November 16, 2006 by UTRGV Student Media

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

November 16, 2006

Catholic Church calls for gay, lesbian outreach By JAVIER CAVAZOS The Pan American Catholics struggling with their sexuality and faith will find a more welcoming attitude at their local church thanks to new guidelines on how to minister to

gays and lesbians approved Tuesday at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The guidelines, which were passed with a 194-37 vote, aim to provide a more accepting environment for homosexuals or those with “homosexual inclinations,” within the Catholic Church.

However, while the bishops called for outreach, the guidelines also called for gay and lesbian celibacy, adding that the gay lifestyle is “disordered.” In addition, they asked for gays and lesbians to tell, or “come out,” to only a close group of friends and family members in the

UTPA goes global with International Week

Onydia Garza/The Pan American CULTURE - Valentina Anatolievna Kvasova, member of Russian dance, music and song ensemble, Barynya, performs for students, staff and faculty Nov. 13 in the Student Union as part of International Week.

Church. While the church still considers homosexuality a sin, many Catholics are applauding the bishops’ decisions and see it as a way of offering God’s word without judgment to a group that has historically been oppressed by the Church.

“I think it’s great. No one should be turned away from the Lord just because of their sexuality,” said Alex Gaus, a senior English major from Edinburg. Gaus, himself a practicing Catholic, said homosexuals need to be

By SANDRA GONZALEZ The Pan American

Local high schools take precautions

News of the Senate’s approval of a 700-mile border fence set off instantaneous backlash from several local governmental and commerce officials. However, for Marilu Salazar and other organizers of The University of TexasPan American’s International Week, it sparked not rage, but inquiry. “We raised the question: Is international understanding fostered by building walls or bridges?” she said. With that single thought, the theme for the 7th annual International Week, which began Monday, was born. This week, nearly 40 speakers attempted to answer that question with a series of forums and speeches aimed at exposing students to conflicts going on not only in the border region, but the world at large. “I think it’s important for all of us to know what is going on so we will have a better understanding of where everyone’s at,” said Salazar, who runs the Office for International Programs at UTPA. “We’re not alone in this world. We’re just this little speck. What’s happening in our backyard is just one of the things happening in the world.” One of the week’s main events focuses on educating people about conflicts going on in Africa, according to Salazar. Today, Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni of the Republic of Cameroon will speak in the Library Auditorium at noon. Salazar said that the opportunity to have the prime minister visit UTPA actually happened by chance. Back in July, a delegation from

See INTERNATIONAL page 5

See CHURCH page 11

By MARIA A. MAZAREIGOS The Pan American When shootouts and other violence occur on grade school campuses, as they have in recent months, school safety is placed in doubt; such is the case in the Valley. “The key is to avoid any tragedies,” said Mark May, McAllen ISD community information specialist. Locally, school districts have begun implementing new safety methods to secure the well being of students. Much like nationwide terror warnings, the system operates on a color-coded basis. “We have different codes for different emergency situations,” said Angie Gonzales, Donna ISD communications and marketing coordinator. With the implementation of color codes at various school districts such as Edinburg, Donna and McAllen, staff members are now aware of what is happening on campus without overreacting to a situation or scaring children or parents. The most severe of the color codes are black and brown. “We have tried to touch up on those drills,” Gonzales said. “We need to practice, especially with all the school shootings. We need to know what to do.” Code brown, less severe than black, calls for a lock-down to take place.

See SAFETY page 11

News

A&E

Sports

New book chronicles life of Edinburg hero

Revved-up art on display at local museum

“Boxing After Dark” hits Dodge Arena

See page 4

See page 7

See page 16

PAGE 2

R EADER FORUM

November 16, 2006 THE

PAN AMERICAN

Web site Review By: Sandra Gonzalez

1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539 (956) 381-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122 http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican 56th Year – No. 13

You’re in luck. I was becoming so desperate for a Web site to review that I was about to review the next one that popped up on a commercial while I was channel surfing. Unfortunately, it turned out to be insptoday.com. And, as much as I love the smooth sounds of sold-on-T.V gospel music, luckily for you, I found something a little better and much more fitting for a fall semester sign-off review. Don’t worry, we’ll get the gospel music Web site next time.

Editor Claudette Gonzalez ThePanAmerican@gmail.com News Editor

A&E Editor

Sandra Gonzalez

Frank Calvillo

sandra_panamerican@ yahoo.com

hennero@ msn.com

Sports Editor

Design Editor

Luke Koong

Erika Lopez

lkoong2004 @yahoo.com

lopez475@ yahoo.com

Hours of Entertainment: If you love TV, hours upon vegetative hours. If you don’t, well then you just suck.

Designers Laura C. Gomez

Roy Bazan

crazy_restless @yahoo.com

Gregorio Garza

the_nataku@ yahoo.com

lm.gomez@ yahoo.com

Reporters and Photographers Brian Carr

Kristyna Mancias

Javier Cavazos

Maria Mazariegos

Leslie Estrada

Angela Salazar

Patrick Kennedy

Trey Serna

Ana Ley

Onydia Garza Translator Mercedes Cantu Adviser Dr. Greg Selber Secretary Anita Casares

Ad Manager Carolina Sanchez

Asst. Ad Manager Lillian Villarreal

Advertising information spubs@panam.edu Delivery Thursday at Noon

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, classification/title and phone number.

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.

I used to think I was the only one. Back when I was just a tot, I would sit for hours at a time and watch Zack Morris and his hijinx thinking I was the only one. Was there any one else in the world to talk about television with? Years later, I have found my place in this world. Fellow TV worshippers, I am here to tell you that there is hope (Jebus, one gospel music commercial and I’m preaching. Brainwashing I say.) And this hope of finding the other person in this world who watches “Supernatural” could manifest itself into a reality thanks to TelevisionWithoutPity.com. I first came about the site while on a search for “Prison Break” scoop (heh. Don’t even pretend to be surprised by that one). I found even more than I bargained for and have been in a tiny love affair with it ever since. It’s my quick stop for updates on shows that I watch all the time (*cough* like, I don’t know...shows about sexy escaped cons), shows I watch sometimes (Betty isn’t that ugly. I mean, I’ve seen worse on my way to the parking lot.) and shows I can’t stand to watch but want to be in the know about (Are you listening “Desperate Housewives”?). With recaps, show reviews and forums full of fellow stalker fans, the Web site is a must visit for TV followers and occasional viewers playing catch-up.

Web Site Overview:

As I’ve said several times, forums don’t usually have visuals. However, TWoP does customize the masthead of the Web page for every show. The effort is accounted for and greatly appreciated. Also, promo pictures for upcoming episodes are always linked in spoiler threads, which make for great eye candy. One of the best sources of visuals on this site is the fans themselves who post. They are often the ones to bring over visual and sometimes, audio goodies (which I like to call audio porn). For example, when an actor does a radio interview overseas, it will most likely be linked in the media thread by a kindly foreigner who has terrible spelling. On this site, if the fans are reliable, so will the steady stream of visual content.

Graphics/Photos:

It would be easy for a Web site centered on television to fade into background of a dozen other sites just like it. However, Television Without Pity sets itself apart not only by offering forums to correspond about the most popular shows, but by actually having people who participate. On the forums, you can chat it up with fans who range from normal to obsessive (although, we prefer dedicated). The topics for each show are divided up into three sub-categories and those categories are spilt into even more categories, which makes discussions a little hard to follow Monday thru Friday, but provides great weekend reads. For example, “Prison Break” (Ok. Even I didn’t mean to pimp it so much this review, but I have to use what I know) is placed into the “SHU,” where fan art posts and other random talk takes place, “Prisoners, Staff and Lawyers,” where fans talk about individual characters and actors, and “General Gabbery,” the most fun section of the forums. The Gabbery section is where fans get together and talk about each episode and also swap spoilers (As much as you may try and avoid them, you know you love spoilers too). Also, this is where fans can go to alert each other of media appearances by actors. However, the individual actor threads are also useful because it’s where you can follow the happenings of just your favorite person on the show and fans are also surprisingly generous when it comes to alerting others of prop auctions going on at eBay. If I can’t get into Michael Scofield’s pants, I might as well own a pair, right? The company has to be one of the best parts of this somewhat-known site. As a person who is notorious for enjoying being a know-it-all, I like having hundreds of eyes searching the Internet for dirt on a show as opposed to just two. The only drawback to the section is that it is heavily guarded by forum Saddams, also known as Mods. The Mods always kill the best discussions (They may not care how long…ahem…never mind). For this reason, one may choose to abstain from discussions, instead opting to lurk. The upside to lurking is that it makes me feel a little mysterious, so I like it.

Content:

Thanks for a great semester. If you find anything over the holidays that is particularly interesting on the web, e-mail it to me at Sandra_Panamerican@yahoo.com. You’ll be by the computer more than ever over this break, both you and I know it. Share the entertainment because I’ll more than likely be sitting by my computer too, waiting for someone to e-mail me. And if you’ve hated this semester’s Web site review, firstly, I don’t like you either! Secondly, e-mail me with a suggestion of what you’d like to see in this space. If you include a picture of yourself and you are good-looking, I may take your suggestion into consideration. However, despite the many requests, I can not put nude pictures of myself on Page 2 next semester. I’ll see what I can do about the semi-nudes, though. Have a day.

