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ONLI
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Breaking down America’s pastime with science
the
Volume 68, No. 26 April 19, 2012
panamericanonline.comStudents can use smartphones and tablets to keep up with all the latest
UTPA news, sports and entertainment.
Page 9
Funny man visits the Rio Grande Valley
The Cosby Show
Page 5
Page 8
How students can avoid injuries at the WRSC
Play addresses tough issues with humor
Page 4
Pages 6-7
Foundation leaders visit UTPA to discuss Valley education
Big Picture
Wreck Center
Latina
Inside the Zone
Broncs head to Utah for battle of the unbeatens
?Page 10
Contenders Pretenders
or
To lie here under you,Is all that I could ever do,
tweets
The Pan American accepts letters of 300 words or less from students, staff and faculty regarding recent newspaper content, campus concerns or current events. We cannot publish anonymous letters or submissions containing hate speech or gratuitous personal attacks. Please send all letters to
Francisco Rodriguez / The Pan American
The Pan American is the official student newspaper of The Univer-sity of Texas-Pan American. Views presented are those of the writ-ers and do not necessarily reflect those of the paper or university.
Letters to the Editor
Delivery:Thursday at noon
1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539Phone: (956) 665-2541
Fax: (956) 316-7122
Co-Editors-in-ChiEf: Reynaldo Leal Nadia Tamez-Robledo nEws Editor: Karen Antonacci sports Editor: Michael SaenzArts & LifE Editor: Norma GonzalezphotogrAphy Editor: Ruben Gutierrez dEsign Editor: Erick Gonzalez MuLtiMEdiA Editor: Pamela Morales AdvisEr:Dr. Greg SelberAdMinistrAtivE AssoCiAtE: Anita Reyes AdvErtising MAnAgEr: Mariel CantuwEbMAstErs: Jose Villarreal Selvino Padilla
thE pAn AMEriCAn
Vol. 68, No. 26
2 April 19, 2012 editorial
Beginning of semester: No parking spaces. Close to the end of the semester: Front row parking. #Utpa #LOL
I’m $60,000 in debt - cousin said you could have bought a house - I said they can’t foreclose on my education - Munoz #vistasummit
Tweet us anything!
- @ThePanAmerican
ProductionNotes
cartoon
Letters from readers
week 13
-@TheeBetch
-@UTPA
Dear EditorThis letter is in response
to the article entitled “Student organization quarrels over bylaw,” written by Jose S. De Leon. There is a saying that goes “why ruin a good story with the truth” and that seems to be what Mr. De Leon intended to do with his story. One student wanted to become the president of the UTPA chapter of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) but the current Constitution (as established by the national organization, not the UTPA chapter) did not allow for it. When this issue was discussed with Rebecca Gadson, UTPA Assistant Dean of Students, she acknowledged that neither NSCS or its constitution were in violation of any university rules. While this should have been the end of the story, Mr. De Leon insisted on showcasing the opinion of the aforementioned student who insisted that this was not fair and that the officers were using a loophole in the constitution to stay in power. This statement is entirely false. As faculty advisors of NSCS, we cannot allow an article of this nature to portray the organization or its officers in such an unfavorable light. We can tell you of the hard work that Ms. Limon (president and founder of the UTPA chapter) and her officers have put into making this organization a reality in UTPA. This is the fastest growing chapter of NSCS and that is due undoubtedly to Ms. Limon and her officers’ hard work and dedication. Claiming that Ms. Limon or her officers do not want to hold elections when the constitution itself states that their term is not over is totally incomprehensible. Any qualified member is certainly eligible to become president of this organization but he or she has to wait for the term of the current officers to expire.
Sincerely,Dr. Jose J. GutierrezDr. Bimal K. Banik
Dear EditorI was touched to read
the opinion piece by Arts and Life Editor Norma Gonzalez. Her column on child abuse prevention demonstrated both the tragedy of child abuse in terms of the impact on the victim but also the difficulty of resolving many of our social issues, often described as wicked problems.
I thank Ms. Gonzalez
for sharing her reflections and the understanding she has gained from her experience and applaud The Pan American for providing a public space for the cause of child abuse.
Terrie Garcia
UTPA Staff Member and Proud Alumna
Photo of the week
Reynaldo Leal/The Pan American
Carlos Ramos, a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering works on a method of gluing spaghetti for his class final. For the final in Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, students are split into teams and must plan and construct a spaghetti bridge that will hold at least 20 kilograms. Ramos said his team, the rest of which left to score more pasta, is aiming to break the UTPA spaghetti bridge record and hold 80 kilograms with their finished project.
Like The Pan American Facebook page to view the “UTPA Frame of the Day.” Thursday, March 1st
6PM
Thursday, March 1stthrough Sunday,
March 4th
RE: Under Scrutiny Thank you, Ms. Gonzalez
Erick Gonzalez/The Pan American
A Haiku to coffeeBrewed to perfection
Black or with milk: still classyWho took the last cup?
A Limerick to coffeeThere once was a plant that made beans.The beans were magic, it seems.For when they are brewed, journalists get in the mood,and newspapers get printed in reams.
An Acrostic to coffee:
CalienteObligatoryFabulousFancyEnergizingEnergizing
It takes a team to make the paper. This week, the design section had some free time as almost all of the stories were accompanied by photos. With no work to do, we had to amuse ourselves in other ways.
This week’s production notes are brought to you by copious amounts of the newsroom’s favorite caffeinated beverage, and the poetic render-ings of Karen Villarreal.
