Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

Volume 47 Issue 27December 4, 2012

Find your holiday cheer: Page 4 Roadrunner women’s basketball stunned in OT: Page 9

Matthew DuarteNews Editornews@paisano-online.com

UTSA received an “A” grade on its core curriculum from the Ameri-can Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) according to its annual “What Will They Learn?” report. The univer-sity is one of just 21 schools to make the highest grade of over 1000 surveyed.

The rankings, which have been com-piled every year since 2009, aim to mea-sure how well-rounded a school’s basic curriculum is and to give prospective students an additional tool to compare universities.

To make an “A,” a university must of-fer six out of seven courses: composi-tion, literature, foreign language, U.S. history or government, economics, mathematics and natural science. Of that list, UTSA requires students to take a course in all areas except foreign language.

According to ACTA’s website, less than 14 percent of schools require a foreign language, while less than 20 percent require U.S. history or govern-ment. Less than five percent require an economics credit.

ACTA’s mission statement noted that its goal is “to support liberal arts educa-tion, uphold high academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus and ensure that the next gen-eration receives a philosophically rich, high-quality college education at an af-fordable price.”

UTSA received an “A” in the report for the first time last year and is one of just four schools in Texas to achieve such a high rating, along with Baylor University, Texas A&M Corpus Christi

and the University of Dallas. No other school in the UT system made an “A.” More than 60 percent of schools re-ceived a “C” or lower in the report, meaning they offer three or fewer of the seven suggested courses.

“Businesses are struggling to find employees with the skills to succeed in today’s high-tech and dynamic global economy,” said John Engler, former governor of Michigan and president of the Business Roundtable, in an ACTA press release. “Those abilities are built upon a foundation of math and science, but they also depend on students ac-quiring a wide range of general knowl-edge – including the ability to think and communicate clearly.”

John Frederick, UTSA provost and vice president of academic affairs, be-lieves that the rating serves as evidence that the school is ahead of the curve in ensuring that students are ready to enter the work force. “UTSA is com-mitted to shaping broad-minded global citizens who are prepared to think criti-cally and, in turn, have a greater com-petitive edge in the job market,” said Frederick, according to UTSA Today.

Although UTSA has now received ACTA’s highest rating for the second consecutive year, it has already begun to shift away from its current core cur-riculum, a process that is the result of the state of Texas’ reworking of the re-quirements for core curriculums in all public colleges and universities in the state. As Associate Vice Provost Nan-cy Martin pointed out, “in the state of Texas, the structure for the core is man-dated by the state legislature.”

According to UTSA’s website, the Freshman Experience Task Force was charged with simplifying “the fresh-man year academic experience, to ease

students’ transition to college while in-troducing them to the rigors of college-level coursework.” Working under the recommendation of Provost Frederick, the Task Force had suggested that, of the current core curriculum, only a math class and composition courses were “absolutely fundamental to suc-cess in a student’s curriculum, regard-less of their chosen major.”

Martin, who oversees UTSA’s core curriculum, explained to The Paisano in an interview last month how the task force’s recommendations would

reshape UTSA’s core curriculum. “In the current catalog, we have the World Society and Issues component and that’s gone away,” Martin explained. “Economics would be an option in the core,” she said, compared to being a re-quirement as it is now.

Although the new core would re-structure the freshman experience by removing certain classes from a stu-dent’s degree plan, it also seeks to make the transition to college more bear-able for freshmen. The Task Force’s report suggested a new class—dubbed

an Academic Inquiry Course—which would “provide institutional support and academic challenge” and provide students with “an environment where quality faculty-student relationships can develop.”

As Martin stated, “The general pur-pose of that course is to introduce stu-dents to the university.” Martin explain ed that the Academic Inquiry Course is being designed to highlight the differ-ences between high school and college and would particularly emphasize that

Stephanie BarbosaContributing Writernews@paisano-online.com

On Nov. 15, the UT System Board of Regents approved a $102.4 million plan to consolidate their five existing administration buildings into one, new 16-level building in downtown Austin, Texas.

This cost-effective plan is expected to yield up to $5 million in savings per year. These savings will be used to fund student programs throughout the 15 UT System institutions as a part of Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa’s newly established Framework for Advancing Excellence plan.

According to a recent progress re-port from the Framework for Advanc-ing Excellence action plan, the UT Sys-tem put together a team of experts to review space-utilization and efficiency strategies.

At the last regents meeting, Cigarroa said, “Several locations in the Austin area were considered for a new build-ing, as were several different construc-tion scenarios and the possibility of leasing existing space.”

The current occupied buildings cost about $4.8 million to operate annually. The new building will be more efficient, costing approximately $2.1 million to operate annually, regents said.

