksik from Germany lost her first match 6-2 in both sets.

Sophomore Nicole Garcia put up a fight against Bonnie Phillips, but was defeated 6-0, 7-6 (7-3). The doubles matches were cancelled due to rain.

On Feb. 26 action in Thibodaux, the squads confronted Nicholls State University. The Lady Broncs achieved a 5-2 victory over Nicholls State while the men’s team fell by the same score to the Colonels.

The Lady Broncs gained control of two of the three doubles matches with Buksik and Garcia earning a 8-6 victory over Lilian Leermakers and Veronica Ramirez. The duo by de Bourqueney and Elysia Sloan defeated Lusitina Gasca-Silav and Monique Savoy by a margin of 8-5.

“We battled well against Nicholls State. Marine and Elysia came back and won seven games to get the match. Silke and Nicole had a great day and were double winners on Sunday,” Hubbard said.

In singles feat, Buksik defeated Silav 6-4, 6-0 while Sloan captured a 6-4, 6-3 win over Savoy. The Lady Broncs have now a 2-7 season record.

In men’s action the Colonels gave the Broncs a 5-2 setback. In doubles, Porter and Esmail were blanked 8-0 by Sebastien Normand and Denis Borisevich. Bost and Gomez lost to Ricardo van Bolderick and Alexandru Silav by the same score. The Broncs are now 0-5 overall on the season and 0-3 in the Southland.

Upcoming schedule Mar. 3 Sam Houston State Mar. 4 Sam Houston State Mar. 5 Sam Houston State Mar. 7 UTSA Mar. 9 Dallas Baptist University Mar. 10 Dallas Baptist University Mar. 11 Dallas Baptist University Mar. 14 Prairie View A&M Mar. 15 Prairie View A&M (DH) Mar. 17 Arkansas Mar. 18 Arkansas (DH) Mar. 19 Arkansas Mar. 21 Texas State University Mar. 22 Texas State University

Percentages: FG .500 FT, .750, 3-Point 9-21, .429. Blocked shots: 7 (Menifee 3, White 2, Engelken 1, Daniels 1). Steals: 9 (Mitchell 2, Ervin 2, White 2, Engelken 1, Taylor 1, Menifee 1). Turnovers: 16 (Mintz 4, Ervin 2, Slatnick 2, Engelken 1, Daniels 1, White 1, Smith 1, Mitchell 1, Nelson 1). Personal fouls: 22 (Engelken 3, Mintz 3, White 3, Mitchell 2, Williams 2, Washington 2, Daniels 1, Ervin 1, Slatnick 1, Taylor 1, Smith 1, Nelson 1).

Home games in bold.

(DH) denotes double-header

Basketball Men’s Monday, Feb. 27 TEXAS A&M-CC 93, UTPA 69

A Pts

Robinson 2-6 0-0 0-2-2 1 Edwards 3-7 1-2 1-1-2 0 Lien 2-6 2-4 2-0-2 0 Sheppard 4-11 2-7 1-4-5 7 Shankle 4-14 3-4 1-5-6 4 Puente 4-7 3-4 0-3-3 1 Trader 5-10 0-1 3-8-11 2 Buck 0-1 0-0 1-0-1 0 Totals 24-62 6-14 10-25-35 15

4 7 6 10 14 14 14 0 69

Percentages: FG .387 FT, .600, 3-Point 6-14, .429. Blocked shots: 2 (Edwards 2). Steals: 4 (Sheppard 3, Puente 1).

Turnovers: 15 (Edwards 4, Sheppard 4, Robinson 3, Puente 3, Lien 1). Personal fouls: 19 (Robinson 4, Lien 4, Edwards 3, Shankle 3, Trader 3, Sheppard 2).

