September 29, 2007

PAN

Volume 68, No. 5

T H E

U N I V E R S I T Y

O F

T E X A S - P A N

A M E R I C A N TM

AMERICAN www.panamericanonline.com

September 29, 2011

Erick Gonzalez/The Pan American

DAY 1

Science guy By Susan Gonzalez The Pan American HESTEC (Hispanic, Engineering, Science and Technology) Week kicked off its 10th year Monday with Educator Day plus symposiums by the College of Education and Science and Engineering. The latter drew a crowd of eager students wanting to catch a glimpse of engineer and television host Bill Nye the Science Guy. Many students, like senior biology major Mandy Carin, grew up watching Nye’s show. “I watched him growing up, so I was really excited to see what he’s doing nowadays,” Carin said. “I’m really glad that he’s authentic. He does practice green energy and supports sustainability and other world-changing methods of energy conservation.” As Carin said, one of the main focuses of Nye’s presentation was the need for energy conservation in a world with a growing population. “By Halloween, there will be 7 billion people on the world,” Nye said. “In my lifetime, the population more than doubled. I hope it does not more than double in your lifetime. But it will increase.” He went on to tie the theme of

HESTEC into his discussion. “Everyone wants you to do less,” he said. “Environmentalists want you to drive your car less, they want you to use less clean water - wear dirty clothes, and if you don’t have to, don’t eat. But just doing less is not going to do it. What we need to do is find ways to do more with less. And my friends, that is where you come in. That is where the scientists and the engineers of tomorrow are going to change the world.” As important as this week is to those who are in science and engineering fields, Mark Allen, a UTPA junior who attended the event dressed as the Transformer, Bumblebee, is proof that this event draws in students who study the humanities as well. “There’s something for everybody,” the social studies composite major said. “If you’re interested, why not go and hear about something in science and engineering? It’s going to help your life in one way or another. Especially with events like this, the speakers are just paying it forward. They’ve done their time in their youth and now they’re giving back to the community so that future generations know what kind of direction we need to go to. We need all majors to go to these things.” Allen, whose father is a forester and mother is a biologist, has been attending HESTEC events since 2007 due to his interest in science, engineering and technology. “2007 was definitely the most hands-on year,” he said. “We had the NASA stuff, the kids really liked it, I think this year has the potential to be the best year or at least coming close to 2007. I think there’s a lot

of potential.” As much as he enjoys HESTEC, he still thinks there is room for improvement in future years. “It has such a base here in the Valley where everybody knows about it, a lot of families come,” Allen said. “HESTEC really needs to focus on the Valley’s needs. What does the Valley need? What can the Valley do? What can the average family do to improve the air quality and the water quality? And getting active in the community to make sure we’re all looking after each other- companies and individuals. ‘Cause we’re all on this planet together!”

DAY 2

Awesome Fossum The second day of HESTEC, appropriately titled “Student Leadership Day,” welcomed astronaut Michael Fossum. In addition, the College of Health Sciences and Human Services and the College of Social Behavioral Sciences held symposiums. The presentation was led by Congressmen Ruben Hinojosa and UTPA President Robert Nelsen, both of whom were just as impressed with communicating with Fossum via downlink as the middle school students in attendance. “Did you ever dream you were

going to talk to an astronaut in outer space?” Nelsen said. “You’re going to talk to an astronaut that’s on a space station right now.” The excitement continued as Fossum recounted his past experiences on campus. “The first university I attended was Pan American University, where you are right now,” said Fossum, a McAllen native. “I remember taking night classes at Pan Am and looking up at the sky and dreaming about being up here some day. And now I really am here. It’s been a great challenge for me. It’s been an adventure of a lifetime to be here.” Keeping with the theme of the day, Fossum reassured the “leaders of tomorrow” that no goal is out of reach. “(Becoming an astronaut) didn’t even seem like something I could dream of,” he said. “But you know what, that’s not true. It’s really not true. Part of me didn’t believe it could happen, but another part of me never gave up on that dream. I tried to do my best in school. I wasn’t always in the top of my class; I was pretty rarely in the top of my class. “But I worked hard and kept dreaming and using that dream to give me the direction and motivation to stay in school and keep working hard. And I knew one day that my education and hard work would pay off. And I’m really blessed that it’s paid off in this way.” Junior graphic design major Jared Ballejos believes that speakers like Fossum and what they have to say are integral to HESTEC. “They had the MythBusters last

