By Christine Rojas

The Bridge Newspaper

As commencement approaches, a prior-ity for Texas A&M InternationalUniversity graduating seniors is theamount of jobs available as they enter theworkforce. The Career Services atTAMIU assists seniors by offering them awide array of services, such as improvingresumes and learning effective interview-ing skills, in order to help them land theirdream job.

Career Services also offers guidance byemphasizing the ambience of the currenteconomy as a challenge for upcominggraduates as Laura Martinez, director ofemployer relations at TAMIU describes.

“Right now we are seeing an increase in

students coming to our office, primarilythe senior students, because they areapproaching graduation and that is reallyimportant for them to be prepared forfinding a job. They're coming in lookingfor assistance on their resume, a lot ofthem already have their resume, what wedo is basically look it over and polish itup, then help them find a job that is in linewith what they are graduating with andwhat their major is.”

Martinez suggests that current TAMIUgrads should consider relocating to find acareer especially suited to their degree.

“The economy is not at its best in termsof the availiabity of job opportunitiesright now. So, Laredo is very limited inwhat it can offer. A lot of the time, we doencourage students to consider movingout up north in other Texas cities or

maybe even across the nation in otherstates so that they are able to have agreater pool of jobs to choose from.”

Martinez does say that there are somejobs available in Laredo however thecompetition for these jobs is intense.

“What we are seeing is that the few jobswhich are available are very sought afterby a large group of unemployed people.So what happens is that there is this greatdemand for very, very few jobs. The com-petition is very much present. That's whywe say consider moving out where thereare bigger cities and more opportunities.”

Some of the occupations that areincreasing in job availability according toMartinez include those within health andhome care.

“We are going to be seeing according tothe statistics from

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INSIDE

OPINION6

PHOTO ESSAY

4

By Stephanie Ibarra

The Bridge Newspaper

The grades have beeninputted, the diplomas distrib-uted and caps thrown – nowwhat? While the road tobecoming a productive mem-ber of society has nowexpanded, feelings of inade-quacy and uncertainty oftenespouse what should be a joy-ful moment.

Post graduation depressionsyndrome, coined by othersas the mid-mid life crisis ofthe 21st century, is just astoxic as it is an entertainingtitle.

Working peopleAlthough showing signs of

improvement, graduates havea larger uphill battle to climbthan their graduate peers dideven just five years ago, withexperts asserting another fiveor so years to reach pre-reces-sion levels.

Between a dazzling resumeand put-together demeanor, acareer service representative,asserts the key to sellingyourself in a buyers market isas simple as flexibility.

School Part DeuxFor others with degrees not

as in demand, graduate schoolappears to be the golden tick-et in staying afloat in a com-petitive market.

Alejandra Garza, recentTAMIU graduate, maintainedher decision to continue hereducation was due to the lackof security in employmentopportunities. “It seemed likethe safer choice - at least interms of value. I know with a

By Sarah Herrera

The Bridge Newspaper

It was definitely an event-ful night at the Texas A&MInternational UniversityCollege of Arts and SciencesHonor Cord and GraduateHooding Ceremony heldWednesday, May 12.

With the stress of finals lift-ed off their shoulders, thegraduates were ready toreceive their diplomas, finallyable to say, “It's over. We did

it!” Signaling the start of the cer-

emony, ROTC performed apresentation of colors, fol-lowed by the National Anthemsung by music majors JoelBazan-Gomez and MarisoMunoz, accompanied by theTAMIU Silverwind Ensembledirected by Dr. Susan Berdahl.

Dr. Pablo Arenaz,Provost/Vice President ofAcademic Affairs welcomedthose who attended the com-mencement, paying tribute tothe guidance graduates have

received throughout theirlives.

“You all had teachers in ele-mentary, middle, and highschool that mentored andguided you to make the rightchoices and decisions, one inwhich was to get a collegeeducation,” said Arenaz, con-tinuing, “You are the next gen-eration. You are the people,amongst other fine graduates,who are going to representTAMIU.”

Faculty members awarded

By Sarah Herrera

The Bridge Newspaper

The long and fun journey ofHousing's Next Top Model finally cameto an end April 28 at the ResidentialLearning Community poolside.

As the competition got tougher, mod-els were cut at each elimination round,bringing a larger crowd than ever fortheir final. The crowd was ecstatic,holding signs supporting their favoritemodels.

The judges included: Leslie Gonzalez,Belen Garcia, Laura Martinez (CareerServices), Johnny Espinoza (last year'swinner), and Manuel Vela (guest judgeand creator of HNTM).

Unlike the other elimination rounds

that consisted of only one runway walk,the finale consisted of three differentrunway challenges which included: por-traying a Texas A&M InternationalUniversity student, business attire, andlastly, formal wear. “Be Yourself” wasthe photo shoot challenge theme.

In the first runway the models had toportray “what it is to be a TAMIU stu-dent”. Model Hector Perales, whoplaced 2nd in the competition and wona prize of $100, came out to Flo Rida'sRight Round in a nerdy getup completewith glasses, books, and a backpack,only to soon throw his book and glassesbehind him and rip off his clothes toreveal a maroon and white TAMIUcheerleading outfit.

He flipped and jumped down the run-way and onto the stage.

