march 27, 2008
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volume64number24TRANSCRIPT
In an era when technology has
come a long way and is still advancing,
phishing frauds continue to rise, with
more than a 100-percent increase in new
targets in 2007 compared to the two pre-
vious years. And now online scammers
have their sights set on universities.
Nearly a dozen colleges – includ-
ing Princeton, Columbia and Purdue –
have been targeted by an e-mail phishing
fraud, reported the Internet security
company Security Focus.
One attempt of identity thieves in
particular, recently made public
through a bulletin published by The
University of Texas-Pan American’s
Office for Information Technology and
the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
alerts students and teachers to a scam
guised as a death threat.
In the sample e-mail released in the
bulletin, the author states that a friend has
paid money to have the e-mail recipient
killed, and warns not to call the police
From the get-go, Denise Chavez
aimed to be a different kind of
Distinguished Speaker than the ones who
have come before her, such as Russian
politician Mikhail Gorbachev and envi-
ronmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In her own words, “none of them
talked about tacos.” Tonight, the well-
regarded writer would talk about tacos.
In her presentation as the series’
final speaker of the school year, Chavez
shared a few readings from her book, A
Taco Testimony: Meditations on Family,
Food and Culture, a Memoir of Food.
Raised in New Mexico, Chavez
received a bachelor’s degree in drama
from New Mexico State University in
1971, a master’s degree in drama from
Trinity University in 1974, and 10 years
later, a master’s degree in creative writ-
By ABBY MUNIZThe Pan American
See Page 16
German native tennisplayer on road to history
SPORTS
Phishing scam targetinguniversities, IT warns
Student band opens forrock act at Dodge
See Page 7
See Page 3
A&E
NEWS
59th YearNo. 24
ThursdayMarch 27, 2008
TH
IS W
EE
K
� DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES
Author Chavez saysculture vital to writing
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
See CHAVEZ page 11
Scam targets universitiesBy BOBBY CERVANTES
The Pan American
� ONLINE SECURITY
See PHISHING page 11
Ask Juanita Garza where her life was
going health-wise five months ago and there is
no definite answer. That is because last
December, The University of Texas-Pan
American history professor visited her doctor
to check on a knee injury, but instead came out
checking her blood sugar on a daily basis.
It was at that moment that Garza recog-
nized that her health needed to take the dri-
ver’s seat.
Like one out of every four women over
age 45 in the Rio Grande Valley, Garza found
herself living with diabetes. Scared and dis-
tressed, she said she remembers the news came
as a shock because no one in her family had a
history of the disease.
“I didn’t believe the doctor, I really didn’t
believe her,” she said with a tilt in her voice. “I
always thought, ‘No, you inherit it,’ but it real-
ly isn’t that way at all, you can get it all on your
own.”
Despite the shock, Garza decided not to
accept it as a death sentence, but rather as a
chance to search for a life-sentence through
dieting the healthy way; a lifestyle which has
helped her lose 29 pounds and lower her blood
sugar and pressure significantly.
“I used to have two tacos for breakfast, I
had to quit that and go on cereal or oatmeal, but
then I could also have fruit with that,” she said.
“It’s getting use to a whole new way of eating.”
Through the help of her doctor and friend,
Elena Bastida, a sociology professor who has
done copious research on diabetes, she man-
aged to turn her life around and now said she
lives virtually diabetes-free because of her
healthier habits.
PROMOTING CHANGEAccording to Bastida, a common miscon-
ception about diabetes is that it cannot be pre-
vented. She admits there are extreme cases, like
Type 1 diabetes, which is chronic, and where
healthier eating and better knowledge of the dis-
ease cannot help. However, Type 2 diabetics can
prevent or slow down its progression.
Type 1 is most often hereditary and is the
more severe type of diabetes and requires med-
See FOOD page 11
By J.R. ORTEGAThe Pan American
� HEALTH
Alternative choices
Hispanic food staples contributing to diabetes epidemic, expert says
flour tortillasabout 90 cals.
corn tortillas
other suggestions
about 70 cals.
fried rice steamed rice
SausageMcSkillet
egg white corn tortilla taco
about 333 cals/cup about 208 cals/cup
about 610 cals. about 87 cals.
Instead of
Try
Instead of Try
Ben Briones/The Pan American
2
29
ast night I received literally four IMs
from people I hadn’t talked to in
years. For the most part I hated it. Blasts
from the past always freaked me out.
Most of the time, I’ve cut ties with
this person on purpose. So when they all
of a sudden want an entry back into my
life, it makes me wish I had a clear, tact-
ful way to say bugger off.
It’s like that old boyfriend you see
at Target and you duck behind a random
aisle to try and avoid them. In fact, that
was almost exactly the case. Allow me to
explain:
Annoyingexboyfriend1 [10:35P.M.]: Hey.
To that I pressed the little red “x”
on the corner of the IM box.
Annoyingexboyfriend1 [10:39P.M.]: Remember me?
I pressed the box again.
Annoyingexboyfriend1 [10:42P.M.]: Or are you trying to forget?
Yes, dumbass. Take a hint. It went
on like that pretty much until he signed
off almost 20 minutes later.
To be fair, I was the bitch in the rela-
tionship. Don’t look so surprised. But he
was annoying, so he deserved it.
Nonetheless, it ended terrible and I
never spoke to him again. Why open old
wounds? Rather, why get on my nerves
again when I clearly cut you loose the
last time?
Now, on the other hand, when the
reunion is long overdue and perhaps
many years in the making, a little ran-
dom IM can always cheer up a gloomy
day. Case and point IM no. 4, which I
received in the wee hours. If we weren’t
thousands of miles away I would have
called it a booty call.
Sexyformercoworker69 [1:42A.M.]: Hey Sandra!!!!!!!
Desperateeditor420 [1:42 A.M.]:Hi there!
Sexyformercoworker69 [1:43A.M.]: I was going through screanames
[he meant screen names. The boys a dish
but no scholar] deleting the people I
don’t talk to anymore. But I didn’t want
to delete yours.
Desperateeditor420 [1:43 A.M.]:Awesome. I feel special.
Sexyformercoworker69 [1:43A.M.]: I’m goin to be in TeX soon.
Renting a condo at SPI in May. Are you
going to be around?
To protect the innocent and whaev-
er bits of integrity I still possess, I won’t
go on. But there you have it, a VERY
welcomed reunion.
When mending ties, catching up
with old friends or even seeing if a flame
is still burning take caution. You may
walk into it hoping for an “I never got
over you” and come out with an “I real-
ly never liked you.”
Calculate the risks.
At the same time, you could end up
with plans for an early summer beach
rendezvous. Wink, wink.
THE PAN AMERICANPage 2
1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539Phone: (956) 381-2541
Fax: (956) 316-7122www.utpa.edu/dept/panamerican
THE
PANAMERICAN
MARCH 27, 2008
The Pan American is the official student newspaperof The University of Texas-Pan American. Viewspresented are those of the writers and do notnecessarily reflect those of the paper or university.
Editor-in-ChiefSandra Gonzalez.................................................
A&E EditorJeanette [email protected]
Sports Co-EditorsGreg [email protected] [email protected]
Photography EditorRoxy [email protected]
Design EditorRoy [email protected]
Assistant News EditorsAbigail [email protected]. [email protected]
Designers Rick GamezJuan Torres
Reporters and Photographers
Alvaro Balderos Ana Villaurrutia
Bobby Cervantes Russen Vela
Leslie Estrada Onydia Garza
Laura Garcia
AdviserDr. Greg [email protected]
The Pan American accepts letters of 300words or less from students, staff and facultyregarding recent newspaper content, campusconcerns or current events. The Pan Americanreserves the right to edit submissions for grammarand length. The Pan American cannot publishanonymous letters or submissions containing hatespeech or gratuitous personal attacks. Please send allstory ideas to [email protected].
Individuals with disabilities wishing toacquire this publication in an alternative format orneeding assistance to attend any event listed cancontact The Pan American for more details.
SecretaryAnita [email protected]
Advertising ManagerSamantha [email protected]
Assitant Advertising ManagerJacqueline Iglesias...................................
**Delivery**Thursday at noon
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Savethesedates
OPINIONMarch 27, 2008
28-30
Newsinbrief
� Are you an old friend ofmine and want to catch up?Don’t. I probably never likedyou at all. I guess try anyway:[email protected]
Avoiding unpleasant reunions� SOCIAL COMMENTARY
BY: SANDRA GONZALEZ
L
March
28-30 The fourth annual Pharr
Hub-Phestival kicks off indowntown Pharr. All events
open to public
29 Best-selling author and
journaling pioneer LuciaCapacchione book signing
at Barnes & Noble offExpwy. 83 from 2-4 p.m.