For up-to-date HESTEC coverage visit: panamericanonline.

year and there was this one kid in the audience who said ‘because of you, I absolutely love science,’” Ballejos said. “He was just so intrigued and so motivated by them to seek out science and stuff like that. Definitely the speakers-they have an impact on us, our generation and the younger generations to come.” Ballejos, who participated in the student intern panel at the College of Social Behavioral Sciences symposium, was there to discuss the work he did in the African nation of Togo through the Cultural and Language Deployment Program (CULP) in conjunction with the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). “If you want to be known and get yourself out there you have to be involved in the University as well as anything else,” Ballejos said. “It was really to see what other students have done in terms of internships and to share my unique story. Be there as a leader and say ‘I’ve accomplished this, so can you.’” Ballejos, who likes to demonstrate his “natural leadership skills,” was very excited to participate in HESTEC on Student Leadership Day and views the event as a great opportunity for students. “I think it’s absolutely wonderful that Pan Am can host such a big event and have so many speakers and innovative ideas,” he stressed. “It’s opened up to the students and not only gives them a chance to soak in the ideas but also have the chance to speak one-on-one with some of the people and speakers that are here. I think it’s great.”

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September 29, 2011

Opinion

Opinion on the Opinion

Vol. 68, No. 5

THE PAN AMERICAN 1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539 Phone: (956) 665-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122 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 paper or university.

CO-EDITORS IN CHIEF: Alma E. Hernandez alma.e.hdz@gmail.com Roxann Garcia roxx.gar11@gmail.com NEWS EDITOR: Karen Antonacci keantonacci@gmail.com SPANISH EDITOR: Saira Trevino sairatrev@gmail.com SPORTS EDITOR: Michael Saenz mike_s2208@yahoo.com ARTS & LIFE EDITOR: Nadia Tamez-Robledo ntamezrob@broncs.utpa.edu PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR: Reynaldo Leal reynaldo_lealjr@yahoo.com DESIGN EDITOR: Erick Gonzalez erick.dgr@gmail.com MULTIMEDIA CO-EDITORS: Pamela Morales pamela.morales13@gmail.com Veronique Medrano veroniquemedrano@gmail.com ADVISER: Dr. Greg Selber selberg@utpa.edu ADMINISTRATIVE ASSOCIATE: Anita Reyes areyes18@utpa.edu ADVERTISING MANAGER: Mariel Cantu spubs@utpa.edu WEBMASTERS: Jose Villarreal josemvillarrealcs@gmail.com Selvino Padilla selvinop3@gmail.com

Delivery:

Thursday at noon Letters to the Editor

The Pan American accepts letters of 300 words or less from students, staff and faculty regarding recent newspaper content, campus concerns or current events. We reserves the right to edit submissions for grammar and length. We cannot publish anonymous letters or submissions containing hate speech or gratuitous personal attacks. Please send all story ideas to thepanamerican@gmail.com. Individuals with disabilities wishing to acquire this publication in an alternative format or needing assistance to attend any event listed can contact The Pan American for more details.