In his second runway, Perales struttedhis business look wearing dark bluejeans, a gray button down shirt, blacktie, black shoes with matching belt, andcool shades to top it all off. Hedemanded the crowd's attention, butwhen they weren't screaming loudenough for him, he ripped off his beltand slammed it on the stage. Thejudges and the crowd loved this, to saythe least, and their cheering grew loud-er.

In his third and final runway, Peralesmade his black jacket and tie entranceto Justin Timberlake's Sexyback. Hisformal black suit complemented himvery well and as he approached the firststage, he unbuttoned his jacket andswung it around his neck as he walkeddown the

May 21, 2010

Vol. 17, No. 10

Laredo, Texas

FREE

CS offers guidance to graduates

HNTM finale: A Senior's first and last memory down the runway

See HNTM , page 8

See Career , page 7

See Depression , page 7See COAS , page 7

COAS provides a memorable ceremony

Sponsored by

Post gradsexperiencemid-midlife crisis

Editors Corner

Cheers unwritten future

International editor reflects;

Eskildsen gives thanks

Submit a Letter

Online at www.thebridgenewspaper.com or drop by the bridge office at Pellegrino312

Graduate’s moments captured

before and after memorable cere-

mony.

2COED/COBA graduates

attend hooding ceremonyand Commencement

3COAS/CNHS

Commencement Spring 2010

7Dr. Faroukh bids farewell at Dept.

Language and Literature Dinner

ALSOInspirational Runner SharesStory.......................................6Graduation Comic.................6Tech Review..........................7 Photo by Christine Rojas

Congratulations to the Texas A&M International University Class of 2010.

COED/COBA GRADUATION SPECIAL2 May 19,2010www.thebridgenewspaper.com

By Alyson Martinez

The Bridge Newspaper

On May 14, 2010, graduatesfrom the College of Educationof Texas A&M InternationalUniversity stepped into thespotlight.

As commencement began,Claudia Guevara, a graduatethat night, proudly held theCollege of Education banneras she stepped into theKinesiology and ConvocationBuilding. With her marched125 graduates receiving abachelor's degree, and 45receiving a master's degree.Each graduate proudly walkeddown from the stage with theirdegrees in their hands andtheir tassel on the left side of

their caps.Joe Arciniega took the stage

as the invited CommencementSpeaker. As a former execu-tive and local theater support-er, Arciniega set the tone forthe night. Dr, Keck proudlygave a list of all his endeavorsand accomplishments, whichonly proved that he was theright man for the job.Arciniega urged the graduatesto invest themselves in art, forit is the way of the future. Heclosed his speech by serenad-ing the entire crowd in theKinesiology and Convocationbuilding, and by wishing thegraduates the best of luck withwhatever they do with theirlives.

Maricella Salinas, a graduateof the College of Education,

received her Master's degreeon the night of commence-ment. After two years of hardwork, research papers, andexams she finally finished. Asshe later described, with herhead held high, she received atreasure that cannot bereplaced.

“I feel that your education isvery valuable and no one cantake that away from you,”states Salinas.

To her, the degree she holdsin her hand represents muchmore than a simple piece ofpaper. It represents successand triumph. But Salinas isn'tquite done yet. She intends topursue a second master'sdegree which she will startimmediately.

She confesses, “I want to

pursue a second master'sdegree for the benefit of mystudents. I take education veryseriously and I want to givethat back to the upcoming gen-eration.”

Salinas had the marvelousopportunity to boast herachievements and future goalswith her family and friends.

Even though the movementof commencement caused a lotof tension and controversy,families still stepped out toshow their pride and love fortheir daughters, sons, wives,mothers, and fathers,

Even with only six invites,cheers, balloons, and lovewere present at this com-mencement ceremony.

Like Salinas, there are manywho see their education as a

way to give back to the future.These graduates learned a lotalong the way, and now theywill put all that into practice.

Salinas quoted Tom Bodett,an American author, “The dif-ference between school andlife? In school, you're taught alesson and then given a test. Inlife, you're given a test thatteaches you a lesson.”

For more information, pleasevisit www.tamiu.edu/com-mencement

(Alyson Martinez may bereached at alyson1007@

dusty.tamiu.edu)

Heartwarming Honor

Cord and Hooding

CeremonyBy Lilia Eskildsen

The Bridge Newspaper

Among faculty, administra-tion, friends and family, themost distinguished students ofthe College of Education werehooded, or received theirhonor cords, symbolizing theirhard work throughout theirundergraduate or graduateprograms. The event, celebrat-ed on Friday, May 14th,before commencement, washeld in the Fine andPerforming Arts Recital Hall.

Students graduating fromtheir undergraduate degreesreceived their honor cord forCum Laude, Magna CumLaude and Summa CumLaude from the hand of theDean of the College ofEducation, who recognizedtheir outstanding achievementin his initial speech.

Dr. Blackwell, director ofthe TAMIU Honors Program,gave away the medals that rec-ognized the Honors studentsas part of the renowned pro-gram in campus.

Graduate students werehooded by the Dean while apersonal statement was read, aheartwarming moment.Students thanked their profes-sors, their parents, spouses,children and God among tearsof joy and cheers by proudfamilies of the graduates.

