the bridge issue july 19, 2010

By María Flores andMarcela Morán

The Bridge Contributors

During the course of a fullweek, Texas A & MInternational UniversityStudent Newspaper, TheBridge, along with two com-munication professors offereda summer camp to train thenext generation of journalistsand photojournalists. Thecamp, known as theSupermedia Patrol Camp, wasthe first newspaper camp forthe future journalists and pho-tographers of Laredo. Thecamp, proudly sponsored byAramark, The BridgeNewspaper, the South TexasWriting Project, and theDepartment of Language andLiterature, was offered fromJuly 12 to July 16 from 9:00AM to 3:00 PM. The summercamp participants were: SarahElizabeth Castillo, OliviaGalinzoga, Nisha Lakhiani,Andrea Martinez, and Mia

Morán. The camp was organized

into two major seminars: jour-nalism and photojournalism.The news writing class wasinstructed by Dr. MaríaFlores, Assistant Professor ofCommunication at TAMIU.Every morning participantslearned the different elementsof a news story with anemphasis on the 5 W's of jour-nalism (what, when, where,what, why, and how), leads,the inverted pyramid organi-zational pattern and closingstatement. In addition youngreporters gained knowledge ofthe different interview tech-niques and journalism ethics.Ethics was a major componentof the writing seminar, “Ethicsis the core of every journalist.Ethics should guide everyreporter on a daily basis”commended Dr. Flores.During the course of thecamp, young reporters wereasked to write 3 news stories.For the majority of partici-pants this opportunity was thefirst approach to a journalistic

experience. The first storywas about a profile of a class-mate, the second story was aprofile of a character and thethird story was a profile ofTAMIU's outstanding univer-sity leaders. Dr. Flores' grati-tude goes to Dr. FrancesRhodes-English professor, Dr.Irma Cantú-Spanish professor,Mr. Dan Lathey-AssociateDirector of Athletics, Mr. JohnMaxstadt-Head of PublicServices of Sue and RadcliffeKillam Library, and Mr. JoséSaavedra-Physical Plant foraccepting to be interviewed bya reporter in training. All thegirls' stories are being featuredin this special summer campissue of The Bridge newspa-per.

The afternoon seminar wasled by Marcela Morán,Assistant Professor ofCommunication, and focusedon teaching participants thebasics of composition and dig-ital photography techniques.Students were taught how to“make” a photograph ratherthan merely take a picture.

That is, they were instructedto pay attention to the qualityand direction of the lightsource, to include visual ele-ments, such as texture, con-trast, line, and shapes, and tofocus completely on the scenebefore them when making aphotograph. In addition, theywere assigned to make photo-graphs that would complimentthe stories they were writingin the morning seminar.Participants shot portraits andself-portraits, photographs oftheir alter egos, and photo-graphs of individuals theyinterviewed at TAMIU. Theirfinal photo essays dealt withtopics of their choice. Themost important requirementfor this final assignment wasthat they be passionate abouttheir chosen subject matter.The results proved incrediblyrewarding as participants suc-cessfully made powerfulimages that reflected theirenthusiasm for their subjectmatter.

Professor Flores and Moránwould like to thank The

Bridge staff for their supportand assistantship during thecamp, “we could not done italone! The newspaper issue isa team effort. The Bridge staffdid an outstanding job keep-ing the students focus andmotivated through everyactivity. They kept a smile onthe young reporters' faces atall times” said ProfessorFlores. The Bridge staff lent ahand with both seminars, “theBridge Staff was amazing!They fully participated in allthe photo assignments andtheir energy and optimismmade every moment a memo-rable one” stated professorMorán. The Bridge staff thatsupported the camp were:Lilia Eskildsen- InternationalEditor, Kimberly Hernandez-Sales/Marketing, DavidH e r n a n d e z - H e a dPhotographer, JessicaRodriguez-Sales/Marketing,and Christine Rojas-Editor-in-chief.