September 29, 2011

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Summit to promote discussion on RGV’s needs By Daniela Diaz The Pan American The UT Vista Summit, which will take place Oct. 5 and 6 at the University of Texas at Brownsville, will bring together local, state and national leaders to discuss topics such as education, industry, economic development, policy, health, government and philanthropy in South Texas. The summit may have the potential to improve the future of The University of Texas-Pan American, UTB and the Rio Grande Valley as a whole. Chief executives and other leaders of nonprofits, including the Ford Foundation, the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, Gates Foundation and the Greater Texas Foundation, will be in attendance. UT Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa will host the event and discuss ideas on how these organizations can help the Valley and advance its education, health care and economic development. Janice Maville, the interim dean for the College of Health Sciences and Human Services at UTPA, looks forward to learning how the summit will improve education in South Texas. She has been at UTPA for 35 years and anticipates more growth on campus. “This is an exceptional event because it is bringing nationally recognized, very high-level caliber foundations to the Valley to enter into discussions about education and what we are doing here,” Maville said. “I think that this summit is something that is going to highlight the activities and the potential that we have to become major players in the state and in the nation in healthcare and on the STEM aspect as well.” Maville hopes that the topic of improving research opportunities in South Texas will be discussed in the conference panels at the summit. “We are hoping to get some understanding and support from the foundations because, in order to do the research, education and community outreach that needs to happen. We need their support,” she explained. “One of the things that (the leaders) will be working on is to really emphasize how we need to work together.” A topic that will also be discussed is economic issues in South Texas. Alberto Davila is the chair of the Department of Economics and Finance in the College of Business Administration and is aware of how important this is at UTPA. “There are things that are of concern in our area, things that have to do with our lower levels of

education, work experience, and are relative to the interior of our state,” he said. “When you look at the earnings of people in the Valley, they tend to be about two-thirds than those in the rest of the state.” Discussion of the economy is designed to gather leaders’ opinions on ways to aid the two universities in improving education in an area where the per capita income is $11,000 below the national average and more than a third of the population below the poverty line,

according to Census figures. “A lot of the reasons for these depressed earnings have to do with the relatively low levels of education and human capital of residents compared to those in the exterior,” Davila said. “Any efforts to enhance the level and quality of education in our area are good for our economy.” Many UTPA students don’t know about the summit. Nabyl Kalaf, a senior majoring in biology who plans to attend medical school after

graduating, had not heard about it. “The summit sounds great and is worth looking into, but I have hardly heard any information about it on campus,” she said. “It sounds like it has the potential to impact the valley in a very positive way, especially for those of us majoring in STEM degrees. I hope that the university will market the event more so that students will hear about it and be interested in attending.” In light of recent budget cuts to

education on the state level, many welcomed this opportunity for the universities to discuss South Texas’ needs. The summit also follows on the heels of the 10th annual HESTEC, which focuses on science, technology and mathematics, among other areas. “Anything that has to do with promoting education is good for the Valley,” Davila said. To RSVP your attendance to the summit, visit http://vistasummit.com/.

Francisco Rodriguez/The Pan American

Page 4

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of the South Texas heat in the process. “Since I reside at Bronc Village and my classes are located at the engineering building, which is located across campus, I frequently rely upon taking the shuttle bus for the reason that it gets me there a lot faster,” said Sarah Wright, a mechanical engineering major from Raymondville. De la Garza said this semester has been the busiest for the shuttle service so far with about 3,500 incoming freshmen, many of whom find it difficult

Reynaldo Leal/THE PAN AMERICAN

EVERYDAY I’M SHUTTELIN’ - Two of UTPA’s ﬁve campus shuttles are out of service, but should return later this week. Shuttles run Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

to locate parking. “(Riding the shuttle) saves time, especially when you are lucky enough to find parking, which is still a pretty good walking distance to class,” said freshman art major Rodolfo Mendez. As students pile into the shuttles, de la Garza said the shuttles reach capacity four times a day and need occasional maintenance. “The amount of time it takes to get a shuttle back to running smoothly varies because it depends on how severe the problem is,” he said. “Most of the time the problems the shuttles will encounter is because of the basic wear and tear due to constantly being on the go.” The shuttles have been out since Monday and should be fixed some time later this week, but until then students might experience slight delays. Some students blame the shuttle drivers for the delay, but de la Garza said there is little they do. “Students complain to the drivers, but it is not our fault. All we can do is tell them we are doing the best we can at the moment,” he said. Joel Rivera, a dietetics major from Edinburg, agreed with de la Garza. “It is easy to blame the driver and automatically assume it is their fault when there is a delay because they are the first ones you come in contact with,” Rivera said. “You demand answers but easily forget they are only the drivers, not the director of the service.” De la Garza said that students shouldn’t use the shuttle delays as an excuse to be late to class. “I suggest students leave earlier than usual if they want to avoid both walking and being late to class,” he said. “Most students, however, are very understanding and patient when we are short a shuttle.”

