Information Compromised Stolen USB drives add security risks to UTPA employees
Online
March 7, 2013
Volume 69, No. 21
ONLINE CONTENT
panamericanonline.com
Spooky Studies Class credit for campfire lore
Merger Passes Senate Committee More information online later this week
Beaming In UFO conference to be held in Edinburg
Kids’ Club Bronc Baseball Club offers rewards to kids
the new pink & blue Gender roles and transgender students at UTPA
Sports Updates Basketball, tennis, baseball coverage
Healthy Cooking
Reporter Cristian Ortiz learns how to make a protein bar at Healthy Cooking 101
By Charles Vale The Pan American Jerri doesn’t identify fully with either gender. Sometimes Jerri will act like a boy, and sometimes a girl. In fact, Jerri’s real name is Emily Perez. “It wasn’t just one day I woke up and was like, ‘I don’t feel like a girl,’” the 19-year-old said. “I would wear girl things, but I would also like boy things. In gym class, it was kind of awkward. I would use the handicapped restroom. It was like
girl’s restroom, boy’s restroom and then handicapped. Like a non-gendered restroom.” GENDER ROLES IN SOCIETY Transgender is an umbrella term used when a person’s gender identity, behavior or gender expression is different than the sex they were born with. Jeanine Harris teaches human sexuality at UTPA. According to her, there’s no connection with what a transgendered person believes their gender to be, and their biological sex.
“(A person) may be born with male genitalia, but deep down inside, they feel as if they are female,” Harris said. “It’s the same for females. Their core identity does not match with their sex.” According to research by the William Institute at The University of California School of Law in 2011, an estimated 0.3 percent, or 94,174 people, identified themselves as transgendered in the United States. “It’s not common, but it
is consistently in existence at a small percentage of the population,” said Russell Eisenman, a UTPA psychology professor. “It’s real, it’s there. There is a certain steady percentage of the population that is that way.” There are certain expectations placed on people by society, to behave a certain way, and these have an effect on someone’s gender role. According to Harris, those gender characteristic guidelines are often strictly enforced on
children. “It’s something that our parents begin teaching us at a very young age,” she said. “I’m pink and you’re blue. It’s early on that children begin to feel a disconnect from how they feel and their expectations.”
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opinion
March 7, 2013
standardized tests, standardized students Ismael Melendez
Social Media Editor The class of 2015’s future will continue to rely on state exam results, their opportunities limited by the number they get. Test scores have little to do with an individual’s potential. Decision makers in Texas need to stop focusing on making the “best” tests, and instead think about real and comprehensive education for students. Texas legislators have touted subject-specific standardized tests as the be-all indicator of teacher and student performance. New end-of-course tests, named the State of Tex-
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OMG WHY DOESN’T UTPA SELL REDBULL #givememywings - @dreamelissa I wish UTPA had a 24/7 library - @Lucky_LittleOne To the guy who so nicely gave me his parking, you’re awesome! I actually have time to relax before my long day of classes #UTPA #frontrow #UTPA - @pinkkpaiige12
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 cannot publish anonymous letters or submissions containing hate speech or gratuitous personal attacks. Please send all letters to:
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as Assessments of Academic Readiness, were mandated by the 2007 Senate Bill 1031 and the 2009 House Bill 3, and started last year. The 12 new end-of-course tests replaced the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. The STAAR test is “a more rigorous testing program,” according to the Texas Education Agency website. Students have to pass with a 70 and their scores account for 15 percent of the grade for the respective course. Apparently, Texas kids were doing well on the old test. The TEA stated in 2011 that the passing rates on every TAKS test improved dramatically since 2003, for every grade. But does doing better on
the TAKS equal more prepared kids? No. More likely, it represents teachers adapting from teaching a subject to teaching a test. Curious exploration was replaced by “learning” strategies to tackle the TAKS. For some, the TAKS may be a barrier to a diploma. The Dallas Morning News reported that in 2010, 14 percent of seniors were denied their high school
diploma for failing it. The same article points out that minority students were affected the most, stating, “17 percent of black students and 14 percent of Hispanics were unable to pass all four sections of the exam.” Excessive and ineffective testing should be an important issue to Valley residents, then, because 90 percent of the Hidalgo County population is Hispanic,
Stu de n ts sh ou ldn ’t be memorizing answers; they should be coming up with their own. Their needs and interests should be considered. Above all, the standardized test needs to go the way of the chalkboard.