Sidenote:

IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF

THE PAN AMERICAN

Available Nov. 30

Debated past

Holiday entertainment

- Learn more about Rigoberta Menchu’s controversial history

- Find out what local events will bring you fun this season

N EWS

News in brief: Activist Telesforo Santiago will be speaking about the Oaxaca teacher’s struggle at the Library Media Theater Nov. 17 at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m

Special Olympics sponsors bowling tournament By CLAUDETTE GONZALEZ The Pan American

Sidney Meadows/ The Pan American STRIKE - Christian Flores, 20, bowls on Nov. 11 at Flamingo Bowl in McAllen as part of the Special Olympics.

Amanda Mery smiled and did a little dance after knocking down some pins at the Special Olympics bowling tournament Saturday at Flamingo Bowl in McAllen. “I love bowling,” said Mery, a sophomore at McAllen High School. Mery was one of almost 300 bowlers who took to the lanes at the annual Special Olympics event. The tournament included the 16-21 and 2129 age groups and drew participants from all four Valley counties. “The bowlers are divided by age, ability and gender,” said Gloria Cruz, Special Olympics area director. “They’re competing side by side like anybody else in a regular league will

compete.” Since many of the participants are school-age, they receive training from certified school coaches. “We bring them to the bowling alley two or three times before the tournament,” said Luciano Peralta, one of the Edinburg High coaches. Others who have already graduated are coached by parents or community members who form small delegations, or teams. “Once they graduate, it’s hard for them to stay part of their group sometimes, so their parents get certified to be coaches,” Cruz said. “They’re their own delegations.” Edinburg High senior Robert Longoria is the team captain. According to him, the coaches set high standards

See BOWLING page 12

New software prevents plagiarism Blogging about issues for By SIDNEY MEADOWS The Pan American The University of Texas-Pan American may be adopting a new antiplagiarism software called MyDropBox to aid teachers in preventing academic dishonesty. Assignments submitted will be broken up by sentences, and instructors will be able to compare them to over eight billion publications and submissions, to check for copying. MyDropbox is becoming the preference over Turn It In, another anti-pla-

giarism software, according to Jose Urbina, a UTPA computer user specialist II. Urbina said Turn It In takes each submission and automatically adds it to the available library for all who use it to see. Conversely, adding a submission to the library is only an option on MyDropbox, not mandatory like with Turn It In. Urbina said that without plagiarism software, professors have to revert to dated techniques to catch cheaters. “The only way to find out if something’s plagiarized would be to Google

it,” Urbina said. However, Christopher Little, a professor who teaches biological writing, says Googling works just fine. “I can tell the difference between what a third-year student writes and someone who’s done it for 30 years professionally,” said Little. “Proper structure isn’t something you learn in the first few years.” Plagiarism is a problem for anyone’s grades since it usually results in an instant zero on the assisgnment. But it is also a serious problem for credibility and

See PLAGIARISM page 12

Grant awarded for intelligence center By NOORALHUDA SAEI The Pan American The University of Texas-Pan American has been awarded a $2.5 million federal grant to start a National Security Studies program through the Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence (ICCAE). The program would establish an undergraduate program with a minor in global security analysis and a graduate program with a master’s of arts interdisciplinary studies in global security analysis. However, the establishment of the program has been met with mixed reviews since it was presented as a possibility in March. Nadezhda Garza, president of

MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan/ Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan) said she has doubts about the program’s presence at UTPA. “We question the academic legitimacy of a program which would give control of our curriculum to a non-academic entity, a gross violation of academic principles, and whose sole objective is recruitment within our university and community,” Garza said. However, Van A. Reidhead, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, said the program’s purpose is to promote the students’ communication and analytical skills, free of outside control. “Our faculty would never approve of a dictated curriculum, nor should they,” said Reidhead, who was the one

who submitted a proposal July 6 to the Department of Defense to launch an ICCAE at UTPA. But Samantha Garcia, co-president of the American Civil Liberties Union, is disturbed by the way the program was brought onto campus and said that it “resulted in a silent, un-democratic process with a lack of transparency and accountability,” adding that the issue was not publicized until recently. Garcia said she finds this a manipulation of our generation into cooperating with what she called our “criminal president,” whether it is in U.S. foreign policy or domestic racial profiling. Garcia and Garza said their organizations were informed by a student who

See CENTER page 12

progress, scholarships By LUKE KOONG The Pan American University of Texas-Pan American student Unnam Nasir is blogging for a chance at $1,000, plus an opportunity to open the eyes of her peers. The sophomore biology major from Weslaco is taking part in Progressive U’s Blogging for Progress competition. She said it has been an eyeopening experience writing about various issues on her Web blog and reading other’s thoughts on subjects ranging from politics to religion and the environment. “I’ve heard views that are totally different from mine,” Nasir said. “There are so many things I’ve read, I wouldn’t know where to start to tell you the most interesting thing I’ve read.” Art Morgan, founder of Progressive U, a Web site that encourages discussion of current issues, wanted to create something unique that encouraged students to take part in creating change. “We wanted to make Progressive U educational, but not necessarily scholarly. We want people to keep coming back because they enjoy the challenge,” Morgan said. “That way they learn almost without trying.” Progressive U selected blogging as its form of competition because it helped

foster awareness on various issues and encourage talk. “Blogging is a great for students to express their opinions about social issues and share them with the world. Discussing the issues leads to solving the issues,” said Shayla Price, marketing director for Progressive U. Morgan said having the Web site and competition encourages participation in national and international issues. The activity has caught on big in the past five years. “Blogging changes the way the media works. Media has become extremely influential in public policy and politics, and without blogging it would be extremely one-sided. Blogging gives everyone a voice,” he said. Originally from Pakistan, Nasir took the opportunity to take on a national issue and clarify common misconceptions about her religion in one of her entries. “I wanted to talk about Islam and how it’s actually a peaceful religion. I wanted to explain the real concept behind Jihad and how the terrorists are working on their emotions and not on the actual rules for Jihad,” she said. However, not everyone was receptive to her post. “For that one, I got a pretty negative reaction from a guy who became a user just to reply to my blog,” Nasir said.

See BLOGS page 12

NEWS

Page 4

November 16, 2006

New book recounts life of local war hero Author says Edinburg-native Freddy Gonzalez was ‘regular guy’ By SANDRA GONZALEZ The Pan American Ten years ago, John Flores didn’t know who Alfredo “Freddy” Gonzalez was. He was working at The Monitor at the time and even lived in Edinburg right off of Freddy Gonzalez Drive, but had never heard of him. “When I first heard about Freddy Gonzalez, I thought he was some big, fat congressman,” he said. It wasn’t until a conversation in 1994 with the chef at the Echo Hotel, where Freddy’s mother Dolia works, that he first heard the story about how the 21-year-old became a war hero and was killed in Vietnam. “It was a great story. I couldn’t believe that this woman (Dolia Gonzalez) had worked at the Echo for 15 years and she lost her son at Vietnam,” he said. Fascinated by the story, Flores began working on a book, eventually titled “When the River Dreams: The life of Marine Sgt. Freddy Gonzalez,” about

the young soldier, who was shot and killed Feb. 4, 1968 in Vietnam. Flores recently visited the Valley from his current residence in Albuquerque, N.M., to do a book signing at the Museum of South Texas History in Edinburg. “It was great,” said Jim McKone, public relations officer for the Museum of South Texas History. “He sold every copy and took orders on more books.” For those who could not make it to the signing, Flores’ book is currently available for purchase at Amazon.com. In the course of 200 interviews and In the course of 200 interviews and 500 hours spent with the mother, Flores said he walked away with a good idea of who Freddy Gonzalez, who was awarded the Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart, really was. “Fred Akers (Freddy’s football coach at Edinburg High and later the coach at The University of Texas in the 1970s) told me that Freddie was not very good at football. He was not very fast,

not very strong but he had spirit,” Flores said. “Freddy was just that type of guy. He was not a very good football player, but people gathered around him.” Flores added that all the stories he heard about Gonzalez were candid and his friends spared no detail, even the not so favorable ones. “Freddy used to have a hot temper,” he said. On one day in particular, Gonzalez and a group of friends were playing at the now non-existent Westside Park in Edinburg, when a local amateur boxer came to the park and started stirring up trouble. “He was challenging everyone to a fight. Then, he said something about Freddy’s mother,” Flores said. “They started fighting and Freddy kicked that guy’s butt.” While Freddy had some experience with fighting, nothing prepared him for Vietnam. However, like everything, he took it in stride and always thought of his mother, according to Flores. “He would send her money all the

time and tell her to use it to get a phone,” he said. “She didn’t have one and he would say, ‘This is phone money, Mom.’” While Flores admits that hearing some of the stories about the hero was not easy, he said he was quite familiar with the realities of war. “I know a lot of guys like Freddy,” said Flores, who was on the U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue team. “I was picking up dead bodies. I guess in a way it prepared me for this story. These people had no eyelids and stuff. It was terrible.” While writing the book, however, Flores found himself not only swimming in a sea of war stories but a wave of new images as the Iraq war began. He said this new conflict further motivated him to finish the book and get one very important message across. “I realized Bush was sending all these poor Marines into battle for no damn good reason and they’re all getting killed, especially from Edinburg,” he said. “If Freddy was alive today he’d say

war f***ing sucks.” However, Flores stressed that Freddy, while not born a hero, was definitely one in every sense of the word. “He was just a regular guy, like anyone on the street,” he said. “He was dedicated to his mother, his team and his town.”

