Thursday April 10, 2008
59th Year No. 26
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
PAN AMERICAN DAYS
INTERNATIONAL
Castro’s daughter on Cuba Author Fernandez says country’s future is ‘hopeful’
By LUPE FLORES The Pan American
By SANDRA GONZALEZ
Castro and her mother, Natalia Revuelta Clews, had an affair while he was still married to his first wife. They even exchanged letters while he was imprisoned before taking over the nation in 1959. However, his secret was not secret for long. During one round of letter exchanges, the guard accidentally – though Fernandez suspects it was inten-
Next week will mark The University of Texas-Pan American’s 8th annual Pan American Days, a week featuring a variety of art exhibitions, special presentations, films and panel discussions conducted by professors and students around campus to help promote a better understanding of the Americas. Although the events only last throughout the school week, it takes six to nine months of brainstorming to line up speakers and presentations. Marilu Salazar, director of the Office of International Programs, said that a planning committee aims organized of students, faculty and staff helps decide on potential speakers and events. “After several brainstorming meetings, the group decides and votes on the theme, topics and speakers,” she said. “The names of the major speakers are submitted to the Offices of the Provost and the President. From there, we proceed to the formal invitation of the speakers.” According to Salazar, the committee is created on a voluntary basis every year. The OIP sends out mass e-mails to faculty and staff, and from there, students and other interested participants.
See FERNANDEZ page 11
See FESTIVITY page 11
The Pan American
THIS WEEK
Fidel Castro is a figure, not a man, to many Cubans. He is the cause of revolution, but also restrictions and isolation that have plagued the country since 1959. But to Alina Revuelta Fernandez, he’s not only a man, he’s “Dad.” It was as Cuba made its first wary steps into the deep waters of the Revolution in the late 1950s and early ‘60s that Fernandez – then a small child – had the most contact with Castro. It was a time she remembers in great detail, spotted with strange occurrences. Fernandez, 53, spoke about her father during this confusing time, and the future of her native country at the Student Union Theater Wednesday night. In her speech, sponsored by the University Program Board, Fernandez noted that since Fidel Castro has stepped down now, many things have started to change. Long-time restrictions on laptops and other electronics were erased by Fidel Castro’s brother Raul Castro, who assumed power in February, and this is a step in the right direction, she said. But it’s not a perfect world yet. “I think that the changes are interesting, because it’s the first time people have
Festivity set to begin next week
Ben Briones/The Pan American MEMOIR - Alina Revuelta Fernandez, estranged daughter of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, spoke on her native countryʼs perils and possibilities Wednesday night at the Student Union Theater.
certain freedoms for the last 50 years,” said Fernandez, a Miami resident. “The prohibitions were absurd and cruel.” Still unfair is the fact that residents must pay for their new freedoms in American dollars while their wages are given in pesos. “There are deeper problems and I don’t know how they are going to be solved,” she said. “But anything that is
going to give chance to the minority is hopeful.” The Cuba she sees developing now is a stark contrast to the one she saw as a child. As Fernandez read from the first chapter of her book, Castro’s Daughter: An Exile’s Memoir of Cuba, the crowd of about 120 sat listening attentively to the candid stories of that world the now estranged daughter had to tell.
UT SYSTEM
NEWS Eat healthy without breaking the bank See Page 3
A&E Student film project to feature Hollywood stars See Page 8 & 9
SPORTS Track team looks ahead to five remaining meets See Page 16
Chancellor to exit position, interim appointed Yudof accepts job with California University system By SANDRA GONZALEZ The Pan American University of Texas System Chancellor Mark Yudof is on his last weeks in the position after being appointed president of The University of
California recently. The University of California Board of Regents unanimously voted Yudof as UC’s 19th president March 27. He will replace Robert C. Dynes, who announced his intention to depart last summer after nearly five years at his post. The day before hearing the news, UTPA President Blandina Cardenas said she was sitting right next to Yudof at a meeting of the Chancelor’s Council, held at UTPA. “While we were getting ready to go into the reception we heard there was a
big story developing but we didn’t ask for any details,” she said. “The next day we found out this was it.” No official date has been set for his full departure, but Dynes said when announcing his exit last year that he intended to step down by June 2008. Cardenas lamented Yudof’s leavetaking, saying his exit would be the loss of a great friend to UTPA. “I was proud of him but not happy for us,” she said. “I think he had really gained a strong appreciation for what we are trying to do here at UTPA, and that’s
a relationship that takes time to build.” As chancellor, Yudof oversaw the System’s nine academic and six medical institutions. At UC he will manage 10 campuses, five medical centers and three national labs, in the country’s largest university group. Even with so much ground to cover, Cardenas said Yudof did a fine job of building relationships with each institution. “It’s not easy for a chancellor to get to know all the universities but he had
See YUDOF page 11