INDEX:
2|CAMPUS
3|OPINION
4|SPORTS
Thursday, May 3, 2018
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5|ENTERTAINMENT
Volume 92 Issue 25
Underground Meeting Regarding Miss TAMUK Rules, regulations, discussed between administrators and candidates
Dakota Roberts Opinion Editor
Candidates of the recent Miss TAMUK pageant have raised concerns about the current way the competition is practiced, calling for changes to be made for the coming years. Dr. Terisa Riley, senior vice president for student affairs and administration, confirmed she hosted a meeting with concerned candidates to listen to grievances and move forward with how to proceed with future pageants. “It is too preliminary for me to give my recommendations. I am taking the concerns to ensure fair, transparent processes for the pageant,” stated Riley in an email. The concerns arose after candidates received their final scores and found inconsistencies within the judge’s rubric, which was the basis for determining the winners of the Miss TAMUK pageant. Other candidates say the
judges were poorly chosen and did not have any real credentials to judge a scholarship pageant. The part of the competition most put into question was the speech section of the pageant, which was the longest section of the event and contributes to 20 percent of the score. Darcy Guerrero, the eventual winner of the pageant, was unable to complete her speech—leaving the stage before wrapping up her message to the audience. Comparing Guerrero’s score to other competitors that completed their speeches, Guerrero was not heavily fined for leaving the stage. Candidates were quick to point out that Miss TAMUK is a scholarship pageant, hinging on the candidates’ abilities to speak in front of crowds and deliver announcements or messages clearly and precisely; emphasizing that they were told that looks are a background element to the judging of the pageant. Erin McClure, director
of student activities, also echoed these sentiments. “Miss TAMUK is a pageant but there is no swimsuit competition, it is more of a leadership competition. You work on your public speaking skills, there is an interview. The interview is 50 percent of the judging and the speech is 30 percent so if you do poorly in the interview and your speech well,” McClure continued, “[the competition] is 80 percent of your speaking abilities and your interview skills.” This advice was passed on to the candidates weeks before the event, so that they could prepare their three-minute speeches and practice speaking in front of a large crowd. The candidates were not shown the rubric or what the judges would be looking for during the competition, but that a well-rehearsed speech was required. A candidate expressed exactly how important administration made the speech section sound. “They were basically tell-
Candidates and the new 2018 Miss TAMUK, Darcy Guerrero, at the pageant
ing us that the speech is what makes or breaks you. That is why we mostly practiced the speech every single Monday and Wednesday, and then the entire week of the pageant…. That was the main priority,” said the candidate who wished to remain anon-
PAT Mora Invited for 2018 Lucille Kruse Reading Series
ymous. Other candidates found issues with the pageant’s structure and its lacking of points contributing directly to speaking skills and leadership. According to the rubric, in the public speaking section, two out of five
Photo by Frankie Cardenas
categories are listed directly for speaking skills: speaking ability and the length of the comments. The remaining categories were initial
Miss TAMUK continued on Page 2
Courtesy of Twitter @JavelinaNation
Latina author speaks about past books, experiences, inspiration Iliana Flores Reporter
As part of the annual Lucille Kruse Reading Series hosted by Texas A&M University Kingsville (TAMUK), author Pat Mora visited with TAMUK faculty and students at a breakfast, a reading session and a writing workshop. The Lucille Kruse Reading is an annual event hosted by TAMUK’s Department of Language and Literature and the Gamma Lambda Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi. Each year, an author is brought to TAMUK to read selections from their books. This year, Latina author Pat Mora was invited to TAMUK. In her writing career, Mora has written eight adult books, two young adult poetry books and more than 30 books for children, according to her website patmora.com. Many of these books have been printed in both English and Spanish editions or bilingual versions. Dr. Michelle Johnson-Vela, the chair of the Department of Language and Literature and Associate Professor of Spanish at TAMUK, invited Mora to TAMUK for the 2018 Kruse Reading series. “I was familiar with her work and thought that the themes and her bilingualism would fit well here and would be very relevant for our students. And, she was also an English major so I just felt that she would repre-
Courtesy Photo of http://www.patmora.com/
Pat Mora, Latina Author of “The Beautiful Lady,” “My Own True Name” and “Borders.”