www.authorhouse.com

NEWS

November 16, 2006

Page 5

INTERNATIONAL continued from page 1 Cameroon came to UTPA for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Biotech Mobile Lab, a laboratory on wheels used for educating fifth- thru 12thgrade students in bioscience, in hopes of instituting a similar structure at their local university. “One of the delegates said ‘We’d love if our country could come here and maybe we could have an official that could come here to speak,’” Salazar said. Salazar added that she hopes that Inoni’s visit exposes students, faculty and the community to Africa’s many troubles. “It’s really to broaden the students’ international perspective in the fact that Africa is not really represented here, in the sense that a lot of us are not aware of what is going on over there,” she said. “It’s a region so full of issues, not only politically, but economically and militarily.”

However, Africa is not the only represented region during International Week. On Monday, Russian dancers Barynya began the weeklong festivities with a performance in the Student Union Theater. Salazar said it was important to bring a representative from Russia to UTPA because it has been a while since the area has been exposed to the culture. “About 10 or 15 years ago we had a Russian ballet that performed at the civic center, but nothing since,” she said. “This is the original folk dance from their country that, with the costumes and the music, is all very visually attractive.” In addition, on Tuesday, American Muslim leader Imam Siraj Wahhaj spoke in the Library Theater about Islam. For Salazar, exposing students to so many different regions from around the

world holds more weight than ever in light of the numerous conflicts taking place. “Learning about other cultures will gives us more knowledge,” she said. “Sometimes I think we have lost track of dealing positively with other people.” However, she also said having a global perspective carries an immeasurable weight in the professional world so many students are bound for. “We live in a global society where everything is international,” she said. “Companies right now look for people with a very strong international background, be it a language or culture. So it’s good for them to have that knowledge.” For a full list of remaining International Week events visit www.utpa.edu/dept/internationalprograms or stop by CAS 125.

Sidney Meadows/The Pan American SECURITY - Jose Nicolas Barragan Codina, of the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, speaks about the Nuevo Leon Safe Border Program.

Onydia Garza/The Pan American PERFORMER - Alex Siniavsky, member of Barynya, strums his balalaika during a performance at the Student Union Theater Nov. 13 as part of International Week.

International Week 2006: events to come

Inoni

Sidney Meadows/The Pan American LEADER - Imam Sirah Wahhaj, an American Muslim leader, speaks about Islam in the Library Media Theater Nov. 14.

Today

Friday

Noon, Library Auditorium “Regional Integration in Africa: A Major Challenge with the Globalization Era” Presented by: Ephraim Inoni,

12:45 p.m., SBS 103 “Search and Seizure Issues in the Border” Presented by: Thomas White, Assistant professor for the department of criminal justice

Prime Minister of the Republic of Cameroon

12:55 p.m., HPE II 133 Dance Workshop Presented by: Kateryana Shevchenko,

1:45 p.m., SBS 103 “Democratic Changes in Indian Communities and Their Impact on Community Courts” Presented by: George Vincentnathan,

Director of the School of Classical Ballet, Lermontou Center

Chair and professor for the department of criminal justice

7:10 p.m., SBS 101 “Binational Efforts on Substance Abuse: The U.S.-Mexican Experience” Presented by: Rodrigo Guzman,

2:30 p.m., John H. Shary Room, University Library “Romancing the Mafia: Organized Crime in American and Italian Cinema” Rebecca Mitchell,

Former training manager for the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention

Assistant professor for the department of English

and Nancy Trevino, Public Education Coordinator Rio Grande Valley Council

NEWS

Page 6

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November 16, 2006

RTS A EN T& E RTA I N M E N T

Editor’s Pick: Must-buy CD “Rudebox,” the new album from multi-platinum-selling artist Robbie Williams

Engines get revved up at new IMAS exhibit By LESLIE ESTRADA The Pan American

Visitors to McAllen’s International Museum of Art and Science will want speed, power, torque, freedom and the open road after seeing the exhibit “Moving Metal,” which presents 100 years of history and art of the motorcycle. The latest exhibit will be open to the public through March 11, 2007 at the museum’s Clark Gallery. The exhibit costs $7 for adults, $4 for children and consists of 40 motorcycles from a private collector who lent them to IMAS under anonymously. “Most of the motorcycles are the only ones left of its kind,” said Bertha Gonzalez, marketing officer at the museum. “They are all in running condition which is pretty unique for them being so old.” Included in this stunning show of chrome and horsepower are a 1914 Henderson - the star of the show for being one of the oldest and select few still in existence - and a 1949 Captain America Chopper Panhead, as featured in the movie “Easy Rider.” Other motorcycles included in this exhibit are the 2004 Orange County

Genesis Moreno/The Pan American GET YOUR MOTOR RUNNIN’ - IMAS’ new exhibit “Moving Metal,” presents its patrons with one of the world’s most stunning and complete collections of motorcycles.

Chopper, one of the world’s premiere custom-made motorcycles, and a 2004 West Coast Chopper, one of only 200 built since 1980. According to Gonzalez, this exhibit was put on with the purpose of inspiring young people in the fields of engineering, mechanics and design.

“We want to show the community the art and history of the motorcycle,” she said. “It’s important for them to see how they are used as a form of expression by those who collect and customize them.” Gonzalez added that this exhibit is one of a kind and, quite possibly, the

most complete collection in the world. Additionally the museum has received a lot of compliments from people that have visited since it went up in late September. Gil Rios, a mechanical engineering major at The University of Texas-Pan American, attended and was stunned.

“There were so many beautiful motorcycles together in one place, that I didn’t know which one to look at,” Rios said. “Just when I was trying to concentrate on one, another caught my eye. It is just an amazing exhibit.” He added that as an engineering student, it is a great opportunity to take a look at a much simpler mechanic and more basic components. “We are used to seeing more complex motorcycles,” said Rios. “The 1913 Indian Board Track Racer, which was my favorite one, is so simple and classic. That made me fall in love with it.” IMAS invites visitors to journey down the road of the motorcycle legacy and take a closer look at what makes these marvelous machines of modern culture so appealing. “We hope that everyone can make it out here,” said Aleida Garcia, registrar at IMAS. “It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to take a closer look at this amazing collection. Most of these bikes I had never seen in my life.” For more information on “Moving Metal” contact IMAS at (956) 682-1564, visit them at www.imasonline.org, or drop by at 1900 Nolana Ave. in McAllen.

New comedy shows love possible at any age By TREY SERNA The Pan American Every winter the Rio Grande Valley becomes home to thousands of Winter Texans who travel south, usually from the Midwest. These “snow birds,” as they’ve been nicknamed, enjoy the warmer temperatures the Valley has to offer during the season, and are the inspiration behind University of TexasPan American professor Eric Wiley’s latest play. Wiley, a Philadelphia native and a seventh-year professor at UTPA, wrote a play titled “Late Bloomers,” which made its premiere Wednesday and runs through Sunday. His inspiration for writing the play was sparked when he moved to the Valley and heard about the life of Winter Texans in the area, and then saw it first-hand. “The play is about a Winter Texan who falls in love with a local woman and at the end of the season, he decides

not to go home in March,” said Wiley. “The man’s daughter has to then come and try to take him home.” Ali Naqvi, a junior TV/film major, auditioned for the sentimental comedy as a requirement for class. “For Dr. Monta’s acting III class, we have to audition for a main stage play as a requirement,” Naqvi said. According to him, a “main stage” play is any performance that takes place at the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building. Naqvi has read for other parts at auditions and practices, but in the end got the role of Jimmy Swanson, a 64year-old Winter Texan who lives in a “snow bird” park. “He’s the really loud, obnoxious one out of the group. He rips on everyone,” said Naqvi. “He’s really hardheaded and a big pain in the ass.” This is Naqvi’s first major speaking role on a main stage play and he says

that there’s “a lot of new talent in this show.” Naqvi says preparation for the play has been long and tiring, but everyone involved wants to give the best show they can and make Wiley’s vision come to life the way he imagined. “Since [Wiley] wrote it, it’s his vision. As we go along, he can change it until he sees what he imagined. He knows what he wants,” said Naqvi. “We’ve been at it non-stop because we want to get it as perfect as possible.” The play’s reference to Winter Texans - something every Valley native can relate to - is sure to hit home, especially for the subjects. “A lot of our spectators for our plays are Winter Texans or retirees,” said Wiley. “Late Bloomers” will be performed at the Jeffers Theatre through Saturday at 8 p.m. each night and Sunday at 2 p.m. Reserved seating is $12 and gener-

Tom Grabowski NEVER TOO OLD FOR LOVE - Kelly Haime stars as Connie Finch in Eric Wiley’s new play “Late Bloomers.”

al seating is $8. UTPA students, staff and faculty get two free admissions with a valid UTPA ID.