TAMUCC FG FT Reb M-A M-A O-D-T

0-2-2 2-3-5 0-4-4 2-0-2 1-2-3 0-2-2 0-2-2 0-0-0 0-0-0 2-2-4

Ducker 0-1 6-6 1-1-2 Butler 1-15 2-2 1-8-9 Vickery 7-8 1-1 0-1-1 Close 6-9 4-4 0-4-4 Rivera 0-5 2-2 0-1-1 Young 1-4 3-4 0-2-2 Fox-Griffin 1-1 2-2 1-1-2 Nash 2-8 0-0 4-6-10 White 0-1 0-0 1-1-2 Totals 28-52 20-21 11-26-37

A

0 2 0 9 3 1 4 2 1 22

Pts

6 24 15 19 2 5 4 4 0 79

UTPA.........................38 31 - 69 TAMUCC...................48 45 - 93

Percentages: FG .538 FT, .952, 3-Point 3-13, .231. Blocked shots: 5 (Vickery 2, Ducker 1, Close 1, Nash 1). Steals: 13 (Ducker 3, Butler 3, Nash 3, Close 2, Young 1, White 1). Turnovers: 15 (Butler 4, Rivera 3, Fox-Griffin 2, Ducker 2, Vickery 2, Close 1, Nash 1). Personal fouls: 9 (Nash 2, Fox-Griffin 2, Vickery 2, Ducker 1, Butler 1, Rivera 1).

Men’s upcoming schedule Mar. 3 IPFW

UTPA.........................21 13 - 34 OSU...........................37 42 - 79 Women’s upcoming schedule Mar. 4 Utah Valley State

Women’s

FG FT Reb M-A M-A O-D-T

FG FT Reb M-A M-A O-D-T

Home games in bold.

UTPA

Engelken 3-6 0-1 Daniels 3-8 2-2 Mintz 0-4 6-6 Ervin 3-6 4-4 White 8-17 1-1 Slatnick 1-1 0-0 Washington 1-1 0-0 Munoz 0-1 0-0 Taylor 1-2 0-0 Menifee 2-4 0-0

1 15 7 7 0 2 0 2 0 0 1 2 24 93

A

Pts

0 0 4 0 6 1 2 0 0 2

6 8 6 11 23 2 2 0 2 5

Monday, Feb. 27 OREGON STATE 79, UTPA 34

Home games in bold.

Golf

UTPA FG FT Reb M-A M-A O-D-T

Daniel 3-6 Garrett 1-4 Jones 0-1 Reed 0-8 Montague 4-12 Wilson 1-4 Kostacky 0-0 Winfrey 4-7 Knerr 0-3 Ramirez 0-1 Fuentes 0-0 Coulson 1-4 Gooden 0-2 Totals 14-52

0-0 3-1-4 1-2 2-1-3 0-0 0-2-2 0-0 0-2-3 0-0 0-1-1 0-0 1-1-2 0-0 0-0-0 3-5 2-1-3 0-0 0-0-0 0-0 0-0-0 0-0 1-0-1 0-0 0-1-1 0-0 0-0-0 4-7 15-12-27

A Pts

0 0 0 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6

6 3 0 0 10 2 0 11 0 0 0 2 0 34

Percentages: FG .269 FT, .571, 3-Point 2-10, .200. Blocked shots: 3 (Daniel 2, Montague 1). Steals: 8 (Daniel 3, Garrett 1, Reed 1, Montague 1, Winfrey 1, Ramirez 1). Turnovers: 21 (Jones 4, Winfrey 4, Garrett 3, Coulson 2, Montague 2, Wilson 2, Daniel 2, Knerr 1, Ramirez 1). Personal fouls: 16 (Daniel 5, Garrett 5, Knerr 2, Coulson 2, Ramirez 1, Winfrey 1).

OSU

Men’s schedule thru March Mar. 17-18 Bearkat Classic Mar. 20-21 Crown Classic Mar. 27-28 Oregon Duck Invitational Apr. 29-30 Independent Champs.

May. 5-7 National Minority Champs.

Women’s upcoming schedule Mar. 20-21 UTSA Rowdy Round-up Apr. 3-4 Texas State Bobcat Invit.

Apr. 29-30 Indie Women’s Champs.

May. 5-7 National Minority Champs.

Tennis Mar. 3-5 Mar.9 Mar. 11 Mar. 18

Upcoming schedule HEB Invitational University of South Dakota Laredo Community College UT-San Antonio

Women’s only competition in italics.

Men’s only compeition in bold.

Track Mar. 4 Mar. 10

Upcoming schedule Border Olympics NCAA Div. I Indoor Natl. Champs.