sent well those two programs and that she would also be very familiar with Hispanic serving institutions and that she would have a lot to offer from her own experience as a Chicana [and] would be able to impart great wisdom to our students,” Vela said. To begin her visit at TAMUK, Mora read sections from a few of the books she has written to faculty and students on Monday, April 23. The first book she read from was Tomás and the Library Lady. This children’s book was published in 1997 and marked the first one of Mora’s books that would be published. As Mora explained, she was inspired to write this book in honor of the late Tomás Rivera, a Chicano author, poet and educa-
tor from Texas. Some other of her works Mora read were her poem “Señora X No More,” the beginning of her book “Water Rolls, Water Rises: El agua rueda, el agua sube,” and two parts of her family memoir “House of Houses.” Mora was inspired to write “House of Houses” after listening to tapes of her family. “I felt eventually like I had all of this material and I would imagine myself walking out the front door every day and seeing these stacks of material…and I would think well what am I going to do with them and then the idea came to me: I will build a house. And I’m going to build a house for all those family voices,” Mora said. After reading passages from the book, Mora told the audience that capturing family memories is important because it is a resource to draw inspiration from when creating art. To conclude the reading session, Mora answered questions from the audience about the inspiration for her work, the publishing process, and even her favorite things to read. Mora also signed copies of her books for those who attended the event. For Kassandra Carrillo, a Communication Sciences and Disorders major, she decided to attend Mora’s reading session after being
Pat Mora continued on Page 2
Campus Helps Fight Back Against Sexual Assault Office of Compliance hosts panel educating students, about violence, sexual assault Dakota Roberts Opinion Editor Texas A&M University— Kingsville’s Student Government Association and Office of Compliance hosted a panel discussing sexual assault and violence, highlighting the university’s multitude of resources offered to students that help victims and prevent incidents. Several panelists, from various organizations, gathered at the ballroom in the Student Union Building last Thursday, April 26, for a question and answer-style discussion moderated by SGA’s student body vice president Ruben A. Martinez. The discussion was planned to help students know what they can do and how the process works when you bring an assault claim to the University police. University Police representative Lt. Todd Burris, a member of the panel, opened up the conversation by explaining what the process looks like to anyone who might be
thinking about coming forward and involving law enforcement. “The process begins with a victim, or her friends, or his friends, making an initial report with either university police or reaching out to a staff member under the precedent of Title IX. University Police Department handles the criminal side of the investigation and the victim in the situation has the choice of whether or not we should pursue, and we respect their wishes,” he said. A diverse panel was created to cover all facets of the panel’s discussion, including: Title IX Coordinator Tasha Ann Clark, Greek life representative Monica Hysquierdo, Student Health and Wellness representative Assistant Director Renee E. Weiss, SGA senator Chimenum Elenwo, and member of the Purple Door, a local non-profit organization that offers shelter and counseling to victims of sexual assault, Madeline Goltzman. The Purple Door, in tan-
gent with the Women’s shelter of Kingsville, acts as an anonymous counseling and protective service for young women and children who have experienced sexual trauma. “We personally provide services for rape victims and sexual assault survivors. But with a small town, comes small community. We make sure that everything remains completely confidential and we will not use that information unless you personally want us to use it or if you want us to help you testify. Everything will be completely confidential even to the staff here on campus,” explained Goltzman. The panel passed out options telling students how they should report sexual assault incidences, what to do if you require medical attention, how to receive confidential support, counseling
Fear 2 Freedom continued on Page 2
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THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018
Campus
Getting Serious About Money
Financial expert teaches TAMUK students how to take charge of their money America Quintero Campus Editor About 23 years ago, Jeff Levitan was a broke 24 year old living from paycheck to paycheck. One day, Levitan’s future changed when he attended a presentation held by World Financial Group (WFG), a multi-level marketing company that specializes in financial planning. The presentation inspired him to become a customer of WFG. As a customer, Levitan learned how to save money and plan for early retirement. Levitan eventually became an employee for WFG and is now the Executive Director of the firm. In a few years, Levitan went from rags to riches, earning six figures and owning 700 offices across North America.
Photo By America Quintero
Jeff Levitan presents at the Student Union Building
Levitan was able to retire early at the age of 37. However, Levitan quickly came out of retirement when he noticed there were less than 25 WFG offices in the southeastern United States. Levitan is now making it a goal to open more offices in the south, especially in Texas.