For more information, or for special accommodations, call (956) 381-3581.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

November 16, 2006

aute cuisine is a boast of luxury. Take for instance foie gras. According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the decadent ingredient “is made from the grotesquely enlarged livers of male ducks and geese.” Essentially the birds are kept in cages and food is piped down their throats until their livers “become diseased and swell to up to 10 times their normal size,” says the activist organization. It’s delicious. But it’s highly impractical. And at $50 per pound, the food item can

easily be ruled out as a necessity. According to Andrew Donnenburg, co-author of “Becoming a Chef,” the first known modern restaurant was a soup kitchen that opened in Paris, France, circa 1765. It’s proprietor, M. Boulanger, claimed his broths were nourishing and had health benefits. According to legend, a sign outside the establishment said, “Boulanger sells restoratives fit for the gods.” In the waning years of the 18th century, the French

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

November 16, 2006

Revolution led to the displacement of aristocratic chefs whose employers were economically ruined or beheaded. This propelled a popularization of restaurants established by cooks accustomed to preparing food to suit wealthy tastes. Since then the food service industry has been divided along economic lines. Sometimes the purpose of a restaurant is to dazzle its patrons with culinary flare, delighting their senses no matter the cost and welcoming their presence. More often, eateries aim

to feed customers quickly and affordably, capitalizing on quick table turnarounds. Fortunately for budgetminded individuals who have been exposed to finer tastes, a description that generally encompasses most college students, these philosophies can converge. When they do, an affordable quality restaurant is the product. And while a four-star dining experience is gloriously notable, practicality is often the lynchpin of our decision-making processes. Tiffany Anders, Valley native a n d

sous-chef of McAllen’s highly praised Bistro M, agrees that food more often than not needs to be easy. “I work at an awesome restaurant, but most of the time I don’t eat fancy food,” Anders said. “I love food. It’s what I do. But I don’t need everything to be four star.” Fortunately the Rio Grande Valley has several dining options that meet deliciously in the middle. Here are five affordable restaurants, chosen by food service professionals, which consistently deliver good meals.

Arturo’s Nuevo Progreso, Frontera Tamaulipas

The Blue Onion 925 Dove Ave., McAllen 423 South International Blvd., Weslaco The Blue Onion is arguably the best place for lunch in the Rio Grande Valley – waiting for a table is expected. At both locations diners can find affordable filling fare. Though primarily a pizza joint, The Blue Onion also offers fabulous salads, sandwiches and soups made fresh daily. Run with a “from scratch” philosophy, the restaurant makes its d o u g h , sauces a n d dressings i n

Story By: Brian Carr

Layout By: Roy Bazan

house. Dressings can be purchased in larger quantities to be enjoyed at home - a definitive sign of popularity. All menu items are under $10, and a single pizza can satisfy two average appetites, and is the best around. The grilled flat bread with chevre and roasted garlic is a slamming start, and the small but sound wine selection helps to elevate the dining experience for special occasions. Open Monday through Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Arturo’s is unparalleled in terms of service. The white linen mentality and multiple dining room attendants ensure that every detail is seen to. The border-town restaurant is celebrating its 50th year of service and that success is largely due to quality, consistency and a menu that boasts myriad choices. Arturo’s food is slightly ambitious. The standouts include roasted cabrito, tampiquena, and chalupas. And the dining experience can be entirely affordable as long as you don’t order a steak or seafood. The guacamole is paramount, and the margaritas, though strong, never disappoint. The perfect beginning to an afternoon of browsing, Arturo’s is worth the drive, if for no other reason than to see the waiter’s precision water-pouring skills and seamless service. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Le Lai 2901 N. 10th St., Suite K, McAllen Le Lai opened last year during an influx of Pan-Asian restaurants in the Valley. Fresh is the mantra of the minimalist cuisine, and Le Lai achieves great successes by marrying peak ingredients. Owner Li-Ni-Tu’s newest restaurant is a slight departure from her family venture Dai Tung, which focuses on northern Chinese cuisine. At Le Lai menu items reflect

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a collective Asian theme. Roast duck with basil is hauntingly savory and aromatic, and the tart but balanced beef and mango salad is unique and addictive. The dining room is a little too ordinary but service is solid, and the food is creative, affordable and delicious. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Las Palmas 4703 McAllen

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Rd.,

Though essentially a burger joint, Las Palmas has perfected the American staple. Using Bob Stark’s ground beef and only the freshest ingredients helps to bolster the burger, which comes with generously portioned baskets of French fries, and chips and homemade salsa are complimentary. During Lent the restaurant serves fried fish on Fridays. There are daily specials and a solid Mexican food menu. A family owned restaurant, Las Palmas capitalizes on comfort. The dining room is extremely casual. You almost feel like you’re at a backyard barbecue as you sip on beer and munch on burgers. The restaurant does not take credit cards, however, so bring cash. Open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

La Mexicana 4300 N 2nd St., McAllen La Mexicana has figured out large-scale Mexican dining. They’ve had to sacrifice some mom-and-pop charm, but the result is a consistent dining experience. Diners are met with complimentary cups of charro beans, chips and salsa. The menu, which includes more traditional Mexican ingredients like mollejas, offers several affordable selections, and the large black tables invite diners to linger as long as possible. The guacamole prepared tableside ads excitement to the experience, and the mollejas de res, that are smoky and delicious. They also have a full bar, with several options to choose from. Open Monday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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Arturo’s Nuevo Progreso, Frontera Tamaulipas

Story By: Brian Carr

Layout By: Roy Bazan

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Las Palmas 4703 McAllen

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A&E

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‘Fiction’ proves more enjoyable than fact By FRANK CALVILLO The Pan American

History reinvented at local San Benito landmark By VICTORIA MANNING

The Pan American Outside there is a thumping sound that patrons hear as they get out of their car, swinging their hips and walking faster into the building. Inside it is a time warp linking generations dressed in blue jeans and cowboy hats with those in Stacy Adams shoes with extra soles attached, starched khaki pants and button-up shirts. Pachucos, kickers and all the working class gente called this place home every weekend 60 years ago. Miguel Diaz, owner of La Villita, is trying to revitalize the place today. Located on Robertson Street in San Benito, La Villita may look like a hole in the wall to a bystander; but locals know this diamond in the rough is a testament to the indigenous music of conjunto. Built in the early 1940s, La Villita started as a dance floor and stage that transported patrons from personal obscurity to being kings and queens of the dance floor. In the 1980s, the music practically died at La Villita until Diaz assumed ownership, in late 2005. According to Diaz, the previous owners were not interested in holding dances until the business re-opened. “It was a coincidence. I was looking for some acreage to build a place when a realtor told me about this place,” Diaz said. In his teens, Diaz had been a regular at La Villita and fondly remembers its look.

“I started coming here 45 years ago and it had walls, but no roof,” he said. Diaz adds that other people who frequented La Villita in the past are amazed at the sight of the original relics. “You can see the nostalgia in the people’s faces when they walk in, like the blue benches, those are the originals,” Diaz said. “Back then the single girls used to sit in them and the guys would ask them if they wanted to dance. If the girl said no, they went on to the next one until someone said yes.” Other patrons have recounted to Diaz how La Villita affected their life in a particular way. “Some people will point to a certain table and say that is where they would sit with their girlfriend, or tell me this is where they met their wife,” Diaz said. For some people, La Villita is the birthplace of a music career. “Ruben Vela initiated his career here, he told me personally,” Diaz said. “He played the accordion here when he was 12. He told me how he didn’t have a band but they (performers at La Villita) would let him play; and the band would accompany him with their instruments.” Diaz’s eyes widened as he looked away in thought to roll off the list of famous conjunto artists who have passed through La Villita, remembering each performance. “This is the place where famous bands like Conjunto Bernal, Ruben Vela, Los Relampagos…I could go on and on…initiated their careers,” he

said. “They are very famous amongst the folks here and they are appreciated by them.” Conjunto music is important to the locals because it is their own; the songs are real and pertain to real life. “Ninety-eight percent of the people here were working class. They were restaurant helpers, field workers, and gas station attendants,” Diaz said. It is a music that culturally reflects their sentiment and troubles. Ultimately, conjunto is a genre of music that Mexican Americans can relate to. “After working really hard throughout the week, this is the place where they could come and forget all of their troubles,” Diaz said. Approximately 60 years ago, Mexican Americans were segregated and at times oppressed in society, but La Villita served as the equalizer for all patrons who for once, didn’t feel like second-class citizens. Conjunto music is something special that its listeners can identify with and take personal ownership of. “It is something that the working class enjoys, and I had no idea how important this music is to the people of San Benito until I opened this place,” Diaz said. La Villita is a folk landmark for people who loved going to el baile every weekend, in a time when in the outside their lives were hard and unappreciated. Today, Diaz is working hard every weekend to bring down quality bands and attract former patrons to the place where their love affair with conjunto began.