according to the 2010 U.S. Census. The increased difficulty of the tests, combined with ongoing education budget cuts, does not bode well for RGV students. Plus, these state exams are high stakes, possibly impacting school districts, teachers, students and their parents. It isn’t surprising that teachers and school administrators in Houston and other areas were investigated for cheating in order achieve state standards. The Austin Chronicle reports that SB 1031 suggests rules that “make leaking tests or the answers a class C misdemeanor,” which is comparable to an offense such as Public Intoxication by Texas law. Yet with all these problems in education, there is room for improvement. First, legislators
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need to think outside the box, go outside the Austin Capitol building and explore new possibilities. Instead of waiting at the end of the public education assembly line to see if the final product makes the grade, legislators need to provide students, teachers and parents the tools and financial support necessary to advance education in Texas. Progress is also necessary to reinvent and update classrooms and curriculum for the 21st century. Students shouldn’t be memorizing answers; they should be coming up with their own. Their needs and interests should be considered. Above all, the standardized test needs to go the way of the chalkboard.
comic
The Pan American
thepanamerican@gmail.com 1201 West University, ARHU 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539 Phone: (956) 665-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122
Editors-in-Chief:
Karen Antonacci Daniella Diaz
News Editor:
Charles Vale
Sports Editor:
Norma Gonzalez
Arts & Life Editor:
Lea Victoria Juarez
Photography Editor: Adrian Castillo
Design Editor:
Karen Villarreal
Multimedia Editor:
Elizabeth Espinosa
Social Media Editor: Ismael Melendez
Adviser:
Dr. Greg Selber
Administrative Associate:
Anita Reyes
Advertising Manager:
Elva Ramirez
Webmaster:
Jose Villarreal
Ismael Melendez, Charles Vale, Karen Villarreal /The Pan American
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.
#thepanamerican Here are this week’s favorites from the Instagram competition! Remember, we’re awarding a gift card to the end-of-thesemester winning photo. Just tag your Instagram photo #ThePanAmerican to enter.
Next Delivery:
March 21 at noon The Pan American
wishes you a safe spring break. Look for continued news coverage online all week.
panamericanonline.com
- @gaby_mj
- @leeomarinn
- @ericamaisonet
March 31, 7, 2013 January 2013
Gender, sex and orientation: independent but related
Continued from page 1 Part 3 of 3 of The Pan American’s series on the LGBT community TRANSGENDER IN LAW In recent news, Supreme Court justices will start reviewing court cases dealing with samesex marriage. Decisions will be made by June. In Texas, Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa filed SB 480 Feb. 11, which would grant samesex couples the ability to enter into civil unions. Before the bill was proposed, Texas Sen. Jose Rodriguez, Rep. Rafael Anchia and Rep. Garnet Coleman proposed a bill that would repeal the 2005 Texas Marriage Amendment that prohibits marriage between anything other than a man and a woman. Hinojosa’s bill would also repeal a portion of the 2003 Texas Defense of Marriage Act, which does not recognize same sex marriages from Texas or other states. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, Texas labor laws protect workers from discrimination based on race, age, sex and religion. However, there are no laws that protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation in Texas. In December, State Rep. Mike Villarreal filed a bill that would prohibit discrimination for sexual
orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Villarreal has filed similar bills in the past six legislative sessions, but they were left pending each time. TIME FOR A CHANGE John* is a 19-year-old computer science major at UTPA. Currently, he sees himself as male, but is planning to have a sex change. Although he doesn’t know when he will begin the process, John is already speaking with a counselor, and hopes to see a psychiatrist this month. According to World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s Standard of Care, a psychiatrist’s recommendation is needed in order for someone to be able to have a sexual reassignment surgery. The process includes chest/breast surgery and/or genital surgery. John said the procedure would require an average of two years of hormone therapy before the surgery, followed by at least a month for recovery. He said he has been dealing with gender issues since middle school. He has always had a strong attraction to women, but realized the attraction was so strong because he wanted to become one, the
Gender Identity What you identify as: a spectrum from female to male
Romantic Orientation
Sexual Orientation Spectrum of who you are attracted to, and intensity; heterosexual, homosexual, etc.