In the next 60 days, Corpus Christi or Kingsville will be the location of new WFG offices. On Wednesday, April 25, Levitan visited Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) to give a financial presentation. At the presentation, Levitan recommended individuals spend less and start investing today. He believes the sooner a person gets serious about money the better. “I think it’s really helpful honestly. I feel like it’s something everyone should come to at least once. “...he’s going to give out a lot of information that one day might help you. He’s going to try to give some advice for your future and tips “ said Sabrina, a business management major. Levitan explained that bad spending habits start early, which is part of the reason
Pat Mora continued from Page 1 told about it in an English class. As Carrillo listened to Mora talk about how her family influenced her writing and read from “House of Houses,” she said she was reminded of similar experiences from her life. On the second day of her
visit to TAMUK, the Gamma Lambda Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi hosted a breakfast for Mora during which students were able to meet Mora over a meal. After the breakfast, Mora held a writing workshop during which faculty and students were able to write a
why college students can’t seem to get out of debt. “I think they’re getting into more debt than ever. The student loan process is still difficult and their strapped with that student loan forever afterwards,” Levitan said. “What I really believe is that you can’t get enough education when it comes to money and how to use it properly…I think it’s great for younger people to learn about money.” Audience members learned the six steps WFG uses to create a financial plan, emergency fund. These steps include determining cash flow, debt management, asset accumulation, estate preservation and proper protection. With new WFG offices opening up close to Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Levitan sees it as an opportunity for students to apply for WFG internships, part-time
positions, or become full-time brokers and entrepreneurs. Nicolas Mitri, Business Management major and a current intern for WFG, sees a bright future for the company. He believes it will be very successful when the company starts opening up locations near TAMUK in June. Mitri has a great admiration for the company and is looking to one day open up an office for them. “It’s fantastic. I think it’s great that they help people build for their future, and I love how they offer people a job where they can decide to grow their own business,” Mitri said. Michael Knight, assistant professor in the College of Business at TAMUK, initially invited Levitan to give a presentation to his class, but interest in the company and presentation quickly grew.
The university then extended invitation for the presentation to all students and community members. More than 120 people attended the event. Knight sees South Texas as a perfect place to open offices for WFG because of the low level of socioeconomics. He believes Texans are in critical need of financial advising. “This is the thing that no one ever talks about. They (people) never learn the real way on how they themselves can make good financial decisions to move forward to have financial health,” Knight said. “We take corporate finance, finance (classes) but it doesn’t show us how to do these things. This is the person and company that shows how to manage that relationships and have successful financial futures.”
Fear 2 Freedom continued from Page 1 story, read it out loud to Mora and other attendees and then discuss it. Mora also talked about her literacy project for children “El día de los niños, El día de los libros/ Children’s Day, Book Day” and the importance of literacy for future generations.
for victims, or how to report as a third party if you witness harassment or assault. Students have a number of options when it comes to developing a report. In cases of harassment and indecent conduct, any student can contact TAMUK’s Title IX Coordinator. For incidents that require law enforcement or campus intervention, students should contact University Police or the Office of Student Affairs. TAMUK’s Title IX coordi-
nator stated what to do immediately after experiencing or witnessing an assault while on campus. “The first thing is if you are in an emergency situation, we always want you to get to a safe space and always you should dial 911. You can always report to our office, our office is located in Lewis Hall, Room 130; the same building as UPD. You can always report to UPD as well, they are our employees. Also, if anything you see
happens off campus we can always utilize [Kingsville Police Department],” Clark finished. “Depending on the situation we will look into whatever resources can help you with your situation on campus.” The panel finished the night by showing a video depicting sexual assault victims coming out about their trauma, centering on the panel’s main message of reaching out and receiving help.
Miss TAMUK continued from Page 1 impression, attire and appearance, and posture; each contributing greatly to the public speaking score. Another candidate wishing to remain anonymous found faults in how the pageant was presented to the candidates weeks before. “The issue… we were told one thing yet the handling of the pageant that night didn’t correlate. Scores weren’t available the next day. The pageant wasn’t recorded as in the past. It wasn’t handled as what would be expected, being that it’s a traditional pageant known for providing females an opportunity towards a scholarship fairly,” she said. “If we had known the speech wasn’t required, most would have opted out.”
Other parts of the competition along with the rubric the judges used have come under scrutiny, specifically the pre-interview to the pageant that takes place a day before the main event. Candidates are asked questions about their life and their ambitions in a private interview between the judges and the candidate. Some candidates felt the process was not well planned out and too quick to make a complete judgement. One of the anonymous Miss TAMUK candidates explained the judge’s process for the personal interviews. “So you go in and they literally asked me four questions and it was about four minutes long. I was expecting a 15-minute interview
because that is what they had told us it was going to be, but it ended up only being four minutes,” she said. In the personal interview section of the judge’s rubric for the pageant, 19 questions are listed for the judges to reference during the interview including a final open category, during which judges were free to use whatever criteria they saw fit. The personal interview contributed to 50 percent of the final score before the final round, at which time the score is reset for a single question. As of now, no changes have been made to the final ruling to the Miss TAMUK 2018 pageant and no changes have been made to the pageant’s judging template.