By Lilia Eskildsen,Kimberly Hernandez,

Jessica Rodriguez, ChrstineRojas

The Bridge Newspaper

As university students, weoften forget the importance insharing our experiences andknowledge with those that areyounger than us. Betweenschool, work, the newspaperand our extra curricular activ-ities, we find it very hard toparticipate in any communityevents.

Through the South TexasWriting Project, we were ableto engage in a summer campthat allowed us to use ourjournalistic abilities to teachyounger students. For a oneweek, we were able to takealready great writers, andmodify their skills to fit thejournalistic style.

Throughout the week, wemanaged to teach the studentsthe six most important ques-tions: Who? What? Why?When? Where? and How?They learned the importanceof deadlines and peer editing.

While dressing up like thealter egos of themselves, thestudents experienced what itwas like to step into someoneelse's shoes. The studentslearned to remove their per-sonal ideas and moral valuesfrom their conscious whileinterviewing different people.

This exercise was veryimportant for the students toparticipate in because itallowed them to practice whatthe interview process wouldbe like. As reporters, we usu-ally find that we cannot con-trol what other people believe

in and we could not possiblyinfluence them in any wayshape or form. The students also learned the

basics of photography anddiscovered the art of the photoessay. The students were ableto partake in the process ofmaking a publication and thestress that comes with it.Overall, the whole summercamp proved to be a whirl-wind of excitement, stress,adventure and extreme fun. As part of the newspaper, we

are glad that we were able toestablish our first summer

camp and have it be a success.As The Bridge StudentNewspaper, would like tothank the South Texas WritingProject, the Language andLiterature Department, andAramark for making this pos-sible. We also give a specialthanks to the people aroundTAMIU that allowed the stu-dents to interview them: JohnMaxstadt, Dr. FrancesRhodes, Dr. Irma Cantu, DanLathey, and Jose Saavedra.

July 19, 2010Vol. 17, No. 11Laredo, Texas

FREE

Preparing next generation of journalists and photojournalists

A summer camp experience

Sponsored by

Photo by Bridge contributor

SOUTH TEXAS WRITING PROJECT2 July 19,2010www.thebridgenewspaper.com

By Dr. Bernice Sanchez Perez

The Bridge Contributor

Dear LaredoCommunity,

As Director of the SouthTexas Writing Project, Iwould like to take thisopportunity to thank thecommunity for their con-tinued support of theSTWP Federal Grant. TheSouth Texas Writing

Project, an affiliate of the National WritingProject, has been part of the Laredo communi-ty for 12 years and is currently housed at TexasA&M International University within theCollege of Arts & Sciences and the College ofEducation. Our mission both locally andnationally is continued focus on the knowledge,expertise, and leadership of our nation's educa-tors on sustained efforts to improve writing andlearning for all learners. The South TexasWriting Project supports a community of writ-ers, supports volunteer work within the com-munity, provides professional development

opportunities, and provides summer youthcamps for kids. The community of writers,known as Teacher Consultants, engages inWriting Retreats and volunteer service work inconjunction with community organizationsthroughout the year. Our annual fall conferenceconsists of various professional developmentsessions across grade levels and content areas.The Summer Institute presents on-going pro-fessional development opportunities and gradu-ate credit through TAMIU. Summer Youthcamps at TAMIU for elementary and secondarystudents focus on student centered activitiesthat integrate reading, writing, and technologywithin fun learning environments. Overall, theprimary goal of our youth summer camps is toencourage the importance of reading and writ-ing and love of learning in the early and adoles-cent years of Laredo's youth. Once again thanksto the Laredo community and TAMIU for itscontinued support of the South Texas WritingProject.

