March 28, 2013 by UTRGV Student Media

Vegas Night Guerra Honors Program to host community event fundraiser

Online

March 28, 2013

Volume 69, No. 23

ONLINE CONTENT

panamericanonline.com

Sports Briefs By Jaime Leal/The Pan American

one-year master’s

UTPA DEBUTS NEW ONLINE DEGREE PROGRAM Women’s golf, tennis, track & field coverage

Complete Sweep

Broncs win three in a row over weekend

Financial Help

Association aids in tax preparation

Discussing Goals

The University of Texas-Pan American launched an online Master’s of Public Administration degree program March 6 via the department of public affairs and security studies, in hopes of aiding students who can’t make it to on-campus courses. A degree in public administration is specifically designed for people looking into careers in government or administration, such as a budget analyst or a public administration specialist. The online degree is one of many that were announced by University President Robert Nelsen in August with Academic Partnerships, a Dallas-based company that helps establish virtual campuses. According to Sylvia Saenz, director of the Office of Graduate Studies, the classes offered by AP are on an accelerated level, meaning each one is completed within a seven-week period otherwise known as a seven-week module or interval, differenti-

ating them from other online courses that UTPA has provided since 2001. Saenz said online degrees offered by UTPA, such as a Master’s of Science in kinesiology, work at the same level and move at the rate of a regular semester. Along with the previously stated degree, UTPA does give its own online Master’s of Business Administration classes, but it’s not accelerated. William Turk, chairman of Public Affairs and Security Studies, said the first of the courses kicked off with the aid of AP and the favor of the department. However, Valerie JamesAldridge, Psychology Department chairwoman, said she had a problem with the addition of the program. Not many students are ready for this type of dedication, she said. “There are some students who can easily handle that, but it takes a special kind of student who is very self-motivated and not many

By Susan Gonzalez/The Pan American

Newly elected executive ticket Aaron Barreiro and Erik Sanchez talk plans for upcoming term Subscribe to our YouTube channel

students are there yet,” JamesAldridge said. “This is my only qualm. As long as the students understand the level of discipline that is required to take complete and absolute control of completing and working with their schedules, then all will be fine.” Students applying for the program required an application submission to the graduate school, which Turk then took into consideration. Once admitted, applicants were eligible to register for courses. Those enrolled in the MPA program must meet a requirement of 36 semester credit hours to gain their degree. According to Turk, this translates into 12 three-hour courses and will approximately take two years to acquire. He said 22 students were already admitted into the online course. Of those, 12 were placed in the first class with the others having to wait until the May 1 module. UTPA has offered the mas-

ter’s degree through on-campus classes since the 1990s. The online program was established to help provide availability to students who lived in cities such as Roma or Brownsville, or suffered from physical handicaps and would not have an opportunity to achieve their degree, according to Turk. “The beauty of it is that students can wake up at 4 a.m. to log into the courses or wait until the afternoon,” Turk said. “They don’t have to worry about finding parking spaces or other stuff.” Students who did not complete the Feb. 12 deadline for the March 6 course will be enrolled in the next module. As the course moves on, so does the amount of students signing up for the program. Turk said two to three students are being admitted into the program every week. As students begin to join at a steady rate, Saenz sees an opportunity to continue expanding the online master’s universe. Even though the process takes

free online classes

MassiVe open online Courses taKe sHape Students can now take certain courses for free. The University is joining other institutions of higher education in the usage of Massive Open Online Courses. The first MOOC was held campus-wide fall 2012 and now more courses are in the process of being developed for student and community use. A MOOC is a course that can be taken online and allows learners to work together and participate in activities in an open environment. They are free and do not require university enrollment. “The big characteristic of the MOOCs is not only that it’s open to the public in general, and therefore you end up with hundreds,

maybe even thousands, of students in the course, but also that it’s free of charge,” said Edgar Gonzalez, director for the Center for Online Learning Teaching and Technology. The first MOOC was open to all University staff and faculty in September 2012. Held over a period of four weeks, the course was designed to help facilitate a smooth transition from the old version of Blackboard to the current one being used, Blackboard Learn. But this was only the beginning for what COLT had in mind. “With this MOOC, we were trying to address two things,” Gonzalez said. “One was for us, COLT, to get familiar, our feet wet, with regards