Opinion
THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018
The Biggest Cold Case Catches Fire
3
The Golden State Killer has finally been caught
Iliana Flores Reporter
After 40 years of investigating the murders of 12 individuals and about 50 rape cases, California police have finally arrested who they believe to be the “Golden State Killer,” 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo. From 1976 to 1986, the residents of California were riddled with fear as a mystery man known as the “Original Nightstalker,” the “East Area Rapist” and eventually the “Golden State Killer” was breaking into the homes of various people and committing heinous crimes. For years, California police and the FBI vehemently searched for the man behind the crimes. But, with a lack of incriminating evidence
towards any suspects, the efforts of law enforcement led to nowhere and the case eventually went cold. In 2011, the case had a brief breakthrough when new DNA technology connected the DNA found in the rapes of the “East Area Rapist” in Northern California with DNA from the murders of the “Original Nightstalker” in Southern California. While the case may not have been actively investigated by law enforcement officials, it still remained a constant case of interest for true crime lovers. The crimes of the “Golden State Killer” have served as inspiration for podcasts, articles, and books discussing the case. One of the most profound books written on the subject was “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer” by Michelle Mc-
Namara. McNamara was a true crime journalist and the creator of the website truecrimediary.com where she wrote blog posts about various true crime cases. Thirty years since the last known murder by the “Golden State Killer,” McNamara decided she wanted to help uncover the identity of the man who brought fear and grief to California for a decade. “Michelle poured over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were obsessed with the case as she was,” the synopsis of the book on Amazon reads. However, before McNamara could finish the book, she suddenly passed away in 2016. With McNamara gone and an unfinished book, her lead researcher for the book Paul Haynes and crime journalist
Mayfield and the Browns The NFL Draft has begun
Luis Garcia Sports Reporter
Now that the draft has come and gone, there will be a lot of speculation as to which team is going to make noise come football season. To start out the draft, Commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell announced the first pick” “With the first pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns select Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma.” While some may doubt Baker Mayfield and compare him to Johnny Manziel in being someone who won’t make it far, there are others like myself who believe otherwise. Mayfield came into the University of Oklahoma as a walk on from Texas
Tech. While in Oklahoma, he shocked the world. His stats speak for themselves. Starting the 2015 season, Mayfield played 13 games as he threw for 3,700 yards along with 36 touchdowns. His quarterback rating for that year was a 173.3. As time progressed, improvement was more evident. Come the 2016 season, he threw for 3,960 yards and had 40 touchdowns to top that off. As we get into his final season, being 2017, Mayfield exploded for 4,627 yards and 43 touchdowns. To top it off, his quarterback rating jumped to a 198.9. They all say hard work pays off in the end, and that definitely was shown when Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy. Mayfield made history in being the first former walk on to be selected in the first
round. The last time this happened was in 1967. In the last three years, the Cleveland Browns have only won four games and have had their fair share of struggles. As a fan of Mayfield, I believe he has what it takes to be an NFL Quarterback. The Browns need to make Mayfield their centerpiece and build around him. With the additions of running backs Jarvis Landry and Carlos Hyde along with the draft pick in running back Nick Chubbs, this will allow for a much-improved running game. Something to look forward to will be touchdown passes from Baker Mayfield to Josh Gordon, who is currently the Browns main receiver. With the draft over, I am looking forward to the new players hitting the field and showing what they have.
The South Texan The South Texan is a student publication produced by Texas A&M UniversityKingsville students. The views, opinions and commentary do not necessarily reflect the views of the Texas A&M University system. The South Texan uses student fees in part to publish. The South Texan is part of the Art, Communications, and Theatre Department (ACT), The Javelina Broadcast Network (JBN), and the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA). Staff: Crystal Zamarron - Editor-in-Chief Darcy Ramirez - Managing Editor America Quintero - Campus Editor Dakota Roberts - Editorial Editor Plaserae Johnson - Sports Editor Robert “Bobby” Puentes - Circulation Manager Frankie Cardenas - Photographer Josue Villarreal - Reporter C.R. Neal - Reporter Joshua Lin - Reporter Iliana Flores - Reporter Luis Garcia - Reporter Nicole Morris - Adviser Dr. Manuel Flores-Content Supervisor
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Billy Jensen were tasked with completing McNamara’s project. With an introduction by author Gillian Flynn and an afterword from her husband Patton Oswalt, “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” was eventually published in February of 2018. Since its release, McNamara’s book has been praised as a masterpiece despite being unable to identity the “Golden State Killer.” As Alexandra Alter wrote in The New York Times, “The…book is a chilling and vivid narrative of a serial killer’s crimes, and a revealing account of Ms. McNamara’s obsession with the case.” Through McNamara’s writing, many people were reminded of the decades’ old crimes by the “Golden State Killer.” With newfound or rekindled interests, true crime lovers brought social media attention to the book and the
case which inspired it. “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” has gone on to be a number one New York Times bestseller and has introduced the somewhat underrated case to many people. Just two months after, “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” was published an arrest was finally made in the “Golden State Killer” case after a 100 percent match was found from DNA found on crime scenes and another sample of DeAngelo’s DNA acquired by police officers. The 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested at his home in Sacramento, Cali. on April 24. When this arrest was announced, the true crime community celebrated and credited McNamara’s book with helping solve the case. At the press conference announcing Joseph James DeAngelo’s arrest, Sheriff
Scott Jones spoke about how McNamara’s book influenced the case. “Other than the fact that it like, as was indicated [by] the media, kept this in the public eye and kept public interest it kept interest and tips coming in. Other than that, there was no information extracted from that book that directly lead to the apprehension,” Jones said. Ultimately, as Jones indicated, “I’ll Be Gone on the Dark” did not necessarily directly lead to the arrest of the accused in the “Golden State Killer” case. However, because of the massive attention it garnered not only by the true crime community but also from the general public, McNamara’s book sets a new precedent for how true crime investigators can renew interests in cold cases and possibly lead to their solving.