CHECK THE WEB: On the road || The Bronc volleyball team takes on Chicago State Sept 29. Don’t forget to catch all the postgame comments and reactions online Friday. Solar Measurement || College of Engineering and Computer Science installs a new solar radiation tracking system. Look for it online Friday.

Rocky Horror Shadowcast || Look for a soundslide of the performance Monday.

The Science Guy || For a closer look at Bill Nye check out extra footage of his speech and an interview today.

Visit us for this and more news at:

panamericanonline.com

THE PAN AMERICAN

Page 6

September 29, 2011

F l yin’ Hawaiians The

By Michael Saenz The Pan American

From the sandy beaches of Hawaii to deep South Texas and back. Approximately 4,000 miles and 18 years (along with playing club volleyball here and there) is what it took for Bronc volleyball teammates to finally meet. Both Juri Franzen and Krysta Freitas grew up in

Reynaldo Leal/THE PAN AMERICAN

FLYIN’ HIGH AGAIN - (L-R) Freshman Krysta Freitas, right side hitter, and junior Juri Franzen, libero, make up the UTPA volleyball “Flyin’ Hawaiians.” Although they lived 33 miles apart on the Hawaiian island of Honolulu, they had to travel over 4,000 miles before playing together.

Hawaii, Franzen in Honolulu and Freitas in Waianae, but didn’t get acquainted until they ended up together at The University of Texas-Pan American. Even though the duo wound up as Broncs, they had very different routes that led here. Franzen, a junior college transfer, spent her first two years of collegiate volleyball at Laredo Community College before getting an opportunity to play at the Division I level. “I started off playing volleyball in sixth grade, actually, at the Boys and Girls Club, and from there I started playing club volleyball. I played high school my four years along with still playing club,” Franzen said. “When you play club you get to travel a lot. We played in a tournament in Vegas and that’s basically how I got recruited.” On the flip side, while Franzen was at LCC, Freitas was competing at Hanalani High School. “I started playing volleyball when I was in elementary school and competitively when in high school,” Freitas said. “I started playing right front, but I think I play all over the court really. I knew of Juri when I played high school when I was a freshman, but we really never met.” During high school, Freitas was named to the Honolulu Advertiser Girls Volleyball All-State team and also selected to the Fab-15 OC16 All-Star Senior Invitational. She played for the Jammers Volleyball Club and the Asics Rainbows Volleyball Club. She helped lead ARBC to a second-place finish during a Las Vegas Classic 18U tournament in which 176 other teams competed. As part of

the Jammers VBC, Freitas helped take the team to the 2009 Las Vegas Championship. Much like their Hawaiian home, the Rio Grande Valley isn’t known for having cold winters or snow storms like the rest of the United States. When Freitas was deciding which university to pick, it was pretty clear where she wanted to go. “I had different scholarship options, but they were all in the East Coast, and I don’t really like the snow, and I like the weather down here,” recalled the six-foot right side hitter. “It’s like Hawaii weather, so that was the deal breaker right there.” While Freitas’ decision came down to weather, Franzen’s rationale for going to LCC was quite different. “Well, I had no clue where Laredo actually was,” she admitted. “But I chose them because one of my teammates from my club team signed there. I would know someone going there, so I decided that (Laredo Community College) was the right choice for me.” During her freshman year at LCC in 2009, Franzen was selected to the AllRegion Team. As a sophomore she made an All-Tournament Team, the All-Region Team, and Libero of the Week. The fivefoot-seven Libero also received 2010 Academic All-American accolades. Throughout her time at LCC, her goal was still to play Division I volleyball, and UTPA offered that. “For the most part UTPA was my first choice simply because it was the best offer I had at that time. I also signed early, so I pretty much made my decision quick,” Franzen said. “Playing Division I was my