The ceremony concludedamong hugs, tears and happygraduates, ready for the com-mencement ceremony, whichtook place an hour after theHonor Cord and HoodingCeremony. The College pro-vided light refreshments in thelobby of the Recital Hall,where many families and stu-dents congregated to celebratetheir achievement and takephotos with family and facul-ty.

For more information,please visit www.tamiu.edu/commencement

(Lilia Eskildsen may bereached at lilia@dusty.tamiu

.edu)

COED/BA Commencement marks a memorab le exper ience

Photo by Lilia Eskildsen

Dr. Deborah Blackwell speaks at the COEDhooding ceremony

Photo by Lilia Eskildsen

Graduates gain special honors at cord and hooding ceremony.

Photo by Alyson MartinezGraduates listen attentively to commencement speaker, Joe Arciniega

Photo by Alyson MartinezSmiling faces mark a proud occasion as graduates reach the pinacle of their academic careers.

Photo by Alyson MartinezGraduates proudly display their diplomas as they walk offstage.

COAS/CNHS GRADUATION SPECIAL 3May 19,2010

www.thebridgenewspaper.com

By Christine Rojas

The Bridge Newspaper

A crisp, overcast morninggreeted graduates of theCollege of Arts and Sciencesand College of Nursing at theKinesiology-ConvocationBuilding as they prepared forCommencement exercisesSaturday, May 15 at 9 a.m.Master of Ceremonies was Dr.Pablo Arenaz, Provost andVice President for AcademicAffairs. Commencementspeaker for the event was JoeArciniega, a former technolo-gy executive and communitytheatre advocate in Laredo.Student speaker andDistinguished Student Scholarwas Jessica Cadena, earningher bachelors in Nursing.

Commencement began witha fanfare and processional per-formed by the Texas A&MInternational UniversitySymphonic Band, followed bythe opening declaration by Dr.Arenaz. Presentation of colorswas then completed by theTAMIU ROTC under thedirection of Captain MartinLongoria. The NationalAnthem was sung by DanaCrabtree, music instructor atTAMIU as accompanied bythe Symphonic Band.

Immediately thereafter,

Arciniega began his speechand gave a special emphasison keeping the arts alive.

“For these graduates herethis morning, you are at a crit-ical juncture in your lives.Whatever your plans uponcompletion of this major ofyour education, please consid-er the arts an integral compo-nent of your continuing devel-opment.”

Cadena then spoke on behalfof the graduating student bodyand her own experiences as anursing major. She received astanding ovation as her emo-tionally charged speech waswell received.

“We have journeyed upon arough road. We've cried at oursuccesses and failures. Someof us have fallen but learnedhow to get back up again, andthat's the important thing.Through our experiences wehave learned to become betterstudents, better individuals,and now better professionals.”

Also announced duringCommencement was therecipient of the UniversityTeacher of the Year awardgiven this year to JaclynJeffrey, associate professor ofanthropology.

Mary Trevino, associateVice President for AcademicAffairs then presented thegraduating candidates for

degrees as they were dispersedby Dr. Keck and Dr. Arenaz.

The ceremonies werebrought to a conclusion withthe singing of the alma materand a prayer of gratitude byStudent Government presi-dent, Christine Cortez.

The majority of graduatesfelt relief over finally complet-ing their degrees, as men-tioned by Daniel Garcia.

“I feel accomplished, Manysleepless nights, stress, wak-ing up early. I just feel reallyaccomplished.”

Jennifer Gonzalez, whogained her bachelors inNursing shared the same senti-ment of relief.

“I feel relieved; I can nowmove further to become anurse ”

Ashley Ramirez is readilylooking forward to joining theworkforce.

“I feel like it still hasn't hitme but I'm looking forward tothe job search.”

Graduates then proceededoutdoors to be greeted by theirfamilies and friends.

For more information onCommencement, please visittamiu.edu/commencement.

(Christine Rojas may bereached atchristine_r7@dusty.tamiu.edu)

By Maria Flores

The Bridge Contributor

The College of Arts andSciences hosted their HonorCord and Graduate Hoodingceremony for the Spring 2010on May 12 at the StudentCenter ballroom.

During the ceremony, a totalof 46 outstanding studentswere honored; 35 undergradu-ate and eleven graduates. Allof them represented a varietyof COAS academic depart-ments. Professor FaridounFarrokh was the guest speaker.The TAMIU SilverwindEnsemble directed by Dr.Susan Berdahl performed dur-ing the ceremony. .