The Valley with a 30% chance of rain
the pan americanApril 19, 2012 Page 3
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4 April 19, 2012 news
Valley educators pitch ideas to foundations for funding
newsbriefsBoth Dean of Students
Calvin Phillips and Assistant Dean Christine Stuart-Carruthers resigned Friday for reasons that are, as of now, unclear. Magdalena Hinojosa, current senior associate vice president for enrollment services, will serve as the interim dean while the administration conducts a national search for a replacement for Phillips, according to Vice President of Student Affairs Martha Cantu. Cantu said she plans to have the search done by September of this year. Carruthers’ duties will be distributed among other Student Affairs staff.
Open forums are being held for two candidates, Laura Reagan-Porras and Laura Murray, for the position of Vice President of University Advancement (VPUA) April 19 and 20 in the Administration Building, Boardroom 316 from 2 p.m. to 2:55 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 3:55 p.m., respectively. The Division of University Advancement encourages the University community to attend. A third candidate is expected to visit the campus as well, but no arrangements have been finalized.
Administrators of the Charley Wootan Grant are now taking applications for the 2012-2013 academic year. This program will award grants totaling $2 million to Texas residents pursuing a degree at a four-year university. Students must demonstrate financial need to qualify. Application packets can be picked up from the Scholarship Office, SSB 1.169, or can be accessed from www.aie.org and must be postmarked by May 1, 2012.
Gather and Gab, an open discussion of literature, will be held April 24 in the Schilling Room of the University Library from noon to 1 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring their favorite books and/or graphic novels for discussion and sharing with fellow literature enthusiasts.
University Human Resources Training and Development will continue its spring Service Series with a presentation by safety specialist Jason Callahan, titled “Ergonomics and Workplace Safety.” The presentation will be April 20 from 11 a.m. to noon in the Research and Innovation Building, REIN 1.102. The next presentation in the series will be “Creating a Veteran Friendly Environment at UTPA” presented by members of the Veteran Services Center April 27 in the Administration Building, Boardroom 316. Both presentations are free and open for all university employees. Online registration is available at http://training.utpa.edu.
The second UT System VistaSummit brought forward fresh ideas and new challenges for the education sector in the Rio Grande Valley Tuesday at the Haggar Building in Edinburg.
Educators, from higher education and otherwise, presented ideas such as hiring college-transition coaches for students in the Valley. Representatives from the Ford Foundation, Greater Texas Foundation, and Educate Texas were among the industry leaders considering being possible funders for proposed initiatives.
If the proposals are implemented after funding, future Valley post-secondary education students will find themselves with more guidance and opportunities than their predecessors, according to Daniel King, superintendent of the PSJA school district.
A total of four panel discussions took place at the summit to discuss the feasibility of and need for these initiatives, to ensure that funders fully understood the effort and support needed for anticipated projects (detailed below).
Making the transition to college easier
The first initiative presented by King, focuses on providing students guidance from eighth grade through their sophomore year in college with the help of a “transition coach.”
High school teachers on the panel talked about personal experiences with students who found the move from middle school to high school, and later from high school to college, confusing and worrisome.
“(A student) came up to me and whispered, ‘Miss Janis, are you sure I can go to college? … Sometimes we don’t have food (at home), sometimes we don’t have electricity,’” said Pilar Janis from Brownsville Independent School District, who shared her experience with the audience.
For many students in the Valley, where 71 percent of the population stays close to home for college, post-secondary education is a difficult path to pursue, King said. But the Ford Foundation, an international social change organization, will focus on making the move to college easier with the help of mentors for students.
Douglas Wood, a representative of the foundation,
said his organization hopes to launch its first area-based initiative in the Valley.
early college high schoolA proposal by Juan Mejia,
vice president for academic affairs at South Texas College, focused on continuing to expand early-college high schools in the area.
Such schools allow students to enroll in dual-credit classes at a university. There are currently 54 early-college high schools in the state of Texas and nine in the Valley within Mercedes ISD, McAllen ISD, Progreso ISD and others.
Representatives of the Communities Foundation of Texas, a charitable organization working for improvement of individual communities, expressed interest in the expansion and establishment of more early college high schools in the Valley. Members did not explain when or how they would be funding the expansion of schools.
Master teachers The third proposal
highlighted facts and figures regarding the problem of educators teaching subjects they are not proficient in. Twenty-seven percent of English/language arts teachers are out of field, compared to 22 percent in math
and 36 percent in science.UT Brownsville President
Juliet Garcia focused on the importance of having instructors teach a subject in which they are qualified and competent.
Garcia acknowledged that finding master teachers in a specific field of study can be a challenge. The panel, consisting of educators from high schools around the Valley, confessed that the lack of skilled teachers moves them to place out-of-field teachers in classrooms they would not be otherwise found in.
“It is a battle between hope and urgency,” Garcia said.
accelerated bachelor’s and Master’s prograMs
UTPA President Robert Nelsen presented his proposal for an accelerated four-year program, which would allow students to pursue a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree at the same time.
During the summit, Nelsen said a person with a master’s from UTPA would earn $3.9 million in his or her lifetime compared to the national average of $2.7 million. He also suggested that he would like to see work-study incorporated into the accelerated program.
“If students work on campus, their grades go up and they are
retained,” he said. “It’s a retention tool, not only an economic tool.”
students speak up A later panel allowed higher
education students from the Valley to pitch in their own ideas. UTPA was represented by George Galindo, who was vice president of the Student Government Association for the 2011-2012 academic year. Galindo plans on working with IDEA public schools after he graduates in May.