September 29, 2011

THE PAN AMERICAN

main goal, and UTPA gave me that opportunity as well.” Once Franzen completed her two years at LCC, she set her eyes on UTPA. Being an early commit, she eagerly awaited the chance at completing her volleyball goal. To her surprise, she found out that she wouldn’t be the only Hawaiian to put on the orange and green. “I found out about Krysta on the UTPA website, so we decided to get together over the summer just to meet each other and hang out,” Franzen said. “We didn’t necessarily know each other, but we knew each other’s mutual friends from like volleyball and all that.” Freitas, being the younger of the two, was able to find her own connection to UTPA as Franzen did when she started off at LCC. “She (Juri) signed before me, so I knew of her when I was playing,” Frei-

tas said. “We met up in Hawaii before we came down here, so we bonded before we came down here.” The duo began their journey to the Valley a few weeks after the meeting in Hawaii, and even though the transition would appear to be difficult, that wasn’t the case for “The Flyin’ Hawaiians.” “I found it to be a really easy transition. You know, normally for a freshman it should be hard, but it was really easy for me,” Frietas said. “My family still lives in Hawaii, so it’s kind of tough, but I do have a relative that lives in Austin, so she comes and sees me as much as she can.” As the Broncs begin the latter part of the season, the entire young squad continues to grow closer. Many have to look for similarities between each other, but Franzen and Frietas need look no further than the place they call home.

Page 7

THE PAN AMERICAN

Page 6

September 29, 2011

F l yin’ Hawaiians The

By Michael Saenz The Pan American

From the sandy beaches of Hawaii to deep South Texas and back. Approximately 4,000 miles and 18 years (along with playing club volleyball here and there) is what it took for Bronc volleyball teammates to finally meet. Both Juri Franzen and Krysta Freitas grew up in

Reynaldo Leal/THE PAN AMERICAN

FLYIN’ HIGH AGAIN - (L-R) Freshman Krysta Freitas, right side hitter, and junior Juri Franzen, libero, make up the UTPA volleyball “Flyin’ Hawaiians.” Although they lived 33 miles apart on the Hawaiian island of Honolulu, they had to travel over 4,000 miles before playing together.

Hawaii, Franzen in Honolulu and Freitas in Waianae, but didn’t get acquainted until they ended up together at The University of Texas-Pan American. Even though the duo wound up as Broncs, they had very different routes that led here. Franzen, a junior college transfer, spent her first two years of collegiate volleyball at Laredo Community College before getting an opportunity to play at the Division I level. “I started off playing volleyball in sixth grade, actually, at the Boys and Girls Club, and from there I started playing club volleyball. I played high school my four years along with still playing club,” Franzen said. “When you play club you get to travel a lot. We played in a tournament in Vegas and that’s basically how I got recruited.” On the flip side, while Franzen was at LCC, Freitas was competing at Hanalani High School. “I started playing volleyball when I was in elementary school and competitively when in high school,” Freitas said. “I started playing right front, but I think I play all over the court really. I knew of Juri when I played high school when I was a freshman, but we really never met.” During high school, Freitas was named to the Honolulu Advertiser Girls Volleyball All-State team and also selected to the Fab-15 OC16 All-Star Senior Invitational. She played for the Jammers Volleyball Club and the Asics Rainbows Volleyball Club. She helped lead ARBC to a second-place finish during a Las Vegas Classic 18U tournament in which 176 other teams competed. As part of

the Jammers VBC, Freitas helped take the team to the 2009 Las Vegas Championship. Much like their Hawaiian home, the Rio Grande Valley isn’t known for having cold winters or snow storms like the rest of the United States. When Freitas was deciding which university to pick, it was pretty clear where she wanted to go. “I had different scholarship options, but they were all in the East Coast, and I don’t really like the snow, and I like the weather down here,” recalled the six-foot right side hitter. “It’s like Hawaii weather, so that was the deal breaker right there.” While Freitas’ decision came down to weather, Franzen’s rationale for going to LCC was quite different. “Well, I had no clue where Laredo actually was,” she admitted. “But I chose them because one of my teammates from my club team signed there. I would know someone going there, so I decided that (Laredo Community College) was the right choice for me.” During her freshman year at LCC in 2009, Franzen was selected to the AllRegion Team. As a sophomore she made an All-Tournament Team, the All-Region Team, and Libero of the Week. The fivefoot-seven Libero also received 2010 Academic All-American accolades. Throughout her time at LCC, her goal was still to play Division I volleyball, and UTPA offered that. “For the most part UTPA was my first choice simply because it was the best offer I had at that time. I also signed early, so I pretty much made my decision quick,” Franzen said. “Playing Division I was my