Several undergraduate stu-dents were honored with theSumma Cum Laude, MagnaCum Laude, and Cum Laude.Those students were: AracelíVanessa Águila, Luís AlbertoÁguila, Dawn Marie Brondo,Michael Bustamante, SandraContreras, Pedro D.Escamílla, Nancy García,Elizabeth A. Hernandez,Bonnie Ann Hinojosa,Acerina Madrigal, TanyaMenchaca, Nancy Zavala,Rene Ricardo Camacho,Cynthia Angelica Gallardo,Cesar Arturo Garcia, AlissaGonzalez, ChristopherStewart Kimmel, PaulEduardo Miranda, ManuelZacarias Montes, SandraElizabeth Prado, MyriamYoseleth Solalinde, Mallelydel Carmen Blanco, MarioGerardo Cavazos Jr. LiliaLudim Eskildsen, Gina YvetteGarcia, Eric Garza, JovitaLuna, Jessica McGee, MaryRobin McGregor Anderson,Manuel H. Barragan, Carlos

Andres Cantu, ArmandoCervantes, Adrian LopezCasiano, Prakash KMansinghani, and OctavioMorales-Escobedo. The grad-uate students who received thegraduate hooding were: ElizaCortez, Esther Fatima Garza,Stephen Paul Byrd, LuciaElizabeth Juarez, DanielJoseph villa, Rou-Lin Ciou,Melissa Nicole Reyna, Abelde los Santos, Oholibama K.Granados Adan Arriaga, andValerie Ann Gonzalez,

The ceremony was presidedby Dr. Pablo Arenas(Provost/VP for AcademicAffairs), Ms. Mary Treviño(Associate VP for AcademicAffairs), Dr. Thomas Mitchell(Dean, College of Arts andSciences), Dr. Carol Waters(Director of Bi-NationalCenter), Dr. Daniel Mott(Associate Dean), Dr.Hoonandara Goonatilake(Interim Chair, Department ofEngineering, Mathematicsand Physics), Ms. BedeLeyendecker (Chair,Department of Fine andPerforming Arts), Dr. ManuelBroncano (Chair, Departmentof Language and Literature),Dr. Mohamed Ben-Ruwin(Chair, Department of SocialSciences), and Dr RobertoHeredia (Chair, Department ofBehavioral, Applied Sciencesand Criminal Justice).

TAMIU is characterized forhaving a unique type of stu-dents: some of them are firstgeneration college graduates,others continue the family tra-dition of holding a universitydegree, and a few come to fur-ther their education achievinga post graduate degree.

COAS Honor Cord Ceremony

Commencement Spotlights Grads

Courtesy photo by Juliana Medrano

Students look on as Professor Faridoun Farrokh speaks.

Photo by Christine RojasJessica Cadena is the distinguished student scholar for the May 2010 commence-

ment.

Courtesy photo by Juliana Medrano

College of Arts and Sciences professors gather to congratulate grads.

Photo by Christine RojasTAMIU graduates walk into the Kinesiology-Convocation building

Memories

PHOTO ESSAY4May 19,2010www.thebridgenewspaper.com

Photo by Christine Rojas

History major, Octavio Noe Morales-Escobedo, gives a celebratory “ay, caramba!”.

2009-2010

Photo by Christine Rojas

Criminal Justice major,David Hernandez gradu-ates proudly May 15.

Photo by Christine Rojas

Communications major,Yvette Garcia giddily strutsfor the camera .

Photo by Christine Rojas

Music major, MichaelRodriguez plans to pursuemilitary career.

Photo by Christine RojasFriends, Rene Camacho, Alberto Carreda, Carmen G. Cruz, and Nancy de la Fuente pose after receiving their respective degress.

Photo by Christine RojasBrandie Oser passes on her contagious smile.

Editor’s note: On the facing page, several photos were submitted by graduate students and activemembers of the TAMIU community. The photos reflect their experiences as leaderson this campus.

Photo by Christine RojasSurrounded by family, Ashley Ramirez is lavished with flowers.

Photo by Christine RojasErica Sarmiento and Elva Canales share the joy of graduation day.

GRADUATION SPECIAL 5May 19,2010www.thebridgenewspaper.com

Courtesy photo by Cynthia A. Gallardo2009-2010 Senators at Large, Manuel Marquez, Cynthia A. Gallardo, Karla Garcia, Juan S.Mendive are pictured from left to right.

Courtesy photo by Yvette GarciaYvette Garcia poses with Raul Perez also known as Raulito El Doughboy from Z-93 during her sen-ior internship at Guerra Communications.

Courtesy photo by Maria GomezPictured from left to right are TAMIU Honors students. First tier: Cristina Martinez, Nancy Zavala,Kesia Rodriguez, Maria Gomez, Sandra Prado, and Sandra Contreras; second tier: Manuel Montesand Daniel Garcia; third tier: Alissa Gonzalez and Michael Bustamente.

For more exclusive content,

visit The Bridge website

www.TheBridgeNewspaper.com.

Courtesy photo by Cynthia A. GallardoTRIO SSS Tutors, Cynthia A. Gallardo (graduating with a double major in biology & psychology),Brenda Briones (TAMIU Graduate),Octavio N. Morales (graduating with a double major in politicalscience& history), Melissa N. Reyna (master's graduate in English), and Luz Ramirez, are picturedfrom left to right.

The Bridge, (956) 326-2472

www.thebridgenewspaper.com

FACULTY ADVISOR | Dr. Maria Flores

EDITOR IN CHIEF | Stephanie Ibarra

ONLINE EDITOR | Freddy Gonzalez

INTERNATIONAL EDITOR | Lilia Eskildsen

COPY EDITOR | Christine Rojas

DESIGNERS | Christine Rojas and Stephanie Ibarra

The Bridge is the student newspaper of Texas A&M International University.