2 The Pan American will pub-lish the next issue a day in
advance.
April
Vannie E. Cook Jr. Children’s
Cancer and Hematology Clinic in
McAllen is asking for votes in a contest
that would provide two new bedside fun
centers for the hospital.
Colgate-Palmolive and Starlight
Starbright Children’s Foundation have
joined together to help provide one of
the mobile entertainment units to 30 dif-
ferent hospitals across the United States.
Every participating hospital will receive
one, but the 10 hospitals with the most
votes will receive two.
To vote or for more information visit
http://www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/
Corp/CommunityPrograms/Starlight-
Starbright-Childrens-Foundation.cvsp.
Voting ends March 31.
onestly, sports and me are some-
what of a relativly new thing.
Sure, I did a little recess sports growing
up and played my fair share of baseball,
basketball and football in physical edu-
cation during my grade school years, but
never have I really cared for a team
nationally, much less one from the
school that I go to.
Usually when it comes to sports,
picking sides usually just depends on who
is winning and sticking with them as long
as they are winning. This being the case,
having a rivalry with an opposing team
never really fired me up. I never painted
my body with the team’s colors nor did I
ever wait forever to see the game.
All in all, rivalries in sports always
confused me. How did they start? Why
do they exist? What exact purpose do
they hold within the game?
Back in high school, I went to the
oldest school in Corpus Christi, and for
some reason we had a rivalry with the
second oldest school. When asked what
exactly started it, the usual answers were
because at the time there were only those
two schools, so something was needed
to boost the community’s feelings about
the games.
This lead to my classmates per-
forming less than legal activities to
uphold the rivalry, ranging from paint
the statue in front of the rival school in
our school’s colors, stealing their letter
so they wouldn’t have it for homecom-
ing, and egging their school with a little
graffiti. Usually, the same thing occurred
against our school, of course.
Now, here I sit as the Sports Co-
Editor when for the majority of my life
the most I got engaged into the whole
thing was the Super Bowl, which I
watched mainly for the commercials.
But now I begin to see the edge rivalries
provide within the sports community.
While I have not played many
sports, I have played a number of games,
including trading card games. I was
never the best, but I was far from the
worst. Some of the players I went up
against applauded me for my decisions,
strategy and thought that I would put
into my deck. And so there was always
at least one person who wanted to beat
me and vice versa; those games usually
meant the most.
Thus, I had my own rival, which
helped keep the game interesting and
alive. In what new ways could I beat
them? What other possibilities could
hold victory for me? Just thinking about
the competition brought out the best in
me and got me fired up. So now I can
imagine the feeling for an entire team.
Against one team that you just have
to beat, the anticipation is there, and at
your back is a throng of loyal fans all
cheering for you. The need for victory
penetrates your very being and winning
is the only thing on your mind.
I think such things are the making
of a great game. More than just a tally in
the win column is at stake. Pride and
glory hang in the balance. These games
are the ones that make a season memo-
rable. These are the games that make
people into legends.
� Get a new rivalry or want tostart one? Pick a fight [email protected]
Rivals: there’s enough to go aroundBY: GREG GARZA
H
� A GREGISH MIND
After more than 20 years with the
PLUS student information system, The
University of Texas-Pan American has
finally made a progressive change
toward the up-to-date and more popular
BANNER system.
The system, new to the university,
is said to be more beneficial than its
predecessor in all aspects. But many are
apprehensive about getting too comfort-
able, too fast.
A main change students will notice
is no more Registration Access Codes.
When signing up for fall courses, instead
of RAC numbers, a registration hold will
be released by the department allowing
students to sign up for classes without
the hassle of remembering another six-
digit randomized pass code.
The switch to BANNER is all too
great for senior social studies major,
Esmer Elizondo, who said she has lost
her RAC number every semester.
“It’s better that you don’t have to
write down your RAC number,” she
said. “You have to go back to your advis-
er if you lose it.”
The Edinburg native had trouble
at times receiving her RAC number
after losing it; she said she now feels at
ease knowing she won’t have to go
through that again. She added that a
change in system does not faze her
because she has never had any prob-
lems with the online system.
The system’s administrative suite,
a widely used program, helps manage
many facets of university management,
ranging from the financial aid award
process, to all the inner-workings of the
UTPA administration.
The administrative sector of the uni-
versity started using BANNER Feb. 1,
and in doing so, has become more proac-
tive, project manager Michelle Alvarado
said. She added the system is most benefi-
cial for the administration and that infor-
mation like financial aid can be updated
and transacted in faster time.
Elia Ovalle, secretary for the
management, marketing and interna-
tional business department, recently
attended training. While she was con-
cerned about the difficulty level and
possible troubles that could come with
the program, in the end those things
should work themselves out.
“It is something new that we really
didn’t have much training on, but BAN-
NER is quite easy,” Ovalle said. “It’s
based on [drop down] menus, not on
numbers like VAX.”
The VAX, part of the old PLUS
system, is based on student codes that
are often times a lot to remember, she
said. But the BANNER system, Ovalle
found out, has a much easier menu-driv-
en interface that will become effortless
for administration and students.
In Ovalle’s department, students
will see their advisers and receive a
slip that will check that they were ver-
ified. With the new system, the secre-
taries will simply type the student iden-
tification number and click “release
hold.”
If there is one thing students at The
University of Texas-Pan American
understand, it is that charity can be one
of the greatest gifts one can give and
receive. And for the second time, the
university received recognition on the
president’s Higher Education
Community Service Honor Roll, prov-
ing that the university community’s hard
work has not gone unnoticed.
The award comes from The
Corporation for National and Community
Service and 391 institutions throughout
the nation were awarded this year.
According to the corporation’s Web
site, schools are selected based on various
factors including the extent to which a
school offers service-learning courses and
the percentage of student participation in
service activities among others.
With only 21 awarded in Texas, the
corporation seeks out those schools that
give back to the community, something
that UTPA has a long history of doing
according to Bret Mann, executive
director of community engagement.
“We use the resources of the uni-
versity to help the community in various
THE PAN AMERICANMarch 27, 2008 Page 3
NEWS
By ANA VILLAURRUTIAThe Pan American
� COMMUNITY
Student information system outed for BANNER
See AWARD page 12
� TECHNOLOGY
See BANNER page 12
Campusawarded forservice
RAC numbers no longer neededfor registration
The large, brown eyes of Indian and
Bangladeshi villagers stare at George
McLemore’s lens, telling the story of
their laborious, often fear-filled lives.
Human trafficking is a real threat
for the people of this region. And in his
presentation on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the
Student Union Theater, the former
University of Texas-Pan American pro-
fessor will detail his experiences along
the India-Bangladesh border.
When he was commissioned by
French non-governmental activist organ-
ization Groupe Developpement to docu-
ment their struggles, it was a feat
McLemore did not take lightly.
“I enjoy documenting the people
who live in these areas and contribute to
See EXHIBIT page 12
By J.R. ORTEGAThe Pan American
� CAMPUS
Portrait of harsh realities
SIMPLY A PHOTOGRAPHER - George McLemore (above) traveled to India andBangladesh recently to document the regionʼs human trafficking epidemic. He willspeak Saturday about his experiences in the Student Union Theater at 1 p.m.
By SANDRA GONZALEZThe Pan American
George McLemore
Former professorpresents exhibit
� “It’s better that you don’thave to write down your RACnumber.”
-Esmer Elizondosenior
social studies
NEWSPage 4 March 27, 2008
NEWSMarch 27, 2008 Page 5
NEWSPage 6 March 27, 2008
Alternative sounds of bands such
as Tool and 30 Seconds to Mars aren’t
what someone thinks of when it comes
to Christian music. But a Harlingen rock
band, Obscurity, has stepped into that
territory and made an impression on the
local music scene.
“Some people are a little shocked
that we’re a Christian band playing the
type of music we play,” said vocalist and
UTPA alumnus Jeremiah Gonzalez. “Our
songs deal a lot with pain, suffering, pur-
pose and meaning. But we’re also defi-
nitely not just like any secular band
either. There’s hope, patience, revelation
and charity throughout our music.”
Obscurity is: Gonzalez, along with
guitarist and background vocalist Larry
Lozano, bassist and background vocalist
Nason Rumfield and drummer Jacob
Rumfield, all Harlingen natives.