September 29, 2011

THE PAN AMERICAN

main goal, and UTPA gave me that opportunity as well.” Once Franzen completed her two years at LCC, she set her eyes on UTPA. Being an early commit, she eagerly awaited the chance at completing her volleyball goal. To her surprise, she found out that she wouldn’t be the only Hawaiian to put on the orange and green. “I found out about Krysta on the UTPA website, so we decided to get together over the summer just to meet each other and hang out,” Franzen said. “We didn’t necessarily know each other, but we knew each other’s mutual friends from like volleyball and all that.” Freitas, being the younger of the two, was able to find her own connection to UTPA as Franzen did when she started off at LCC. “She (Juri) signed before me, so I knew of her when I was playing,” Frei-

tas said. “We met up in Hawaii before we came down here, so we bonded before we came down here.” The duo began their journey to the Valley a few weeks after the meeting in Hawaii, and even though the transition would appear to be difficult, that wasn’t the case for “The Flyin’ Hawaiians.” “I found it to be a really easy transition. You know, normally for a freshman it should be hard, but it was really easy for me,” Frietas said. “My family still lives in Hawaii, so it’s kind of tough, but I do have a relative that lives in Austin, so she comes and sees me as much as she can.” As the Broncs begin the latter part of the season, the entire young squad continues to grow closer. Many have to look for similarities between each other, but Franzen and Frietas need look no further than the place they call home.

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September 29, 2011

Down and Derby Freddie Martinez/THE PAN AMERICAN

ROLLING HARD - Derby girl “Ann Hooligan” (center) passes opposing jammer “Jo Jo Bombshell” (left) for the lead, scoring 10 points for her team. The rumble between team Squares and team Drapes took place Sunday at Rink-n-Roll in Weslaco.

Extreme skating inspires confidence among newcomers and veterans alike By Sandy Davis The Pan American Girls in short skirts and old school skates stretched in the dim light of the roller rink. They chatted as the place filled with people and thrumming music. Ten minutes passed, and the girls began yelling, pushing and racing around the rink vying for victory. The South Texas Rolleristas held an exhibition bout at Weslaco’s Rink-nRoll on Sunday. Girls blurred by as they made turn after turn; there were spills, pileups and injury to people with names like Lucha Lita and Glitterpop. But it takes more than picking an exotic name, putting on a pair of skates and shoving people around to be a derby girl. Becky Arjona, a rehabilitation major at UTPA who joined roller derby this year, a member of a group of newcomers called, “fresh meat.” “As soon as I walked into practice, I saw a whole lot of girls stretching together. It was pretty intimidating,” Arjona said of her training. “Aside from the physical, there are a ton of rules that you need to know.” The South Texas Rolleristas

opposing team. With nine refs for the 10 girls on the “field,” a shrill chorus of whistles lets everyone know when someone earns time in the penalty box. The list of violations can range anywhere from tripping to elbowing. Cassandra Velasquez, a kinesiology major at UTPA, is a lively and confident young mother who is currently “fresh meat” as well. She heard about the derby from a cousin and decided to check it out. “I liked the way the girls presented t h e m s e l v e s ,” Velasquez said. “They were very friendly and down to earth.” Karen Villarreal/THE PAN AMERICAN Ve l a s q u e z feels more It takes 10 weeks for involved and confident newcomers to get from tryouts because of her participation to the main stage. There is a and this translates to everyday two-week boot camp to put life as well. potential girls through the “I was able to teach (my ropes, followed by an eight- daughter) how to skate,” week training school. Trainees beamed Velasquez, who must pass a physical and loves the bonding time and written test. They are then the benefits of teaching her drafted into a team in the daughter to be active and fit. league by the captains. Linda Avila, known as A derby consists of multiple Linda Lovecat on the rink, “jams,” two-minute sets in is a UTPA alumni, speech which a “jammer” scores pathologist and derby one point for each “blocker” veteran. She had a baby three or “pivot” she passes on the months ago.

are a flat-track roller derby league consisting of three teams: The Nerdcore Harlots, Traumakazes, and The Fallout Brigade. The exhibition, or “Squares versus Drapes” was a 1950s-themed bout during which the teams were mixed together for a scrimmage game.