“There are some major changes heading towards the Valley,” Galindo said, “and we’re hoping that eventually all students receive equal education.”
Nelsen and UT Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa ended the summit by making their final pitches to funders. As for the amount of money that the Rio Grande Valley needs for these propositions and whether these foundations will fund them, that is still to be decided.
“I personally think that our teachers are the heroes of the nation,” Cigarroa said. He also added that education in the Valley is not just the responsibility of educators, but of community leaders as well.
TweeTs from The summiT By @ayeshazahd
By Ayesha Zahid The Pan American
summit up - UTB President, Juliet Garcia (left) and UTPA President Robert Nelsen attended the VistaSummit on Tuesday. The event focused on funding initiatives aimed towards improving education in the Valley.
“Instead of being a landing region, [the RGV] can be a lead region.”#vistasummit
“We hope to launch our first place-based [college] initiative here in the Valley.” Douglas Wood, Ford Foundation #vistasummit
I think it’s neat how Nick Gonzalez (STC) compares dual enrollment to Coke: there isn’t just one type of Coke. #vistasummit
“How do we take components of this (plan) and spread them so that every child has this opportunity?” -- Coxon #vistasummit
“What makes a program rigorous are the rules we set ... and our willingness to enforce those rules.” Walter Diaz #vistasummit
The UTPA mariachi put on a surprise performance at the#vistasummit to end the day
Focus on EducationNatalia Rocafuerte/The Pan American
With early voting in gen-eral primary elections begin-ning May 14, Young Demo-crats at UTPA want to make sure students know who they are voting for.
Young Democrats hope to prepare students for polling by inviting 49 local candidates to UTPA for the first Candidate Fair Thursday at the North Quad from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Young Democrats at UTPA is a student organi-zation that represents the Democratic Party on campus.
Members will host the event where students will have the opportunity to meet local candidates for state repre-sentative and sheriff, such as Terry Canales and Guadalupe Treviño, respectively. Issues will be discussed and food will be provided.
“We’re creating an oppor-tunity for the candidates from across the county to meet all the students and talk to them,” said Edan Ramirez, the senior president of the organization. “By having the students meet them, hopefully they’ll be more interested in voting.”
Nationally, about 20 per-cent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in the 2010 general election, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For the 25- to 44-year-old range, the rate jumped to about 33 percent.
The overall voter turnout for the Valley is 43 percent, slightly below than that of the state average of 45.5 percent. Both fall short of the national average of 57 percent.
“The lower voting turn-out in the Valley is one of the reasons why we’re doing this,” said Eric Diaz, a political sci-ence major who serves as trea-surer of the Young Democrats. “We’re here to create aware-
ness for local and national po-litical issues and to promote voting in UTPA.”
Jessica Lavariega-Monfor-ti, assistant dean of the Col-lege of Social and Behavioral Sciences and adviser of the organization, sees how the fair could affect voting turnout.
“As (political scientists), we know that when students meet a candidate that they are more likely to vote, and since students and faculty members are too busy to meet them, we provided a shortcut for them,” she said.
Lavariega-Monforti says that the Young Democrats would usually meet individual Democratic candidates one on one. But then the election schedule changed, disrupt-ing their plans. The election date was pushed back when Texas gained four congressio-nal seats following the results of redistricting after the 2010 census. A controversy arose as to whether minorities were fairly represented in the new districts, and it went all the way to the Supreme Court. The redistricting wasn’t set-tled until earlier this year.
Because the date change created some planning prob-lems for the Young Democrats,
they were forced to come up with a creative solution.
“They asked, ‘Since we can’t meet them individually, why not meet them all at once?’ So we decided to do that. We’ve never brought anything of this magnitude before,” the adviser said.
The Young Democrats de-cided on a plan of action last
month and set out to invite as many candidates as they could to participate in the Candi-
date Fair.“We pulled up all the
info on those who filed with the Democratic Party, most of them accepted the invita-tions,” Ramirez, who studies political science and history, said. “We also sent out invites to the Republican candidates, but they’ve yet to respond.”
Even with some things not going as planned, Diaz feels that the event could still end up benefiting UTPA.
“I’m excited for the fair, we’re promoting our organi-zation and UTPA at the same time and everyone attending will get an opportunity to meet the candidates,” he said.
As the event gets closer, Lavariega-Monforti hopes that students and mem-bers who participate don’t forget the point of the event: to interact with c andidates.
“I hope students come with hard questions for our candidates,” she said. “Ques-tions like ‘What are you go-ing to do to fix our health-care?’ ‘(How are you going) to decrease the 50 percent dropout rate from UTPA?’ And after the voting, we hope that those elected will truly represent us.”
Benjamin Peters is one of 1,200 students who visits the Wellness and Recreational Sports Complex on a daily basis. He had no idea that he would experience a severe head wound while playing basketball there.
Peters, 22, is a graduate student from Harlingen. He plays basketball in the afternoon three to four times a week at the WRSC. While playing one day last month, he collided with another player and suffered a head wound that required stitches.
“I felt the impact and when I put my hand to my head, I realized I was bleeding,” Peters said. “It was frustrating the moment it happened, but I mean, it’s an accident and it could have happened to anybody out here.”
During the past four months, the UTPA Police Department received at least five calls for medical assistance from the WRSC. Daily injuries there are common, according to Travis Hughes, director of the department.
Other common injuries include bloody noses, muscle
sprains, or students doing further damage to old injuries. The majority occur in open recreational basketball, where there are no referees, Hughes said.