Dr. Bernice Sanchez-Perez

Director, South Texas Writing Project

Texas A&M International University

On behalf of DanielaRodriguez

On behalf of Dr. BerniceSanchez-Perez

STWP HostsCamps at TAMIU

By Daniela Rodriguez


D e a rL a r e d oCommunity,

It is withgreat pleas-ure that Iinvite you toparticipate in

any of the South TexasWriting Project activities thatwe have planned throughoutthe year such as our FallConference in October,Border Voices in the Spring,and our summer camps inJuly. STWP strives to help ourLaredo community embracewriting and build a communi-ty of lifelong learners at anyage. We thank those of youwho have already taken part ofour many activities such as theSacred Heart Children'sToiletry Drive, the SummerInstitute and these summer'scamps: “Exploring the

Universe through Writing,”“Writing and Reading in theDigital Age,” “The SuperMedia Patrol Camp,” and“Writing and Reading 101.”We are community united inensuring that everyone,including students and teach-ers, strengthen their writingskills is sure to reap the bene-fits for years to come. As theSTWP Co-Director, I inviteyou to call or email if you areinterested in participating orlearning about our local proj-ect that services the needs ofour teachers and students herein Laredo and surroundingareas. Thank you for yoursupport.

Daniela Rodriguez

STWP [email protected]

u

Texas A&M InternationalUniversity Faculty

By Jessica Rodriguez


The month of July, notoriousfor its extreme heat, experi-enced some unexpected flood-ing, a charming visitor namedAlex and most importantly,saw some very educationalsummer camps at TAMIU.The South Texas WritingProject hosted several writingcamps in an effort to help stu-dents from both primary andsecondary schools with theirwriting.

Through the planetarium,the students were taught tosoar through space, write in adigital age and the basics inreading and writing. TheSTWP, in conjunction withThe Bridge StudentNewspaper, held its first writ-ing camp for future journalistsand photojournalists. All the

camps provided differentmethods of writing for the stu-dents that established a funand creative atmosphere.

“These camps help to enrichthe minds of the students withhands-on activities and cre-ative writing,” stated DanielaRodriguez, STWP Co-Director. Through the STWP,students from schools aroundLaredo and Encinal have ben-efited from the dedicated pro-fessors and their interest inwriting. These camps havegiven many students a gooduniversity experience and willcontinue to do so for years tocome.

For more information on theSouth Texas Writing ProjectSummer Institute or SummerCamps, please visit their web-site athttp://www.tamiu.edu/coas/lla/stwp/.

The Bridge Newspaper would like to thank theSouth Texas Writing Project for their support in

making this “Super Media Patrol Camp” a success.

The Bridge Newspaperwould like to thank Aramark

for the delicious food provided to us during the

camp.

PERSONAL INTERVIEWS 3July 19,2010 www.thebridgenewspaper.com

By Andrea Martinez


During the summer of 2010,A&M International Universityheld The Super Hero camp forchildren to learn about theimportance of journalism andphotography. OliviaGalinzoga, a 13 year old, light-haired camper told TheBridge about why she wasinterested in joining the camp.

She told Bridge journalists

that “her grandmother hasalways been very involved inwriting, and that this inspiredher to join the summer pro-gram”. Olivia also said thatshe loves taking pictures andwriting about her day to dayexperiences.

Olivia believes that herexperiences at this summercamp will help her enrich herknowledge when she is atschool and will be a majorlearning experience for herlife years to come.

Photo by Olivia Galinzoga

Inspired to learn

By Nisha Lakhiani


On July 12, the Texas A&MInternational Universitynewspaper, The Bridge, start-ed the “Super Hero” summercamp. This camp was toteach young future journal-ists how to write and takephotographs. One of thefuture journalists was SarahCastillo. Sarah wishes tobecome a future photojour-

nalist when she is older.When Sarah was in 7th

grade, she found her truepassion for photos and writ-ing. She started getting moreinto journalism and her par-ents got her a professionalcamera for Christmas. “Ienjoyed writing and I can seemyself doing this job when Iam older,” said Sarah. Sarah is going to be a fresh-man at Alexander HighSchool this fall. She enjoysplaying volleyball, painting,

and is in the National JuniorHonor Society. Sarah stillmakes some time to work onher dream to become a pho-tojournalist.