Spectrum of who you want to cultivate a relationship with
Sexual Behavior Spectrum of who you engage in sex with: heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, celibate
freshman said. “I would go through days fantasizing about it, even dreaming about it,” he recalled. “Recently, I realized that it was possible. It became less and less a fantasy, and more a reality.” The only people in his life that are aware of the decision are his mother and a few close friends. His father still does not know. “My father is a really accepting
person, but I’m just waiting until I get this going to tell him.” John explained. BACK AT HOME Perez/Jerri came out to hir** parents when ze** was a sophomore in high school and was dating hir then-girlfriend. According to Perez, their reaction was less than pleasant. “When I brought my girlfriend over for the first time and I came out to my mom, she sort of broke
Sex Your physical attributes: male, female, intersex
down,” ze said. “It wasn’t like she was upset, she was sad. Something in her just broke. She felt like...she did something wrong raising me.” Perez is attracted to members of both sexes. However, ze doesn’t refer to hirself as bisexual. Instead, Perez says ze is pansexual. This means ze can be attracted to anyone regardless of their biological sex or gender identity. To Perez, it’s all about personality.
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The news of Perez’s coming out also changed hir relationship with other members of hir family. “My aunt is not really accepting,” Perez said. “She has called me before saying, ‘There’s ways for people to help you with that. There are ways for you to become normal. There are ways for you to be what society expects you to be, what God meant for you to be.’ That relationship is pretty much gone.” Perez has begun attending therapy sessions with hir parents at least twice a month. Ze said ze feels that the sessions have improved hir relationship with hir parents, and it is because ze wanted to mend that relationship that Perez thought the sessions were necessary. “It’s something I felt like I had to do because my parents weren’t listening to me at all,” ze said. “I didn’t want to grow up and choose a partner, be it a guy or girl, raise a family and have them say, ‘Where are grandma and grandpa?’ I want my parents in my life.” As for John, he has some hesitations about the procedures, but still plans to see it through. “I really want this, but I’m afraid to get it going,” he said. “I hear from all sorts of transgendered people that if you want it, don’t let fear get the better of you.” *This name has been changed by The Pan American. **Ze is a non-gendered pronoun for he/she. Hir is a non-gendered pronoun for his/her.
best of marathon matches young, international team breaks losing streak By Amanda Gutierrez The Pan American
Adrián Castillo/The Pan American Freshman Manon Lavrijssen returns a serve during her singles match against Bailey VanDyke of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Feb. 10. The women’s tennis team has an overall record of 2-9 and will host their last home game March 22 to Prairie View A&M University at 4 p.m.
The UTPA women’s tennis team seems to have had a turn of luck recently. As the Broncs start the final stretch of their 15-game regular season, they have managed a couple of wins to improve their record to 2-9. After an eight-game losing streak, the women’s tennis team managed their first breakthrough March 1 against 7-0 at home against the University of the Southwest. In the three-opponent marathon last weekend, the Broncs came out on top, winning two of three matches, including a win over the University of the Southwest and Shreiner University and a loss to St. Mary’s University. “It was a busy weekend with three matches, so to come away with two out of three is definitely a positive from us,” said Stephanie Vallejos, the second-year head coach, whose team is next in action March 22 versus Prairie View A&M. “We have a nice little break now so it’ll be a good way for us to sort of take our break in the mid-
dle of season before we head out to our next home match.”