TWITTER POLL QUESTION Do you believe stronger regulations need to be placed on social media companies and apps in light of the Facebook controversy?
To Apu or not to Apu Josue Villarreal Reporter On Nov. 17, 2017 comedian Hari Kondabolu turned the comedy world upside down when he released his documentary “The Problem With Apu.” “The Problem With Apu” is a film that tackled issues about representation of Southern Asian people in media, detailing the racism that has always existed within media, and the potential actions we can take to change, all through use of popular “The Simpsons” character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. “The kind of racism that made Apu possible still exists everywhere,” said writer and host of “The Problem With Apu” Kondabalu in the film itself. The film goes on to explain that, despite the admitted clever wit and writing the show had, Apu is a harmful Indian stereotype that helped shape the negative perception of Indian immigrants in the ’90s to today. Couple this with the fact that Apu is portrayed by voice actor, Hank Azaria, an American male doing a impression of an Indian accent. The fact that “The Simpsons,” being the smart show that it is, uses stereotypes to later add depth to its characters and uses many to illustrate how we perceive things in our culture. The key difference being at the time of “The Simpsons” inception, Southern Asian people were not as well represented. There was no Aziz
Ansari of “Parks and Rec,” no Mindy Kaling from “The Office,” or Kumail Nanjiani and his film “The Big Sick.” There is representation now. To some, this is a non-issue. “It’s absurd to blame the cartoon character for the racial slights Indians have experienced in America,” wrote Pradheep J. Shanker in his piece for the National Review “Why The Apu Simpsons Controversy Bothers Me as a Indian American.” The topic is hotly debated, with many of the show’s creators defending Apu as not racist at all. But one person who has spoken up in support of Kondablu is the voice actor for Apu himself, Azaria. “The idea that anybody, young or old, past or present was bullied or teased based on the character of Apu, it just really makes me sad,” Azaria told Colbert on “The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert.” Rather than making excuses or trying to justify anything within his career, Azaria simply makes a call for a change, for more diversity in the writing staff, and even goes as far to say that he would step down from the role. “I really want to see Indian, South Asian writers in the room. Not in a token way, but genuinely informing whatever new direction this character may take, including how it is voiced or not voiced,” Azaria told Colbert. While some believe he is doing it for publicity, Azaria was talking about Apu being offensive and speaking
against it before the film was ever released. “If the only representation of Jews in our culture was Robin Williams’ impression of a Yiddish guy, I guess I might be upset with that too,” Azaria told Malliko Rao for her Huffington Post article “Is It Time to Retire Apu” in 2013. This is absolute the right move for Azaria, as well as what the makers of the show should be striving for - not just for Indian Americans or Southern Asian Americans, but minority people in America in general. By giving roles of minority characters to non-minorities, you are inadvertently implying that no minority individual was worthy or capable of portraying the part. “The Simpsons” is one of the funniest shows ever made. Apu himself has his share of great moments, but think of how much better he could potentially be if someone with real experience as a Southern Asian was there to give his or her input on it. Representation is important because media reflects reality and how individuals interpret it, and if a person who has never met an Indian American person and their only experience of them comes from only Apu Nahasapeemapetilan. Unconsciously or not, they will interpret that as what Indian American people are like. Thank you Hank Azaria for being on the side of representation and equality in media for all, and hopefully the creators of “The Simpsons” can follow your example.