Seven out of 10 injuries that occur at the WRSC are ankle sprains and the staff at the center is trained in First Aid and CPR, according to Hughes.
“We try to provide a safe environment, provide policies that ensure safety, and we try to train our staff to make sure they are knowledgeable in the activities they are conducting,” he said.
Any student injured at the
WRSC is referred to Student Health Services. They get treated as quickly as possible, according to Rick Gray, director of Student Health Services.
“We see quite a few accidents here,” he said. “It is important that students monitor their physical condition. Don’t try to do things when you know you’re going to get hurt.”
According to Gray, students with minor injuries are only charged for elastic wraps, joint supports, and bandages if they need them; there is no charge for a check-up. The average student bill is less than $15.
Any injury that occurs at the WRSC is documented by a staff member through an incident report. All details of the injury and whether the student was referred to Student Health Services or the hospital are written in the report, which is forwarded to the Department of Environmental Health and Safety, Student Health Services and UT Police for record keeping.
Work out tipsHughes recommends
students wear proper exercising attire, proper athletic shoes, and follow the rules provided on
all exercise equipment. He also believes that the key to a good workout is to eat a healthy meal before working out and advises students to brace old injuries. For example, if a student had a previous knee injury, bracing the knee should give it support, possibly preventing further problems during exercise.
“A lot of people think that once their injury symptoms have gone away that they’re 100 percent again, and that’s usually not the case,” he said. “Anyone can re-injure an old injury if they work it too hard.”
Gray wants students to know that there is a way they can learn their exercise limits.
“There are accidents that can happen working out at any gym,” he said. “If they have any questions about any of those activities, they’re more than welcome to come by and (Student Health Services) can do a physical assessment.”
Student Health Services offers a referral process with the WRSC, in which staff members assess the health of a student so that WRSC trainers can design an exercise program appropriate for them and help them with monitoring their exercise regiment.
Hughes wants students to know that if they ever see anything at the facility that they believe is potentially dangerous, or if they ever see a student doing something dangerous, that they should
notify the staff immediately. “(The accident) was just two
people playing. It’s just some freak collision and it happens,” Peters said. “It hasn’t stopped me from playing.”
Police Beat
The Pan American
November 10, 2011April 19, 2012news
Exercise with cautionBy Daniella Diaz The Pan American
Young Democrats to bring local candidates to campus
Injuries at WRSC common but preventable
By Jose S. De Leon III The Pan American
For detailed candidate in-formation and easy
access to official candi-dential websites, check
out extended coverage of the election online at
www.panamericanonline.com
contact sport - Senior Diego Olague drives past freshman Alan Riveron during a pick up basketball game at the Wellness and Recreational Sports Complex Tuesday.
ruben Gutierrez/The Pan American
I felt the Impact and when I put my hand to my head, I realIzed I was bleedIng.”
-benjamIn petersgraduate student“
Thursday, April 12 UT Police responded to a
call for medical assistance for a student at the Wellness and Recreational Sports Complex. The student was treated at Student Health Services.
A student reported the theft of a bicycle from the Learning Assistance Center that was later found at Unity Hall.
saturday, April 14
A student reported a hit-and-run on Schunior. No injuries were reported.
A single-car traffic accident occurred in parking lot C. No injuries were reported. Monday, April 16
A two-car traffic collision occurred in parking lot G. No injuries were reported.
A staff member reported the attempted theft of a bicycle at Unity Hall.
5
“W e ’ r e here to c r e a t e awareness for local and national politi-cal issues and to promote voting in UTPA.”
-erIc dIaz treasurer of the
young democrats
8 April 19, 2012 arts & life
With light-hearted sass and comedic flair, University The-ater Productions actors dive into the challenges of the His-panic woman in the play Latina by Milcha Sanchez-Scott. The production opens April 25 and will run through April 29 at the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre in the Communication Arts and Sci-ences Building.
Latina is set in 1970s Los Angeles and tells the story of a shady domestic agency that hires illegal immigrant women as housekeepers. While the play is a comedy, at its core are se-rious issues that some Valley people experience, which was one reason it was chosen.
“It deals with the dangers of travelling for these women, and then the fear that they could be separated from their children pretty much at any moment if they’re picked up,” director and theater professor Eric Wiley said. “It’s a strong portrait of women, and it gives focus to the way they perceive things and the kind of hardships they face
and the joys they experience.”The cheeky characters,
witty dialogue, and spurts of the Spanish language make UTPA an ideal school for the production.
“It’s not a play that has been performed at many universities around the nation,” senior cast member Mariana Montero said. “The author was saying that it’s hard for other colleges to actually produce it because of the amount of Hispanic or La-tino actors that you need in the show that need to be bilingual, but we said, ‘Hello! We can do that. We can actually do that and do this really well.’”
Montero, 22, plays the role of Sarita Gomez, a Mexican-American secretary for the agency battling for the accep-tance of her Latin roots. The role involved own challenges that Montero, a Venezuelan na-tive, is familiar with. She has had to learn to speak with a dif-ferent accent and grow accus-tomed to the strong language her character uses.
In spite of these issues, she said was able to find a connec-
tion with the character.“She doesn’t want to be
judged and in that sense I can relate to her,” Montero said. “I have been taken for something that I’m not and treated some-times less than what I know I am, so I understand her fears.”
Montero feels that Latina serves as a reminder that, “we shouldn’t judge people, and should be proud of who we are.”
Wiley explained that he didn’t want to put too much emphasis on the comedy in Latina because the issues are of importance to the area. His priority is allowing the actors and the audience to feel an emotional connection with the storyline.