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION It is a young group this year, with six first-year players. Of the eight-player roster, only one is from the United States and is ironically a Valley native, freshman Julia Perez from Roma. According to Perez, having an international team brings great diversity, as they are trained differently from American players. She also doesn’t think communication problems on the court contribute to the team’s losses, but instead said she finds it funny when another team member says something she doesn’t understand. “It’s never frustrating,” said Perez, who helped Roma high school’s tennis team to four consecutive district titles. “It’s really cool. I really enjoy having international teammates.” According to Vallejos, most college tennis teams consist primarily of international members, so it isn’t unusual that UTPA’s tennis team has a global feel. Perez’s hometown is about
an hour and a half away from Edinburg in car, whereas freshman Manon Lavrijssen is from The Netherlands, a 15-hour flight from the Valley. “It’s really cool,” Lavrijssen said. “We all have something different to bring to the team and we’re all really different from each other.” The Dutch tennis player attributes her “laid back” and “down to earth” attitude to her Netherlands culture. According to her, it’s another positive attribute she’s able to bring to the team. Lavrijssen has played tennis since she was 7 years old. In her home country, tennis is the third most widely played sport, behind gymnastics and golf.
YOUTH MOVEMENT Aside from freshman newcomers Perez and Lavrijssen, there are four other newbies on the team, making 19 the average age. Because the team is young, Lavrigssen said she believes they face the obstacle of having to overcome age differences against rival tennis teams. “We have a really young team
- six freshmen - and we’re playing against teams who are like all seniors and juniors,” Lavrijssen said. The two returning players leading the Broncs are Dana Nazarova, a redshirt senior from Russia, and junior Wanda Bequelin, from France. As far as the chemistry goes between the teammates, Reegan Greenwood, who is from Ryde, Isle of Wight, England, feels the atmosphere is both welcoming and comfortable. “Team relations are pretty good,” Greenwood said. “During matches we cheer for each other and it definitely helps seeing your teammates being there for you. Even if someone already finished match they still go on your court and cheer you on, which definitely helps. When you play for the team you feel more confident. When you are playing for team it matters even more. It’s just completely different mindset.” After the final home match of the season March 22, the Broncs are next in action March 30 against Eastern Washington University.
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arts&&life life arts
February 7, 2013
Amelia Holt
Blog:Fashionista Spotlight
College
fashionistas
Tere Cortes
Blog: What To Wear
at UTPA
Deborah Dueñas
Blog: Accessories Report
Sara Castillo
Blog:Style Advice of the Week
Style Gurus (from left) Amelia Holt, Tere Cortes, Deborah Dueñas and Sara Castillo write a weekly fashion blog about students at UTPA. The four work with the website College Fashionista.
Adrian Castillo/The Pan American By Lea Victoria Juarez The Pan American Senior Tere Cortes said her style is edgy by day and sexy by night. The 22-year-old marketing major mixes jean vests with flowy dresses and has been a Style Guru with website College Fashionista since fall 2012. The fashion site was launched August 2009, featuring students’ style from universities around the world. Students from those universities intern as bloggers or Style Gurus for the site. “We use the students on campus as an example. We talk about what they’re wearing for each article depending on the category,” Cortes, a Rio Bravo native, explained. “I think it’s awesome because you get to participate with the whole country. It’s special how in each campus they have their own style.” Cortes found out about the site through Twitter, and used the internship for credit hours. After interning for a semester, she was able to recommend her own UTPA Style Gurus who signed up on the website and started their unpaid internships at the start of the spring 2013 semester. The UTPA interns can be seen on campus, taking photos of students between classes or on posters they created throughout the buildings. THE GURUS Four 22-year-old girls sat in a
half circle, talking of fashion and finishing each other’s sentences in a blend of Spanish and English. Sara Castillo, a Reynosa native, said she plays the role of girly chic, donning embellished garments such as voluminous skirts and sleeves. Castillo explained she has had a love for styling since she was a little girl.
concept is the same because it’s all based on inspiration and creativity.” Deborah Dueñas, a public relations major, is referred to as “glamorous” by her fellow UTPA fashionistas. The Reynosa native specializes in accessories and gravitates toward bold pieces such as full-sized bows and ornate jewelry. Although she admitted she
By getting us known, we’re encouraging students to be more fashionable, trendier. This is a time you can wear anything and it’s OK.