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time and requires colleges and their faculty to decide what will fit their model, they are hoping to see more programs go online, Saenz said. According to Turk, a contract was signed between UTPA and AP that left the latter in charge of recruitment for the program. Although the goal is to attract as many students as possible, UTPA faculty aren’t looking to promote the program because promoting falls within the recruiting guidelines. Saenz stated that though AP maintains a marketing center geared to taking an active approach towards students, the University does its share by acknowledging the accelerated master’s when presenting programs. Setting up the online program came with its challenges, most prominently with teaching professors to create classes in an accepted manner. A way of remedying this was having the professors partake in sessions with some being paid to integrate Skype, an application allowing users to make voice and video calls over the Internet, into the sessions. “You can’t take a face-to-face class and put it up online,” Turk said. “You have to make it attractive and readable and understandable for the learner.” Overall, Saenz sees the addition of this degree as a benefit for students, especially those who are deterred by personal situations. “The accelerated online programs offer students another method of learning,” Saenz said. “The University is constantly looking for ways to meet the needs of our students, and online programs appeal to many students.”

editorial

March 28, 2013

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:

thepanamerican @gmail.com

#UTPA Tweet at and follow us @ThePanAmerican

Wish UTPA had vending machines with fruit instead of fattening snacks. #SoTempting - @longoria_april I swear the freakin automatic stapler at the library scares the hell out of me every time #utpa - @oKarla26 Some jerk got mad at me at utpa because of how I parked my motorcycle.. and he scratched my helmet:C - @Jimenez60026

Vol. 69, No. 23

Dear Pan American, I would like to express my concern over the rather provocative advertisement portayed in your latest issue. While I understand the need to obtain revenue from outside sources the image portrayed is unprofessional and not suited to the caliber of paper presented by the Pan American. Additionally, March is a month in which to honor the acheivments and sacrifices of women throughout history. However, this advertisment does the complete opposite. As a concerned and involved student I would strongly advise the use of better discernment when it comes to chosing which sponsor to portray on your newspaper. The Pan American is a media source that represents this University not only to our students but our community as well. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my concern and please feel free to respond back to me. Best Regards, Joshua Johnson Student Publications Committee, member The University of Texas-Pan American

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free speech ain’t free By The Pan American staff Last week, the owners of Stiletto’s, Adam & Eve and Jackie’s Bar agreed to pay The Pan American $3,250 to design and print five full-page, color ads in the newspaper. And we did. Some of our readers expressed concern, via social media primarily, that seemingly naked performers, alcohol and sex toys were being advertised in their newspaper. We have listened to this criticism and respectfully disagree. We do not regret running these ads. The Pan American draws revenue from two main sources - advertisements and funds from Student Service Fees, the latter of which comes from a tuition fee. We use these monies to print and distribute a now-eight page newspaper, maintain an ever-expanding website and YouTube channel, allow over 50 UTPA students to gain marketable job experience, host a yearly high school journalism conference and travel to community service projects and state conferences. Ad revenue is down for newspapers nationwide and, on our home court, dipping about 20 percent. We could have refused a lucrative ad if we’d wanted, and some of our detractors feel we should have because it is an unseemly ad to run

in UTPA’s official student newspaper. We, however, do not think it is inappropriately placed or out of the norm. On the contrary, a public university’s student newspaper seems to us the most appropriate place to run this ad. These types of ads - indeed, even racier ones - regularly run in college papers across the country, and a majority of our fellow member newspapers in the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association said they wouldn’t have done anything differently. Additionally, we vetted the ad with a representative from the Office of the Dean of Students, who assured us that the ad did not violate the UTPA Handbook of Operating Procedures in any way. We were not being especially out-of-the-box in running the ad, but perhaps the feeling that we were comes from a misunderstanding of what The Pan American’s purpose is. We are UTPA’s newspaper, true. But it would actually be more accurate to say that we are the UTPA community’s newspaper. We operate independently of the UTPA brand and don’t have an obligation to represent the University in a positive light or negative light. Reflecting on this past week,

COMIC

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Editors-in-Chief:

Karen Antonacci Daniella Diaz

however, it occurs to us that the ads have elicited the best possible outcome: readers are discussing and caring about their newspaper. The ad resulted in a slew of Facebook comments, two tweets, a letter to the editor and at least two class discussions that we know of. The subjects of the debates and discussions ranged from the role of student media to a feminist perspective on the stripping profession, to the subjective nature of obscenity. So, in conclusion, we are running this ad for the rest of the semester, knowing the attendant risk of possibly offending a portion of the readership. The benefits, however, are to be able to continue doing community outreach, jump-starting UTPA students’ careers and above all, serving the UTPA community in the capacity as journalists. And if you disagree, we respect that and we encourage you to come to ARHU 170 and fill out an application. Then, climb the ranks and become an influential decisionmaker at The Pan American. After all, the best leaders are not the complacent and infatuated, but rather, the displeased and those willing to take action.