Photo by Nisha Lakhiani

Harmony Star Student

By Olivia Galinzoga


During the hot summer dayof July 12, 2010 at TexasA&M InternationalUniversity, The Bridge stu-dent news paper held a sum-mer camp for kids called the“Super Hero SummerCamp.” One of the activitiesheld at the camp is that theattendees interviewed eachother.

A reporter interviewedAndrea Martinez who is 13yrs. old. She was introducedinto this camp by anotherattendee who convinced herto come. She enjoys thiscamp very much.

She is entering into 8thgrade this coming year at St.Augustine School. She hopesto use the skills achieved inwriting and photography tokeep memorable photographsand help her future academiccareer.

Photo by Andrea Martinez

Andrea’s questfor knowledge

By Mia Moran


During the month of July, Texas A & MInternational University student newspaper,The Bridge, hosted the “Super Hero” summercamp. The one week camp consisted of writ-ing news stories and taking photographs. I wasone of the attendees at the camp. I like to becalled M and I am 10 years old. My mom convinced me to attend the summer

camp which I have come to enjoy. “I love the

camp and everyone in it, I especially love tak-ing pictures.” I believe that learning to takepictures will help her live by having the possi-bility to see her pictures print on the newspa-per next week. My mom got me a pink camerato begin her creative journey. I have just transitioned from third grade into

fourth grade at Malakoff Elementary school. Ithink my photo skills will assist me in docu-menting my childhood, creating unforgettablememories.

Photo by Mia Moran

Learn ing pho tog raphy

By Sarah Castillo

The Bridge NewspaperNisha Lakhiani is an

incoming 7th grader at theHarmony Science Academy.She has been attendingHarmony for a year now. “Ilove it”, says Nisha but, thatwas not always the case.

Coming from a privatecatholic school, Nisha knewno one at Harmony, but shesoon adjusted. “Once I madefriends, everything just kindafell into place”, said Nisha.

She says she likes howHarmony is more involved inthe community, by hostingmultiple art and culture fairs.Aside from being a studentat the Science Academy,Nisha was also a basketballplayer in their mighty tigerteam

Nisha continues to keep intouch with her friends atMary Help. One in particularis her best friend, DominicCampos. “We’ve beenfriends for eight years, whystop now?”

Photo by Sarah Castillo

A F u t u r e J o u r n a l i s t

Summer Photo Essays

PHOTO ESSAY4July 19,2010www.thebridgenewspaper.com

Photo by Nisha Lakhiani Photo by Nisha Lakhiani

Editor’s Note: The following photos were submitted to The Bridge during the 2010 SuperPatrol Journalism Camp. The efforts of these aspiring journalists are portrayed through theirnews stories and their unique photo essays. For their complete photo essays, please visit usat www.thebridgenewspaper.com

By Nisha Lakhiani

The Bridge Photographer

I decided to do my photoessay on underwater picturesof me and my friends. I loveswimming and hanging outwith my friends. I think it’sgreat to get to see another sideof my friends when I goswimming with them. I feelthey are more careless and it’s

easy for me to open up morein front of them. Water hasalways been a place for me torelax and just have fun. It’seven easier with my friends.We get to let go and leave ourlives behind while we enterthis underwater world andexplore with open eyes.When I was nine years old, Imoved into a new house. Ourbackyard was big enough fora pool, so that’s what we got.