SPORTS

Page 14

March 2, 2006

Bronc basketball tries to save face as end nears Men hit the road, while women stay at home; only egos are at stake

By DAVID DAVILA The Pan American This season has been pretty rough for the men’s basketball team. Before the season finale on the road versus Indiana Purdue - Fort Wayne late Wednesday, they had a disappointing 7-23 record.

The Broncs started off the season pretty well in exhibition games against Monterrey Tech and Universidad Regiomontana, and even the first game of the season against Sul Ross State University. Things just were a little bit overwhelming when playing against top universities like, Illinois, Wichita State and Texas.

The fact of the matter is, the Broncs have gone through a rebuilding stage this season, against powerhouse universities in order to get their name on the NCAA Division I men’s basketball map.

On a good note, the team’s leading scorer is guard Dexter Shankle, who averages 11.2 points a game. Other notable names on the team that have become prime ingredients in the rebuilding process have been Colin Lien, Kano Edwards, Zach Trader and Danny Puente. All will get help from the incoming recruiting class that should be key to next season’s success.

Lien and Edwards have been the top performers in the paint for the Broncs, combining for 297 of the team’s total rebounds.

McAllen native Puente has become a hot commodity off the bench, scoring a career-high 14 points against Texas A&MCorpus Christi on Monday.

The Lady Broncs (6-21) also went through a rocky stage this season, and have experienced much the same problems that the men’s team did.

“Its been a rebuilding year from the get-go. We have got a lot

of new faces, a lot of freshman, and its been a tremendous lesson for them to learn from,” Head Coach DeAnn Craft commented about the season. “This year has been the toughest schedule that we have had in the program’s history.”

“We have taken a lot of bumps and bruises along the way, but I think of the big picture, as we are trying to build a program that is solid, you have to measure yourself against top level teams in order to become one of them,” Craft added of her squad.

When asked about how the season went, guard Devin Reed said that it was full of challenges.

“It didn’t quite go the way we wanted to, but the ball doesn’t always fall in our court,” said the veteran. “But we learned a lot of things from this season, and hopefully we can mature and grow as players.”

The Lady Broncs are a young team, and have only four seniors leaving the squad, so they have a lot of young talent to work with.

“I think this season has been a season of growth for our younger players, it was a very intense schedule,” said Assistant Coach Tracy Anderson. “They got great experience from playing such tough teams though, and I think it will help them develop as players, so that we come back strong next year.”

This weekend the Lady Broncs conclude the 2005-06 season against Utah Valley State.

“We are going to give it our best shot,” Craft said. “We have to focus for forty minutes. We have shown brilliance in small selected minutes of play, but the only way to win a game is to learn how play consistently and close solid.”

The final game of the season for the Lady Broncs takes place at the UTPA Field House this Saturday at 7 p.m.

Joel de la Rosa / The Pan American FORCING THE ISSUE - Point guard Larry Sheppard fights his way toward the rim in their last homer against South Dakota State University.

The Student Union Advisory Board Is Accepting applications for a STUDENT-AT-LARGE position* *this is a volunteer (non-paid) position

The purpose of the Student Union Advisory Board is to advise on Student Union general and specific policies, to guide the Student Union programming officers and committees, and to advise the Student Union operating departments

Requirements: - student shall have and maintain a minimum cumulative 2.25 G.P.A. - undergraduate students shall be enrolled in a minimum of 6 hours each fall and spring semester - graduate students shall be enrolled for at least 3 hours during each fall and spring semester - student must be in good academic and student conduct with the University

Applications:

available in the Student Union Director’s office (Room 2.316 AE, 2nd Floor For special accomodations or for more information, please call

(956) 316-7989

SPORTS

March 2, 2006

Page 15

Broncs look for momentum swing at home

By JORGE HINOJOSA The Pan American

Onydia Garza / The Pan American MOUND UP - Tim Haines delivers against Arkansas.

The University of Texas-Pan American Bronc baseball team will face Sam Houston State University for their second consecutive three-game series, this time in Edinburg starting Friday at 6 p.m. Bronc faithful will see starter Ricky Ibarz on the mound in game one at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.