“I want (the audience) to have an experience in the the-ater with this play that is pri-marily a celebration of these characters who represent mil-lions of people,” Wiley said. “It’s kind of a celebration of the courage and the stamina and the will of these women.”
As neighbors of the bor-der, Valley citizens have the opportunity to be more aware of hardships faced by many immigrants. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, about 11.5 million il-legal immigrants were living in the United States in January 2011, and 59 percent of those were from Mexico.
With the production of this topical play, Wiley hopes to give the audience somewhat of an inside look at how the other half lives.
“These characters are ille-
gal, they don’t want to be the center of attention,” Wiley said. “This play puts the spot-light on them, brings them to the forefront and it can be, hopefully, a time when the au-dience will maybe learn a little bit about the perspective (of ) someone who is on the margins of society.”
Playwright Sanchez-Scott, will be returning to UTPA for the opening. In 1995, she came to see the production of her play Roosters and dur-ing her most recent stay in 2005 she directed her The Old Matador. Sanchez-Scott has developed a close relationship to the University Theater fam-ily and has made a number of personal visits. In the past, she has hosted Pan Am students in her California home when they traveled west to pursue their career.
“She usually comes for an extended period so that she can get to spend some time with the actors and with the students here and not just fly in to see the play and leave,” Wiley said. “We’re very honored and ex-cited to have Milcha coming in. All of us are working hard, hop-ing she’ll be pleased with what we’re doing.”
The performance will begin at 7 p.m. April 25-28 and at 2 p.m. April 29. Sanchez-Scott will visit with the audience members between acts and af-ter each performance. Children under third grade will not be admitted. For more informa-tion, contact the University Theatre box office at 665-3581.
By Lea Victoria JuarezThe Pan American
‘Powerful in a surprising way’Robert Forbes is a man
adept at blurring the lines between aesthetics and function. Practicality and vision. Business and art. Forbes is the founder and owner of PUBLIC Bikes, a small company based out of San Francisco with an emphasis on practical and chic bikes for transportation around cities.
“They’re a unique, European-style bike that is very well designed, specifically for people using them in cities,” said Forbes of his product.
On April 12 and 13, Forbes came to the University to talk to students and non-students alike about business and design in public spaces. He was invited to Edinburg by John Sargent, a UTPA business professor, and UTPA librarian Virginia Gause as part of the campus’ Fifth Annual Entrepreneurship Speaker Series.
“My dream to bring designer Rob Forbes to UTPA began about eight months ago when I was shopping for a bicycle and first learned of PUBLIC Bikes through a ‘free bikes’ ad in the local Sierra Club newsletter,” Gause said.
Forbes spoke on campus twice. On the first day, he focused on the financial side of his life. Speaking in the Business Building, Forbes covered his business’ history and future.
“We have a terrific little young company,” he said. “We do a lot of promotion of other sustainable businesses, and we’re a little bit of a nexus for contemporary urbanist thought.”
Forbes started in ceramics, then furniture, and eventually
made his way to designing bikes and started a small business near San Francisco’s South Park. PUBLIC Bikes are catching on in the surrounding area and slowly spreading to the rest of the country, with a target of selling 50,000 bikes a year. The goal of the company is not to make as much money as possible, but to become sustainable and make the PUBLIC Bikes’ unique design more available.
“They’ve got a coordinated aesthetic which makes them different from a lot of road-type bikes,” said Forbes, referring to the bikes’ upright handlebars and lightweight steel frame.
PUBLIC Bikes bicycles are known for coming in bright, vibrant colors, something Forbes particularly appreciates when he observes design, which is what his second presentation covered. Forbes showed over 150 PowerPoint slides depicting what he considered particularly striking and impressive design (intentional or unintentional) in public spaces, including elevated town plazas in the Netherlands and the curved bike path adjacent to Second Street in McAllen.
All the pictures were photographs that Forbes had taken himself, many of which were from his journeys in Cartagena, Columbia. He pointed out the artistry in everything from food carts to trashcans to padlocks.
Forbes commented on how often in a society that mostly uses cars to get around, people lose sight of things in the world around them.
“Riding a bike is … a way of being more closely connected to (your) communities,” Forbes concluded.
By Justin O’Donnell The Pan American
latina
Perfecto - Montero, 22, practices her role during an Monday rehearsal. Latina will be showcased at the Albert L. Jeffers Theater from April 25-29.
Reynaldo Leal/The Pan American
Reynaldo Leal/The Pan American
Main role - Senior theater TV/film major Mariana Montero plays the lead role of “Sarita Gomez” in Latina.
Public bikes and public design
San Francisco entrepreneur speaks at UTPA
Learn more about PubLIC bIkes at publicbikes.com, Robert Forbes’ blog at
studioforbes.typepad.com/blog/bio.html and facebook.com/publicbikes.
9April 19, 2012arts & life
CosbyThe State Farm Arena was
far from being sold out for the Bill Cosby comedy show, April 13. It was as if the Valley had forgotten how funny the creator of Fat Albert and The Cosby Show is.
Perhaps, in a time when foul mouths like Kat Williams and Chris Rock are the torch bearers of comedy, people have lost interest in Cosby’s brand of thoughtful storytelling. A shame, since it’s evident that the 74-year-old is still sharp as a tack and has impeccable timing when delivering his life stories.
“Don’t worry about senility,” Cosby recalled his grandfather telling him. “When you become senile, you won’t know it.”