The plan for a single building prom-ises to not only save money, but to also improve effectiveness and communica-tion across all UT System departments. The building location will be in close

proximity to the Texas Capitol and public transportation.

“After taking all of the data and staff feedback into consideration, the con-struction of a single building on the existing UT System land to house all of our business units made the most sense financially and organizationally,” said Cigarroa.

Of all the five existing office build-ings, the Colorado and Lavaca build-ings will be demolished and the three remaining buildings – O. Henry Hall, Ashbel Smith Hall and Claudia Taylor Johnson Hall – will be available to lease once the new building is occupied.

The 16-level building, one level of which will be underground, will contain enough garage space to house up to 700 cars and will include 258,500 square feet to facilitate office space, conference and board rooms and eating spaces. Further infrastructure and design plans will be reviewed at a regents’ meeting in early 2013. The demolition of the Colo-rado and Lavaca buildings will com-mence next fall.

The construction of the building, which is due for completion in 2016, will be funded with Revenue Financing System Bonds and will not be appropri-ated from tuition costs.

“This project is perfectly aligned with the productivity and efficiency goals of our Framework for Advancing Excel-lence and the savings will directly ben-efit our students,” Regents Chairman Gene Powell said. “This is a win-win opportunity for our students, institu-tions, the UT System and the city of Austin.”

T r a c k i n g c h i p s e m b e d d e d i n Nor th s ide ISD s t uden t IDs

UTSA ranked in top two percent for core curriculum

UT Board of Regents save $5 million

San Antonio Northside ISD’s “Student Locator Project” is intended to manage attendance reporting.

Of 1071 schools surveyed, only 21 received an “A” grade for its core curriculum.

See CURRICULUM, Page 2

Jonathan PillowInternnews@paisano-online.com

Northside Independent School District (NISD) is facing legal conse-quences following the implementation of the “Student Locator Project.” The project requires students at John Jay High School and Anson Jones Middle School to wear an embedded radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip found in all student ID cards during school hours. A federal court is consid-ering hearing a case against the school

district filed by Andrea Hernandez, a student from John Jay High School. Hernandez equates the ID cards to the biblical “mark of the beast” from the book of Revelation and refuses to wear it. The district attempted to have Hernandez transferred from her magnet school to another high school, but her parents requested a temporary injunction from the state court to keep her at John Jay. According to a NISD statement, “Since the Jay High School student and her father are alleging a violation of the student’s federal constitutional

rights, Northside ISD asked that the case be heard in federal court. The case that was scheduled to be heard in state court has been canceled and will now rest with a federal judge to make a ruling. Heather Fazio of Texans for Ac-countable Government commented on the religious aspect of the case, saying, “This program and the expressed con-sequences with not falling in line with it have created a chilling effect in these schools in making them afraid to stand

See NORTHSIDE, Page 2

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research universities “create knowl-edge,” whereas a high school merely teaches it.

Additionally, the Task Force sug-gested in its report that students be placed in academic “blocks” of about 25 students who are assigned to com-mon courses; the goal of this is to foster stronger relationships with teachers and amongst students while keeping class sizes to a minimum. It also proposed the addition of “Q courses,” which require students to think on a much more analytical level, to the core curriculum.

According to the university web-

site, the UTSA core curriculum is “de-signed to enable students to assess the perspectives and accomplishments of the past and to move to the future with an informed and flexible outlook.” The required coursework “promotes intel-lectual adaptability, ethical awareness and transfer among diverse modes of thought.”

However, as Martin said, most of what a student learns in college is not taught in the core curriculum. “The purpose of the core curriculum is breadth of knowledge: a little bit of everything,” she said, “but your major is about depth and expertise.”

David SmithInternnews@paisano-online.com

San Antonio company Latakoo has partnered with UTSA to improve the data compression ability of its online service. UTSA professor Sos Agaian holds a patent on the new compression algorithm the company wants to use to improve its service.

Latakoo currently provides their ser-vices to news organizations all over the world, including NBC Universal and other companies.

The service facilitates the transfer of large files, such as high-definition vid-eo, across the Internet via a technology known as data compression.

“We decided to compress the video and create a service where it was just drag, drop and click,” said Latakoo CEO Paul Adrian in an interview.

The company’s service encodes the file so that it becomes smaller, uploads it to a cloud server on the Internet and downloads the file to the desired desti-nation, where it is unpacked to its origi-nal size.

Upload speeds are much slower than download speeds, so a file that may download in an hour could take the better part of a day to upload.

“The end goal is for the user not to have to worry about it at all,” Adrian said.

Uncompressed video formats such as Apple’s ProRes files used by Final Cut programs are enormous. A one-minute video requires roughly a gigabyte of storage. In a demo, the Latakoo service was able to compress such a video to one percent of its original size and im-mediately upload it. The entire process took only a minute and a half.