The band was formed a little over
two years ago and has come a long way
both in terms of sound, and recognition.
“We’ve added sampling, more guitar
effects and percussion instruments over
the last couple of years. And we’ve even
added things like background harmonies
and vocals and guitar pieces to come of
our older songs,” said 26-year-old Jacob
Rumfield. “The songs are almost kind of
alive and growing with us.”
When it comes to the style of their
music, they continue to be determined to
bring something different to the modern
and local music scene.
“We are trying to bring something
new to the Valley, but we hope that peo-
ple from all parts of the world will get a
chance to hear our music,” said Lozano.
In February, the band placed first
place in the Q94.5 Band Smackdown
Live Faceoff during Borderfest. Raul
Coronado of EP Productions, the pro-
moter of the Flyleaf concert at the
Dodge Arena March 21, approached the
band and asked if they would like to be
an opening act.
“It was really cool playing in front
of such a big crowd, and to play with
such a high-caliber band like Flyleaf was
an experience in itself,” Gonzalez said,
and other members agreed, noting it did-
n’t hurt from the publicity angle, either.
“Opening up for a well-known
band gets us a lot of exposure since we’re
able to play in front of all of their fans
and make our best impression possible,”
said 22-year-old Nason Rumfield.
As their fan base grows with
increased exposure, they plan to stay
grounded and carry on a relationship
with their fans.
“We really love our fans, and
we’ll always be as close as possible to
them. We never want them to think that
we’ve gotten too big for them or have
forgotten about them,” continued
Nason Rumfield.
One of the goals of the band is to
help spread their message through their
collaborative lyrics and unique sound.
“Thinking big, I’d like to see us
become worldwide. We’ve got a mes-
sage and we want everybody to hear it
because we’re not just playing music,”
Gonzalez stated. “What we believe and
what we’re saying in our music is
almost like an antidote for a world
that’s been poisoned. …we’re out
spreading the word of God, Jesus’ mes-
sage of love and a feeling of hope
through our music.”
For more information about
Obscurity and any upcoming shows
head to their website:
www.myspace.com/obscuritymusic.
While most students at The
University of Texas-Pan American are in
the process of educating themselves,
there are people who look at this as a
goal that will never be reached. But
there’s a program to help change their
minds, and habits.
The Pharr Literacy Project is a
grassroots, faith-based, community
driven program that is dedicated to pro-
viding literacy alternatives to those per-
sons who, due to life circumstances,
may otherwise find adult education an
unrealistic goal.
“At the Pharr Literacy and Art
Center we have served people whose
lives have been marginalized by poverty,
discrimination and self-defeating per-
sonal decisions,” said Eric Brown, coor-
dinator of the center. “Our goal is to
identify the root causes of poverty and to
apply systematic solutions to them in
order to provide opportunities for resi-
dents of Pharr and its surrounding are to
become self-sufficient.”
People in the Rio Grande Valley
have the opportunity to participate in
free classes that are offered by this cen-
ter in 11 different sites in three cluster
areas: language acquisition, general edu-
cation development, and employability
skills training.
Brown stated that also teaching arts
in this program will help people to
improve in many areas.
“By including the arts, we not
only will improve their English usage,
we will increase the cultural expecta-
tions in this area as well,” he said. “As
a result, we believe that our students
will gain self-confidence, will have
higher self-esteem, will develop lead-
ership skills and raise their horizons of
what can be accomplished as they
enjoy the process too.”
Giovanni Ferrigno, a senior major-
ing in marketing at UTPA, said the pro-
gram is very admirable and has a great
cause behind it.
&RTS EA NTERTAINMENT� COMMUNITY SCENE
THE PAN AMERICANMarch 27, 2008 Page 7
� MUSIC SCENE
By LESLIE ESTRADAThe Pan American
Culturalprogramaims toeducatewith art
See LITERACY page 10MUSICAL MESSAGE - Harlingen Christian rock band Obscurity spreads the word of God through their collaborative lyrics and music. The Valley band opened up foralternative band Flyleaf at the Dodge Arena in Hidalgo March 21.
By AMANDA ALANIZThe Pan American
Harlingen rock band spreads faith
DRIVEN - Obscurity vocalist Jeremiah Gonzalez, a UTPA communication gradu-ate, bases his bandʼs alternative sound on Christian faith.
Ben Briones/The Pan American
Ben Briones/The Pan American
henever there is an art exhibit at a localgallery in New York or Paris, everyone
goes for the art. Art exhibits are often the event toattend because of the new blood inventing radical,exotic art, and attendees are fascinated by their viewof things.
Brownsville Historical Association, andPolibrid Coatings invite all residents of the RioGrande Valley to witness the highlight exhibit of“Legends and Folktales of South Texas andNorthern Mexico,” an exhibition showcasing localartistic talent from The Rio Grande Valley. Theexhibition will be on view during The Universityof Texas-Pan American’s Festival of InternationalBooks and Arts from March 24 to March 29.
The exhibition explores legends, haunted sto-ries and folktales that are told throughout SouthTexas and Northern Mexico. Along with the morepopular legends such as La Llorona, the show willalso feature obscure local legends and folktalesdepicted in artwork.
Along with the artwork, the interpretation ofstories will also be available for people to read. Theexhibition compliments this year’s FESTIBAtheme of storytelling through the arts.
Priscilla Rodriguez, the executive director of theBrownsville Historical Association, where she over-sees three museums, a gallery and a resource center,was humbled and excited about the exhibition.
“We were asked by Steven Schneider, who feltthe theme of the exhibit tied in well with the theme
of FESTIBA,” the Weslaco native said. “An exhib-it developed by BHA was originally shown at theBrownsville Heritage Complex in October throughNovember 2007. The exhibit features local artistsfrom across the RGV depicting their version of apopular legend or folktale.”
Rodriguez, who has worked with the BHA foralmost five years, was enthusiastic about havingthe gallery showcased during FESTIBA.
The BHA first organized the exhibit inBrownsville and wanted to tie in the tradition oforal history and folklore with the study of histo-ry in order to get students and the public to thinkof history in new ways. The group wantedobservers to see how stories passed downthrough the generations in families are also his-tory, and how these stories tell a lot about localculture.
“We frequently host exhibits that tie in cultur-al arts with history and heritage at the BrownsvilleHeritage Complex,” Rodriguez said. “We rotateexhibitions there every two months. However, thisis the first time we’ve hosted an exhibit at UTPAfor FESTIBA.”
The Legends and Folklore exhibition hasalready been extremely successful inBrownsville. The audience will recognize thestories interpreted through the artwork as storiesmost Valley locals grew up with, so in thatregard it allows visitors to connect with theirfamilies through stories that are depicted in theartwork on display.
“Since that is the intent of the exhibit, it willbe successful at FESTIBA,” Rodriguez said.
Freshman art major Julie Flores looks forwardto seeing South Texas myths captured on canvas.
“I grew up hearing stories from my grandpar-ents about La Llorona,” Flores said. “Seeing itdepicted in an art form will be pretty interesting tosee.”
La Llorona is a figure in South American folk-lore. She is a ghost of a woman crying for her deadchildren that she drowned. Her appearances are some-times held to death and guilt and frequently areclaimed to occur near bodies of water, particularlystreams and rivers. There is much variation in talesof La Llorona, which are popular in Mexico and theUnited States. According to this tale, it is wise toavoid La Llorona. She is known for drowningpassers-by in an attempt to replace her dead children.Alternatively, right after she drowns her children, LaLlorona realizes what she has done and, over-whelmed by grief and by guilt, she runs alongsidethe river trying to find her children, but never does,and she dies or disappears in her search for them.
Jessica Lopez, a sophomore graphic designmajor, was also excited about the exhibition.
“I think it’s great that so many local artists arebeing showcased this year at FESTIBA,” said theEdinburg native. “I think it is going to be excitingfor them to have their name out there for a lot ofpeople to see their work and see it for what it is, artat its finest in the Rio Grande Valley.”
The local artists include Carlos Gomez,Rachael F. Brown, Luis Contreras, Celeste deLuna, Jesus de la Rosa, Rene Z. Garza, XavierGarza, Chris Leonard, Carl Vestwebber, RosendoSandoval, Paul Valadez and Benjamin Varela.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTPage 8 March 27, 2008
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTMarch 27, 2008 Page 9
Legends and Folklore art exhibitshowcases local talent at FESTIBA
W
By RUSSEN VELAThe Pan American
henever there is an art exhibit at a localgallery in New York or Paris, everyone
goes for the art. Art exhibits are often the event toattend because of the new blood inventing radical,exotic art, and attendees are fascinated by their viewof things.