Every now and again, a person may see a trailer for an upcoming movie that tells them more or less where the plot is g o i n g . “Stranger than Fiction” is not one of those movies. In fact if one were to watch the trailer to this unique comedy (which many have, thanks to an overt marketing campaign) it’s evident that the appeal of “Stranger than Fiction” for moviegoers would be to find out how the events shown could actually happen. The film tells the story of renowned, yet frustrated novelist Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson) who is having trouble finding out a way to kill off Harold Crick, the main character in her new novel. Little does she know that her fictional character really does exist in the form of an IRS agent by the same name (Will Ferrell), whose monotonous life begins to go haywire after he starts hearing Eiffel’s voice from above as she is writing her novel. Unfortunately it also happens to be Harold’s real life. The film definitely has a number of elements working for it. Foremost among these is the script’s comedy. Rather than subject Ferrell’s or anyone else’s character to an onslaught of mindless physical humor, the filmmakers have instead chosen to find their comedy in the everyday. Simple actions such as the closing of a door or squeaking shoes evoke laughter from the audience not just by themselves, but because of the situations that accompany them. Also the banter exchanged by the characters proves to be both witty and clever, while still remaining true to life. The script itself is definitely one of the better ones that has come out of Hollywood in a long time. With a combination of laughs, brains and heart, the story helps to elevate the film to a special level which allows it to be highbrow while remaining resonant with the average moviegoer.

Much of the film’s charm lies in its top-notch cast. Ferrell, who plays the same wacky character in every film he has taken on in the past, gives a beautifully restrained performance as Harold, exuding a sympathetic subtlety. If there was one performance Ferrell should be remembered for, it’s this one. Thompson as the God-like author, who holds Harold’s fate in her hands, has fun playing author Eiffel. As one of the most versatile actresses in film, Thompson succeeds in making her character neurotic and reclusive, while at the same time reflecting her humanity and vulnerability. The rest of the cast cruises through the film with varying degrees of success. Dustin Hoffman is quirky and funny as the offbeat English professor who helps Harold with his dilemma. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s performance - as the local baker who Harold eventually falls for - borders somewhere between annoying and flaky. And Queen Latifah, as a literary assistant, is generally wasted in her role, spending the majority of her first scene repeating Thompson’s dialogue and contributing less and less as the film progresses. There is only one flaw to be found, but it is a large one. As an audience, we are never let in on just how Karen was speaking to Harold. We don’t know why he could hear her or why it suddenly began and ended. Instead, the filmmakers are hoping that the audience will be so captivated by the lessons of the film, they won’t notice these unanswered questions. Lucky for them, it kind of works. Directed by Marc Forster, the man responsible for the heart-tugging “Finding Neverland,” “Stranger” offers viewers more than just a comedy. Its themes of the appreciation of life and the way some people choose to live it may strike a chord with the majority of society today. And the film asks perhaps one of the most universal questions of all: are we waiting around to die or are we actually living our lives?

THE MEANING OF LIFE - Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) tries to find out why he hears his life being narrated in the new comedy ‘Stranger Than Fiction.’

NEWS

November 16, 2006

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SAFETY continued from page 1 “In a lock-down, every student in the building must remain in the building,” said May. “All doors are locked, even classroom doors, and windows are covered with curtains, During code brown, only staff and teachers are allowed outside the building and parents are able to pick up their children only by following strict requirements. “Parents can pick up their child, but they must show identification and explain the motive for picking up their

child, and previous notice of their arrival is required,” said Gonzales. “Once it is all clearly identified and secured that it is a legitimate reason, the child is free to go.” Code black is the most severe of all and the newest one to be implemented in the 2006 school year. It signifies that someone on campus or close by has a weapon and is a potential danger. Under this warning, a lock-down is experienced, and no one, not even teachers or staff, may leave or enter the building.

“No one is allowed to leave or to come into the campus because we don’t know what is going on for sure,” said Gonzales of the black situation. While no school from McAllen, Donna or Edinburg has ever experienced a code black, two browns were instituted at a Donna elementary school this year. “One occurred when the La Villa inmates escaped and another was due to a domestic disturbance between a couple,” said Gonzales. In addition, the red code signifies a

fire drill, and calls for all people in the building to evacuate. Blue code reflects a medical emergency. Orange code signifies flooding or severe weather, code yellow implies a bus accident, green code means to resume normal operations. However, the color-code warning system is not the only new school safety measure. This year, McAllen ISD perfected a visitor management system in all 30 of its schools. This system began in McHi three years ago and is now in

full effect at all city schools. The visitor management system works from a machine located at the front desk of schools that scans a person’s driver’s license and issues a visitor’s pass in the form of a sticker that must be placed on the person’s chest. On the pass is the person’s name, address, time of entry and destination of visit. “This process takes about five seconds and at the same time checks databases for the person’s criminal record,” said May.

dad and no other variation is obsolete in today’s world.” According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Web site, the guidelines also clearly state the Church’s opposition to gay marriages or “any semblance thereof.” It also discourages homosexual couples from adopting children, since these same-sex unions are “contrary to the divine plan.” “You could call it a step in the right direction, but it’s still filled with discriminatory language,” said Adriana Szumilewicz, a recent UTPA graduate and former treasurer of Gamma Lambda Beta, the university’s gay/straight alliance.

The Church still has a lot of catching up to do, according to Szumilewicz. She added that while the Church can’t be expected to make drastic changes overnight, it can still lessen the rejection many gays and lesbians face in society. “I read their letter to parents of homosexual children, and although there were sections that addressed the feelings many gays and lesbians face while struggling with sexuality and religion, much of the letter still contained the type of language and ideas that keep homosexuals from staying with the Church,” said Szumilewicz. The letter, titled “Always Our

Children,” addressed the conflicting feelings friends and families of homosexuals face while trying to sort out their religious beliefs and personal relationships. The guidelines also stated that while the “cause” for homosexuality is unknown, therapy has been found useful by some; still, there is no moral obligation for those in the Church to attempt it. The Diocese of Brownsville, responsible for all the Catholic churches in Cameron, Willacy, Hidalgo and Starr Counties, declined to comment until after the bishops conclude their conference, which is in Baltimore, Md. today.

CHURCH continued from page 1 welcomed into the Church and not kept from Christ. The guidelines address issues that affect church participation and ministry. One key point states that those who have same-sex attractions yet live according to Church doctrine, should be encouraged to actively participate in their faith. Furthermore, the guidelines stated that Church policies should reject unjust discrimination and harassment, provide a way to handle complaints made by gay parishioners, and encourage the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or confession, in their journey for holiness. “I don’t think that being gay keeps

someone from God’s love. If everything he created has a purpose and is according to his plan than why wouldn’t that include gays and lesbians?” asked Kristin Maldonado, a sophomore biology major from Harlingen. Maldonado added that while the Catholic Church doesn’t have an obligation to sanction same-sex unions, it does need to be more supportive of families led by same-sex couples. “Kids whose parents are homosexual should still be accepted in the Church. They should be welcomed just like any other child,” Maldonado said. “The idea of family being a mom and

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NEWS

Page 12

PLAGIARISM CENTER continued from page 3 continued from page 3 in many cases results in suspension or expulsion. “I think it’s just a time-saver for most of them,” said Little. “I don’t set out to find plagiarism. If I find it I staple the original to the front, give them a zero, and talk to them about it. I don’t want to crush their career over a mistake like that.” Little said the first year he taught the writing class, in fall of 2004, seven out of the 22 students had “blatant” plagiarism. “I read a few pieces and there it was, word for word,” he recalled. When confronted with plagiarism accusations, most students offered responses of disbelief and ignorance, Little added. Chris Miller, a history professor, said one of the best ways to prevent plagiarism is to clearly explain to students what it is, because many newcomers to college do not understand the notion of intellectual property. To do so, he designed a teaching method with professor David Gardner, of the University of Hong Kong, to inform students about what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. “Before I used this method, things were out of hand,” said Miller. “More then half of the students were plagiarizing in one way or the other. Avoiding plagiarism is an exercise in effective writing.” Miller added that he screens all of his papers, not just the questionable ones. “Everybody goes through the same filter,” said Miller. “If you only run the ones you think are suspicious you’re only punishing those that aren’t good at it.” The trial period for MyDropbox ends with the fall semester. Urbina said the university will have to determine how many faculty members have used it and whether it’s worth paying the price of the software before deciding if it will become a permanent program. “Right now the software is not very active,” said Urbina, “but we think this will change toward the end of the semester.” For more information on My Drop Box go to the Web site at www.mydropbox.com.