The writing, articles, pictures, artwork, and layout are the responsibility of the staff,

contributors, and editorial board of The Bridge and do not necessarily represent the

views of the administration, faculty, staff, or students of TAMIU nor the Texas A&M

System. Signed columns represent the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessari-

ly represent the editorial position of The Bridge.

The Bridge is housed in and funded by the Department of Language and Literature.

Photo by Christine RojasPolitical science major, Charlie Cantu glows brilliantly as he walksacross the stage.

Photo by Christine RojasAshley Hiill is handed her diploma by University President, Dr. RayKeck.

Photo by Christine RojasWith her diploma in hand, English and Spanish double major, LiliaEskildsen smiles for the camera.

OOPINIONPINION6May 19,2010www.thebridgenewspaper.com

For more exclusive content,

visit The Bridge Web site

www.thebridgenewspaper.com.

The Bridge Student Newspaper encourages reader partici-pants on its editorial page for both print and online versions.Because of space limitations, all contributions are asked tosubmit letters of 350 words or less. Not all letters will bepublished to print. All letters must include the writer’s firstand last name and telephone numbers. We do not publishphone numbers. .Letters will be edited for length, clarity,grammar, and libel.

You may write to us by using the online form available onour website at www.thebridgenewspaper.com; or dropped offat:

The Bridge Student NewspaperPellegrino Hall 312Texas A&M International University5201 University Blvd.Laredo, Texas 78041

International Editor reflects

Letter to the Editor

By John Dean

The Bridge Contributor

After I left the emergencyroom I saw a bone doctor whotold me that I would neverfully recover. I would walkwith a cane. My broken kneedisgusted him, and his know-ing that I fell off of a rock cliffwhile climbing without a ropedidn't earn his respect. He leftthe room and returned a fewseconds later. He didn't wantto do the surgery. What wouldbe the use? I would comeback with my other knee bro-ken. He could spot an invinci-bility complex.

A different orthopedic sur-geon took my case: a brokenknee bent backward (nowstraightened in an overpricedcardboard brace), an MCLtorn in two, and an ACL,which works to keep the kneefrom bending forward,stretched and snapped like arotten rubber band. After twomonths the coagulated bloodand broken tissue from mytorn MCL created a meatyscab that bonded my MCLtogether. The orthopedic sur-geon reconstructed my ACLout of my hamstring.

One year later, I began run-ning. Five months of physicaltherapy made me realize that Ihave a body, one that fallsapart without exercise. Myfirst five-minute run made mesick as each knee bend camewith an audible crunch fromfloating scar tissue. Not run-ning made me sicker, so I ranthree times per week. Fiveminutes of running becameseven minutes of running.One mile became three. In2005, one of my wife's broth-ers, a marathon runner, sug-gested I train for a marathon.I didn't think I could run amarathon.

Purist ultra-marathon run-

ners are not impressed bymarathons. People who havebeen told they may never walkagain without pain areimpressed by marathons.When I started college, I wasoverwhelmed by the workload and impressed by collegegraduates. I looked at the syl-labus for my Physics of Lightclass and wondered how any-one who is not an expert inmath could survive the class. Iwould have to think different-ly and to articulate my find-ings in a foreign language. Iwould have to access sleepingparts of my brain that I wasafraid to disturb. The anatomyof a two-point source interfer-ence pattern was not in myanatomical makeup.

One step at a time.I had a meeting with my

Physics of Light professor onthe day I planned to drop thecourse. He had me workthrough an impossible equa-tion on the chalk board.Universities had chalk boardsback then. I was immediatelyoverwhelmed and considereddropping out of college todevote myself to a culinarycareer at Lil' Caesar's Pizza.The professor understood thatI was focusing too much onthe solution to the whole equa-tion, and he walked methrough the problem one man-ageable step at a time. I coulddo small math problems.Thirty minutes into our work,one of my professor's col-leagues came to remind myprofessor of their lunch date.My professor canceled thedate and continued to guideme through each small step.After an hour, I successfullycompleted the equation. I waslearning to think like a physi-cist.

When I started learning howto run long distances, I builtupon the lesson my Physics ofLight professor had taught me-

-one small step at a time. Theprocess of running short, man-ageable distances, each ofwhich added to the other shortdistances, brought me to longdistances. Minor runninginjuries, brought on by run-ning too fast and far before mybody was ready, taught me tolearn and read the language ofmy body, a language I had pre-viously ignored. In the sameway that college taught me tothink in different ways, run-ning taught me to break downlong distances into short dis-tances. After seven (nowshort) miles, I had fewer thanseven to go to complete half ofa marathon. I was learning tothink like a runner.

One step at a time.I completed my third

marathon on February 14,2010. I graduated college andcontinued my education toearn my Ph.D. Each semester,I encounter students who donot think they are built for col-lege because many of theclasses they are required totake are taught in a languagethey think they will neverunderstand. I tell these stu-dents to focus not on the over-whelming question, but ratheron the small, manageablesteps that might lead to a solu-tion. Students who behavelike scholars will most likelybecome scholars. Graduationat TAMIU is this Saturday.Those who graduate will havelearned how to think in newways, and these new ways ofthinking will serve these grad-uates in their future careersand new social situations.Those who do not limit them-selves to knowing only whatthey can they think they cando gain new ways of seeingand evaluating unexpected sit-uations, life changes, and whatthey already know.