Brownsville Historical Association, andPolibrid Coatings invite all residents of the RioGrande Valley to witness the highlight exhibit of“Legends and Folktales of South Texas andNorthern Mexico,” an exhibition showcasing localartistic talent from The Rio Grande Valley. Theexhibition will be on view during The Universityof Texas-Pan American’s Festival of InternationalBooks and Arts from March 24 to March 29.
The exhibition explores legends, haunted sto-ries and folktales that are told throughout SouthTexas and Northern Mexico. Along with the morepopular legends such as La Llorona, the show willalso feature obscure local legends and folktalesdepicted in artwork.
Along with the artwork, the interpretation ofstories will also be available for people to read. Theexhibition compliments this year’s FESTIBAtheme of storytelling through the arts.
Priscilla Rodriguez, the executive director of theBrownsville Historical Association, where she over-sees three museums, a gallery and a resource center,was humbled and excited about the exhibition.
“We were asked by Steven Schneider, who feltthe theme of the exhibit tied in well with the theme
of FESTIBA,” the Weslaco native said. “An exhib-it developed by BHA was originally shown at theBrownsville Heritage Complex in October throughNovember 2007. The exhibit features local artistsfrom across the RGV depicting their version of apopular legend or folktale.”
Rodriguez, who has worked with the BHA foralmost five years, was enthusiastic about havingthe gallery showcased during FESTIBA.
The BHA first organized the exhibit inBrownsville and wanted to tie in the tradition oforal history and folklore with the study of histo-ry in order to get students and the public to thinkof history in new ways. The group wantedobservers to see how stories passed downthrough the generations in families are also his-tory, and how these stories tell a lot about localculture.
“We frequently host exhibits that tie in cultur-al arts with history and heritage at the BrownsvilleHeritage Complex,” Rodriguez said. “We rotateexhibitions there every two months. However, thisis the first time we’ve hosted an exhibit at UTPAfor FESTIBA.”
The Legends and Folklore exhibition hasalready been extremely successful inBrownsville. The audience will recognize thestories interpreted through the artwork as storiesmost Valley locals grew up with, so in thatregard it allows visitors to connect with theirfamilies through stories that are depicted in theartwork on display.
“Since that is the intent of the exhibit, it willbe successful at FESTIBA,” Rodriguez said.
Freshman art major Julie Flores looks forwardto seeing South Texas myths captured on canvas.
“I grew up hearing stories from my grandpar-ents about La Llorona,” Flores said. “Seeing itdepicted in an art form will be pretty interesting tosee.”
La Llorona is a figure in South American folk-lore. She is a ghost of a woman crying for her deadchildren that she drowned. Her appearances are some-times held to death and guilt and frequently areclaimed to occur near bodies of water, particularlystreams and rivers. There is much variation in talesof La Llorona, which are popular in Mexico and theUnited States. According to this tale, it is wise toavoid La Llorona. She is known for drowningpassers-by in an attempt to replace her dead children.Alternatively, right after she drowns her children, LaLlorona realizes what she has done and, over-whelmed by grief and by guilt, she runs alongsidethe river trying to find her children, but never does,and she dies or disappears in her search for them.
Jessica Lopez, a sophomore graphic designmajor, was also excited about the exhibition.
“I think it’s great that so many local artists arebeing showcased this year at FESTIBA,” said theEdinburg native. “I think it is going to be excitingfor them to have their name out there for a lot ofpeople to see their work and see it for what it is, artat its finest in the Rio Grande Valley.”
The local artists include Carlos Gomez,Rachael F. Brown, Luis Contreras, Celeste deLuna, Jesus de la Rosa, Rene Z. Garza, XavierGarza, Chris Leonard, Carl Vestwebber, RosendoSandoval, Paul Valadez and Benjamin Varela.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTPage 8 March 27, 2008
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTMarch 27, 2008 Page 9
Legends and Folklore art exhibitshowcases local talent at FESTIBA
W
By RUSSEN VELAThe Pan American
ith the writers’ strike over,
heavy-hitter networks NBC,
CBS and ABC are now bringing back
their hit shows. But while you may have
to wait until April for The Office and 30
Rock, the thrilling, psychic-mom Allison
Dubois is back in Medium.
The show, which has been running
since 2005, brings back Dubois - played
by Patricia Arquette - who works at the
Phoenix district attorney’s office crack-
ing crime investigations using her psy-
chic abilities. The mother of three girls,
alongside with her partner Detective Lee
Scanlon (David Cubitt) uses her premo-
nitions and dreams to uncover the truth
behind grisly crimes.
As if struggling with a family life,
haunting dreams and detective work
weren’t enough, last season Dubois dis-
covered that her psychic abilities are
heriditary. Her two older daughters
Marie (Miranda Carabello) and
Bridgette (Maria Lark) have found
themselves dreaming of the dead.
This spring, Dubois has experi-
enced more than her fair share of night-
mares. Just last month, she found herself
unable to hear after dreaming of a 12-
year-old deaf girl being kidnapped.
Whether it’s dreaming of the past
or a crime in the present, with Dubois,
every Monday night brings something
new and mysterious to primetime.
Catch episodes of Medium Mondays at
9 p.m. on NBC.
The great American novelist Mark
Twain, once said, “in the first place God
made idiots. This was for practice. Then
he made proofreaders.”
This is the type of dry humor and
“tell it how it is” manner that came
through in his 19th-century writing and
attracted mass audiences. Though most
students have read about the adventures
of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn at
some point, today’s generation can get a
further taste for the famous humorist at
this year’s FESTIBA.
William Strong, a former UTPA
communication professor now at The
University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas
Southmost College, will evoke Twain’s
persona and perform a one–man show in
two shows this weekend, Saturday night
at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the
Albert L. Jeffers Theater.
Strong developed an interest in the
writer/humorist back in college when he
wrote an essay about Twain’s life and
dressed in full character for his presenta-
tion. His interest grew throughout the
years and eventually Strong picked
Twain as his dissertation topic in gradu-
ate school.
He liked entertaining and decided
to become Mark Twain.
“I went through grad school and I
was all Twain all the time,” Strong said.
He earned his BA at Abilene
Christian University, his M.S. at the
University of North Texas - and his
Ph.D. at The University of Arizona.
However, he stopped for 10 years
before picking it up again.
“I stopped doing Twain for a while
because I had spent so much of my life
studying him that I thought I should live
my own for a while,” explained Strong.
“I decided to pick it up again when I
realized that a new show using his
‘mature’ material would be possible,
hence, ‘Mark Twain Unplugged.’
He now gives performances about
three to four times a year.
The skit is performed in a “stream
of consciousness” method, where
Strong/Twain provides commentary on
things happening in the world around
him, giving insights of a social, political,
economical, or environmental nature.
Strong’s act is part original Twain
material and part his own observations
about various themes. He provides criti-
cal thoughts and explains things in a
frank and uncensored manner, very
much like Twain.
Marian Monta says that the per-
formance is uncanny.
“I think he is excellent, he bears an
astonishing resemblance to Mark Twain.
Anyone would be delighted to listen to
commentary over 100 years old and
views on today’s politics,” said Monta, a
retired UTPA theatre arts director, who
worked with Strong for many years.
Through a unique form of enter-
tainment, Strong attracts audiences of all
ages and enjoys what he does.
“I enjoy the simple challenge of
being able to capture a persona of long
ago and package it with modern rele-
vance,” he said.
Strong has performed at venues
such as the Fort Worth Country Club and
Oregon State University, but is especial-
ly fond of the Jeffers theatre at UTPA
because the audience is above him in
theater seating, for an intimate, living-
room feel.
Through his 90-minute show, Strong
strives to teach people about Twain and
the type of novelist he truly was.
“I want to educate and give people
the understanding of what a brilliant
mind he was,” said the mimic. “Not
merely a writer of juvenile literature, but
he had serious things to talk about in a
humorous way.”
For Mark Twain Unplugged at the
theatre, tickets are $5. For more infor-
mation please contact the box office at
(956) 381-3581.
“Medium”
W
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTPage 10 March 27, 2008
WhatYou’reNotWatching
� TV CORNER
� CAMPUS SCENE
Mark Twain relived, revived for FESTIBA celebrationBy LAURA GARCIAThe Pan American
By JEANETTE PEREZThe Pan American
LITERACYcontinued from page 7
� SEEN AND CAPTURED
“I think that a program like this
one will help a lot of people,” he said.
