Thursday March 27, 2008
59th Year No. 24
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
HEALTH
Hispanic food staples contributing to diabetes epidemic, expert says By J.R. ORTEGA The Pan American Ask Juanita Garza where her life was going health-wise five months ago and there is no definite answer. That is because last December, The University of Texas-Pan American history professor visited her doctor to check on a knee injury, but instead came out checking her blood sugar on a daily basis. It was at that moment that Garza recognized that her health needed to take the driver’s seat. Like one out of every four women over age 45 in the Rio Grande Valley, Garza found herself living with diabetes. Scared and distressed, she said she remembers the news came as a shock because no one in her family had a history of the disease. “I didn’t believe the doctor, I really didn’t believe her,” she said with a tilt in her voice. “I always thought, ‘No, you inherit it,’ but it really isn’t that way at all, you can get it all on your own.” Despite the shock, Garza decided not to accept it as a death sentence, but rather as a
Alternative choices Instead of
chance to search for a life-sentence through dieting the healthy way; a lifestyle which has helped her lose 29 pounds and lower her blood sugar and pressure significantly. “I used to have two tacos for breakfast, I had to quit that and go on cereal or oatmeal, but then I could also have fruit with that,” she said. “It’s getting use to a whole new way of eating.” Through the help of her doctor and friend, Elena Bastida, a sociology professor who has done copious research on diabetes, she managed to turn her life around and now said she lives virtually diabetes-free because of her healthier habits. PROMOTING CHANGE According to Bastida, a common misconception about diabetes is that it cannot be prevented. She admits there are extreme cases, like Type 1 diabetes, which is chronic, and where healthier eating and better knowledge of the disease cannot help. However, Type 2 diabetics can prevent or slow down its progression. Type 1 is most often hereditary and is the more severe type of diabetes and requires med-
other suggestions Instead of
flour tortillas
fried rice
Try
about 90 cals.
corn tortillas
about 70 cals.
See FOOD page 11
Try steamed rice
about 333 cals/cup
about 208 cals/cup
Sausage McSkillet
egg white corn tortilla taco
about 610 cals.
about 87 cals.
TH I S WE EK
Ben Briones/The Pan American
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES
NEWS Phishing scam targeting universities, IT warns See Page 3
ONLINE SECURITY
Author Chavez says Scam targets universities culture vital to writing By BOBBY CERVANTES The Pan American
A&E Student band opens for rock act at Dodge See Page 7
SPORTS German native tennis player on road to history See Page 16
By ABBY MUNIZ The Pan American From the get-go, Denise Chavez aimed to be a different kind of Distinguished Speaker than the ones who have come before her, such as Russian politician Mikhail Gorbachev and environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In her own words, “none of them talked about tacos.” Tonight, the wellregarded writer would talk about tacos.
In her presentation as the series’ final speaker of the school year, Chavez shared a few readings from her book, A Taco Testimony: Meditations on Family, Food and Culture, a Memoir of Food. Raised in New Mexico, Chavez received a bachelor’s degree in drama from New Mexico State University in 1971, a master’s degree in drama from Trinity University in 1974, and 10 years later, a master’s degree in creative writ-
See CHAVEZ page 11
In an era when technology has come a long way and is still advancing, phishing frauds continue to rise, with more than a 100-percent increase in new targets in 2007 compared to the two previous years. And now online scammers have their sights set on universities. Nearly a dozen colleges – including Princeton, Columbia and Purdue – have been targeted by an e-mail phishing fraud, reported the Internet security
company Security Focus. One attempt of identity thieves in particular, recently made public through a bulletin published by The University of Texas-Pan American’s Office for Information Technology and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, alerts students and teachers to a scam guised as a death threat. In the sample e-mail released in the bulletin, the author states that a friend has paid money to have the e-mail recipient killed, and warns not to call the police
See PHISHING page 11