My brother and sister didn’tgo swimming often, onlywhen we had parties andfriends would come, but Iwould go swimming almosteveryday. When I take underwater pho-tos of people, their expressionis always happy, so I knowthat they are having fun. Taking pictures is an art tome, taking underwater pic-tures is a beauty. It’s hard to

take pictures underwaterbecause right when yourabout to take a picture, youstart floating to the top andmiss your shot. Every time Ihave to take pictures of some-one when they ask me to, Ifeel like I have to try my bestnot to mess anything up, it istheir picture after all. When I’m underwater, I feellike I’m in my own world. Ican’t hear anything else but

the pounding in my ears as Igo deeper into the water.Getting to share the experi-ence with my friends and see-ing them smile as we flip ordo tricks underwater is amaz-ing. My friend always tellsme to invite her whenever Ifell like going swimmingbecause she has so much fun.I hope I can open up to moregreat experiences every daywith open eyes.

By Olivia Galinzoga


Capoeira is a new found loveI now have. Capoeira is aBrazilian martial art. It is likea defensive dance. Capoeirais made up of differentrhythms and song that wemove to. Music has alwaysbeen a big part of my life so

capoeria reflects who I am.My mom one day signed meup to take classes withProfesseor Paul-RaymondBuitrón III. He is one of thethree professurs in the UnitedStates and has his studio herein Laredo. Mr. Buitrón is oneof my greatest hero’s. In capoeira is a game youplay. A group of people gath-er in a circle and clap to the

rhythm that some plays on theberimbau. It looks like a bowwith a metal wire attached.High rank capoiera playersare allowed to the berimbau ifnot then it is disrespect to themartial art if you play it.Other players can play otherinstruments along with theberimbau like a large drumcalled the atabaque, a medi-um sized tambourine called

the pandeiro, and a small bellcalled the a-go-go. Others canalso participate and singwhile people play.In the class I take since we areall learning and we are allfriends we play nicely unlikein the real game in which youinjure others and get injured.We learn the different tech-niques of the game and all thekicks, punches, and blocks

that go along with the game. I think capoeira is an amazingsport. I admire the playersand I hope to continue learn-ing capoeira. I am proud ofmy teacher and he is a greatrole model I follow. I lovecapoeria and I am very grate-ful to be able to participate inthis memorable and historicmartial art.

Photo by Olivia Galinzoga Photo by Olivia Galinzoga

Capoeira

With Open Eyes

PHOTO ESSAY 5July 19,2010www.thebridgenewspaper.com

By Andrea Martinez


Sofia is a warm-hearted lov-ing eight year old who enjoyshappiness. Her personality isquite complex and yet beauti-ful in so many ways. She isalmost always happy andcheery. Just her presence in aroom brings the people

around her great joy and con-tentment. I decided to do myphoto essay on my loving lit-tle sister because she is aninspiration in my life andtakes up a lot of space in myheart.

Sofia enjoys reading, play-ing with our huge dogs, andjust being silly. We'll spenddays together just laughing atold movies and making up

games to play when werebored. She and I will spendhours and hours alone justgoofing off and having fun inour home. Sofia is very dedi-cated and extremely precise inwhatever she does. Shealways tries to see situationsfrom others eyes and is some-one anyone can depend on.

My sister is a great inspira-tion to me because she just

lives life with an open mindand heart. She is so fun- lov-ing and friendly that I feel likeI can go to her for anything.Her look on life is very laidback and she enjoys everymoment of every day andlives her life to the fullest. Itruly admire her creativity andknowledge for the simplest ofthings. Sofia is a great joy to have as

a sister. I really believe thatthis photo essay captures herlook at life and her capacity tolive life fully. Sofia is a hugepart of my life and I know thatshe will always be there forme with an open mind to helpme encounter my life'sdreams.

Photo by Andrea Martinez Photo by Andrea Martinez

By Sarah Castillo


My photo essay consists ofpictures taken in New York,Boston, and Washington.

Practicing my photography inthese amazing cities was def-initely a dream come true. Ifigured since I was not com-ing back soon, I might aswell take some lasting mem-ories home with me.