“There are many adults that live in this
area who don’t speak English, and
although Spanish is spoken Valley-
wide, it is still important for them to
learn the national language.”
Freshman engineering major
Gabriela Canseco said that people
should be aware of this program so that
they know there are services available
to help them better their quality of life.
“I think that this will help empow-
er people to become a bigger part of
society by giving them skills they can
use,” said Canseco. “They will find
new opportunities to become engaged
in positive things they weren’t able to
do before.”
Ferrigno also said that the pro-
gram should be given more attention
and publicity.
“People should be more aware of
the opportunity to participate in this
project,” said the marketing major. “I
think that more publicity would help
this program grow even more.”
Brown agrees with Ferrigno when
talking about the lack of buzz.
“We recognize the need for more
public awareness and participation in
Pharr, and the Valley for music, drama,
art, dance and literature—especially
for adults and families,” he said.
The Pharr Literacy and Art Center
has been offering its services to the
people in the RGV for five years now.
“We have been open since 2003
but we only offered English classes,”
Brown said. “We included the cultural
art classes since February of this year.”
For more information on registra-
tion call (956) 283-1285 or (956) 783-
7746 or go to the Pharr Cultural Arts
Building at 211 W. Audrey.
STAND-UP ROUTINE - UTPA junior Justin Reighard (left) and senior Orlando Campo were all laughs and jokes during com-munication professor David Carrenʼs improvisational comedy workshop Wednesday afternoon. The workshop, held as partof FESTIBA, used theatre form to produce a story, characters and humor.
Ben Briones/The Pan American
ing from the University of New Mexico.
She was awarded an honorary doctorate
in letters from the University of New
Mexico in May 2004.
“If you don’t know what a taco is,
God help you,” Chavez began.
Her topic, as well as her presenta-
tion style, was unique. While talking to
the audience from the stage, the author
stepped down from the lectern to be
able to engage people in conversation,
saying that she was too far away from
the audience. She shared recipes for
capirotada (bread pudding) and even a
recipe for those who have eaten and
will eat dog food.
“I have eaten everything… If you
haven’t tried it, it’s about time,”
Chavez said.
Chavez also gave the audience life
advice pertaining to the kitchen.
“Go to your stove, address the
stove, look at the stove and see the set-
ting at 350 (degrees) on the stove,” she
warned. “Never move it from that set-
ting! If you ever move it from that, you
are going to burn the food, forever.”
Chavez continually reminded the
audience what her favorite pasttime is
and always has been. Her love for cul-
ture is a famous staple that Chavez inter-
jects into each of her novels. Loving
Pedro Infante and The Last of the Menu
Girls are among her most notable works.
“I believe that it’s been my life
career to sit around my mother’s table to
listen to the stories of food, of people, of
culture,” Chavez said. “My greatest joy
and my greatest happiness is to be able
to record stories.”
Chavez encouraged students to
take up writing for themselves and keep
journals of their own stories.
“We reconstruct our stories and our
history,” she explained. “We propel
them into the future. We root ourselves
within where we are, just like a plant or
a tree… we root ourselves and when we
celebrate who we are, where we come
from, we are able to transform that…”
She is also a strong believer that
anyone can be a writer because of the
uniqueness of each individual.
“Only the stories that you can tell,
can be told by you. Everybody has a
story that is very important to tell,” she
said. “So you need to get with people
that understand what writers are like.”
ication and comes with complications
such as blindness and kidney failure.
Type 2 is more manageable, and most
times requires medication, but if detect-
ed early, a change in diet can help keep
it under control.
But for the most part, Bastida
believes that through healthier lifestyles
and education, the effect diabetes has on
a person can drop considerably.
“We really recently began research-
ing diabetes in earnest,” she said. “Before
that we would do a little bit of diabetic
research, but back in 1996-97 we realized
it was a very, very serious situation.”
Bastida and her colleagues had
been working on various studies. The
two most recent were the Border
Epidemiological Study of Aging at
UTPA, conducted between 2004-2006,
which included those age 37 and over.
The other study, Pilot, began in 2007 and
is still ongoing and that study focuses on
the 17-36 age group.
Comparing the results of the BESA
to the Pilot is shocking, said Bastida. For
the former, 46.4 percent of those studied
were obese, and 35.4 percent were over-
weight, adding up to a diabetes frequen-
cy of 28.5 percent. The Pilot on the other
hand, found 52.5 percent of those stud-
ied were obese and 29.4 were over-
weight, with a frequency of 21.6, close
behind the BESA results.
These results, Bastida said, show
that the 17-36 group is more overweight
then those 37 and over, meaning that as
they age, members of the younger cohort
will probably be more affected.
Attempting not just to study diabetes
but help combat it, Bastida and her team
took a grant and formed Sabor, Spanish
for flavor, a 12-week intervention that
promotes health consciousness and educa-
tion about health-related diseases.
“What I was not doing was I was
not really getting involved with doing
anything to really change it,” Bastida
said. “In 2000, I began to say, ‘Well I’m
not a dietician, but if we can have team-
work, then we can begin to address some
of these problems.’”
Moderation and portioning well are
key to the 12-week program. Some of
those involved in the intervention used
to eat eight tortillas a day, according to
Bastida. However, rather than just get-
ting rid of the tortillas permanently, sub-
jects cut portions in half, until eventual-
ly tortillas were erased or at least moder-
ately consumed.
Bastida added that through Sabor,
she has met residents from all around the
Valley and keeps in touch with them and
is happy they have learned to value their
health through other resources, some-
thing she is very proud of.
“For example, even today, the La
Joya seniors are telling us how active
they have remained how they’ve kept
their weight down, how their glucose
has not risen,” she said. “It’s been four
or five years and not just that it has had
a lasting impact, but also they continue
to seek these things [resources.]”
NEWSMarch 27, 2008 Page 11
Roxy Solis/The Pan American
CULTURED - Denise Chavez, the final distinguished speaker in this yearʼs series, read excerpts from her latest book A TacoTestimony: Meditations on Family, Food and Culture, a Memoir of Food on Tuesday in the Student Union Theater.
CHAVEZ continued from page 1
FOOD continued from page 1
because they are being monitored.
UTPA’s OIT reports that the real e-mail,
which has been in circulation since 2006,
“likely originated from abroad,” as indi-
cated by the poor grammar and spelling.
This attempt is quite different,
according to the FBI, from the majority
of scams, which usually prey on the
recipient’s “greed or good intentions” to
get money.
Mauro Scardigno, chief information
security officer for information resources
at UTPA, characterized the university’s
protection against these actions as highly
effective but not perfect.
“We have three different devices
that monitor spam and phishing attempts
for all incoming e-mails that arrive at
UTPA,” he said. “The anti-spam solu-
tion currently installed has proven to be
very effective in detecting spam and
phishing attempts.”
According to Cyveillance, a private
Internet monitoring company, the e-mail
in circulation is one example of how
phishing attacks have become more
sophisticated.
The scams aim to gain access to
bank, credit card and other accounts with
sensitive information. Once hackers have
gotten into an account, they are free to
PHISHINGcontinued from page 1
See SPAM page 12
NEWSPage 12 March 27, 2008
AWARD continued from page 3ways, through economic development,
non-profit assistance… and volun-
teerism,” said Mann.
Mann said the division has decided
to organize various volunteering pro-
grams to help boost UTPA’s impact on
the Valley community. He added that
student involvement is the key to keep-
ing the programs alive.
“One of the main things is to get
students involved in the community,” he
said. “A lot of our students receive finan-
cial assistance, grants, and this is a
chance for students to give back to the
community.”
Participating in the Keep McAllen
Beautiful project and volunteering for the
local Special Olympics are involvements
Andrea Charkow, a junior nursing major,
takes much pride in accomplishing.
“I think its super important to give
back to the community,” the Edinburg
native said. “And because of the socio-
economic level in the Valley, we have
people who need help and people that
also have a different mentality on what
needs to be done.”
The area is home to four of the
poorest counties in the United States; in
Hidalgo County, for example, nearly 40
percent of children live below the pover-
ty level.
Charkow said that with the grow-
ing number of projects aimed toward
helping and beautifying the Valley and
its people, many people are beginning
to realize the importance of giving
back.
“It’s important for students to have
jobs that pay,” she said. “But I think stu-
dents do see the positives that come
from volunteering and if you have the
time you should do what ever you can.”