Game one of the series starts tomorrow at 6 p.m., Saturday’s game is at 4 p.m. and Sunday’s is at 1 p.m.

In the first three-game series, the Broncs were at Huntsville, where they lost 5-3 in the opener last Friday. They were able to recover in the final two games against Sam Houston, winning each, 5-2. The Broncs had to compete in a doubleheader on Sunday since Saturday’s game was canceled due to rain.

“Saturday was a tough day because you sit, and it’s harder to sit and wait for the game than it is to actually play it,” said Bronc baseball head coach Willie Gawlik.

On Friday, the SHSU Bearkats wasted no time and scored in the first inning. Karl Krailo hit a single up the middle against Ibarz, allowing Gregory O’Neill to give the Bearkats a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second inning the Bearkats added two more runs. Ibarz balked in Aaron Cook and then Tyson Mire hit an RBI single. In the third inning Dustin Martin increased the lead to 4-0 by launching a solo home run.

Intramural action

By ASHLEY ROBERTS The Pan American Many students look forward to visiting the Health and Physical Education II Building (HPE II) .

According to Amy Moses, graduate assistant supervisor, the building gets over 300 students a day coming and going, using the facilities. Intramural RecSports (IRS) also hosts competitive events and games, such as flag football, basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball, beach volleyball, kickball, dodgeball, tennis and golf.

So how competitive are the sports and what do students think about them? Baiyee Jones, who participates in flag football, basketball and softball, thinks the sports are competitive.

Jones has attended other universities such as Seton Hall, Rutgers and Texas Christian University and he feels that the events are comparable.

“Being that I have been to many other universities and played in their intramural rec sports, I must say that UTPA goes head to head with them all, as far as competitiveness,” Jones said.

He recently competed in the 5-on-5 basketball tournament which ended last weekend. The tournament had a great turnout, with over 10 teams signing up. In every tournament, every sport, there is always one team that rises to the top and becomes champion. Jones’ team was not that team. The champions were the Bandits, who went undefeated throughout the entire tournament.

“Being the champs of the tournament felt really good. It was an exciting thrill and challenge to come

out on top overall,” shared Diego Olague, a member of the Bandits.

Olague is no stranger to the IRS events. This was his second time as a member of a champion team of a tournament; he previously won a title in a 3-on-3 campus basketball tournament.

Next up for IRS is the 1st Intramural South Texas Shoot-Out, a 5-on-5 basketball tournament starting March 18. Students from University of Texas-Pan American, University of Texas- Brwownsville, South Texas College, and Texas State Technical College will compete. While others sports have seen such all-Valley competition, this is the first such event for basketball.

Last semester flag football had the Valley Bowl, where UTPA, UTB, STC and TSTC. Two teams from UTPA participated. The turnout was so good IRS wants to see if it can do the same thing with basketball.

“Looking at how well flag football did, I have a pretty good feeling that basketball will have a great turnout as well,” said Art Cabrera, intramural assistant.

Softball, however, is the biggest event for the IRS and draws the biggest number of people.

According to Cabrera, the plan was to try combining schools to compete in a softball tournament, but due to the construction of the new Wellness and Recreation Sports Complex and dorms, it was cancelled. The $26 million facility-indoor and outdoor- will be over 150,000 square feet. The completion date is scheduled for August 2007.

The IRS hosts sporting events throughout the year, and students should waste no time to get in on the action. For more information about upcoming events from the IRS, visit www.utpa.edu/intramurals/.

“We made a couple of defensive mistakes against a good team and they’re going to take advantage of it,” said Gawlik.

The Broncs remained scoreless until the top of the seventh inning when Otis Powers and Ruben Shives Jr. scored after shortstop O’Neill made an error on a ball hit by Leighton Autrey.

The Bearkats’ fifth run came in the eighth inning with the bases loaded when pitcher Ray Silva hit Jeremy Holzbach. The Broncs then managed to score one more run before the end of the game bringing the score to 5-3.

Ibarz pitched six innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits. The lefty transfer also struck out six batters but balked twice in the game. His record falls to 1-2 and he has a 3.43 ERA for the season. Ibarz does have 26 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched.