One step at a time.

I remember writing myadmissions essay severalyears ago saying that I want-ed to change the world withmy degree. I wrote that Iwanted to build bridgesbetween cultures to make thisglobalized world a betterplace to live, experience, andshare.

But it wasn't until my verylast year that I really discov-ered how to do it. For reasonsout of my control, chance,fate or however you want tocall it, I ended up collaborat-ing with The Bridge andimmersing myself in theworld of the media - some-thing I had never consideredbefore. After all, I am anEnglish and Spanish major,and literature had been mylife until then.

Thanks to the guidance andsupport of Dr. Maria Flores,to whom I will be forevergrateful, we started at TheBridge what has now becomethe TAMIU Internacional

section in Spanish. To say that being

International Editor at TheBridge has been, for me, anunexpected but amazingexperience is stating onlywhat is on top of the iceberg.It has been a learning experi-ence that has allowed me todiscover that things can bedone, that bridges betweencultures can be built, and thatwe can start with small thingssuch as a small article in thestudent newspaper.

Now that I am graduating,and thanks to what I havelearned along with everyoneat The Bridge, I can go backto my admissions essay andsay that I have found the way.

To everyone in The Bridgeand to Dr. Flores, for theirtrust and support during mytime at newspaper, thanksfrom the bottom of my heart.

Saludos,Lilia Eskildsen

Comic by Joe Molina

Cheers to an opportunity ridden

university and unwritten futureAlthough you’ll find me

walking around the corridorsuntil late July (when I finallygraduate), this issue marksthe last as my reign as Editor-in-chief. I will graciously behanding over the glamorousresponsibility to ChristineRojas, our current designer,with full confidence that TheBridge is in efficient, innova-tive hands.

But before I leave I want tostress one thing I've learnedat TAMIU. This is not toinsinuate I’ve only learnedone thing, though that wouldbe an amusingly lame con-quest.

Anything is possible here.Corny, right? But much ofwhat I’ve accomplished inthe two years I’ve been at thisuniversity I owe to the oppor-tunities provided by the fac-ulty and staff.

While I’m fully aware noteveryone is aCommunications major, oreven a part of the College ofArts and Sciences (but youshould be – it’s full of fabu-lous people), I must thank thefollowing individuals:

Dr. Lynda Brown, you re-instilled a passion for writing

(namely, journalism) and pro-vided me with the foundation(and push) I needed.

Dr. Maria Flores, you trust-ed my wide-eyed, 20-year-old, baby self to head this stu-dent paper. I hope I've madeyou proud.

Dr. Paul Niemeyer, youbelieved in the theater troupe(and me) when I found it hardto. Yes, that was enough Mr.2010 Advisor of the Year.

By the way, it was difficultto narrow it down to threeindividuals. Okay, enoughwith the nuisances. Strangers,you get the point.

I truly do hope every singlegrad and soon-to-be graduatehas met at least one remark-able professor in the durationthey've been here. After all,there’s more to this universitythan passing classes and thelack of parking availabilities.There are relationships tonourish, opportunities to uti-lize and experiences to hold.

So, what are you waiting for– yes, even you graduates?

Cheers unwritten future,Stephanie Ibarra

Much can be accomplished one step at a time

CCAMPUSAMPUS NEWSNEWS 7May 19,2010

www.thebridgenewspaper.com

Grad Tech Guide: Mobile fight gets ugly

Farewell for Dr. Faridoun Farrokh

Courtesy Photo by Apple

master’s degree I’ll be a morevaluable candidate in the jobmarket,” Garza said.

Garza, aspires to further hereducation while she continuesto work.

“I’m not discounting oppor-tunities I have now. I justrather have a safe net to fallback on in case I were to losemy job,” Garza continued.

DepressionRegardless the path taken,

according to a study by LisaB. Kahn at the Yale School ofManagement, students whograduate in a weak economyearn less, are in lower-leveljobs and remain longer in theirpositions even after economyimprovements. The studyshows that the effects of grad-uating in recession periodskeep graduates from reachingthe career plateaus accom-plished by those who graduat-ed during a strong economy.

Staggering studies just add

to the probability of depres-sion. As advice varies fordepression, the general con-sensus is to discuss feelingswith others.

“I’m scared about what’sgoing to happen next but I alsoknow I’m not alone. Myfriends and I will sit there andtalk for hours about what’snext. Even people that aregoing to graduate school orhave a job offer are unsure. Ithink it just comes with theterritory of graduating. Butdefinitely just talking to peo-ple has made the situation bet-ter,” said Jessica Ramirez,TAMIU graduate.

Whether feeling nostalgicover what used to be or feelinganxious about the next chap-ter, most graduates agree thatthere is a light at the end of thetunnel.

(Stephanie Ibarra may bereached at stephie@dustyamiu.edu)

By Maria Flores

The Bridge Contributor

On May 6, 2010 the Department of Languageand Literature organized a party in honor ofDr. Faridoun Farrokh who will be retiring inlate August. Farrokh is an English professorwho has been teaching at TAMIU for 21 years,since July 1989. Professors, students, and staff gathered at the

restaurant, Johnny Cariños, to celebrateFarrokh. During the ceremony, Dr. FrancisRhodes presented a very special gift “Brick,”to symbolize that his name will become part of

TAMIU’s memory walk located in front ofPellegrino Hall and Cowart Hall.