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THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018
Sports
Softball Team Qualifies at Last Minute
The Hoggies Squeeze into Conference Tournament Plaserae Johnson Sports Editor
Photo by Frankie Cardenas
Victoria Schnoorad-Sabrio batting for the Hoggies
The Lady Javelina Softball team squeezed their way into the Lone Star Conference Tournament (LSC) on May 4 and 5 at Angelo State University. The ladies filled the last spot this past weekend, after the Cameron University Aggies dropped a three-game series against Texas Women’s University Pioneers. The last time the softball team went to conference was in 2010. “It’s a first time for our group,” said Head Softball Coach Craig Nicholson. Once Coach Nicholson arrived at Texas A&M University-Kingsville he pushed for change. “I made sure the girls knew how to play the game the right way. We’ve made a lot of progress in that area. We wanted to make the conference tournament and NCAA tournament. So we have one out of the two,” he said. Angelo State University Rams is the team to beat as they sit first in the LSC polls. The Hoggies are excited to attend the tournament. “I’m so happy, excited and a little nervous. It’s all very overwhelming due to the fact that no one on this team has made the playoffs before. I’m so glad we get this opportuni-
ty for us to play at least one more time together,” said senior outfielder Haley Boyett. Members of the men’s baseball team are happy to have the softball team making it to the playoffs with them. “I think that it’s awesome [they’re going to the playoffs]. Those girls work just as hard as us. All I’m saying is watch out for our softball team; they have been turning heads all season. I’m very proud of them,” said Isaiah Lyberger, a Javelina baseball player. It will be a competitive experience for the Hoggies. Only six teams had the advantage to go on in this year’s fight for the LSC Softball Championship Title. Texas A&M University – Kingsville (No. 6 LSC) will first face Texas A&M University - Commerce (TAMUC) (No. 3 LSC) at 11 a.m. on May 4. The Hoggies will be eliminated if they can’t pull off a win against TAMUC. If the Hogs progress in all rounds they will advance to the South-Central Regionals Tournament on May 10 and 13. “Going into the year we expected to go to the [conference] tournament. I mean we barely got in, but once you’re in, you have a chance. Every team would tell you the same thing…They expect to win it. We will go in there and compete at a higher level. There have been a lot of close games with all six teams in the tournament. It will be a dogfight for sure, but whoever plays the best for two days walks out with the tournament,” Nicholson said. Log on to portalstretchinternet.com\Lonestar to watch the tournament.
Javelina Track Battles at Conference Meet Men’s Track Team Could Win Another Conference Title Plaserae Johnson Sports Editor Today, the Javelina Track and Field Team takes on one of the most important meets of their schedule, the Lone Star Conference (LSC) meet. They’ll battle seven teams for the Outdoor LSC Championship Title of 2018. The men ‘s team has won two conference championships with Head Coach Ryan Dall and have the chance to win another. They sit ninth in the nation and second in the conference on NCAA.com and lonestarconference.org. “We need to have a really good meet but I think it’s possible [to win]. We have the talent to do it,” Coach Dall said. The team has prepared
mentally and physically for the intense three-day competition - training harder to be focused on each event. “We just try to get sharper. Most of the work has already been done. We just want to focus on the little things,” Coach Dall said. Some athletes are sitting in first for more than one event. Charles Greaves, Richard Cervantes and Javier López, have opportunities to get top scores in multiple events. Greaves leads the long and triple jump. Cervantes leads the Shotput and Discus. Lopez leads the 100m hurdles and aids the 4x100m relay (40.31), seeded second to Angelo State University. Robert Downs and Ayman Zahafi sit one and two in the 800m.
“It’s a great feeling [having my teammate behind me]. It just shows what we can achieve at conference, and I believe this is only the tip of the iceberg of what we can do,” Downs said. For the women, it is Racheal Somoye sitting first in Hammer and the 4x100 meter relay (47.07) team of Taylor Roberson, Lagae Brigance, Deana Richardson and Keandria Taylor. The relay is ranked third behind Eastern New Mexico State. Somoye has prepared for the LSC meet differently than she has for others. “I’ve been making my practice competition style. So, I can handle the pressure,” she said. Somoye plans to win the Hammer throw to claim the title she wanted at the indoor conference meet.
Pablo Hernandez, a Gift to Javelinas
Aaron Monreal Sports Reporter If there is a player that has skill and passion for the sport of baseball, it is Texas A&M University- Kingsville’s (TAMUK) very own Pablo Hernandez. He is majoring in Natural Gas Engineering and will complete his degree early. He walks the stage this May. Other than exceeding in academics, he has the gift of playing more than one position for the Javelinas. He started playing baseball at the young age of six. “Watching the older neighborhood kids play out in the field and how much fun they were having is what first caught my attention and got me interested in the sport,” Hernandez said. From this point, Hernandez dedicated himself to baseball and has taken the time to better his craft.