Kelly Casares pitched 1.2 innings in relief, giving him a total of nine innings for the season.

Pitcher Tim Haines of Sharyland faced one batter and struck him out, in the last inning.

Tim Gray earned the victory improving his record for the Bearkats to 2-0. Stephen Price picked up his first save of the season as he recorded the final out of the game.

The Broncs were able to account for six hits in the game, all from different hitters. Louie Alamia went 1 for 4 with one RBI and a walk, and Autrey also went 1 for 4 with two runs batted in. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough to get the Broncs on top.

“The guys played really hard, they fought

back, and it went down to the last pitch, I was proud of them and it carried over to Sunday’s game,” said Gawlik.

In the first game of the doubleheader, pitcher Dane Mason gave up seven hits in seven innings and was able to take the win, his first of the season.

“The thing that we did Sunday was that we played great defense and we got some great pitching,” said Gawlik. “Dane Mason did a great job and Tim Haines came to close it.”

Haines got the save for the Broncs after throwing the final two innings.

T.J. Gilmer scored on an infield error in the seventh inning. In the eighth Autrey scored on a bases-loaded walk, and in the ninth Patrick Brooks hit an RBI single scoring Flores.

In the second game the Broncs were down 21 but were able to come back to win the game 52.

“They fought hard just like they did on Friday night, and they eliminated some of the mistakes, and we came away with two wins,” said Gawlik.

Flores came through in the seventh inning to tie the score. Then a passed ball and an error allowed the Broncs to take the lead. Haines came in as closer for the second time in one day to pick up the save after Silva, now 2-1, pitched 6 2/3 innings.

“They’re a good team, their tough, and we’re going to have to play well again this weekend when we play them,” said Gawlik.

SPORTS

Tennis...............................13 Basketball.........................14 Baseball............................15

Lady Bronc senior caps off college career

By RACHEL REIDA The Pan American

Sidney Meadows / The Pan American WALKING THE STAGE - Senior Devin Reed will conclude her collegiate career this Saturday.

With her career coming to an end March 4, Devin Reed, guard for the University of Texas-Pan American Lady Broncs, finishes her tenure with highs and lows.

Reed, one of only four seniors on the squad, has found herself in some tough situations this year as the team has struggled. And yet she has been among the highlights, among the leaders in points, assists and steals.

“I have always been very vocal on the court, but this year I had to step up and play different r o l e s , ” commented Reed.

“For example, when Tiona [Wilson, point guard] got hurt I had to step up and play the point guard position. I had to take on a different position therefore I had to lead verbally as well as by example.”

With the Lady Broncs limping into the final game with a 6-21 record, Reed, as well

as her fellow Lady Broncs, has battled in many ways to survive this season. Last year’s recordsetting 14-win record seems like a distant dream now.

“I feel that this season was one full of lessons,” said Reed. “It definitely was not the season I wanted to finish my college career with, but you work with the hand you are dealt.”

Coming from a junior college career where her team was highly successful, Reed had to go through some serious transitioning, some good, and some bad, to get her ready to play at the Division I level.

“I think that Juco really prepares a person for Division I ball,” remarked Reed. “Going from Division I to Juco, then back to Division I, I've learned a lot. Juco doesn't really have rules which is the biggest difference, and the fact that we have so much freedom now as opposed to our 10 o'clock curfew at Juco.”

Transitioning from junior college basketball to Division I basketball is not the only major change that Reed has gone through while attending college.

Reed is originally from Indianapolis, Ind., and attended junior college in Arkansas City, Kan. “The transition was really hard,” said Reed.

“Indianapolis is so fast-paced and Kansas and Texas are so slow and boring. There was always something to do at home and never anything to do in Kansas or Texas.”

Inspiration is one thing that has helped Reed get through all those tough times, keeping her focused and working hard.

“My mother is my biggest inspiration,” proclaimed Reed. "Growing up she was the only parent. She taught me how to stand alone and never depend on the next man. “If you want something done right, you do it yourself!”

With her mother behind her, Reed has accomplished many of the goals that she set.

“My biggest goal school-wise was to maintain a 3.3 GPA,which I did,” said Reed.