Sitting in the middle of a stage, wearing a black T-shirt and gray sweats, Cosby quickly jumped into his act. His first test of the night, however, would come when a Youtube highlight video of his career began to have audio difficulties.
“Just stop it,” the comedian told the sound and light engineer, “stop, stop, stop. Alto.”
He still had it, even with the small failure he was able to understand the situation and his audience, and drew laughs from his simple mannerisms. Cosby had the comedy equivalent of “old man strength,” and he would continue to flex it throughout the two-hour show.
The show, based on his book I Didn’t Ask to Be Born (But I’m Glad I Was), was like sitting through a grandparent’s recollection of their childhood after a family dinner. That is, if the grandparent was unapologetically hilarious.
“When I was coming up, girls had fathers,” he said as a wry smile stretched out across his face. “And those girls had time limits.”
Cosby, who famously brings audiences into his personal life, could have constructed his entire act on the fact that he is getting old. It would have been easy and forgivable. Instead he reached back into his life files and walked
the hundreds in attendance through his youth.
From his 7-year-old self ’s hatred of “dirty girls” to his first experience kissing the fairer sex five years later, he brought everyone into his life by becoming the curious and scared boy he was talking about. Cosby effortlessly spun a series of stories that had the arena exploding with laughter. At one point the comedian, who mostly sat during the show, even got down on his hands and knees to reenact a childhood scene. “If a girl,” said Cosby, as he recounted the tail of his friend’s brother making out with a neighborhood girl, “ever stuck her tongue in my mouth, I’ll punch her in the stomach. I’ll punch her so hard, she’ll have a baby.”
An hour into the show, the teenager from Philadelphia took over as Cosby explained the crazy misunderstanding that ensued when he asked his mother what being born out of wedlock meant.
His grandfather had told the young Cosby that he
couldn’t hang out with his friend “Rookie” because the boy had been born out of wedlock. As Cosby recounts it, when he later asked his mother what that phrase meant, she immediately sent him up to his room to wait for his father to come home. Apparently she believed the young “Cos” was asking because he had fathered a child.
“Where’s the baby?” his father asked him when he got home.
“I don’t know,” he kept on replying.
“Does the girl have the baby?” his father kept asking.
“I don’t know,” he answered.“How many babies are there?” “I don’t know.”For those that
remember the “Brain damage” part of his stand up Bill Cosby: Himself (1983), Cosby’s retelling of the teenager’s dumb look and
incessant “I don’t know,” made for an amazing comedic callback decades in waiting. The exchange and dramatic irony led to some of the biggest laughs of the night for the aging comedian.
And so with five minutes till 10 p.m., Cosby asked a person in the front row what time it was. He had talked for almost two hours, and it seemed that he wasn’t even close to being done. But his time with the South Texas audience was over.
He imparted one more nugget of wisdom to the young men in the crowd before standing up and walking towards the rear curtain.
“I’ve been married for 48 years,” Cosby said. “They own us. If you think you’re going to be different, you’re wrong.”
Thanks, Grandpa Bill.
By Reynaldo LealThe Pan American
Legendary comedian comes to State Farm Arena on Cosby
For updates visit panamericanonline.com
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Vida VerdeQuinta Mazatlan to host annual Earth Day festival
Earth DayStudents hold rally to promote reusing, reducing and recycling
Hobby DayUTPA retirees share avocations at the Alumni Center
10 April 19, 2012 sports
The Broncs baseball team has won 21 games so far this year, already equaling last year’s total. However, in no way or form has it yet been determined how great of a shot they have of winning the Great West Conference Championship. But this weekend’s matchup with Utah Valley could be very telling. The Broncs will play the next 13 games on the road and will not play at home again until May 11.
Yes, the much improved Broncs (8-0 GWC, 21-7 overall) did knock off the No.
8 Texas A&M Aggies and kept it close against UT earlier in the year. But as the Broncs take the field tonight to open their third series of Great West Conference play, the combined record of their first two GWC opponents is 0-16. Utah Valley is 8-0.
Excluding the Aggies and the Longhorns, the Broncs have faced five other Division I teams with a combined 67-91 record. They have also battled two Division II schools, one NAIA and the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon.
But a team can only play who’s on the schedule, right? And the fact that the Broncs have been able to collect 21 wins already is also worth
noting. At this point a 30-win season
is very much in reach, thanks
to an 8-0 start to
conference action. But why
settle for 30. How about 35 or 40. Better yet, a Great West Conference Championship. The last time the program
carved out a winning season was 2000
when the Broncs went 31-19.
Going 10-11 in the last 21 games would clinch a 31-win season, and going 4-17 the rest of the way would clinch a winning season.
But what has changed so much from last year to this season? They have already equaled last year’s win total
and are not showing any signs of slowing down. Perhaps this past weekend’s performance is the perfect example.
Dusten Knight, a right-handed junior college transfer from Connors State Junior College, pitched seven innings, striking out a career-high nine
batters and only allowing one run on two hits
in the 10-5 v i c t o r y
over the N o r t h D a k o t a
Fighting Sioux April 14. It was the Broncs’ third comeback victory in a row over UND, as they rallied from a one run deficit partly thanks to Knight, who threw six shutout innings after allowing a home run in the first.
“He pitched extremely well,” Broncs coach Manny Mantrana said of the junior Knight, whose record is now 3-1. “Early on he had problems with his breaking ball but he made the adjustment. That’s the sign of a good pitcher. He had a very good outing.”