BEST COLLEGE AD EVER! d

I’m not okay with this!

News Editor:

Charles Vale

Sports Editor:

Francisco Rodriguez

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

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Jose Villarreal

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.

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Story by Jose S. De Leon III Design by Karen Villarreal

March 28, 2013

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Story by Jose S. De Leon III Design by Karen Villarreal

March 28, 2013

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February 2013 28,7,2013 6 March MoocS continued from page 1 said. “One was for us, COLT, to get familiar, our feet wet, with regards to MOOCs. And the other one was to provide another resource to the faculty, so that they could be prepared for the transition to the new Blackboard plan.” Coursera, a social entrepreneurship company that partners with national and international universities to offer free courses online, is one company that helped start this MOOC trend in May 2012. Less than a year later, it has 2.4 million students taking 214 different courses from 33 universities, and COLT wanted to jump on the bandwagon. “One of the jobs of COLT is for us to be aware of what trends, what technology is taking place outside in higher

education, specifically in the world of online education,” Gonzalez said. “That’s how we became aware of what trends were taking place and eventually MOOCs was one of those things that caught momentum. It’s pretty popular right now.” One MOOC that is currently being developed at the University is a course in Legal Spanish. Students do not get credit for taking it, but if they complete eight out of the 12 sessions and pay $50, they receive a certificate. “In terms of how we could do some community engagement in our college, it just made a lot of sense for us to think about Legal Spanish,” said Jessica Lavariega-Monforti, assistant dean of the Col-

lege of Social and Behavioral Sciences. “We wanted to offer something our students could take but also something that would provide continued or lifelong learning for members of our community.” The course is open to everyone, but was created with attorneys, police officers, paralegals and others working in legal fields in mind, according to Lavariega-Monforti. “When (people with legal occupations) come to work here, they’re from out of town, and they establish themselves as professionals in the area down here, many of the clients they deal with are Spanish speakers,” she said. “And many of them don’t have the formal training to engage with Spanish speakers. Even if you spoke Spanish at home as a kid, it’s not the same as being trained in the jargon of legal language.” The course is about halfway

completed, but students who are interested in taking it will be able to test it out before the end of the month. “We want people to go and start playing around with the website and taking the quizzes,” Mon-

million 2.4 students taking courses 214 from 33 universities forti said, “And then as things become available, as we continue to film, we’ll be adding more and

more content to that website.” The course consists of 12 videotaped lectures given by local and national experts in the legal field. Each lecture is about one hour long and discusses one specific area within the law, such as legal jargon used in a courtroom setting. There are also quizzes, discussion boards and assignments available to those taking the course. However, despite the benefits MOOCs offer, there are also financial drawbacks. Each MOOC’s cost is tied to the time and effort spent on development and content, therefore these costs can vary. For example, the Legal Spanish MOOC was allocated $5,000 for development of content and fees for guest speakers, but this may not be the case for each one, according to Gonzalez. “Only time will tell how much of a value MOOCs are going to provide in the long run for higher

education,” he said. “And the reason behind it is that MOOCs are supposed to be free, yet they require a lot of cost and overhead to maintain. I don’t know how cost effective it will be in the long run to have MOOCs available, not only here at UTPA, but in general in higher education.” But for the moment, Monforti and other educators are still excited to see what MOOCs will provide for students and community members. “I think oftentimes we forget that education for education’s sake is a good thing,” she said. “There’s a lot of focus on outcome, earning a degree… all those things are very important, but so is continuing to learn because you’re interested in a topic and I think MOOCs like this really allow people, no matter what stage of life they’re in, to continue to grow and learn.”