ON THE HORIZONStill, Mann said some students fail
to realize that volunteering is not only
beneficial to those being helped but to
the volunteer as well. By volunteering,
students can spruce up their resume and
learn hands-on life skills they sometimes
do not get in class.
Mann and the division of commu-
nity engagement aim to provide a more
hands-on approach in the classroom. The
division plans for students to “service
learn,” an educational method that
allows students to work for non-profit
organizations for school credit and expe-
rience in the field.
“Our goal is to have faculty incor-
porate service learning into the class-
room,” Mann said. “You can teach art
with kids if you’re an art student, espe-
cially if you want to be an art teacher.”
Al Borrego, director of the univer-
sity’s Public Administration Program,
said he has seen an interest in service
learning from the graduate students.
“Two years ago our students want-
ed to become nationally competitive,”
Borrego said. “We’re kind of isolated
down here so the students started to
serve the community in order to show
that they had the skills for leadership.”
Public administration graduate stu-
dent Janie Melendez, attests to the influ-
ence service learning had on her and her
colleagues after they worked on the
development and construction of a com-
munity center in Monte Alto.
“It’s helped me learn how to inter-
act with the community and to be able to
say yes, I’ve done this,” Melendez said.
Melendez said she also learned to
communicate more efficiently while vol-
unteering for the community.
While attending graduate classes,
Melendez teaches first-graders at Valley
View North Elementary in Pharr, but
still finds time to help out the communi-
ty in any way she can.
“As for my social, volunteering is
my social life,” she said regarding her
drive for helping the community.
Mann hopes this award could spur
more interest in community service. He
encourages students to see Jeanette
Broshears at the dean of students’ office
for more information on the various
community service projects offered
through UTPA.
SPAM continued from page 11
a worth-while cause other than my own interests in
photography,” said McLemore, who retired in 2005
after 33 years at UTPA. “I try and do what I can
and try to do my part to help other people and
increase cultural awareness of other people.”
With this awareness comes the raw truth of
the world. On this most recent adventure, he came
in contact with many people who were among
those who had experienced the horrors of prostitu-
tion and bonded labor. Though difficult to bear at
times, McLemore remains thick-skinned.
“The world is what it is. I believe in engaging
the world and accepting it, while making whatever
modest effort I can to improve things,” he said.
But don’t call him an activist or even a
humanitarian. As McLemore will attest, he’s sim-
ply a photographer.
“I see myself as a person who feels the impor-
tance of communicating the pain and problems the
world experiences,” he said.
Seeing that pain up close and investing in the
experience is the beauty of being a documentary
photographer. But when viewing the work,
McLemore hopes people do not find themselves
saddened, rather inspired.
“[When you get depressed by what you see,]
it’s superficial and soft-minded approach to the
world,” he said. “That’s not helpful to anyone and
certainly not helpful to the people in those photo-
graphs.”
But regardless of reaction, McLemore, a
Fulbright Scholar, said it is at least important to
acknowledge that the world isn’t always a happy
thing.
“Sometimes people will turn away from that
stuff because it does make them depressed and
instead go watch American Idol or some reality
show,” he said. “If you want reality, this is it.”
An exhibit of McLemore’s work will be on
display all week in the Student Union Commons
Area, next to the C-store.
EXHIBIT continued from page 3
� “The world is what it is. I believein engaging the world and accept-ing it, while making whatever mod-est effort I can to improve things.”
-George McLemoreformer professor/photographer
steal any information kept in personal
files and even have at their disposal pri-
vate information such as addresses, phone
numbers and bank account access codes –
all possibly leading to identity theft.
Gustavo Dietrich, a computer sci-
ence lecturer at UTPA, said he remem-
bers receiving what seemed to be a legit-
imate email from eBay.com.
“I copied the email and then I
accessed the eBay Website,” Dietrich
said. “I looked for their contact informa-
tion and I then sent (them) the email I
had received.”
Dietrich recommends that if people
receive legitimate looking emails asking
for personal information from companies
such as a credit card company, bank or an
online store, they should either call them
or access the company’s Web site directly.
Locally, the problem is rampant,
being referred to as a “bug for identity
theft,” in a Feb. 2008 report by the
Federal Trade Commission, according to
The Monitor.
Despite the university’s many pre-
cautions, Scardigno warns that there is
no perfect anti-spam solution to the
scamming problem.
“There are times when even the
best anti-spam solution will fail to detect
a well-crafted spam or phishing
attempt,” he said.
BANNERcontinued from page 3
“There are some things that we still
need to use the old system for like
accessing student transcripts,” she said.
“That won’t be available until October.”
However, Alvarado said the switch
should provide for a “smooth transition,”
albeit with some bumps along the way.
“Of course you’re going to have
things [problems] like with Oracle hap-
pen, you’re always going to have little
things happen,” said Alvarado, who
added that since BANNER is so widely
used, glitches and bugs should be mini-
mal if close to none. But she understands
where the university’s concerns are com-
ing from.
Alvarado added she understands
how a department therefore she “thinks
more like a user,” giving her a better feel
for what the outcome has to be.
As project manager, Alvarado
negotiates with vendors and oversees the
entire system, paying particular interest
to budget implementation.
Like PLUS, BANNER is a product
of SunGard, and is one of the world’s
most used administrative systems in col -
leges and universities.
UTPA is the third UT system
school to invest in BANNER, the first
two to invest were The University of
Texas-San Antonio and The University
of Texas-El Paso.
McLemore willspeak about his experi-ences in India andBangladesh Saturday at
1 p.m. in the Student UnionTheater.
His exhibit, “Journey to FightHuman Trafficking: The JessoreRoad Project,” will be on displayall week in the Student UnionCommons Area.
Didyouknow?
With the sun sizzling on her skin
and the wind blowing in her face, senior
tennis player Silke Buksik was the last
Lady Bronc remaining on the court at
the Orville Cox Tennis Center Tuesday
afternoon. And right before her final
attempt, her teammates rallied around
the Germany native and began a slow
clap to boost her composure.
Buksik knew that the team’s poten-
tial 7-0 sweep over McNeese St. lay on
her shoulders and the veteran responded,
closing out a tough, battle-tested singles
match over Petra Gudelj with a 3-6, 6-4,
10-5 win; as a result, the women
improved their overall record to 14-6.
Head coach Rob Hubbard rejoiced
at the end of the affair, saying his squad
is arguably the best program in women’s
tennis history.
“To beat a team like McNeese State
7-0 is a really job well done,” said
Hubbard. “The girls have been playing
well at home and are 7-0. We did a good
job in February on the road for the most
and it’s good to be home.”
UTPA, winners in seven of its last
eight matchups, is enjoying one of its
best records in women’s program histo-
ry. The last remarkable season came in
1990 when the Lady Broncs compiled a
15-10 record, though many of the wins
came against Division II and III schools.
This year, the team has already produced
wins against 11 Division I universities.
Tuesday’s contest also marks the
fifth straight home victory for the Green
and Orange and they remain undefeated
(7-0) on the season.
Buksik and Canada native Megan
Bedeau captured their 13th doubles victo-
ry of the season with a dominating effort
against Gudelj and Maria Frausto, while
all six Lady Broncs captured singles wins.
“It was tough,” Bedeau said. “I’m
really happy that we went 7-0 because
they played tougher teams before.
Everybody has been out there giving
their all and giving 110 percent even if
they’re not playing well.”
The women also celebrated Easter
Sunday with a 5-2 decision over
Western Athletic Conference power
New Mexico State.
On the men’s side, the Broncs
haven’t experienced the same fortune.
UTPA dropped their overall record to 5-
8 after a 5-2 defeat to the University of
Texas-Arlington Mavericks Saturday.
Despite the recent struggles,
Hubbard is optimistic that his team can
make a turnaround before the conference
tournament.
“We’re a little young,” said
Hubbard. “It’s going to take a little more
guidance and work with them to try and
equal the results that the women are hav-
ing this year. But the guys are a good
team, it’s just that the Southland
Conference is extremely competitive
this year and there is a lot of parity.”
The men will look to inch closer to
.500 as Lamar University will travel to
the Orville Cox Center Saturday, while
only five games remain for the Lady
Broncs. The women will close their final
two homes games beginning today with
a date against Lamar.
The University of Texas-Pan
American men’s and women’s track and
field hit the core of their schedule this
weekend with competitions at the Texas
Southern Relays and Texas Invitational.