“It’s liberating,” she grinned when asked about being back in the action so soon. Lita N. Leal, known as Lucha Lita, is an assistant manager of the Rolleristas and co-captain of The Fallout Brigade. She skated by during halftime of the exhibition, saying, “We don’t feel it now but tomorrow.” Gesturing at her upper thigh, she added, “This will be a big one right here.” The bout went by quickly with girls sliding into chairs in the “suicide seating” placed right outside the track. When it was done some of the girls collapsed, exhausted but proud. The squares beat the Drapes 120-87. Afterward, Velasquez, who held up a sign during the game that said “Boom Boom Pow” rolled by. “I’m tired and I didn’t even do anything,” she laughed, knowing that, if she passes the tests, she’ll get her chance on Oct. 23 in Mercedes for the next derby night. Derby girls can be intimidating on the field but the experience gained can be worth it. “My first impression was I’m going to get my butt kicked,” Arjona said. “I didn’t want to let a little fear scare me away. In fact, it has made it all the more exciting.”

Modern Dictionary of Derby terms and applications jam (jăm) n.-

A two-minute play in which teams can score points. There are 30 minutes of jams per game. jammer (jăm'mƏr) n. Girl who scores one points for

each opposing blocker passed.

lead jammer (lēd)·(jăm’mƏr) n.

- 1. The first jammer to

break

through the pack. 2. only one who can call off the jam.

pack (păk) n. - The formation of four girls per team that serve as blockers.

(Fig. 1) Jammer

There is one jammer per team.

blocker (blŏk'Ər) n. - A player who tries to prevent the opposing jammer from getting through the pack.

pivot (pĭv'Ət) n. - Same as the blocker, sets the pace, last line of defense for their team. In certain plays, she acts as the jammer.

blocking (blŏk·ing) v. Legal ways of stopping opposing players.

fresh meat (frĕsh)·(mĕt) n.

Slang. - Newbies who are in training and not yet on a team.

helmet panty (hĕl'mĭt) ·

(păn'tē) n. - The covering that pivots and jammers wear to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack.

(Fig. 2) Pack

Two opposing teams make up a pack.

September 29, 2011

PICKS ICKS OF THE WEEK Speaker TV

The Anzaldua Speakers Series in Philosophy will host Natalie Cisneros of Vanderbilt University Tuesday for a lecture on Chicana writer Gloria Anzaldua and immigration. The presentation will be from noon to 1 p.m. in COAS 161.

Film Theater

University Theatre Productions will give two performances of William Shakespeare’s “King Lear” in the Albert J. Jeffers Theatre. The play opens next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., followed by an Oct. 9 performance at 2 p.m. Students, faculty and staff with a valid UTPA ID get free admission for themselves and one guest.

Music

The UTPA Music Department will open its season with a choir concert next Tuesday and a band concert Oct. 6. For a complete list of performances, visit utpa.edu/dept/music. All events start at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Auditorium and are free and open to the public.

Online Say ay What?

Taking Back Sunday will perform at

Making it count Voting group to push for increased turnout at next presidential election By Nadia Tamez-Robledo The Pan American Though the presidential election remains more than a year away, a group new to the Rio Grande Valley plans to get a head start in its efforts to increase Hispanic voter turnout in 2012. Volunteers with Voto Latino RGV will be out at HESTEC Community Day Saturday promoting their mission and recruiting members to make a greater push to register voters. “Even though the election is going to be a year away from November… we’re going to need a lot of manpower,” said Andrea Gutierrez, the group’s chief organizer and a college adviser at Nikki Rowe High School in McAllen. Gutierrez, a McAllen native, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in political science last December. “I wanted to give students a chance to learn why voting is important,” she said. “Especially here in Texas, just the sheer expansion is going to shape the issues in the next election. Politicians are going to have to start listening to Latinos just because of the population boom.” Data from the Pew Hispanic Center, a non-partisan think-tank, shows Latinos remain underrepresented at the polls despite a spike in population and increase in voter turnout during the 2010 midterm elections. While just over 21 million Latinos were eligible to vote last November, only 6.6 million actually did so. Political science professor at The University of Texas-Pan American Jessica