Adrian believes that the company’s

partnership with UTSA will allow them to reduce that time even further.

“They have a sponsor research agreement with us,” said UTSA Chief Commercialization Officer Cory Hal-lam. Thus, not only will the univer-sity be making money from royalties through the use of Agaian’s compres-sion algorithm, but Latakoo will also be funding ongoing research at the university to continue to improve soft-ware technologies, Hallam explained.

More funded research means that UTSA would be able to hire more graduate students to work in its labs, explained Hallam. He also noted that the growth of Latakoo through this partnership could open up more jobs in San Antonio—jobs that could be filled by UTSA graduates.

“We’re seeing research turn into real products,” said Hallam. “Hopefully we can create other deals like this.”

O n l i n e s e r v i c e L a t a k o o p a r t n e r s w i t h u n i v e r s i t y t o i m p r o v e u p l o a d s p e e d s

up for themselves. Now, I am not a Christian, but I understand the value in a free society where we respect the rights of others to walk with God how-ever they see fit. This young lady and all of the children at these schools are being violated every day that this program is in effect.” The district plans to fully integrate the program into all NISD schools in 2013. According to NISD, the purpose of the chips is to track the whereabouts

of students when they are on cam-pus in an effort to decrease truancy and keep students safe. However, the school district has met opposition from concerned parents. In a letter to the parents of the af-fected students, Jones Middle School Principal Wendy Reyes explained that the “smart” ID cards transmit loca-tion information to electronic readers throughout the day. “This is so that we always know where the students are in the build-ing,” said Reyes, “After all, parents, you expect school staff to always know where your children are during the school day.” In the same letter, Reyes said, “One additional feature of the new ‘smart’ ID card is that Jones attendance office staff will be able to manage attendance reporting more efficiently. By report-ing increased attendance to the state,

Jones Middle School will be eligible for additional funding.” At a school board meeting in September, Fazio argued, “We are electrical beings. We have neurologi-cal functions that are interrupted and influenced by this radio frequency radiation. And I think that until we have a health-impact study that deter-mines that it is safe for our children, we should not be subjecting them to experimental technology.” According to who.int, “A number of epidemiological studies suggest small increases in risk of childhood leukemia with exposure to low frequency mag-netic fields in the home.” However, the report stated that no definite cause-effect relationships have been found between electromagnetic fields like the ones emitted by RFID chips and illness. This disclaimer, however, is not justification for concerned parents.

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From Page 1

From Page 1

Curriculum: freshmen core to undergo significant changes in 2014

“Do you have to

destroy free will

to verify atten-

dance?”

Chris SteinbachChief of Staff to Rep. Lois Kolkhorst

Northside: S A s t u d e n t s u e s d i s t r i c t i n f e d e r a l c a s e

Al Gerloff, a retired Air Force com-munications specialist and parent of a Jay High School student, wants NISD to conduct thorough studies to deter-mine the health and environmental risks associated with RFID technol-ogy. At a board meeting, he asked, “Can NISD afford the possible legal liabilities associated with RF radiation

illnesses imposed on NISD students and staff?” No date has been set for the federal case involving Hernandez and NISD and until the courts decide otherwise, NISD students will have to continue wearing tracking devices to school or risk expulsion.

The Texas Legislature is requiring all public universities to revise their core curriculum for 2014.

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December 4, 2012The Paisano Paseo

Bridget GaskillStaff Writerpaseo@paisano-online.com

As Christmas approaches, the ringing of bells and clinking of coins can be heard as the Salvation Army places red kettles at local supermarkets and department stores around the nation. These charity collectors, some paid workers and some volunteering out of good spirit, receive positive and negative responses from the public.

While some believe that the red kettles are a friendly reminder to be generous and thoughtful during the winter season,

others feel they are an unwelcome nui-sance. Salvation Army bell ringers across the country are facing restrictions this holiday season from the stores they have previously been allowed to use as dona-tion sites and from citizens themselves.

Stores and businesses in several cities are reducing the number of weeks before Christmas that the Salvation Army can set up the red kettle donation sites. They are asking that the collectors wait until one week prior to the holiday to start col-lecting rather than the usual six weeks. In other cities such as Colorado Springs, Co. and at certain businesses such as Target, bell ringers have been denied entirely. A

new law in the form of a no-panhandling ordinance passed on Nov. 6 in Colorado Springs restricts any method of money collection, including the Salvation Army’s red kettles.

Further, individuals have filed com-plaints and even phoned the authorities about the constant ringing of bells. New Hampshire resident and store owner Sar-ah Hamilton-Parker has endured the in-cessant ringing for the past four years and insists that it disrupts her customers’ day as much as her own. The authorities rec-ognized her concern, but could do little to remedy the problem, as “it’s something the city has given permission for,” Police

Captain Mike Schwartz said, according to the Daily Mail.