January 31, 2013

Three in a row: Broncs stampede over Patriots

Dylan Badura Pitcher

Andy Fortuna Outfielder

Adrian Castillo/The Pan American

WEEKLY UPDATES

baseball Swept Arlington Baptist University March 22-23, winning the threegame series 10-0, 11-1, 15-3 at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium College Sports Madness named senior Derek Hagy Madness Great West Baseball Player of the Week Tuesday Next home game March 30 at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. against Jackson State University (DH)

women’s golf Placed 16th of 17 at the University of Cincinnati Women’s Spring Invitational in Florida March 22-24 with 665 strokes

men’s tennis

men’s track and field

Beat University of the Incarnate Word March 23, 7-0 at the Orville Cox Center

Finished 9th of 22 at the 31st Annual Victor Lopez Classic March 22-23 in Houston

Beat Prairie View A&M University March 23, 7-0 at the Orville Cox Center

Senior Andy Lopez won the Men’s 800-Meter Run with a time of 1:50.18

Lost to University of New Orleans March 25, 4-3 at the Orville Cox Center

Junior Dijan Johnson placed second in the Men’s 400-Meter Hurdles with a time of 57.77

Southland Conference named freshman Thomas-Orestis Panoulas Southland Conference Player of Week Tuesday after he was 3-0 last week Final home match April 3 at 3 p.m. against University of Louisiana at Lafayette

women’s tennis

Beat Prairie View A&M University March 23, 5-2 in their final home match of the season at the Orville Cox Center

women’s track and field Finished 20th of 21 at the 31st Annual Victor Lopez Classic March 22-23 in Houston

volleyball Will host a UTPA Tournament, part of the off-season spring schedule, April 6

arts & life

March 28, 2013

riding By Osmar Alanis The Pan American Laughter pours out of Room 119 of the Business Administration Building during the Korean Wave Club meeting from both the 12 members and the audience on the TV show they’re watching. The members giggle and whisper to each other while staring at the

t he

wave

projector screen that reflects its light onto their faces. On this occasion they’re watching Running Man, a Korean TV series full of comedy, action and oversized subtitles. Students Jessica Aleman, Lorena Aleman, Gisele Martinez and Annayancy Vela founded the club, which focuses strictly on South Korean culture. They discovered August 2012 they had a common interest in K-pop, a genre of music that originated in South Korea in the 1990s. “It’s also a sort of relaxation between class periods,” Club President Lorena Aleman said. The club meets Monday, Tuesday and Thursday in a room where they’ll watch Korean television series such as Running Man a variety show in which contestants complete missions to win a race - and listen to musical groups such as Big Bang and Super Junior. While this is a foreign subculture, the members of the Korean Wave Club realate to K-pop even though they don’t fully understand the language. “You learn a bit of the values people hold in that culture

K-POP CULTURE Finds A PLACE AT UTPA

through the music they make,” said Aleman, a Mission native. Although the music’s sound resembles American pop, Korean customs are dominant, making it taboo for artists to sing about the things that American artists usually sing about. According to several members of the club, the tiniest of things can become a scandal in Korea. “They don’t sing about sex or drugs in their music. I mean, they sing about having fun, but it’s different than what artists sing about here,” stated club member and McAllen resident Leo Garcia. The club members don’t limit their meetings to scheduled times, and often hang out at a member’s house or at Korean restaurants in McAllen, such as Korea Garden and Seoul House. These outside meetings help develop a connection between members of the group and allow them to get to know each other better, according to Aleman. During this time, the members play games with a Korean twist, such as Korean LIFE or “KCharades,” watch several TV series and discuss

new releases from their favorite artists. “I feel like when you have a hobby that you can share with somebody else, it’s easier to participate and connect,” Aleman explained. The Korean Wave Club attracts students who are interested in the Korean culture, yet the club also aims to reach out to students for a more specific reason. “In a way, we offer a way for people to establish themselves,” Aleman said. “Sort of make them feel like they belong.”

UTSA’s Graduate School will be visiting YOU! UTSA’s Graduate School will be visiting the University of Texas - Pan American! This is an opportunity to meet with a graduate recruiter to discuss UTSA’s masters and doctoral degrees, admission requirements, GRE/GMAT scores and financial aid opportunities. Tuesday, April 9, 2013 Information Table (1 Floor of SCNE): 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. & 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Lunch & Learn Information Session (SCNE 1.288): 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. Pizza will be served for those who register for the event. st

Visit http://graduateschool.utsa.edu/events to register for the session. For more information, call (210) 458-4335 or email Chelsea.Brooks@utsa.edu.

March 28, 2013

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