Throughout his time here at TAMUK, Hernandez impacted not only himself and his personal accomplishments, but his coach as well. Fortunately, Hernandez has two years of eligibility remaining with the Javelinas. He is expected to leave a positive mark on the team and hopes to make it professionally. “I would like to play pro ball [eventually] but right now, for the two years I have left in Kingsville, I am focused on giving it my all and contributing to this team in order to win a championship,” Hernandez said. The player is competitive and keeps the underclassmen looking up to him. His coach highlighted his contributions to the team. “He’s a joy to be around. I’ve seen him grow from a young man to a very mature young man. He has represented our program very well. We are fortunate
he is a part of our team,” said Head Baseball Coach Jason Gonzales. Hernandez’s accomplishments include being selected twice as an All Team Lone Star Conference selection. In 2016, he led the team in homeruns. The homeruns placed him third overall for players in the LSC. Behind every single accomplishment, there is an inspiration. Hernandez described that his inspiration comes from his family. He expressed the importance of family and wants to be a positive role model for his brother. Fans recognize Hernandez’s importance to the team. “That’s a pretty impressive resume and it’s good to have someone like that playing for us,” said Peter Gonzalez, an exercise science major at TAMUK and supporter of Javelina sports.
Javier Lopez beating competition for the Javelinas
Photo Courtesy of Javelina Athletics
Hogs Drop Series Versus West Texas
TAMUK Baseball Lose Last Road Trip Series In Slugfest Resulting in fourth place Joshua Lin Sports Reporter
On their last road trip of the season, the Javelina Baseball Team faced a difficult series against West Texas A&M (WT) in Canyon. The series set their win-loss record at 32-13 and set back their Lone Star Conference (LSC) record to 11-9. The Javelinas are in fourth place (LSC). Head Coach Jason Gonzales commented on his team and the series. “We felt very good about going into this weekend series, as we always feel good about every weekend. We had several opportunities to win three games; it just didn’t go our way,” Gonzales said. WT defeated the Hogs, 12-9, in Game One. Accord-
ing to Javelina Athletics, WT took an early lead in the first inning and put five runs up in the bottom of the fourth. The Javelinas came back in the last two innings, but still fell short. Christian Caudle, the Javelinas catcher who was out for a couple games after a 90mph fastball hit him in the face, was pretty happy about bouncing back the first game and scoring many runs. “It’s always a big confidence boost to see that many runs coming in against a good team like West Texas. When you score that many runs, a lot of people are contributing so it was good to see. With baseball, every game is a new day starting over. I feel good about how I’m playing since the injury, but we have to take care of business on Sunday to
salvage a split on the series.” The second game of the doubleheader ended with a heartbreaker as the Hogs lost 5-4. The Hogs took a four-run lead into five innings, but WT rallied back four runs in the bottom of the sixth and won the game on a walk-off hit. The last game of the road trip started off great, but WT ultimately beat the Javelinas 11-6 to win the series. The Hogs scored first, but the lead only lasted until the second inning and WT took the lead going into the fourth. Timely hits scored nine runs in the last four innings to secure the victory. The Javelinas will play their last series before the conference playoffs against Cameron on May 6, in Kingsville.
Entertainment
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THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018
TAMUK Jazz Rocks the Campus Latin Jazz Ensemble gathered in quad for annual event C.R. Neal Reporter
Students gathered in the quad on a warm spring day for the ninth annual Texas A&M University (TAMUK) Jazz Blast. The Latin Jazz Ensemble kicked off the event with three songs designed to get the blood pumping and the feet dancing. This jazz ensemble features
a smaller member size mainly composed of percussion instruments. The three singers Esai Perez, Donovan Brown and Abe Villarreal took center stage and put smiles on the crowd’s face. Their dances were partly choreographed, but mainly stemmed from the passion of the moment. With each new dance move the crowd cheered and whistled as the soul of the performers and the music
washed over all those listening. Director of the Latin Jazz Ensemble Glynn Garcia spoke about his experience with the band. “It’s a lot of fun,” Garcia said. “The percussion keeps it infectious at the heart of the music.” Garcia faces an interesting problem with finding music for the band to play. “I have to write a lot of our arrangements,” Garcia said. “Because the instrumenta-
Photo by Frankie Cardenas
Musicians playing music and enjoying Jazz Blast event
‘Stop Kiss’ Receives Standing Ovation from TAMUK Crowd APO Production hits it big with the audience opening night Josue Villarreal Reporter There was not a dry eye to be seen as the cast of Diana Son’s “Stop Kiss” took their final bow opening night on April 27. Across the two and a half hour show, the crowd got to see the charming personalities of two best friends. Callie, played by Michaelina Gonzales, and Sara, played by Trissa Alimeke. Alongside the quaint scenes of sharing glasses of wine and having sleepovers, tragedy struck as a man assaulted the two leads while sharing their first kiss, leading to Sara being put into a coma. Seeing the two storylines put together in a nonlinear structure forced the actresses to be quick on their feet.