Since baseball is a stat-driven sport, one can’t discount the type of offensive numbers that UTPA is putting up. As a team the Broncs carry a .330 batting average, ranking second in the nation. Roger Bernal still looms around the top in individual batting average with the nation’s fourth best at .449, and maintains an 18-game hitting streak heading into the next series. Junior Angel Ibanez also has built a 17-game hitting streak over the past few weeks.
“Hitting is contagious; one guy hits and it kind of rubs off on the others,” Mantrana said, on the team’s offensive abilities.
The Broncs entered the four-game weekend series April 13 against North Dakota
looking to sweep their first two opponents and continue a perfect start. Even though in each game of the series against the Fighting Sioux it seemed that a loss would be coming, UTPA was able to come back in every game to earn their best start in school history for GWC ball. The previous best was a 6-0 start last year.
In a tie for first place in the Great West Conference standings, the Broncs will now face stiffer competition against the Wolverines, who have a similar record of 22-11 and also a spotless conference record of 8-0. This will also mark the first conference series that will take place away from the Edinburg B a s e b a l l Stadium, and UTPA is only 3-6 on the road. These two conference rivals will meet in Orem, Utah on Thursday, April 19 at 7 p.m. to start a four-game series.
“It’s still early,” Mantrana said when asked how he felt about the team’s early success in the conference season. “This is only the second conference week. Ask me in about five weeks and I’ll tell you exactly how I feel.”
This series has the feel of a conference championship matchup and, as stated, features the two best teams in the GWC by the numbers. But in years past series, like this one
have been the Broncs’ Achilles' heel. Over their first two years in the GWC the Broncs are 9-22 on the road and have allowed 7.85 runs there against conference opponents.
“We are looking forward to the challenge,” Mantrana said on the upcoming series. “We want to have a chance to be conference champions and in order to be the best you have to beat the best. So it’s going to be a good test this weekend.”
By Michael Saenz and Jonathan Salinas The Pan American
Pretenders or Contenders? Broncs face crucial series against Utah Valley
”GWC Standings
Overall GWC W L W LUTPA 21 7 8 0
UVU 22 11 8 0
NJIT 13 14 6 2
UNC 13 15 5 3
HBU 13 19 5 3
UND 2 24 0 8
NYIT 2 25 0 8
CSU 2 26 0 8
G AVG AB H HR UVU 33 .333 1144 381 28UTPA 28 .330 907 299 9UNC 28 .314 933 293 7NJIT 27 .294 931 274 16CSU 28 .275 915 252 9HBU 32 .268 1053 282 6NYIT 27 .239 866 207 7UND 26 .225 826 186 10
Batting Pitching ERA W L SV SO NJIT 4.56 13 14 3 182HBU 4.69 13 19 5 163UTPA 4.72 20 7 6 193UVU 5.10 22 11 4 185UNC 6.85 13 14 1 151UND 9.42 2 26 0 132CSU 9.84 2 25 2 118NYIT 9.95 2 24 0 99
We want to have a chance to be conference champions and in order to be the best you have to beat the best. ”-Manny Mantrana
Bronc coach
Will KlausingOutfielder
Michael Zouzalik Pitcher
Men’s Golf inks solis
UTPA Director of Golf Operations Ofelia Lopez announced April 13 that McAllen High product Ricky Solis was signed to a National Letter of Intent for the 2012-13 academic year. Solis helped McAllen High finish in second place in the District 30-5A Tournament at Palmview Golf Course in McAllen April 10-11. He led all golfers with a par 72 in round one and an 82 in round two of the tournament, good enough to place fifth with an overall score of 154. During his senior season, Solis has averaged 78 per round and an overall mark of 155 in two-round tournaments. Solis has finished in the top five in six out of eight total events.
GWC tennis tournaMent
The UTPA women’s tennis team is set to compete in the Great West Conference Championships Saturday at the H-E-B Tennis Center in Harlingen. The Broncs will face off against Cal State-Bakersfield in the second match of the day at noon. UTPA knocked off the Runners Feb. 18 in Bakersfield 5-2. If the Broncs win they will play later that day at 6 p.m. against Seattle.
usa Junior ChaMpionships
for Davison
UTPA Bronc track and field women’s hammer thrower Jasmine Davison has qualified for the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships thanks to a 51.44-meter throw April 14 at the Trinity Alumni Classic. The throw was the longest since 2009 and the third longest in UTPA history. The USA Junior Outdoor Championships is on Saturday, June 16 at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex at the University of Indiana in Bloomington. Davison also earned UTPA Female Rookie of the Year honors on April 11 at the student-athlete awards banquet, as voted by UTPA student-athletes.
11April 19, 2012sports SportS BriefS
Malin anderson
Men’s golf preps for America Sky Conference
championship
“”
The UTPA Bronc men’s golf Team has no room for error as it approaches the America Sky Conference Championship, which will be held April 29 through May 1 in Hartford, Conn. In their previous round at the ULM Wallace Jones Invitational hosted by the University of Louisiana-Monroe, the Broncs placed last out of 11 teams, scoring a final tally of 304.
During that meeting, UTPA freshman Chris Felix tied for the second best score of the final round, and compiled a three-round score of 230 while senior Santiago Bueno escalated himself in the standings with his score of 233, moving up to a tie for 31st. Junior Kevin Kirakossian
shot a 78 to finish in 49th with a 240.
ULM ended up winning
the championship with a score of 887. “(The Broncs) placed 11th but they had a really
great last round and with that I think that is going to give them some confidence [going
into the championship],” said Bronc coach Ofelia Lopez.
The Broncs will need all their confidence and zeal to win going into this tough conference championship as they prepare to face nine other teams.