The beauty of the buildingsin the east coast, are spectac-ular works of art and archi-tecture. The architecturaldesigns vary since there havebeen many cultural influ-ences in the surrounding

area. It is unlike anything Ihave every seen. Everythingis just so surreal; it is hard tobelieve Buildings dating backto the 1800’s to modern dayAmerica can be found inthese three urban cities.

Photo by Sarah Castillo Photo by Sarah Castillo

By Mia Moran


I decided to focus my photoessay on Animals, because Ilove them. My photos focuson houses, dogs, and birds.This past Monday, while Iwas going home after attend-ing camp, I saw horses acrossfrom TAMIU on the otherside of the loop. There werefour beautiful brown and

white horses. I love them somuch that I had to stop to takephotos of them. When I foundthem, they were eating grassand weeds. When I got out ofthe car the horses looked atme and them like me. On that same day, my momand I went to visit my greatgreat aunt caregiver Meche.She lives across the river inNuevo Laredo. At her home,upstairs Meche has one cagewith two parakeet one green

and one white. These kinds ofanimals are like parrots, butsmaller. Meche calls themwith the Spanish name LosPericos. In that same house, a14 year old dog name Cucalives with Meche. Cuca hasblack eyes, half yellow-halfwhite hair, about one foot tall.She has a stomach tumor, butshe‘s not in pain. We are allworry about her health. Iwanted to take photos of herbecause I love her, because

she has cut Beebe eyes.On Tuesday, I went to seeBuddy and Nuttey after camp.They are the cutest dogs ever.Buddy is a Labrador as big asa lion. He has black eyes andyellow hair. He was but by aboy name Alex. Then Alexgives to Mark who is the cur-rent owner. The name Buddywas given to the dog by Alex.Buddy loves Mark a lot, wholikes to lay down with Buddy.He loves to destroy/tarring

toys for fun. Buddy like to eathis dog food with milk. Nuttyalso like to eat the same way.Nutty is a mutt from the BuilTerrier family and resemblesa Chupacabra. A Chupacabrais the name of a monster fromMexico who drinks goatsblood. The nickname chu-pacabra was given by Markhis owner. Buddy and Nuttyare uncle Mark’s dogs whichare named after an ice creamdesert.

Photo by Mia Moran Photo by Mia Moran

Animals I Love

East Coast Buildings

My sister...in many lights

CCHARACTERHARACTER IINTERNTERVIEWSVIEWS6July 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

Letter to the Editor

The red queenBy Mia Moran


One hundred years ago,Wonderland was ruled by thered queen; also known as thequeen of hearts. She has sixhearts on her black and whitedress and a necklace of ablack heart. She becamequeen at the time when herparents passed away. Queen

of hearts have been rulingfor the past 100 years. Sheuses her army of cards toforce her will on her sub-jects. She became evilbecause “my parents love thewhite queen better than me”said the queen of hearts. Shewas defeated by the Whitequeen after her championkilled the red queen’s drag-on.

A new look at lifeBy Andrea Martinez


On July 13, 2010,Bridgejournalists of A&MInternational Universityinterviewed Harmony, anearth-loving, tree hugger.Harmony lives in a tree torelieve the stresses of humansociety. Harmony becamean earth lover when she sawwhat materialism did to peo-ple.

Harmony was born in a treeand in a way wanted to be

normal and fit in like every-body else. However, onceshe saw how some peopleare and don’t care about eachother, she wanted to becomemore loving.

Harmony believes that “weneed to accept people theway they are and be moreopen to things.” She doesthis at home by meditating torelieve stress, relaxing by lis-tening to nature calls, andtrying to be at one with theworld.

Lady Gaga shares her fameBy Nisha Lakhiani


In 2008, blonde haired hit sensation, LadyGaga, became a star. She started to sing anddance in small clubs around New York. “I loveto dance and sing, and I thought that clubsaround town was a great start to beingfamous,” she said. Now Gaga is one of themost influential people in the world.