They were expected to act in a scene that was happy and loving, then quickly transition to a horrific and tragic scene. “I’ve never played a lesbian role before,” began Gonzales, “it taught me to feel comfortable with who I am, and don’t let anyone get in the way of that.” All the more impressive was Alimeke who, while having done theater prior to “Stop Kiss,” was in her first lead role for this production. “I’m used to having one scene,” Alimeke said. To get rid of nerves, Alimeke would often listen to music from rapper 21 Savage or singer Beyonce to get her hyped and ready for her performance. The lead actresses weren’t the only ones proud of what happened on stage. Director of “Stop Kiss” Laurie Guajardo could barely contain her excitement.
“It was great, the acting was on point, my actors are stellar, lights, costumes everything was great,” gushed Guajardo. Like any live show, not everything was as perfect behind the scenes as people in the audience would believe last-minute changes were made on opening night. “We started practicing with curtains which we didn’t have last night,” Stage Manager Luis Aguilar said. “We started with actual beverages, and some cues went differently.” These changes did not worry Guajardo, but she was not deterred and was confident that the show would stand strong with or without the changes. “The show is strong enough to stand on its own, so I wasn’t too worried about it,” Guajardo said.
tion is different and you have to adjust it to what we have.” Garcia also sent a message to TAMUK students interested in performing with the band who are hesitant because they are not music majors. “I would really like to have some singers or players that maybe are not part of the music program,” Garcia said. Next on the docket was Jazz Band 2 led by James Warth. The second jazz band has a more traditional big-band set-up with trombones, trumpets and saxophones. Bass trombonist for the second Jazz Band and Music Education sophomore Marcos Cuellar spoke about why he enjoys playing in the program. “Getting into the music and playing with the people I’m surrounded by,” Cuellar said. Warth is retiring at the end of the semester and as Warth nears the end of his time at TAMUK, Cuellar reminisced on his time with the director calling him “unique” and “passionate.” Next was Jazz Band 3 led by Kyle Millsap. After a couple songs, Millsap talked about the song choices, which were staples of the jazz industry.
TAMUK musician plays bass at annual event
Millsap said he chose jazz standards as a way of looking back and honoring the past. As the sun fell in the sky
SPRING 2018 EXAM DATE EXAM TIME
8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
10:40 a.m. to 1:10 p.m.
1:20 p.m. to 3:50 p.m.
4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
FRI SAT MON TUES WED THUR 5/11 5/12 5/13 5/14 5/15 5/17 9:30 Saturday 12:00 a.m. Classes* p.m. 8 a.m. MWF TR TR
8:00 a.m. MWF
11:00 a.m. MWF
3:30 p.m. TR
11:00 a.m. TR
4:00 p.m. MWF
HIST 1301 & 1302
9:00 a.m. MWF
1:00 p.m. MWF
ACCT 2301 & 2302
3:00 p.m. MWF
10:00 a.m. MWF
2:00 p.m. TR
12:30 p.m. TR 2:00 p.m. MWF ENGL 1301 & 1302
POLS 2301 & 2302
MATH 2313 & 2314
Final examination for regular students, May 11-17, 2018. This examination schedule is to be followed rigidly in all instances. Exceptions to this schedule must be made through the Dean of the College. A student having three exams scheduled on the same date may request that the professor of the middle exam allow an alternate time. Photo by Josue Villarreal
and the remaining jazz bands took the stage the crowd remained as entertained as when the first band started.
TAMUK FINALS SCHEDULE
*Saturday Classes meet at regular time.
Michaelina Gonzalez and Trissa Alimeke performing in “Stop Kiss” play
Photo by Frankie Cardenas
Final examination schedule for evening classes. Monday, May 14 - All Monday only classes and all Monday-Wednesday classes 6:40 to 9:10 p.m. Tuesday, May 15 - All Tuesday only classes and all Tuesday-Thursday classes 6:40 to 9:10 p.m. Wednesday, May 16 - All Wednesday only classes 6:40 to 9:10 p.m. Thursday, May 17 - All Thursday only classes 6:40 to 9:10 p.m.
GOOD LUCK JAVELINAS!
6
THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018
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