said the CIA was coming to UTPA. MEChA researched the issue and obtained faculty-faculty e-mails by filing a Freedom of Information Act request in April 2006. Reidhead had a meeting with the SBS faculty and took a vote on the proposal. Garcia said he left the meeting with about 38 pros and eight faculty members against the program. “This shows dishonesty, because he did not include any other colleges in his meeting. And he used this census to show that he had support for the pro-

gram,” Garcia said. Reidhead, however, said that everyone must “understand the university guidelines of applying for a grant.” Every college has the right to apply for the grant it wishes for, meaning the primary discussions for a grant proposal do not need to be publicly announced, he added. Garcia also claimed that Reidhead hinted in his e-mails that they want to extend their high school outreach program junior high and elementary schools. However, Reidhead said that he plans to have only a high school out-

November 16, 2006

reach program, since it would be currently difficult to reach down to the junior high level. Garcia added that Reidhead plans to have camps on campus where middle school and high school students will be informed about the programs and opportunities they can find with the FBI, CIA and other like agencies. “Reidhead claims that the camps will teach them how to become analysts, but it is also aimed for generating operatives,” Garcia said. Reidhead assured that generating

operatives was not one of the goals of the program. “We don’t know how to do it, and we don’t want to do it,” Reidhead said. “Some of them might become operatives, but it is because they want to become operatives. Our job is to inform, and it is their (the agencies’) job to recruit.” Before confirming that the ICCAE program will begin in fiscal year 20072008, it must first pass through the curriculum committee and consequently have its final vote by the Faculty Senate.

parents cheering on their children, said. “The other teammates look up to him for that, because he can really inspire them.” Special Olympics hosts several bowling tournaments every November, each aimed at a different age group. But, bowling is only one of the sports offered each year. “We start off the year in February with basketball, for which we have team play as well as individual skills,” Cruz said. “Then we have our track and field in April. That consists of anywhere from a ten-meter wheelchair race to an eighthundred-meter run.” Special Olympics is a non-profit

organization and all events are free for participants. Because of this, volunteers are essential. “Volunteers are the Special Olympics’ lifeline,” Cruz said. “Without volunteers, our organization would not run. They’re the ones that run our events – the officials, timekeepers, score keepers, measurers. I need volunteers for every event.”

BOWLING continued from page 3 for him and his teammates. “The coaches are the best. They teach us well,” Longoria said. “They always tell us to bump it up and do our best.” But for Longoria, bowling is also a family tradition. In addition to the help he gets from his coaches, he gets pointers from his mother, Lillie Longoria, who has participated in league bowling

in the past. “I try to teach him as much as I can,” she said. Robert Longoria, who came in third in his division on Saturday, is passionate about motivating and encouraging his teammates. “He’s like their little mentor. You should see him when he gets them all together,” Lillie Longoria, one of many

Special Olympics will host a tournament aimed at the 12-15 and 30-plus age groups this Saturday in Brownsville. For information on volunteering for the event, contact Cruz at gcruz@sotx.org.

Sidney Meadows/ The Pan American Sidney Meadows/ The Pan American CONCENTRATION - Alejandro Moreno, who attends Hanna High School in Brownsville, takes his turn at the Special Olympics bowling tournament.

INSPIRED - Luis Cordova (left), a sophomore at Hidalgo High School, and Magda Valadez, a junior at HHS, show off their medals alongside Barbara Montalvo (center), special education head coach at HHS.

BLOGS continued from page 3 “I tried to help him understand what real Islam was, but he had already made up his mind. Nothing I said was going to change his mind.” She enjoys blogging on the site because of what others say in their responses; feedback and interactivity are two of the phenomenon’s most appealing elements. “For every blog you do, all these kids want to give you feedback. If they

don’t agree with something, they’ll start debating about it,” Nasir said. Users who participate in the scholarship game receive points for posting entries on their blog, reading other entries on the site, and posting comments. Nasir has only been blogging for about a month and doesn’t anticipate winning the scholarship this semester, which ends Dec. 4, but she is going to use the experience to prepare for the

next round of competition. She recently became one of the featured bloggers on the Progressive U Web site. The honor has helped to increase her exposure and attract more comments. “I like how it’s making me a better writer. I can collect my ideas and expand on them,” she said. Besides winning the competition, she would like to help enrich herself and her readers.

“My main goal is to help other people gain more knowledge and obtain a better understanding. I also want to learn too, because I can’t say I know everything,” Nasir said. Progressive U hopes the participants in the program will develop skills that they can take into their future ventures. They also hope bloggers will take their participation to the streets. Price said the most important thing

students will get out of the competition is awareness. “Progressive U’s site allows students to be aware of what’s going on in their neighborhoods as well as their world. It’s important for students to interact with their peers to learn more about their surroundings,” Price said. For more information on Progressive U, visit www.progressiveu.org.

SPORTS

November 16, 2006

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Men’s soccer ends successfully, women finish 1st year strong By PATRICK KENNEDY The Pan American The University of Texas-Pan American men’s and women’s soccer clubs have officially completed the fall season and have left their mark as serious contenders in South Texas soccer, having beaten some of the nation’s best “We’re very happy with this past season, and we are very much looking forward to next season,” said Bronc Soccer Club President Luis Aguirre, a junior criminal justice major from Alamo. The men’s team defeated The University of Texas at Brownsville 2-1 Oct. 21. The win over UTB allowed UTPA to advance to the postseason in the Collegiate Club Soccer Association’s Region IV Tournament in San Marcos. In the first match of their bracket, UTPA defeated Texas A&M University 2-1 and then beat Texas Christian University 1-0. These two wins allowed the men to advance to the semifinals, where just one loss would result in elimination from the tournament. The Broncs were finally knocked out by LSU, in a 1-1 tie. Because of the tie, officials decided to declare a winner by the number of penalties that each team had racked up during the game. UTPA had more penalties than LSU, and was eliminated from the tournament. “We didn’t really lose by not scoring enough, so we are happy with our performance against Louisiana,” said Aguirre. The trip to the Region IV tournament was UTPA’s second in a row. Although they entered this season unranked, the Broncs finished the season ranked fifth in the CCSA’s Region IV, and in first place in the Lone Star Men’s South Division, a goal which the men’s team had set for itself. The team suffered only one loss in the regular season, to the University of Texas-San Antonio 3-1 on Oct. 8. The women also made strides this past season, with as 2-5-1 record and a fourth-place finish in the Women’s Second Division. “We all feel that the women did a good job this season. They didn’t get as much practice in before the season started as we’d hoped, but we will work on that next time,” said Aguirre. After two seasons of competition, Aguirre feels confident that the program will continue to grow next year. “All of our girls are coming back for next season,” he said.

Women’s Basketball Fri. Nov. 11 Univ. of Texas-Pan American at Centenary College (Gold Dome in Shreveport, La.) Univ. of Texas-Pan American (2-0) Daniel 1-4 0-1 2, Schneider 1-2 0-0 2, Grigsby 4-7 1-2 10, Gray 5-10 0-3 11, Vaughn 9-14 2-3 22, Wilson 0-1 0-1 0, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Freeman 0-0 0-0 0, Garrett 1-1 0-0 2, Jean 4-4 0-0 14, Woodard 0-0 0-0 0, Coulson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-44 10-18 65. Centenary (0-2) Wilkins 11-19 5-11 31, Aleksic 3-13 0-2 7, Jefferson 2-7 1-4 5, Bush 0-5 0-2 0, Gillespie 1-7 0-3 3, Bothwell 0-5 0-1 0, Way 0-1 0-1 0, Forest 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-57 6-13 46. Upcoming Games Nov. 18 Nov. 21 Nov. 24

Univ. of Louisiana at Layette Schreiner Univ. @ Texas State Univ. Texas State Univ. Tournament

2:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m.

Men’s Basketball Fri. Nov. 10 Incarnate Word at Univ. of Texas-Pan American (Edinburg) Incarnate Word (0-2) Bradshaw 3-5 3-5 1-3 10, Bell 2-6 0-1 4, Williams 2-4 0-0 6, Ibrahim1-4 1-3 4, Grant 3-11 0-0 8, Smith 5-6 0-1 10, Sanchez 0-1 0-1 0, Farahani 1-3 0-1 2, Shorter1-2 0-1 3, Tennison 45 0-0 8. Totals 22-47 7-14 55. Univ. of Texas-Pan American (2-0) Stoll 2-3 2-3 6, Burrell 7-13 1-7 5, Shankle 2-9 1-5 10, Lien 8-12 0-0 21, Allgood 1-2 0-0 2, Puente 0-0 0-0 0, Edwards 2-4 0-0 4, Chatman 3-7 2-6 8, Sheppard 1-1 0-0 2, Robinson 24 0-0 5, Smith 0-1 0-1 0, Trader 1-4 0-0 3, Buck 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 12-21 76. Upcoming Games

Onydia Garza/The Pan American FIELD OF GREEN - Both men’s and women’s soccer teams ended the 2006 soccer season, with the men’s team advancing to the semi-finals of the Collegiate Club Soccer Association’s Region IV Tournament. The first-year women’s team ended their first season with a fourth-place finish in their divison.