Why didn’t registered Hispanic voters vote?

the Pharr Events Center Saturday with The Main and Bad Rabbits. The show runs from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets are available at pharrevents. com for $22.50 plus fees.

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SOURCE: PEW HISPANIC CENTER

Lavariega-Monforti said that the election isn’t yet on the radar for most people. “People who are not hardcore partisan don’t 49.3% pay attention this early in the election,” she said. In a February poll by impreMedia-Latino Decisions, based at the University of Washington, 43 percent of registered Hispanic 28.7 % voters surveyed named immigration and the DREAM Act as issues important to their community. Jobs and SOURCE: PEW HISPANIC CENTER the economy followed have any other avenue to pursue other than with 21 percent and 20 comprehensive immigration reform,” she percent respectively. However, Lavariega-Monforti said. “Certainly there are people of Mexican warned against making generalizations origin who are eighth generation Tejano. about Latinos across the United States. When we get down to the bottom of it, it isn’t “There’s always this assumption that the Latino community, but there are many Latino communities.” there’s this one Latino community and President Barack Obama promised to people are voting together and share issues, put comprehensive immigration reform and that’s not true,” she said. Immigration is not a hot-button topic front and center during the first year of among Puerto Ricans, who are born his campaign, but the issue was lost amid with U.S. citizenship. The same goes the controversy surrounding health care Lavariega-Monforti said for Cuban-Americans and Cuban exiles, legislation. who can gain residency as a result of the the drawn-out struggle over the Patient Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act, she said. Protection and Affordable Care Act, “Really we’re talking about the Mexican- which passed Congress in March 2010, origin population, Central and South left the president with little chance of American-origin populations who do not bringing immigration to the spotlight. “I think that he spent a lot of his political 2010 unvoting registered voters and social capital on the healthcare bill and getting that through… and he really didn’t have very much left at the end to spend on anything else,” she said. “You add that to a worsening or very slowly recovering economy, and people Illness 8.7% (think), ‘Why should we worry about Out of anything else other than town 7% jobs or the economy right now?’” Not Disliked Hispanic voters’ candidates interested concern over jobs and 7.2% the economy belongs 14.9% closer to the top of the agenda, LavariegaMonforti said.

Latino voter turnout by country of origin Puerto Rico

Mexico

Forgot 13.3%

Too busy 25.8%

Karen Villarreal/THE PAN AMERICAN

29.6%

Cuba Karen Villarreal/THE PAN AMERICAN

Eduardo Robles, a MexicanAmerican studies and anthropology double major at UTPA, said that financing education is at the forefront of students’ minds when it comes to political issues. “The main thing they’re talking about is financial aid,” the 24-year-old said. “Is money coming in? Am I going to get the same scholarship I got last year? (Immigration is) not at the top. Maybe number three or four of the top five.” The Edinburg native said immigration is more likely to be an issue when it’s somehow connected to college admission or financial aid. “It’s all pretty much tied together,” he said. “We’re already at the point where it’s going to affect us. We hear these politicians saying, ‘We’re going to create these or those jobs.’ Of course we’re going to listen because we’re the one going out into the workforce.” Gutierrez said she and her students have seen the effects of recent budgets cuts firsthand. Guidance counselors were reduced from eight to four, and the college-preparation program GEAR UP lost its funding recently. “Here in the Valley, we already knew that our education wasn’t up to par,” she said. “Now these cuts are making that more disparate.” Whatever issues students may find most important, both LavariegaMonforti and Gutierrez said that the only way to get lawmakers’ attention is to vote. “Even though one or two votes might not decide election, if a whole neighborhood votes or a whole community, that’s going to make a difference,” Gutierrez said.

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