On June 13, Gaga made a visit to TAMIU,where The Bridge had the chance to interviewher. “I had a lot of support when I first start-

ed recording my soon to be hit album,” saidGaga. Many fans started following LadyGaga after her first album, The Fame, landedinto stores. She had a hard time choosing thename Lady Gaga. There were a few other sug-gestions before that one. Lady Gaga admittedthat her name was too regular and needed anew original name.

With more that one million fans onFacebook, and ten million followers onTwitter, Lady Gaga is one of the most famouspeople in the world. Her music still inspiresher fans, and she continues to blow everyoneaway.

The balance keeperOlivia Gazlinzoga


On July 13, 2010 reporters interviewedLady Medenagan. Lady Medenagan is madeof gold and is balance keeper. She is fromOmphalos, Greece which is considered thecenter of the world. She became LadyMedenagan in 320 B.C. Her name means“nothing in excess in Greek”.

She was once normal but after going bank-rupt because of her necessity to keep wantingmore and more she turned into Lady

Medenagan. She now follows the “GoldenRule”. The Golden Rule is to keep life in bal-ance and put everything in place. For exam-ple, to keep work at work not to bring homethe stresses that work might bring.

Lady Medenagan helps others by makingsure that people know how to keep balance inlife’s situations. She is the example to allpeople to keep neutral and serene. She is abig part of our daily life and she believes weshould all follow the Golden Rule and keepbalanced.

Photo by Olivia Gazlinzoga

Photo by Mia Moran


Photo by Nisha Lakhiani

CCAMPUSAMPUS IINTERNTERVIEWSVIEWS 7July 19,2010 www.thebridgenewspaper.com

In the businessof making peoplehappy

A great achiever, a great mind

Love of children’s literature

By Mia Moran


The Department ofLanguage and Literaturemain office located inPellegrino Hall 314 is beingpainted. Its walls used to begray blue, but not any more.Now, those walls are beingpainted with the TAMIUbeige tone. The new tone ofpaint is enhancing the officeenvironment completely byproviding a warm atmos-phere. The person responsi-ble for this transformation isMr. Jose Saavedra.

Saavedra has been work-ing in PH314 since Mondayof this week. He possesses35 years of painting experi-ence. Saavedra loves hiswork, because he has thepower to place smiles onpeople's faces, “a person'slive changes completelywith a fresh hand of paintand a new color. People feelenergetic and happy” saidSaavedra who likes to dress

in white.He goes around the uni-

versity on his white carwhich runs on electricityand can sit two passengers.The car has a cargo com-partment to carry the paintgallon bottles around. “Thiscar makes my live easier,because I can get from jobto job faster” commentedSaavedra.

Mr. Saavedra has two chil-dren the oldest is 33 yearsold and the youngest is 30.In addition, he has six grandchildren. Fruits like straw-berries, watermelon, andmelons are his favorite food.Some vegetables are alsohis favorite food. Saavedra'sfavorite animal is deer.

By Olivia Galinzoga


Tamiu has one of the bestlibraries in all of Laredo. Ifyou ever need to find a bookyou can always visit theTamiu library. You can visitthe reference desk for moreinformation. There will be

Mr. John Maxstadt, Head ofPublic Services of Sue andRadcliffe Killam LibraryJohn Maxstadt is an amazingperson. He is originally fromIndiana and moved here toLaredo. Before coming herehe got his bachelors fromWabash College inCrawfordsville, Indiana.Then he received two mas-ters from the Fairleigh

Dickinson University in NewJersey. Then he became alibrarian and remained onefor 26 years. He became thehead of public services inTamiu which means hesupervises all the publicservice areas of the library.He is in charge of areas thatinclude reference circulationand more.