In 1961, Dr. Farrokh obtained his undergrad-uate degree at the Mashad University ofMashad, Iran. Several years later, theUniversity of Kansas awarded him with aMaster of Arts in English. In 1977, he gradu-ated from the doctoral program of Arts inEnglish with a minor in history from theMiddle Tennessee State University. His dis-sertation topic was “A Poet Double-Form’d:an Analytical Study of Samuel Johnson’sEnglish Verse”. Dr. Farrokh has publishedseveral books and journal articles in Englishas well as Persian.

rest of the runway.According to the crowd, hewon all three runway chal-lenges for the night.

“This experience has beensuper amazing and if I could,I would do it again,” saidPerales about his journey onHNTM. Gutierrez takes title

Jerry Gutierrez, who wonthe title of HNTM, the grandprize of $200 and a free $450photo shoot, came bootydancing down the catwalk toa jam by Sean Paul dressedin TAMIU colors. His attirewas complete with a TAMIUbackpack and sunglasses.

For the second runwaychallenge, professional busi-ness attire, Gutierrez strutteddown to Usher's OMG.Dressed in black from headto toe, Gutierrez shockedjudges with his dance moves.“You showed some movesthat I think no one else hasever seen before,” JudgeMartinez said.

For the formal runwayGutierrez busted out frombehind the black curtain toPit Bull's Hotel Motel. Hehad a shiny silver jacketzipped up as a prop that laterrevealed his vest, tie, and

slacks. Upon being named

Housing's Next Top ModelJerry ecastically revealed,“This has been an awesomeexperience. I was very shyin the beginning but with thehelp of my supporters, Icame out on top. I'd do itagain in a heartbeat.” Senior keeps it classy

Senior Brenda Gutierrezplaced 3rd in the competitionand won $50. In her firstrunway, she came out to 3oh3's Starstrukk wearing a girlypink TAMIU shirt with amatching ruffled skirt. Forher props she had a spiral inher hand, a TAMIU keychain around her neck, andpencil in her long curly hair.

The judges loved how herwalk improved through thecompetition and agreed thatshe was a very classy com-petitor.

We saw Brenda's sexy pro-fessional side in her secondrunway. As she walkeddown the poolside to TheBlack Eyed Pea's Meet MeHalfway in her gray pencilline dress with a thick blackbelt around her waist and silkblack stilettos. Brenda alsohad a briefcase as a prop.

In her third and final run-way Brenda wore a formalstrapless purple dress that hitjust below the knee. Sheaccessorized her dress withblack stilettos, pearls aroundher neck and wrists, and aflower tucked on the side ofher ear.

In her photo, Brenda wasin a science lab conductingan experiment complete withtest tubes, chemicals, and alab coat as she paid homageto her major.

This was somewhat of abittersweet journey forBrenda as she admits, “Thisprogram is definitely out ofmy norm, so I feel that thiswas a great opportunity toget out of my shell a littleand have great experienceswith people that I probablywould have been too shy toever talk to.”

Enrolling in HNTM as asenior provided Gutierrezwith a one last college mem-ory.

(Sarah Herrera may bereached at sarahrebecca@dusty.tamiu.edu)

The greetings followed withDr. Thomas R. Mitchell, Deanof COAS introducing theother department chairs. Hecommented that graduation is“A fine tribute to both the stu-dents and faculty members.”

Faculty awards were alsodistributed for the titles ofScholar of the Year andTeacher of the Year, in whichtwo professors were chosenfor each award.

The professors chosen forTeacher of the Year were Dr.Jaclyn L. Jeffrey, professor ofanthropology, and Dr. MonicaMunoz, professor of psychol-ogy. The professors chosenfor Scholar of the Year wereDr. Runchang Lin, professorof mathematics, and Dr.Marcus A. Ynalvez, professorof sociology.

Farewell to FarrokhAfter the awards were given

out, Dr. Mitchell gave a warmwelcome to guest speaker Dr.Faridoun Farrokh, professorof English, who will be retir-ing this year after twenty-oneyears of service to TAMIU.

Among Dr. Farrokh's manyaccomplishments, some of thefew that Dr. Mitchell men-tioned were the dissertationFarrokh wrote on poet SamuelJohnson, his achievement ofbeing the founder/starter ofthe D.D. Hachar HonorsProgram in 1996-98, and hisknowledge and emphasis on18th Century BritishLiterature.

“He is totally old school,”said Mitchell as he introducedFarrokh.

Farrokh started, “I considerit a privilege, in fact, an honor,to be speaking amongst youfine graduates. I sincerelycongratulate you on your suc-cess and future goals.”

“You have graduated andhave nothing else to prove.You have taken on thisendeavor,” continued Farrokh,

concluding his speech with,“Happiness is a journey, not adestination. I wish you all thebest of luck and fare youwell.”

After Dr. Farrokh's speech,diplomas were given out to thehonor graduates. Parents, rel-atives, and friends gatheredaround to take pictures as thegraduates walked up the stageto receive their diplomas.