Areas that still allow bell ringers to collect donations may be dangerous as well. Charity collectors often have hefty amounts of cash in their bucket by the end of a shift, giving some indi-viduals enough incentive to take it.

A Salvation Army em-ployee was robbed in front of a Sears in Columbus, Ga. last winter when a car pulled up to the sidewalk alongside the entrance to the store and said that they wanted to make a donation. The employee took the Sal-vation Army bucket to the driver’s side of the vehicle, at which time the driver pulled a silver handgun, pointed it at the employee and demanded the bucket. No suspects were appre-hended.

Another incident oc-curred in Charlottesville, Va. when a masked robber jumped out of a vehicle, pushed the Salvation Army bell ringer to the ground and grabbed the bucket as he jumped back into the car. The bell ringer sustained only minor injuries and the Salvation Army reassured people that someone would be back the next day to con-tinue collecting donations.

Some well known stores that have said they will con-tinue to support the Salva-tion Army include corpo-rations such as Wal-Mart, Walgreens and JCPenneys. This holiday season, the Salvation Army will contin-ue to collect donations that help clothe and feed those in need with a goal of rais-ing $215,000.

Salvation Army: struggling for donations at collection sites

Decorating for the holidays

Check out this week online:

Cramming for Finals by Stephanie Barbosaand

Black Friday Becomes a Black Weekend by Corey Franco

Visit:

paisano-online.com

Amber Phillips has taken a youthful approach to her Christmas tree decorations. Miniature red, white and blue Mickey Mouse heads adorn the branches of the tree.

Bear Wright purchased these electronically lit snowflakes and Christmas themed window decals at Dollar Tree, giving a wintery look to her dorm window without breaking her budget.

Wreaths are a common decoration used to give homes a festive atmosphere. Ebangha Tanyi uses a traditional Christmas wreath placed on top of a door wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper to give her door holiday spirit.

Three UTSA students, Cat McCaully, Jasmine Rodriguez and Adilene Herrera, have chosen to stray from the traditional green Christmas tree. This blue tree was purchased from Big Lots and is proudly displayed in their student apartment.

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While many roadrunners make the trip home for the holiday season, seasonal decorations are still common at student living spaces. Students find creative ways to decorate with limited space and a limited budget.

The PaisanoEditor-in-Chief: Katy SchmaderManaging Editor:Stephen WhitakerNews Editor:Matthew DuarteNews Assistants:Natalie FrelsDavid GlickmanPaseo Editor:Sarah GibbensPaseo Assistant:Corey FrancoArts Editor: Erica CavazosArts Assistants:Valeria PerezJennifer AlejosSports Editor: Rex CastilloSports Assistant:Sheldon BakerPhoto Editor: Alyssa GonzalesPhoto Assistant:Will TallentAds Manager: Kevyn KirvenBusiness Manager: Jenelle DuffWeb Assistants:Magalieh AcostaAmanda DansbySenior Copy Editor:Alyssa TorresStaff: Daniel Crotty, Victor Hernandez, Valeria Rodriguez, Katy Glass, Valeria Perez, Bridget Gaskill, Hector Torres, Christina Coyne, Randy Lopez, Lictor Prianti, Alex Camacho, Ruth Olivares, Shelby HodgesContributing Staff:Chris Butler, Julian Montez, Ethel Asberry, Leann Acuna, John Poplawski, Council Royal, Eliana Briceno, Marialuisa Bianchi, Ross Hutchinson, Erin Boren, Scott Cochran, Rachel Corbelli, Philip TaeleInterns:Jennifer Alejos, Lorilee Mer-chant, Jonathan Pillow, David SmithAdvisor: Diane AbdoAdvisory Board:Steven Kellman, Mansour El Kikhia, Jack Himelblau, Sandy Norman

The Paisano is published by the Paisano Educational Trust, a non-profit, tax exempt, educational or-ganization. The Paisano is operated by members of the Student Newspa-per Association, a registered student organization. The Paisano is NOT sponsored, financed or endorsed by UTSA. New issues are published every Tuesday during the fall and spring semesters, excluding holidays and exam periods. All revenues are generated through advertising and donations. Advertising inquiries and donations should be directed towards:

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Paisano

December 4, 2012 The Paisano Opinion 5We are UTSA! It is up to us to represent it with maturity and respectEditorial

The time has come for UTSA to celebrate its past with a museumOne day in

1976, a student arrived at the new campus on horse-back and tied his horse in front of the Humanities building.

Don’t believe me? There may be a photograph of this within our very walls. Some may not know it, but UTSA has quite an inter-esting history.