By Sarah Castillo


Dr. Francis Rhodes was born in Eagle Pass,Texas on April 21, 1943. At the age of five shelearned to read. “I haven’t been able to putbooks down since”, said Dr. Rhodes. Dr.Rhodes enjoys reading classics such as“Heidi” and “A Little Princess.” She’s readher fair share of Louisa May Alcott booksalong with a few by Maeve Binchy. Dr.Rhodes also enjoys reading modern books and

is currently reading the How to Train YourDragon series by Cressida Cowell. Inspiredby her love of reading, she decided to pursuea career in Children’s Literature and now is awell respected professor here at Texas A&MInternational University.

At TAMIU Dr. Rhodes is one of the profes-sors with the most seniority. She has seenLaredo and TAMIU grow and prosper.“Laredo is my home, even though I wasn’tborn here, I can’t picture myself anywhereelse”, said Dr. Rhodes, “I’ll be here three daysbefore my death”, she joked.

An important piece to our culture

By Andrea Martinez


On July 15, 2010, Bridgereporters interviewed profes-sors at the university.Reporters interviewed Dr.Irma Cantu, a faculty mem-ber of Texas A&MInternational University inthe Dept. of Language andLiterature specifically in theSpanish section. She is cur-rently working on Spanishand communication for jour-nalists who want to write inSpanish, and is working on agrant to help the college getfunds for research andexpand students' horizons byexposing them to other cul-tures.

Dr. Cantu specializes inLatin- American andMexican literature. Sheenjoys this course greatlybecause she herself is

Mexican and she likes to seeher culture and history trans-lated in words.

Besides teaching at Tamiu,Dr. Cantu helps out with theSpanish portion of TheBridge. Here she checksgrammar and photographs inthe section.

Dr. Cantu found her work atTamiu when she was livingin Baltimore and she lookedup openings on the internet.She took the job because sheis originally from Monterreyand she would be close to herfamily and she knows thearea very well. She was alsointerested at the fact thatTamiu is a state universityand liked the idea of workingthere. Dr. Cantu received herdegree at UT Austin.

Dr. Irma Cantu loves herjob at Tamiu greatly andthinks that Tamiu has a fan-tastic Spanish program andbecause of our area, students

are very fluent and are opento learning the language. Sheloves her students and theircuriosity to learn.

Before Dr. Cantu was atTamiu, she was a professor atthe private institution, NotreDame. She was inspired tobecome the person that she istoday by many different writ-ers and professors. Manypeople helped her to “frameher vocation”. Dr. Cantuwould have wanted to be adiplomat or a foreign corre-spondent if she didn't do thejob that she does today. Dr.Cantu's interests are travel-ing, reading, and having funwith her family.

Dr. Cantu's advice for any-body who wants to get a jobin the future is “to do whatyou are happy doing, and tofollow your heart”.

A determined athletic director shares his storyBy Nisha Lakhiani


On Thursday July 15 atTexas A&M InternationalUniversity, The Bridgecaught up with AssociateAthletics Director, DanLathey. Lathey has beenworking here sinceTAMIU started athletics in2002. He said it was thelongest he’s ever worked

anywhere. He and his ath-letes are involved in chari-ty work. “They getinvolved in a number ofprojects throughout theyear,” said Lathey.

Dan Lathey graduatedfrom Oklahoma StateUniversity with a bache-lor’s degree in radio & tel-evision in 1990. Later hewent to Texas A&MCommerce and got a mas-ters degree in journalism

in 1995. Lathey doesn’tlet his journalism skills goto waste. Dan Lathey cre-ated a website and writessmall biographies aboutpast students here atTAMIU.

Lathey does have goalsfor the year. He said theyare trying to improve theirwebsite every year or addthings they didn’t the yearbefore. Dan Latheyenjoys his job and writing

stories for his website. Govisit his website at:www.godustdevils.com

Courtesy Photo by TAMIU Athletics Department


Photo by Sarah Castillo

Photo by Mia Moran

Photo by Olivia Galinzoga

CCAMPUSAMPUS NNEWSEWS8July 19,2010www.thebridgenewspaper.com

the bridge issue july 19, 2010

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