Nov. 18 Nov. 21 Nov. 27

Texas State Univ. @ Univ. of Texas-Arlington Univ. of Texas-Arlington

4:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m.

SPORTS

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November 16, 2006

Broncs ready to head home for holidays By SAVANNAH MARTINEZ The Pan American Thanksgiving break is coming and coaches and athletes of all sports are wrapping up the fall season. Many are relieved and look forward to vacation time to reconnect with family and loved ones. “I’ll be spending this Thanksgiving with my father for the first time, since I’m originally from New Jersey. Hopefully we are going to grab ourselves some turkey and sit down and eat,” said junior track and field athlete Noah Reyna. “It takes two days, but with family up there it’s great and hopefully I can continue the tradition down here with my family.” Others will use the off time to remain in peak condition for next season in addition to spending time with family. “This Thanksgiving holiday I’m

going to work out, stay in shape and get ready for the spring season,” said junior baseball player Steven Davila from Weslaco. “We are all going to get together at my grandparents’ house. After we eat we do a ritual football game. We call it the ‘Turkey Bowl’ and then afterward we watch football and hang out.” Some unfortunately are unable to see their family but instead will be spending this Thanksgiving holiday with friends instead. Several UTPA tennis players from Canada will be in Houston. “Megan Bedeau and I are going to a friend’s house. They invited us over for some turkey dinner and we are looking forward to the food,” said freshman tennis player Stephanie Willerding. She said the holidays won’t be the same, though, without family. “My mom makes the best stuffing and I’m going to miss that this season because we can’t go home to Canada.”

Freshman tennis player Sarah Burton, also from Canada, will also celebrate the day at a friend’s house in Houston. She anticipates celebrating Thanksgiving her hosts’ way. “We’re just going hang out with his family and do whatever family traditions they do. It will be something new,” Burton said. Sophomore tennis player Roscendo Cantu, a native of Houston, is excited about the break because it will give her a chance to see her family, whom she hasn’t seen in three months. “I plan on spending four days in Houston with my parents. We are all going to meet up there and have a big old fun tennis time,” Cantu said. “Our Thanksgiving tradition is praying; we all stand in a big wide circle and pray at the table before we get our grub on.” Many look forward to the feast in its entirety and cannot pick a favorite

dish out of the much anticipated meal. “I really don’t have a favorite dish because I just stuff my mouth. I really just mix everything and stuff it like a blender,” Cantu said. Family time shares the stage with eating, especially various dressings and desserts. “What I really love about Thanksgiving is family,” said women’s assistant basketball coach Chelsea Bell. “I like being able to eat all the turkey and dressing and the ham, and all the dessert that my grandma cooks.” Swimming class coach Travis Hughes is waiting to sample his aunt’s special holiday dish. “My favorite dish is sweet potatoes with the marshmallows on top,” Hughes said. “My Aunt Beverly makes them the best. I look forward to that every year; it’s the only time she makes them.” New track and field coach Hugo

Cervantes is waiting for his mom’s special dish. “My favorite dish has to be my mom’s mole. It is the best ever,” said the Mission native. For one Bronc, Thanksgiving is a new holiday and will be combining the usual traditions with cultural ones. “We are originally from the Bahamas so we cook a lot of Caribbean food,” said assistant track and field coach Dennis Darling. “We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving on the island but since we’ve been living here, it’s a holiday so we celebrate it.” Canadian Bedoe is looking forward to a tradition and good eats. “I’m hoping to get some good stuffing, turkey with some gravy, chicken pot pie, pumpkin pie, some apple pie, cherry pie - just lots of pies,” Bedoe said. “I look forward to saying what we’re thankful for.”

Volleyball season ends with win at tournament By KRISTYNA MANCIAS The Pan American The Lady Broncs posted a victory in their final volleyball match of the season at the National Independent Tournament held in Fargo, N.D., last weekend. UTPA took the match in three straight sets over Providence (30-22, 3129, and 30-21) in tournament play. Head coach Dave Thorn was extremely pleased about his team’s final outing this season. “This weekend went pretty well. We ended up winning our last match and we did it in convincing fashion, which is always a great way to end the season,” he said. Thorn said he was happy overall with the effort, even though they experienced a few setbacks. “In pool play on Friday the team played great. We just lost a couple of close ones,” said Thorn. “I’m happy with how the team was playing in the end and I certainly wish we could have won a couple of more, but those are some of the things that are out of your control.” The Orange and Green had three Lady Broncs post double-doubles. Kellie Phillips led her squad with 21 kills and 10 digs. Senior Heather Bravo collected 19 kills and 20 digs and setter Chelsea Blakely finished with a matchhigh 50 assists, and 12 digs. It has been a long tough season for the Lady Broncs as they finished with a

6-26 overall record. One thing that Thorn always preached to his squad was to remain positive and work hard. Two strong supporters that definitely will be missed next season are seniors Bravo and Karen Lyons. Both athletes made an impact on UTPA’s volleyball program. Earlier this season Bravo was recognized as the second player to reach 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs for her career and Lyons recorded 1,000 career digs and became the second player in program history to collect over 1,950 assists and 1,000 digs in her career.

“We’re going to miss them both on and off the court and I think they’re going to go off to do some great things in their lives.” - Head Coach Dave Thorn Thorn has enjoyed having both Bravo and Lyons through the years and is proud of all they’ve accomplished. “It’s always tough losing seniors but that’s the nature in the college game,” he said. “You’re always going to have seniors that are graduating. We were lucky we had a couple of great seniors and you can’t really look into replacing them. All you can do is look at how we take this new group and how do we make them the best team they can be. We’re going to miss them both on and off the court and I think they’re going to go off to do some great

things in their lives.” The supporting cast behind Bravo and Lyons is not to be forgotten. Several of the underclassmen posted outstanding individual statistics. Sophomores Philips, Blakely and middle blocker Deanna Schneyer all contributed offensively and defensively. “Kellie Phillips was our No. 2 offensive player this year and was real steady in our serve-receive,” Thorn said. “She’s been a starter for two years and she has two years to go. By her senior year she can be another Heather Bravo.” Thorn also has high expectations for Blakely and Schneyer. “Chelsea Blakely earned the starting job as a freshman as a setter last year and now she’s a sophomore,” Thorn said. “Chelsea made some great improvements this year and by the end of the season she was setting like I thought she would, she turned into a great leader for us. Deanna Schneyer, our middle blocker, was a real physical player for us at the net.” The Lady Broncs look forward to next season. Thorn had some final thoughts on the season. “To be honest I did everything that I felt that I could through the course of the season to help us be successful and unfortunately it didn’t carry over to the wins and losses like I had hoped,” he admitted. “Throughout the season I can look at the whole thing but to be honest I think I did everything that I could to try to help this team. I have no regrets in my regard.”

Onydia Garza/The Pan American POST SEASON - The Lady Broncs celebrated their season-ending win at the National Independent Tournament held in Fargo, N.D. They end this year’s campaign with a record of 6-26.

SPORTS

November 16, 2006

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Broncs open season with two victories By ERICK QUINTERO The Pan American Add two more victories to the win column for The University of Texas-Pan American men’s basketball team. The Green and Orange defeated Incarnate Word on Friday night at the Fieldhouse, 76-55. Then they traveled to San Antonio to face off against The University of Texas-San Antonio at the Alamodome on Sunday night and engaged in a defensive struggle, coming out on top, 64-54. It was never really a contest for UTPA when it faced Division II foe Incarnate Word, as Coach Tom Schuberth’s squad dismantled the Cardinals in convincing fashion. Colin Lien got off to a hot start for UTPA, scoring 16 of his game-high 21 points during the first half. Lien shot 8 of 12 from the field, 5 of 8 from the free throw line, grabbed five rebounds, and picked up one steal. “I think my point guards and the people on the perimeter are getting good space and giving me the ball when I’m open,” said the 6-foot-11 Waterloo, Iowa native. “I just took good shots and made a lot of them.” David Burrell, junior shooting guard, had another solid performance for

the Broncs. He complemented Lien’s 21 with 15 points of his own, connecting on 7 of 13 from the field, and had two steals. UTPA started the game on a 9-1 run when Burrell opened the game with a 3pointer at the 17:51 mark; it would be his only one for the game, as he missed his next six threes. A jumper by Lien, a couple of free throws by senior guard Dexter Shankle and a layup by Burrell gave the Broncs the early lead, one they would never give up. Shankle finished the game with 10 points, four steals and two assists. The correct defensive rotations paid huge dividends for the Green and Orange as they converted 28 points off of 31 Cardinal turnovers. The Broncs ended the game with 16 turnovers of their own but time and time again UTPA’s guard play disrupted Incarnate Word’s offense. The Broncs went into the half up 42-27, but came out sluggish in the second half. The Cardinals opened the game on a 16-4 run that made the score 46-41 with 14:39 left to play. “I told them to do what we’ve done all fall and in practice. I took two seconds and kicked them out of the huddle because there is not much I can say and they did respond. I was proud of them,”