The university that hugs the hills of northwest San Antonio has become a prominent thread in the colorful fabric of this city. Since our football team be-gan playing at the Alamodome last fall, our bond with the city has only been strengthened.

As a leading institution in San Anto-nio, UTSA has set its sights on becom-ing an esteemed institution nationwide and worldwide. The government-

partnered research conducted in cy-ber security is just one advancement that stands as evidence of our growing national footprint.

We are setting our sights higher and broadening our perspectives as we welcome an increasing number of international students to shape our diverse identity. The population of students from Europe and the Middle East is rising at UTSA. The university also boasts a strong Asian studies pro-gram that brings the best and brightest from around the world to our hills of oak and cedar.

This is UTSA as you know it today. However, the history of the university is just as intriguing. Unfortunately, aside from plaques and portraits on campus, few people know the inter-esting history of our university and its humble beginnings, even the silly (but true) stories of ingenious parking.

Our school needs a museum de-

voted to this rich past—a museum that can spread the voice, your voice, of the memories and achievements that shape our ambitious school.

No other university has an estab-lished museum dedicated to this en-deavor. Our students and our story is unique, so let’s tell it.

Some may argue that 40 years isn’t enough time to warrant a whole mu-seum, but I say, if we wait any longer we will begin to forget the stories of the early years of our alma mater.

Not only would it benefit the alum-ni and current students, but keep in mind those future students who could visit the exhibits and see the hard work and dedication that built UTSA from a dream by the Texas Legislature into a very real and great university on the world’s stage.

The time has come for UTSA to have a museum and I intend to lead that charge, but I implore the help of

my fellow Roadrunners.For the alumni, a museum will host

the sharing of stories and artifacts from their years at UTSA. We are cre-ating what will stand behind for future Roadrunners, today.

For my classmates and educators, we are able to witness, experience and influence the traditions, achievements and the reputation our university.

The challenges of today will not be the challenges of tomorrow, but one day, wouldn’t it be nice to come back to these hills and meet your fellow and future Roadrunners under one Sombrilla to tell the stories, behind the glass display, of greatness—of how you, me and the University of Texas at San Antonio, together, shaped history?

Stephen WhitakerManaging Editor

Commentary

On Saturday, Nov. 26, 2012, nearly 40,000 spectators watched the I-35 rivalry football game between Texas State and UTSA in the Alamodome.

Within minutes of kickoff, the stu-dent section of the arena broke into hysteria, displaying itself as a mad-house of drunken idiocy. In many cases, UTSA students were the first to point fingers, name call and even throw punches at Texas State fans, who were attempting to enjoy a good game of competitive football.

Drunken brawls and crude language fights are not respectable behavior as UTSA students; our students are bet-ter than that.

It is important to remember that as UTSA students, we all wear a uni-form. We are all ambassadors of our

school, and therefore, all the decisions we make, good or bad, reflect on our school, students, faculty and staff.

Professor Jay Coakley’s book, “Sports in Society: Issues and Contro-versies,” lists the following as potential factors that could lead to crowd vio-lence: crowd size and seating patterns of spectators, the importance and meaning of the event for spectators, the history of the relationship between the two teams, alcohol consumption and the location of the event.

Some may blame the shameful be-havior on UTSA’s decision to allow the sale of alcohol at the Alamodome. While the NCAA has no rule prevent-ing alcohol sales at regular-season events, it does ban sales and advertis-ing of all alcohol during its 88 cham-

pionships. According to CBSSports.com, out of the 124 Division-1 football programs, only 21 schools sell beer to fans of legal age. Of these, 10 are situ-ations in which the college is an oc-cupant of another building, such as UTSA at the Alamodome. The sale of beer at athletic events pulls in large revenue that may be hard to pass up, but it could also be the catalyst to stu-dents’ irrational behavior.

Others may blame the venue for the games. Previously, the Alamo-dome was home to the Spurs as well as to the Cowboys training camp – two professional and nationally recognized teams. Could it be that students are accustomed to the type of behavior at professional games? Does the Alamo-dome facilitate this type of behavior? It

could also be the fact that the schools competing share the same student sec-tion.

Many of these factors may be out of our control. The university is locked into a contract with the Alamodome until 2035, where they will continue to sell beer to spectators that are of age. But we can control our attitudes and actions when attending athletic events.

Students should display sportsman-like behavior, regardless of whom we are playing. This means students should show a level of maturity and respect.

We are UTSA, and we are better than the name-calling, fist-throwing students we appear to be at football games.