Honorable honorsThere were a total of six

Summa Cum Laude gradu-ates, fifteen Magna CumLaude graduates, and fourteenCum Laude graduates in theCollege of Arts and Sciences.

Just before the graduatehooding began Dr. DebraBlackwell, professor of histo-ry and an asset to the D.D.Hachar Honors Program, tookthe time to recognize nine out-standing students who notonly graduated with honors,but exceeded that by complet-ing extra honors course workthroughout their four years ofcollege.

Master gradsAlong with the bachelor

graduates were eleven mastergraduates who received theirdiplomas for a second time.As well as receiving theirdiplomas, they were alsohooded. Their degrees rangedfrom counseling psychologyand criminal justice to Spanishand public administration.

When each of the mastergraduates went up to get hood-ed, select professors read theirmaster graduate statements.These statements thankedtheir family, friends, and pro-fessors for the endless supportprovided in the lives they havededicated to education, all ofwhich concluded the night’sevents.

(Sarah Herrera may bereached at sarahrebecca@

dusty.tamiu.edu)

Depression, from page 1

Career, from page 1

the Bureau of Labor, as theirprojections state that we willsee an increase in certainindustries, for example, thehealth industry. The genera-tion of the baby boomers isapproaching that age wherethey are retiring, they havemedical needs and they need alot of the diagnostic laboratoryprocedures. Home health serv-ices are also going to beincreasing because of that. Interms of industry that will bein growth mode will be thehealth industry as well asinformation technology inrelation to the health industry.”

Martinez’s biggest sugges-tion to future graduates as towhat aspect an employer looksat when hiring an individual atthis point is adaptability.

“Adaptability is the keyquality in anyone going outinto the workforce right now.The traditional structure of theway jobs were five years ago

or ten years ago is not thesame this time around.Because of the way the econo-my has set things up, now it'snot as structured, the expecta-tions are not the same. Theyare constantly changing soemployees need to constantlyadapt to those changes.”

Networking is also anextremely important tool grad-uates need in order to find ajob at this phase of the econo-my.

“We encourage students tomake use of all of the toolsthat are available to them, toexhaust them in terms of net-working as it becomes veryimportant. We tell students tonot isolate themselves becausefor several reasons it's not thebest way to go about it. Youwant to get out there and justuse the resources which areavailable to you. Networkinginvolves talking to yourgroups of friends, then friends

of your friends, relatives, pro-fessors, and past employees.You want to make use of all ofthose people that you know ofto get the word out there thatyou are looking for a job andthat they are aware that youare doing that so that they canput you in contact with some-one. If they don't have theinformation, they can recom-mend you to another friendthey know or an associate.”

As graduates enter the jobmarket, the career path provesto be challenging. By encour-aging these standards amongstudents entering the work-place, the opportunity forthem finding a job increasesexponentially.

For more information pleasecontact Career Services at326-4473.

(Christine Rojas may bereached at christine_r7@

dusty.tamiu.edu)

COAS, from page 1

By Freddy Gonzalez

The Bridge Newspaper

Apple has heard the cries ofits customers as it has releasedimages from the new iPhoneoperating system labeled 4.0.

This comes a year after therevolutionary release of 3.0that included the now infa-mous app store home to over500, 000 applications. IPhone4.0 has introduced many fea-tures that have been in desper-ate need since the iPhone wasintroduced in 2007.

This has many suspectingthat apple has implementedmany new features in the oper-ating system to compete withthe ever evolving Androidmobile operating system andthe up and coming WebOSoperating system designed byHP/Palm. The iPhone has puton its gloves for the globalmobile market showdown.

The 4.0 version of the soft-ware takes a cue from theiPad, with user-defined wall-

papers, iBooks and a unifiedinbox for those of us with amyriad of email addresses andthe ability to connectBluetooth keyboards to yourIPhone for writing those everso important blogs or novelinspired emails.

The most important featurethat was introduced was multi-tasking. Multi-tasking willallow users of the popularapplication, Skype, the abilityto have a voice over conversa-tion while they search the netor browse their latestFacebook updates without anyinterruption. This feature willof course only be available onthe latest IPhone 3GS modeldue to battery and hardwarelimitations.

The update lets users tap tofocus when recording videoand a 5X digital zoom for tak-ing those necessary Facebookdisplay pictures. I, myself,have nine pages of applica-tions and iPhone 4.0 is givingus folders to be able to organ-ize, label and move applica-

tions.The most important feature

that the operating system willprovide to millions of iPhoneusers is the ability to keepadvertisements in an applica-tion at a minimum, withouthaving to charge for the appli-cation in question. They areadding video and interactivityto the advertisements to keepthem from losing audienceswhile offering discounts forthe paid versions while theyinteract with the advertise-ments.

The features of iPhoneO.S.4.0 give the much neededcementation of the IPhone asthe champion of the mobileSmartphone market inAmerica and, soon, the world.

The update is set to bereleased in June 2010, alongwith the announcement of theyet to be titled iPhone (4thGeneration). Be sure to powerup those iPhone's late June fora refresh to your always reliantiPhone.

HNTM, from page 1

CCAMPUSAMPUS NNEWSEWS8May 19,2010www.thebridgenewspaper.com