Basketball-wise I wanted to every day bring energy, work hard, and give everything I've got, which I did.”

Reed, the emotional leader who is loud and active over 34 minutes per game, is second on the team in steal and three-pointers, shoots .709 from the free-throw line, and has led the team in scoring seven times, including four of the last five games. Despite the team’s poor showing, she has hustled and competed the whole way.

With the final game on Saturday, and her senior season coming to a close, Reed has experienced many things while playing at UTPA. “I've had a lot of memorable moments,”reminisced Reed. “It's been an experience within itself. It sort of feels incomplete ending the way it did. You always want a winning season and everything wasn't accomplished this year. I wish I could have one more season.”

UTPA track and field gears up for Border Olympics

By RODERICK DORSEY The Pan American The 2006 University of Texas-Pan American track team has concluded the indoor season and will now focus on the outdoor version, starting with the Border Olympics in Laredo this weekend.

Both men and women’s track teams finished the indoor season with several athletes achieving personal bests. Fifth-year coach Ricky Vaughn felt good about the performances, despite a slight decline in number of school records broken.

“I think we had a really successful indoor season, especially after five years,” said Vaughn.

“It seemed like when I first got here, we were breaking school records right and left. That slowed down a little bit.”

“But we had a couple of school records (broken) indoor in the men’s 60 meters with Ruben Cantu, and Westly Keating in the mile, which was one of our oldest school records on the books,” said the Bronc track coach.

Vaughn also acknowledged the indoor success of the women’s team, led by sophomore Deon Marquis, who was clocked at 7.82 seconds in the

60 meters. Like Cantu, Marquis broke a school record, one that stood for 16 years since LaShaunne Cortez set it. Marquis also successfully broke the Bronc mark in the 55 meters with a time of 7.22 seconds.

There were other record-setters, too.

“Just about every kid we had out there set a PR (personal record) in the distance area, so I think that we had a pretty good indoor season,” commented Vaughn.

Vaughn also mentioned that UTPA junior Will Littleton opened his track season last weekend with a school record in the high jump, just missing out on making the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field National Championship.

Athletes meeting a certain standard in prechampionship meets are qualified to attend track and field’s version of the playoffs.

According to Vaughn, the success of the indoor season will positively influence the outdoor season, as the same events are done in each.

“If you’re setting PRs and school records, then that should translate into better times outdoors,” he said. “Our whole goal every year is to get to the NCAA regional outdoors.”

Vaughn also talked about the transition from indoor to outdoor competition, saying that there isn’t much of one at all, since the athletes train outside the entire year.

“We’re used to the outdoor track,” said Vaughn. “We actually have a tougher time going indoors, trying to adjust to the smaller track.”

Amber Kelly, a junior member of the UTPA women’s team, mentioned that her preference for indoor events is the weight throw, while her favorites outdoor are the shot put and hammer throw.

“Indoor competition is much more challenging than outdoor competition,” she went on to say.

One of the marquee events of the outdoor season will be the Texas Relays held in Austin, the second weekend of April. “That event is one of the biggest outdoor meets of the year,” said Vaughn.

“It’s the relays that get things started. You see the best of the best. You got to be ready to go. It’s a three-day track meet, and one you need to perform well in.”

Kelly agrees that the Texas Relays weekend is a special event not only to participate in, but also

to be a spectator at. She can attest to this notion, since she was a participant in the event all four years of high school in Houston.

“The Texas Relays are so much fun to be a part of,” said Kelly, “and I plan on making an attempt to go to every one of them every year from now on, whether I’m competing or watching in the stands.”

The Texas Relays are comparable to the NBA or MLB All-Star Game, because the top track athletes from around the country compete at the collegiate level. But another intriguing facet of the event is the fact that elite high school athletes statewide showcase their skills as well, paralleling the McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball Game.

“It’s a big recruiting week,” said Vaughn, “where high school athletes are being watched by college recruiters, so they the high school athletes must perform at their very best.”

To top it off, professional athletes are featured on the final day in the sprints and relays.

Decorated professional icons like two-time Olympic gold winner Maurice Greene and ninetime Olympic gold winner Carl Lewis have participated in the Texas Relays.