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December 4, 20126 Arts&Life The Paisano

L o c a l H o l i d a y E v e n t s :

Victoria PuentesContributing Writerarts@paisano-online.com

“If you can help our prison system avoid stacks of frivolous prisoner complaints, would you? If you can help our inmates get better condi-tions in prison, would you?” These are the questions posed by UT-Aus-tin English Emerita professor Dr. Terri LeClercq. “I would,” she says, “and I am.”In her latest publication, LeClercq

has taken the initiative to point out a fixable problem within the prison system that affects prisoners, prison workers, court officials and adminis-trators. According to LeClercq, one out of

12 Americans are in the prison sys-tem, and inmates do not always get the essential or special care that they need. In a recent interview, LeClercq explains that prisons are not meant to be places that merely house and feed bad people. “When someone commits a crime, they are removed from the society they hurt. Prison is a punishment.” She continues to explain that this specific punish-ment should not relinquish all rights

of these individuals, only the rights they had as a part of society. LeClercq has spent 10 years work-

ing on “Prison Grievances: When to Write, How to Write,” a beauti-fully illustrated graphic novel that is both entertaining and educational. LeClercq wrote “Prison Grievances” at a fifth grade reading level so in-mates at any level may understand the message. The majority of the novel is through the view of a pro-bono lawyer who sees the mistreat-ment of prisoners. He volunteers to help inmates understand the rights they still have. Through this, LeCler-cq educates her readers of those same rights. Aside from the prisoners’ rights,

LeClercq also teaches about writing in her novel. “If inmates don’t know how to write about their problem,” LeClercq says, “they can’t get help.” According to LeClercq, taxpayers spend $27,000 per inmate per year, and even more if inmates are sick or injured. When prisoners write to courts about their problems, court administrators have to read through loads of letters that are illegible or do not meet guidelines.“That’s a waste,” LeClercq says. “It’s

a waste of the inmates’ appeal, it’s a waste of the courts’ time and it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money.”The purpose of LeClercq’s “Prison

Grievances” is to actually teach pris-oners on how to write to the courts about their problems properly. “We want inmates to learn their rights,” LeClercq says. “We want them to either write their complaint right or don’t write it at all.” To give an example of the real need

for such education, LeClercq speaks of “Teddy Bear” cases, which are often compared to the story of the “Boy Who Cried Wolf.” In Teddy Bear cases, prisoners draw up frivo-lous grievances about items that the system either cannot or will not pay for. The representatives who review these grievances consider them a waste of time, and if such complaints continue long enough, the repre-sentatives eventually stop taking the prisoners’ requests seriously. In the back pages of “Prison Griev-

ances,” LeClercq included a check-list for prisoners to review and de-cide whether their specific case is something that can be taken care of. The idea is to reduce the amount of Teddy Bear cases so the representa-

tives’ focus can remain on real issues, such as work-related incidents that need medical attention, abuse from guards or other prisoners and men-tal illnesses for example. Throughout the last 10 years, pris-

on and court administrators, attor-neys and the formerly incarcerated have reviewed and approved “Prison Grievances,” and it will be available online around January 2013. Sup-porters of LeClercq’s cause have

the option of pledging $10 for their own copy donating copies of “Pris-on Grievances” to prison libraries around the country.For more information, visit <

http://www.indiegogo.com/proj-ects/240532>.

Theater: “Peter Pan”Dec. 4 - 7 (8 p.m.), Dec. 8 (2 p.m & 8 p.m.), Dec. 9 (2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.) The boy who never wanted to grow up is back in the Majestic Theatre’s (224 E. Houston) pro-duction of “Peter Pan,” starring Olympic Gold Medalist, Cathy Rigby. Join Tinkerbell, Wendy and the rest of the gang in this spec-tacular musical for all ages. Tickets are $25-$95. For more informa-tion, visit <majesticempire.com>.

Theater: “The Pirates’ Holiday Buccaneers in Toyland”Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m.The Magik Theatre (420 S. Ala-mo) presents The Pirates’ Holiday Buccaneers in Toyland, a play that follows the story of Jolly Ole White Beard’s elves. Chaos follows when the elves go on strike and the Christmas Pirates take over the elf’s workshop. What will happen to the toys? Find out in this whimsi-

cal play. Admission is free.

Theater: “A Christmas Story”Through Dec. 23, Sundays (3 p.m.), Fri. - Sat. (7:30 p.m.)The Woodlawn Theatre (1920 Fredericksburg Rd) presents “A Christmas Story,” the tale of Ralpie Parker and his attempt to get the best Christmas present of all—a Red Ryder B.B. gun. The produc-tion will continue until Dec. 23. Tickets are $15 - $50. For more information visit <woodlawnthe-atre.com>.