Houston native Vanessa Brown con-
tinued to dominate competition on the
women’s side as she placed third in the
400-meter dash with a time of 57.26 at the
TSR in Houston. Senior Ashlon Martin,
who finished with a time of 1:00.04
March 8 at the Texas State Open, record-
ed a personal best time of 57.76 en route
to a fourth-place finish in the 400.
At the Invitational in Austin,
Brownsville Hanna alum Carolina
Izaguirre posted a top-three finish in the
3,000-meter run, placing second after
clocking in at 10:17.20. And in field-
event competition, junior Michelle
Elizondo received third-place laurels for
her 154-7 hurl in the hammer throw.
After placing first in the 3,000-
meter steeplechase at the TSO three
weeks ago, J.J. Hernandez of Pharr led
the way on the men’s side, this time
placing second but qualifying for region-
als for a time of 9:00.97.
Sophomore Gilroy Martinez and
freshman Oscar Barrera also joined
Martin with personal-best performances.
Martinez’s time of 1:53.65 led him to a
second-place finish in the 800-meter run,
while Barrera placed 10th after a 133-0
toss in the hammer-throw competition.
The teams will head back to the
Gulf Coast Friday for the fifth time this
year, to compete in the Rice Bayou
Classic hosted by Rice University.
Since their championship title at the
Jack Brown Memorial Tournament in
early February, The University of Texas-
Pan American women’s golf team has tried
to recapture that momentum. But the road
to that success has been a little bumpy after
the team finished 13th out of 21 teams at
the UALR Women’s Golf Classic.
After two rounds of golf Monday,
the Lady Broncs were tied for 12th place
with a score of 631 but could not find a
way to improve Tuesday, falling one
spot to 13 with a final team score of 955.
The Golden Hurricanes of Tulsa
University took home the championship
crown. Senior Elizabeth Rodriguez fin-
ished tied for 32nd with a three-round
score of 236, while Canada native
Bronwyn Sandberg registered a 36th-
place finish with a 237.
The Lady Broncs carried over their
struggles from the three-day Gainesville
Shootout III that took place March 13-15
as they placed 14th out of 15, in what they
hoped would be a positive reinforcement
after placing ninth at the Islander Classic.
The Lady Broncs tallied a three-round
score of 974 while the Fighting Illini from
the University of Illinois took home the
trophy with a score of 916.
“Nobody played well,” said
women’s coach Ofelia Lopez. “All we
can do is learn from this and move for-
ward in a positive direction.”
San Antonio native Haley Hacott
led the team in 38th place after totaling a
score of 239. Junior Mariale Camey fin-
ished 53rd overall with a three-round
score of 246 and Jennifer Marks of El
Paso tallied 253 en route to 67th place.
BRONCSOn the men’s side, while most spent
their spare time at the beach during Spring
Break, the Broncs received a special treat
and traveled to the Aloha State. The Green
and Orange traveled to Kauai, Hawaii,
and competed in the Kauai Collegiate Cup
March 13 where they also looked to
regain their swing.
Even though they gradually
improved through each round, UTPA
finished seventh out of 11 teams after
tallying a three-round team score of 911.
The cup went to Vanderbilt University as
the Commodores finished at 855.
Portland native Armen Kirakossian
(227) led the Broncs in the 54-hole event
after placing 17th.
Both teams will look to garner top
finishes in their respective tournaments
April 7 as the Broncs will tee off the
two-day Wyoming Cowboy Classic in
Scottsdale, Ariz. The women will travel
to Hattiesburg, Miss., for the two-day
Lady Eagle Invitational.
� TENNIS
Lady Broncs dominate Cowgirls with stellar showing Men drop to 5-8after falteringversus Mavericks
SPORTSMarch 27, 2008 Page 13
Onydia Garza/The Pan American
� GOLF
By RAMIRO PAEZThe Pan American
GO TO GIRL - Senior Julia Cirne-Lima posted a 3-1 record over the last twogames and has developed into a standout player for the Lady Broncs this year.
By RAMIRO PAEZThe Pan American
Rough outings for UTPA in tourneysBy ALVARO BALDERAS
The Pan American
Brown, Hernandez leadteams with top finishes
� TRACK AND FIELD
SPORTSPage 14 March 27, 2008
After a rollercoaster run of emo-
tions in San Antonio, The University of
Texas-Pan American’s baseball team
captured both of games against the
Huskies of Houston Baptist University
Thursday and Friday at Edinburg
Baseball Stadium.
The Broncs then traveled to
Beaumont, Texas Tuesday for double-
header action against Lamar
University, and claimed a tight 3-2
affair in Game 1 but suffered an 11-1
defeat in Game 2.
The 3-1 record over the week
moves UTPA to 8-13 on the season.
HBU 1In the bottom of the first inning of
Thursday’s game, senior Roly Gonzalez
quickly made the score 1-0 after a field-
er’s choice by freshman Jose Mendoza
and the Green and Orange never looked
back en route to a whopping 10-2 victory.
After a Ryan Vest sacrifice fly
that brought in Nikki Rowe alum Joe
Gutierrez, the Broncs began a batting
clinic in the fifth inning. Freshman
Corpus Christi native Andrew Perez
led things off with a double down the
left field line and would score off a
two-run double by Gonzalez, who later
scored on a wild pitch by Huskies’
pitcher Matthew Headley, making the
score 5-0.
UTPA’s offensive rhythm swayed
the hits in their favor as the Broncs
doubled Houston’s total 14-7.
Gonzalez led the way going 3 for 3
with four RBIs and three runs scored,
while all nine starters finished with at
least one hit. Senior Matt Shepherd
received his first win of the year in 6.1
innings pitched and allowed zero runs
on three hits.
HBU 2The following day, the Huskies
slowed down the Bronc offense but this
time came up one run short, 3-2, when
they faced right handed pitcher A.J.
Franco.
Franco improved his record to 3-1
after pitching seven innings, allowing
seven hits and striking out six batters.
“I felt pretty confident with the
defense we have,” said Franco, a fresh-
man from Corpus. “Knowing I can give
up pitches, hitters can hit and they [the
defense] have my back.”
After a Billy Donaho run, Jordan
Rutenbar led things off in the bottom of
the fourth inning when he hit a double to
right center and scored on a single by
Vest to make the contest 2-0.
UTPA picked up their final run of
the game on two hits in the bottom of the
seventh that included a sacrifice fly to
center field by sophomore Bonham
Hough.
Houston Baptist tested the waters
in the top of the seventh inning and
threatened to tie the game at three after
Franco walked Leo Delgado on a full
count. Delgado would then score off a
two-run homer by Greg Gossett to make
the score 3-2.
But after a hard-fought pitching
performance by Franco, Edinburg resi-
dent Evan Cunningham rescued the
Broncs. The Huskies would fail to put
any more runs on the board due to
Cunningham’s six straight outs, giving
UTPA its seventh win of the season.
“We had great team victories over
a great Houston Baptist team,” said
Coach Willie Gawlik. “They’re averag-
ing two home runs a game and we held
them to one in two games.”
The Broncs will resume their
seven-game road swing in New Mexico
as they will begin a three-game series
against the Aggies of New Mexico State
University at 6:05 p.m. tomorrow.
UTPA splitsdoubleheaderagainst Lamar
� BASEBALLSPORTS
March 27, 2008 Page 15
Onydia Garza/The Pan AmericanBATTER UP - Sophomore third baseman Ryan Vest takes a swing in thisweekendʼs action against Houston Baptist. Vest is first on the team amongregulars with a .387 batting average.
By PEDRO PEREZ IVThe Pan American
Broncs regain swing with sweep of Huskies
March 25Lamar University 11, Texas-Pan American 1
R H ETexas-Pan American 001 000 0XX - 1 5 0Lamar University 511 020 2XX - 11 15 0
Rodriguez, Roth (1), Garza (3), De Leon (5) and Lankford (7). Nelson,Thibodeaux (3), Gore (5) and Walker (6). W - Nelson (1-0); L - Rodriguez (0-2); S - None. 3B: Martin.
Texas-Pan American 3, Lamar University 2R H E
Texas-Pan American 001 110 000 - 3 9 0Lamar University 000 002 000 - 2 5 2
Janecka. Smith, Depoy (3), Ramirez (4), and Prigmore (7). W - Janecka (2-1);L - Smith (0-2); S - None. 3B: Kessler.