Schuberth said. “It isn’t anything secretive what we do. It’s about execution and trying to get the ball to the right people.” The Broncs answered the Cardinal charge as they put together an impressive 12-2 run capped off by a Johnathan Chatman three-pointer with 11:28 left to play. The senior guard finished the game with eight points. The 21-point win marked Schuberth’s first official win at UTPA and as head coach of a Division I program. Schubert had been an assistant for 24 years prior to coming to Edinburg. SAN ANTONIO WIN The Alamodome will surely remember the Broncs. The win gives the Green and Orange a 2-0 record for the year. The Broncs had three players reach double-digits in scoring. Zach Trader, junior forward, played huge and led the Broncs with 14 points going 10 of 13 from the free throw line and making two of three field goals. Burrell and Shankle finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively. “I think the overall advantage was us being real aggressive. It all came within the offense … trying to get to the hole and trying to make some things happen,” Trader said. “Like coach said, we are not

at the top right now but it’s a turning point. We never really won back-to-back games (on the road) last year so it does show that this year is different.” Once again the Broncs played excellent defense, forcing UTSA to shoot 33.3 percent from the field; UTPA shot 37.8 percent. The difference proved to be the Broncs’ aggressive play on offense; they visited the free-throw line 37 times and connected on 27 attempts as opposed to the Roadrunners 16-of-22 shooting from the line. “We got them in foul trouble early and that’s one thing we like to do - attack the basket so we can get to the free throw line and fortunately we got the right guys to the line at the right time and they were able to make them,” Schuberth said. UTPA led at half 22-18 and outscored the Roadrunners 42-36 in the second half. The win gives the Broncs a bright new outlook for the remainder of the season. “I think it’s real good since we had a bad season last year. We all stayed together; none of us transferred,” Lien said. “You know when the going got rough we all stayed together as a group and we worked hard in the off-season and pre-season so everything is just working out.”

Lady Broncs off to winning start, sit at 2-0 By PATRICK KENNEDY The Pan American

Onydia Garza/The Pan American NOTHING BUT NET - Forward MaHogany Daniel looks for a good shot as the Lady Broncs against Texas A&M-International Tuesday. The Lady Broncs walked away with a 65-58 win.

The Gold Dome in Shreveport, La. exploded like Krakatoa last Saturday as The University of Texas-Pan American Lady Broncs basketball team blasted the Centenary Ladies both offensively and defensively 65-46 during their season opener. The Lady Broncs walked away from this major road victory with a 59.1 field goal percentage, holding Centenary to a lackluster 29.8 percent mark. The Lady Broncs also outrebounded the Centenary Ladies 41-23. “You couldn’t ask anything more from an opener,” said an enthusiastic head coach DeAnn Craft. “Any time you get a road win with double digits, it’s great,” she said. Saturday’s win came after the team won an exhibition match last week against Texas A&M Kingsville 55-51. “The focus of this group is at such a high level for being the beginning of the season,” Craft said, commenting on how well the team has meshed since the preseason. Offensively, four players scored in double digits, and all are newcomers to

the university. These four included freshman Rose Esther Jean from Missouri City, who racked up 14 points, junior Tamara Vaughn from Houston, who scored a team-high 24 points, freshman Aleeya Grigsby from Nacogdoches, who had 10 points, and junior LeKeisha Gray from Muskogee, Okla., who managed to put up 11 points.

“You couldn’t ask anything more from an opener. Any time you get a road win with double digits, it’s great.” - Head Coach DeAnn Craft With 11:57 left in the first half of the game, Jean scored and put UTPA over the top. After that, the Lady Broncs maintained their lead throughout the rest of the game. Centenary rallied back with less than nine minutes left in the second half, but only managed to come within 11 points of UTPA. The leading scorer of the night for the Centenary Ladies was senior Holli

Wilkins from Evadale, who put up 31 of her team’s 46 points, In a career-high for her. The Lady Bronc defense was hard at work throughout the entire game, even keeping the Centenary Ladies scoreless for a six-minute period. The only senior on the Lady Bronc basketball team, MaHogany Daniel from Corpus Christi, managed to gain 10 defensive rebounds, four steals, and three blocks. With solid games behind them now, the Lady Broncs look forward to the future. They face the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lady Cajuns at the Field House this Saturday at 2 p.m. Commenting on their upcoming game, Craft said, “[The Lady Cajuns] are a good team, and they are not afraid of us. We will have to match their intensity.” NOTES: UTPA’s women posted their second win of the season against Texas A&M-International 65-58 at the Field House. The team will be back on the court on Saturday as it hosts the University of Louisiana-Lafayette at the UTPA Field House at 2 p.m.

SPORTS By JORGE HINOJOSA The Pan American Dodge Arena will once again be the venue for HBO’s Boxing After Dark. On Nov. 25 Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, in association with Romanza Promotions, will present “Valley of Legends.” De La Hoya has kept his promise to return after he promoted a fight almost three years ago at Dodge Arena. “I think it is good for the Valley to get recognition like this because boxing is a super sport in America, and everyone knows that the big fights are always held in big cities across the nation such as Las Vegas or Atlantic City. It just brings the RGV to a higher level,” said Trea Hinojosa, a sophomore business major at The University of Texas-Pan American. The presentation will showcase Mexican threat Juan Manuel Marquez and young rising star Demetrius Hopkins. Hopkins will get a chance to reveal his talent and inch closer to the stature that his uncle Bernard Hopkins has earned. It will be nearly two months exactly since the last time HBO televised a bout from Hidalgo. The first time was Sept. 23, when superstar Jorge Arce of Mexico who headlined the event, and local fans appreciate the top-ranked talent coming to the area. “I enjoyed it a lot. HBO brought in Jorge Arce, who I have been a fan of after I saw him fight Hussein Hussein about a year ago,” said Jeff Guillen, a junior English major. Arce won with a TKO in the fourth round, so it was a fun night. It was mainly the caliber of

Arce that got me to go and why I enjoyed it so much.” Julio Chavez Jr. also fought at the event with support from his father, the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez. The legend gave appreciation to the crowded house, showing his thanks by weaving through the seats in the stands halfway around the arena as a wave of people followed him and applauded him. “The crowd was really taking the event in and having a good time,” Guillen said. There are scheduled to be a galaxy of stars on attendance Nov. 25; the list includes former world champions Lennox Lewis, Shane Moseley, Jesse James Leija, Raul Marquez, Jesus Chavez and De La Hoya, alongside Golden Boy Promotions partner Bernard Hopkins. They will sit ringside to view the main event between Marquez (45-3-1, Mexico City) and champion Jimrex Jaca (26-2-1O of Cebu City in the Philippines). Marquez’s WBO World Featherweight title will be on the line in the 12-round fight. Thanks to the promise De La Hoya kept to come back, Valley fans can get ahold of tickets for the battle. Marquez has been fighting for more than 13 years and in that time has established himself as a challenging opponent. His punches are accurate and his stamina and heart are overwhelming. In 2004 Marquez had an exhilarating fight against Manny Pacquiao which ended in a 12-round draw. In August, Marquez beat Terdsak Jandaeng, becoming the holder of the WBO featherweight title.

Editor’s Pick: Game to Watch When: Nov. 18 Time: 2:30 p.m. Where: Ohio Stadium Univ. of Michigan

Game will be aired on ABC

Marquez is also a former WBA and IBF champion. In the co-main event, Philadelphia native Hopkins (24-0-1), currently rated No. 5 in the super lightweight division by the USBA, will fight Rogelio Castaneda (23-10-3) in a battle for the IBF welterweight title. Abner Mares (9-0) of Guadalajara, Mexico) will fight the Dominican Republic’s Wilmer Rodriguez (8-0) in a 10-round bantamweight match. Also fighting on the bantamweight card will be nine-time Woman’s National Amateur champion Vanessa Juarez of Fort Worth (4-0) who will face Tonja Cravens (2-4-1, Albuquerque, N.M.) in a six-round fight. Juarez has a slew of relatives in Pharr and she should have a big crowd rooting for her in her second Valley fight. From “The Contender” TV show, Ishe Smith of Las Vegas (18-1) steps in the ring with Gilbert Venegas of Chicago (9-3-2) while Mission native Carlos Velasquez (2-3-1) will square off against Austin’s Gilbert Vera (5-0). Guillen is excited for a second chance to see some action. “I’m going to try and go again because Juan Manuel Marquez is a really good fighter,” he said. “For a boxing fan it’s worth paying for. The Dodge Arena is not very big so you have a decent view from anywhere.” Tickets are on sale at Dodge Arena and at all Dodge Arena outlets. You can also purchase tickets online at www.dodgearena.com or by calling 1-886-RIO-TIXX. The ticket prices are at $25-$200.

Ohio St.