Theater: “Zombie Apocalypse Christmas 2012”Dec. 14 - 22, 9 p.m. The Rose Theatre Co. (11838 Wurzbach) presents the Zombie Apocalypse Christmas 2012, an R-rated comedy that follows the outbreak of zombies on judgment day 2012. Santa along with a handy machine gun and his rein-deer save the day. Tickets are

$10 - $12.

Theater: “Bah Humbug—A One-Man Christmas Carol”Dec. 15, 7 p.m.Watch as award-winning actor J. Damian Gillen transforms into all of the beloved characters of Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christ-mas Carol” in this one-man show at The Company Theatre (418 La Villita). Tickets run from $10 - $15.

Theater: “Cats”Dec. 15 - Jan. 31, Sundays (3:30 p.m.), Fri - Sat, (8 p.m.)The Cameo Theatre (1123 E. Commerce) brings the popular mu-sical “Cats” onto their stage. Enjoy the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic, just in time for the holiday season. Tickets are $15 - $33.

Theater: “Ebanazio—A Winter’s Tale of Old San Anto”Through Dec. 16, Fri. – Sat. (8 p.m.), Sun. (3 p.m.)

Celebrate San Antonio’s diverse roots and history with this Christ-mas comedy at the Jump-Start Performance Co. (108 Blue Star). In 1731, Payaya natives of Yana-guana, King Felipe’s soldados of El Presidio de Béxar, San Anto-nio friars and others try to come together for a holiday feast, in spite of conflicts among them. Will Ebanazio, the selfish and bitter captain of the fort, have a timely change of heart? Tickets run from $10 to $15.

Theater: “Christmas Is On the Air 2012”Through Dec. 22, Fri - Sat. (7:30 p.m.) In this comedy, the WSPR Radio crew must solve the mystery of their new owners when they take over the station. The Salado Silver Spur Theater (108 Royal Street) pres-ents the holiday classic. Tickets are $10 - $18.

Theater: “Dr. Seuss’s The Cat In the Hat & Other Tales”Jan. 9 - Feb. 16, Tues.- Fri. (9:45 a.m.)Based on the classic Dr. Seuss book, the play follows the story of the mysterious cat who showed up on the doorstep of Sally and her older brother. The rambunctious character shows the children how to have fun before their mother comes home. The Magik Theatre (420 S. Alamo) presents the event for the entire month of Jan. Tickets are $10.

Theater: “Shatner’s World: We Just Live In It”Jan. 9, 7:30 p.m.

William Shatner takes you through his entire career—from his early stage career to his current interna-tional icon status—in this one-man show at the Majestic Theatre (208 E. Houston St.). Tickets run from $30 to $102.

F o r t h e h o l i d a y ’ s f u l l c a l e n d a r , v i s i t :w w w . p a i s a n o - o n l i n e . c o m

‘Prison Grievances’:

Supporters and fans can donate Terri LeClercq’s “Prison Grivances” to prison libraries around the country.

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An effort to give inmates a voice and a pen

Val PerezContributing Writerarts@paisano-online.com

Technology is always updating, improving and changing. Some-times, however, we have to question whether or not the newest gadget is worth upgrading from what we al-ready have. Fans of Nintendo have a few upgrade options to consider this season, such as the Nintendo Wii U and the new Nintendo 3DS XL.Nintendo Wii U:Nintendo’s newest console seems

to have a long list of improvements over its predecessor, the Nintendo Wii. First of all, the system will be

backwards compatible with old Wii games. With the AMD Radeon-based High Definition Graphics Processing Unit, the Nintendo Wii U will be able to support high defini-tion quality to both games and videos streamed on the device. Also new is the support for external USB hard drives that can provide additional storage. Another change is that the

CPU will have an IBM Power-based ,multi-core processor making it fast-er than the old Wii.Overall, we are looking at a system

that will provide the highest quality for videogames and videos that Nin-tendo has ever had to offer.The Wii U Game Pad controller is

a notable addition to the new hard-ware and features. The Wii U Game Pad connects wirelessly and has a 6.2 inch touch screen interface, NFC lo-cating capabilities, two analog sticks, a D-pad, camera, microphone, audio jack and stylus. The system itself will include built-

in software like its predecessor; how-ever, there is a noticeable change to what it comes with. Built-in software will include the Nintendo TVii, Wii U Chat, Miiverse, Internet browser, Wii Maker, and Nintendo eShop. Wii U Basic Set will cost $299.99

and comes with 8 GB of internal memory, the console and Game Pad.Wii U Deluxe will cost $349.99

and comes with a copy of Nintendo Land, 32 GB internal memory, Game Pad and console.