-Amelia Holt Marketing major “Over the years you start seeing things differently and I think this is like my first chance to talk about how my perspective of fashion is,” said the senior public relations and advertising major. “Fashion is about personality and uniqueness.” Amelia Holt has “off-duty model” style, according to the other three Gurus. The senior Rio Bravo native dresses for simplicity and comfort with Doc Marten boots as an everyday piece and usually only a pair of earrings to accessorize. As an artist and aspiring model, Holt saw art and fashion as one and the same. “It takes a lot of skill to make a whole (clothing) collection and inspiration,” Holt said. “The art
only discovered fashion recently, she said it has become a part of her. “I haven’t looked at fashion as much as Sara has, but with this internship, now I love it,” she said. “I think fashion is a way of expressing ourselves.” As interns for the site, each of the girls are required to produce a blog every week, with a specific day and fashion category assigned to each of them such as Accessories Report and Style Advice of the Week. They find students on campus and write about their style while relating to trends in the worldly fashion industry such as designer’s seasonal collections. The interns work as a team, taking on the responsibility of
representing UTPA’s style. This is something that Cortes’ peers once thought to be an unlikely task. “When I started, my friends were like, ‘Oh good luck about that, trying to get fashion students from campus. You’re probably going to get slippers and pants, flip-flops and caps,’” Cortes recalled as the other girls laughed. “But I think it’s also an opportunity to get to know us because UTPA is not very known in the United States...so it’s a good way to get exposure for students, like how the style is here.” The girls explained that UTPA student style is based off the nearly year-around warm weather, and added that most of the students have a “subtle” fash-
ion sense. “Students here are not that outrageous...but it’s interesting to see every once and a while someone that dares to wear a statement piece,” the girly chic Castillo said. “It’s interesting to meet people because we have unique personalities in this university. That’s the interesting part of doing this, to get to know everybody.” The interns have worked to gain familiarity in the UTPA community, sharing their articles through multiple social media outlets to spread the word about College Fashionista. “By getting us known, we’re encouraging students to be more fashionable, trendier,” Holt said. “This is a time you can wear any-
thing and it’s OK. Once you’re out in the real world working, you can’t really express too much, but in college, that’s your gateway. Like ‘Let me try this and if I fail, it’s okay. I can dress another way tomorrow.’” While trying to promote “fashion in a student budget,” according to Cortes, the girls attempt to mix magazine trends given a reasonable financial limit. The fashionistas shop at places such as Shop 112 in McAllen, T.J. Maxx and online stores such as Lulu’s. “We’re not high-class in fashion,” Dueñas said. “We can talk about what the students are wearing. Fashion doesn’t always have to be expensive and luxurious. We can find stuff like that, but around campus.”
MORE IN STORE Although they are only interns now, they have the chance to move up the College Fashionista ladder, depending on how well they do with the blogs. They participate in online seminars and have opportunities to communicate with fashion industry executives for meccas like Vogue and American Eagle Outfitters. “It’s not paid but definitely you get experience because you get to get (your work) published,” Cortes said. “Because you’re on the College Fashionista internship, it gets you more attention so you can start creating your networks and start building your relationship in the fashion industry.” The four said they understood that fashion is a tough industry to get into, but are hoping the experience with College Fashionista is going to help give them the experience they need. Each week, they take their own photos and fine-tune writing skills to produce a blog they hope to be helpful to the UTPA community. “It’s one thing when your friends are reading, but with other people that you don’t expect, that’s when you’re satisfied with what you’re doing,” Castillo said. “Seeing that you’re doing something good that is not only for your personal benefit, but it’s actually benefiting other people, that’s the best part.”
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