March 21Texas-Pan American 3, Houston Baptist 2
R H EHouston Baptist 000 000 200 - 2 7 1Texas-Pan American 010 101 00X - 3 11 0
Franco and Cunningham (8). McLemore and Brunson (7). W - Franco (3-1);L - McLemore (1-3); S - Cunningham. 3B: Ingler.
March 20Texas-Pan American 10, Houston Baptist 2
R H EHouston Baptist 000 000 200 - 2 7 0Texas-Pan American 100 132 30X - 10 14 1
Shepherd and Garza (7). Headley, Revels (6), Bazan (7), and Garey (7). W -Sheperd (1-1); L - Headley (0-1); S - None.
Player AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% ERA W-L IP H R BB SO
Garza, E...... .500 3-1 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .500 0.00 0-0 0.2 1 0 0 1
Vest............. .387 12-9 31 5 12 1 0 0 6 13 .419 - - - - - - -
Lozano........ .381 9-5 21 5 8 2 0 0 4 10 .476 - - - - - - -
Rutenbar..... .375 21-20 72 17 27 5 1 2 16 40 .556 - - - - - - -
Johnson...... .365 16-13 52 10 19 2 0 0 8 21 .404 9.00 0-0 1.0 2 1 1 2
Bourn.......... .364 11-5 22 3 8 2 0 1 6 13 .591 - - - - - - -
Gonzalez..... .354 21-20 82 20 29 4 0 0 10 33 .402 - - - - - - -
Shives......... .333 6-0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 .333 - - - - - - -
Spears......... .323 14-10 31 7 10 2 0 2 6 18 .581 - - - - - - -
Gutierrez..... .296 8-5 27 4 8 2 0 0 2 10 .370 - - - - - - -
Mendoza..... .294 22-21 85 13 25 2 0 0 10 27 .318 - - - - - - -
Donaho....... .288 21-21 80 15 23 1 0 3 15 33 .413 - - - - - - -
Salinas........ .250 4-0 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 .250 - - - - - - -
Perez........... .222 21-21 72 8 16 2 0 1 5 21 .292 - - - - - - -
Hough......... .205 22-21 73 14 15 4 0 1 11 22 .301 - - - - - - -
Tefft............. .194 11-8 31 5 6 0 0 0 5 6 .194 4.50 0-0 2.0 1 1 3 1
Garcia......... .175 14-9 40 7 7 1 0 2 8 14 .350 - - - - - - -
Cortez......... .000 3-0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 - - - - - - -
De Leon...... .000 1-0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 4.97 1-1 12.2 10 10 16 8
Shepherd.... - - - - - - - - - - - 0.73 1-1 12.1 7 3 2 12
Janecka....... - - - - - - - - - - - 3.96 2-1 25.0 24 12 3 9
Franco......... - - - - - - - - - - - 4.02 3-1 31.1 39 17 8 22
Garza.......... - - - - - - - - - - - 5.59 0-0 9.2 15 7 7 8
Cunningham. - - - - - - - - - - - 5.79 0-0 18.2 22 15 8 20
Roth............. - - - - - - - - - - - 6.52 0-1 9.2 12 8 9 6
Rodriguez.... - - - - - - - - - - - 7.43 0-2 23.0 39 25 17 17
Cisper.......... - - - - - - - - - - - 9.98 1-3 15.1 24 23 12 17
Lankford...... - - - - - - - - - - - 11.57 0-0 4.2 7 7 2 4
Cox.............. - - - - - - - - - - - 14.00 0-3 9.0 18 16 11 2
Brevard........ - - - - - - - - - - - 27.00 0-0 2.1 7 7 4 0
Totals........... .296 21-21 729 135 216 30 1 12 113 284 .390 6.24 8-13 177.1 228 152 104 129
1
33Freshman Arnold Franco’s
pitching wins this season sofar. He currently leads all
Bronc pitchers with a 3-1 record
1The projected slot
Arkansas’ running backDarren McFadden is expect-
ed to go in the NFL Draft
44Number of teams that willreamin in the NCAA tour-nament after this weekend
SPORTSStatsAtAGlance
Page 16 March 27, 2008
� FEATURETHE PAN AMERICAN
ShortSports
After posting its best record in six
years, The University of Texas-Pan
American men’s basketball program
waved goodbye to six seniors, leaving
head coach Tom Schuberth the difficult
task of replacing 47.1 percent of the
offense.
Senior guards Paul Stoll and Brian
Burrell are among the departed, and
assuming their backcourt duties will be
freshmen Nick Weiermiller and Damon
Franklin, along with Valley natives
Steve Silva and Ben Smith.
Adding to the guard depth,
Schuberth signed Jason Jensen to a
national letter of intent in mid-January
for the 2008-2009 campaign. The
Wisconsin native comes from Madison
Area Technical College, where he aver-
aged 19.8 points (43.5 field-goal per-
centage) and 6.5 rebounds with the
Wolfpack.
The Lady Broncs also made an
early move in the recruiting season as
they signed Millwood High School sen-
ior MVP Brittany Demery to compen-
sate to the losses of four seniors.
The Oklahoma native recorded 342
points, with 70 steals and 30 assists in 27
games during her senior year, leading
her team to the 3A state championship
this year.
� MEN’S BASKETBALL
The University of Texas-Pan
American women’s tennis team has
been on a roll lately, winning six of
their last seven matches and pushing
their record to 14-6. Many could argue
that this year’s program is one of the
best UTPA has had in decades and for
one Lady Bronc, the 2008 campaign
has her heading on a road to history.
It has been an up-and-down deal
for senior captain Silke Buksik since
coming to UTPA during the 2004-05
season, when the team had a dreadful
2-9 record. She has undoubtedly been a
cornerstone for the Lady Broncs
through its worst and now finest times.
Buksik, a senior international
business major, was born and raised in
Stuttgart, Germany, where she began to
learn tennis at age 5, aided by her par-
ents, who played recreationally.
Playing in leagues throughout her teen
years, Buksik honed her skills, helping
her ascend through the ranks.
After high school, she decided to
attend UTPA because it provided her
the opportunity to receive an education
on a full scholarship, while also play-
ing the sport she esteemed. Along with
the chance to experience a unique cul-
ture in South Texas, the German also
chose to become a Lady Bronc to
ensure close proximity to her older
brother, who was at The University of
Texas-Arlington at the time. And after
three challenging years, her hard work
has finally paid off.
Buksik’s dedication has presented
her the opportunity to tie two school
records, in singles and doubles cate-
gories. Buksik is currently 16-2 in sin-
gles this year and is on path to tie
Barbara Barrera and Gail Maclsaac,
who hold second-place (1990) in most
singles wins in a season at 21. Buksik,
along with sophomore teammate
Megan Bedeau, is also four doubles
victories away from ranking third in
school history for most twin wins in a
season, 17.
“It’s exciting to have the oppor-
tunity to achieve a record, espe-
cially me being a senior and all,”
said Buksik. “Seeing the
progress I have made since
my freshman year, to
now having the chance
for this to happen is
truly awesome.”
The transition
from Germany to
the states was not
an easy task for
Buksik and coming into a struggling
program, one that had experienced three
different coaches in a 2-year span, did
not help her cause at first.
“It was really frustrating coming
into a bad program with a bad coach,”
Buksik said. “It was definitely not what
I expected but when Coach Hubbard
came in. He was able to change my
mind and got me to stay.”
Men’s and women’s tennis coach
Rob Hubbard was hired in November
of 2005, during Buksik’s freshman
year and his ideas and recruiting style
are some of the reasons why the
women’s ten-
nis pro-
gram has made a turn for the best.
“I get a lot of pleasure seeing
Silke’s success at this point of her
career,” said Hubbard, the former
UTPA tennis standout. “If I was able to
use 18 members like her on the team it
be awesome. She’s truly a delight for
me to work with.”
With only five games remaining
in her collegiate career, Buksik will
look toward to writing her name in the
record books. She will graduate this
summer and will continue to pursue her
master’s degree in international busi-
ness at UTPA. While many wonder if
she will pursue a professional tennis
career after graduation, the 5-foot-7
Lady Bronc jokingly says no, and
instead looks forward to substituting
her three-hour-a-day practices with
Zumba classes at the Wellness &
Recreational Sports Complex.
By ALVARO BALDERAS
The Pan American
CLASS: Senior Height: 5-7HOMETOWN: Waiblingen, GermanyHIGH SCHOOL: Salier-Gymnasium Waiblingen
2008 - 29 wins (to date)2007 - 26 wins2006 - Selected to the national Independent
All-Tournament team
Roxy Solis/The Pan American