Nintendo 3DS XL:Improvements to the 3DS XL obvi-

ously include the 90 percent larger screen, but there is a little more to the new system than its screen. Other bigger changes include a 4 GB SD memory card, which doubles the original 3DS’s memory capability. The battery life has been improved from a 3.5 to 6.5 hour expectancy. The system is also slimmer with a matte finish. Other hardware chang-es include the location of the stylus, which has been placed back to a more comfortable position.The Nintendo 3DS XL will be

$199.99, roughly $30 more expensive than its original 3DS counterpart.

The Wii U is the first Nintendo console to support high definition graphics.

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Nintendo’s newest holiday releases

The PaisanoDecember 4, 2012 The Paisano Sports 7

Shelby HodgesStaff Writersports@paisano-online.com

On Sunday, Dec. 2 the UTSA wom-en’s basketball team suffered an over-time buzzer beater loss, 61-60, to the Lady Dons of University of San Fran-cisco (USF) at home in the Convoca-tion Center. Both teams were coming off losses in their previous contests, and hoped to get back on the winning track in this early out-of-conference matchup.

In the first half, the ‘Runners strug-gled to guard USF freshman forward Taylor Proctor who had the first seven points for the Lady Dons. UTSA was able to keep the score close through their inside game with 10 points com-ing from the paint. However, the ‘Run-ners had trouble capitalizing on scor-ing chances and missed five layups.

Junior guard Miki Turner was the ‘Runners leading scorer in the first half with eight points followed by senior guard Simone Young with five.

UTSA struggled on the boards as USF out rebounded them 16-12 in the first half. UTSA also allowed wide open shooting opportunities for USF’s Proctor and senior guard Mel Khlok who finished with nine points in the first half.

UTSA swung the momentum back their way with seven minutes left in the half including two three-pointers from sophomore guard Jenny Menz pulling the ‘Runners to within two, 27-29. Overall, USF kept the edge to end this half because of UTSA’s mental er-rors, but the score ended 33-29 before the break.

“I think we did a great job getting down and scoring”, said Head Coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair speaking of UTSA’s offense.

In the second half, the ‘Runners started out strong and turned the score around within the first six min-utes gaining the lead, 43-39 and build-ing on it.

UTSA played much more aggres-

sive defense, especially UTSA center Whitney Wright ended the half with four blocks, two coming from the first four minutes of play.

The ‘Runners had a seven point lead with five minutes left in regulation. Sophomore guard Kamra King scored 10 of her 13 points in the second half.

“We just didn’t play great defense, we fell down and just didn’t cover their shooter who had most of their points” Rippetoe-Blair said about her squad’s final effort.

The Lady Dons took advantage of rebounds to get within one with 33 seconds remaining. After what was thought to be the game winning free throw from Turner, USF’s Proctor was fouled with two seconds left and sunk both of those to tie the game, 53-53.

This was the first time UTSA went into overtime this season. The over-time period was an intense battle be-tween the two teams.

UTSA started out with a fast break layup from Menz, but then two con-secutive missed layups from other ‘Runners gave USF the opportunity tie the game at 55-55. A jumper from Proctor put the Lady Dons up 56-57, and a foul on Khlok pushed their lead to three with 49 seconds in the game. Two clutch free throws from the char-ity stripe for Young and a jumper in the paint by the senior put the ‘Runners up 60-59 with only 13 seconds left.

USF struggled to make a shot on their last play but with one second left on the clock, star of the night, Proctor was wide open on the baseline for an

easy jumper and crushed the ‘Run-ners with a 61-60 defeat. Proctor led in scoring with 21 points.

“Personally I did the best I could, but as a team we just weren’t there at the end, like giving them too many free throws. We played hard but some-times mistakes just happen,” King said about the tough loss.

King recorded 13 points, four as-sists, one block and two steals in the overtime loss. Young and Turner were both big contributors to the ‘Runners

offense with 14 points and 10 points respectively.

The ‘Runners will hit the road for their Dec. 5 matchup against Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. The Lady Frogs blew out the ‘Runners 65-30 last season.

“We will have to be mentally pre-pared. We’re going to work hard in practice tomorrow, watch some game film and really get into it,” Rippetoe-Blair said.

Roadrunners stunned in overtime

Junior guard Miki Turner recorded 10 points and one assist in the Roadrunners overtime loss to SFU

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“As a team we just weren’t there at the end.”Kamra KingUTSA guard

SPORTS RECAP

UTSA Men’s BasketballFull road trip recap avaliable online

www.paisano-online.com

Nov. 21UTSA 40BYU 53

Nov. 29UTSA 78Oregon 95

Dec. 1UTSA 52CSU-Bakersfield 85

Football2012 All-WAC

Football Honors

First TeamTriston Wade

Safety

Second TeamScott Inskeep

Offensive Guard

Franky Anaya

Defensive Tackle

Steven Kurfehs

Linebacker

Brandon Reeves

Linebacker

December 4, 20128 Advertisment The Paisano