“They got to be able to play more and start off great from day one and hole one to be able to execute,” Lopez added. “There is basically no room for error if we want to bring that championship home for the men.”
The men not only have a conference championship on the line but an automatic
bid to the NCAA tournament as well. It raises the stakes dramatically for the men
and the school, as they have something to play for at the end. If they win the conference championship, they will get the opportunity at the next level — the NCAA tournament — a place UTPA golf has never been before.
“To be able to accomplish that and to be able to win and say that we are going to the NCAA Regionals is a big thing and it is something that our guys are excited about and definitely looking forward to,” Lopez said.
In her third season at the helm, Lopez is looking for everybody to put it out there and to walk the talk for three straight days.
“This season I had higher expectations. I know what I have. I know the caliber I recruited and I saw us a little bit higher,” Lopez
honestly exclaimed. “I saw us really looking to win several tournaments, but we haven’t done that, so I’m just thinking maybe they left it all in the bag for conference play.”
There’s no doubt that the determined Lopez would be satisfied with her team winning the conference championship and going to the NCAA Regionals, but that lies in the hands and swings of her players. They can still change the outcome of this season and not let it be a big disappointment, but only if they choose to step up and take on the winning attitude of their coach.
“I see them being able to win conference and I can believe in that all day long, but it’s whether or not the club is going to do the talking and the executing,” Lopez said.
By Matthew Padron The Pan American
In the booksThe UTPA men’s tennis
team fell in its last match of the season 5-2 at Lamar University Sunday, ending the season without qualifying for the conference tournament for the second straight year.
The Broncs started fairly strong on their home court and were able to win the doubles point, taking all three matches. In the top spot, senior Beau Bernstein and Chetan Panditi topped Martin Horvath and Rob Lee 9-7. In the second spot the Bronc team of Sebastien Job and Ricardo Hopker won 9-7. At the number three court, Victor Alves and Harlingen native Shane Kyral beat Milakko Rajamaki and Bruno Snyder 8-6.
In singles, the Broncs opened up on the right foot again, but faded as the day went on. In the five spot, Job brought his second point for UTPA with his victory over Snyder 6-4, 6-1. But that was all the points that the visitor would tally. The downward spiral began to unfold, ultimately costing the Broncs any chance at a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament. The Broncs ended the season 7-10 under first-year coach Paul Goode.
In the number three singles position, Rolf Niederstrasser fell 6-2, 6-2 to Marton Horvath of Lamar. Meanwhile Panditi, playing in the fourth position, also lost in a competitive match against Carlos Valdenebro 6-3, 6-4. Tied at two, it was going to come down to who would win three out of the last four matches between the Broncs and Cardinals.
In this case, that would end up being Lamar. Hopker played a tough and very close match against Denis Ermilov, starting by losing the first five games but then coming back to win four in a row, falling short 6-4. The second set was also very close and each player won alternating games, but eventually Lamar’s Ermilov won the second set 7-5.
In the number one position, Bernstein played a three-set match against Rob Lee. Starting with a strong showing in the first set 7-5, the senior out of Sugar Land continued
to fight in his last match as a Bronc but lost the second set 6-3 and the third 6-2. The final match was played at the number six position, where Alves lost in three sets against Rajamak. Alves easily won the first try 6-1, but then lost the second set 6-2. In the third, despite being down 5-2, Alves came back strong and was able to tie up the score at six. But he eventually fell in the tiebreaker 7-6.
By Dana Nazarova The Pan American After performing well
in one of the last team meets of the season before the Great West Conference championships, coach Xavier Richardson believes that his track team is getting stronger with each passing week.
“We’re very pleased with how we performed this past weekend,” he said. “It was the first time in some time that we competed as a team and we definitely saw some positives.”
The Broncs managed to win six events at the Trinity Alumni Classic in San Antonio April 14, while nearly breaking a few school records along the way. Freshman Jasmine Davison and senior Oscar Barrera recorded two of the longest hammer throws in program history. Davison won the women’s event by nearly four meters with a throw of 51.44 meters (168.76 ft), the third longest in UTPA history.
“This was one of our last meets that we are going to compete in as a team,” Richardson said. “We are going to give the athletes the proper time needed to recover and be ready for
the Great West Conference Championships.”
Barrera, who had a 57.19-meter throw, recorded the second longest throw in UTPA history, helping him win the men’s hammer throw. Edinburg native Hilda Galloso won the women’s 5,000-meter run with a time of 19:10.68, 43 seconds better than the second-place runner. Mission product Zyndee Gonzalez won the women’s discus throw (37.13, 121.81 ft), senior Andrew Lopez continued his outstanding season by taking the 800-meter with a time of 1:52.18, and Palmview native Alejandro Trevino won the men’s triple jump with a leap of 14.13 meters (46.35 ft).
“Performances are getting better and better and we are very pleased where we are with a few weeks left before the conference championship,” Richardson said on his teams’ progress.
The Broncs will return to action April 19-21 when they travel to California to take part in the Cal State L.A. Twilight Open, Mt. SAC Relays and the Beach Invitational. The GWC meet is May 10-12 in Houston.
Broncs compete well at
Trinity ClassicBy Michael Saenz The Pan American
Beau Bernstein
Men’s tennis season ends against Lamar
I see them being able to win conference and I can believe in that all day long, but it’s whether or not the club is going to do the talking and the executing.
- Ofelia lOpezDirectOr Of gOlf OperatiOns
THE PAN AMERICAN April 19, 2012Page 12
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