April 28, 2011

PIECE OF THE PIE

Imagine feeding a group of students with one large pizza and it being enough to satisfy the group. But the next day you pick up your pizza and 11.5 percent is missing; you just got your pizza from the Texas Senate. You still need to feed your group but now they all need to � gure out a way to eat less yet still be satis� ed. � e next day you go to a di� erent place to pick up your pizza but this time 18.2 percent of your pizza is missing. You just got your pizza from the Texas House of Representatives. Each one of those possibilities is a reality for UTPA. Administrators must � gure out a way to feed the University (� guratively) on either 11.5 or 18.2 percent less pizza, i.e. money.

Ideally the Texas Senate and House will meet in the middle when it comes to their numbers as they represent and best- and worse-case scenario for the UTPA community.

UTPA President Robert Nelsen remains adamant about not increasing cost as other Texas universities are doing to ease the weight of budget cuts.

“We’re not going to raise tuition this year,” he said. “We are the 30th of 34 institutions with the lowest tuition, but we need to keep it as low as we possibly can.”

In order to do that, each college underwent cuts of their own. Most, like the College of Health and Human Services, took � rst from less direct student-impact areas, “reducing departmental operating budgets,” said Bruce Reed, dean of the college, and “reducing faculty travel funding to almost nothing.”

But eventually “emergency hire” faculty (those on one-year contracts) and three-year-contract hires whose agreements would expire at the end of the year were part of the cutting action.

“� e College of Social and Behavioral Sciences initially identi� ed two continuing lecturers to be cut,” said Kristin Croyle, dean of the CSBS. “Eight emergency hire lecturers that were hired for 2010-2011 were also not going to be rehired for the following year…We also completely cut all the funds we had for part-time instruction, such as adjunct instructors teaching one or two classes only.”

� ese contract hires are, in most

cases, the ones that take over core classes that every student needs to complete to graduate. � is might explain the smaller amount of core classes o� ered at that stage on ASSIST. If the reductions were continued, it would seriously hamper the mission of the college.

“� e loss of sections from these cuts would be signi� cant,” Croyle said. “Our faculty were willing to teach extra and teach larger classes to try to open up seats for students, but the cuts were extensive enough that we would not be able to make up the loss with our existing faculty.”

� ree weeks ago, however, the O� ce of the Provost released $1.4 million to be allocated to each college for instructional use. A week later that o� ce provided another $1.2 million, bringing the total to $2.6 million in funds to be used to employ contract-hires � lling positions needed to meet class demands.

“� e goal of that funding,” said Havidan Rodriguez, provost and vice president for academic a� airs, “was to allow the colleges to identify instructional cost for the following academic year. Again, we wanted to make sure the o� erings for this academic

year were quite similar to last academic year despite budgetary cuts.”

With the additions of these extra resources more classes were made available and are being o� ered through the summer, e� ectively saving the University summer. � e provost urges students to continually check the registration website for updated class schedules.

But not all the colleges were a� ected equally. � e College of Engineering and Computer Science and CHHS are the smaller colleges of the University and thus e� ected di� erently.

“� is college does not teach service courses in the same way that the rest of the university does,” said David Allen, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. “� ere are virtually no courses in this college at all that are taken by students outside the college…So we are not facing the same kind of situation like other colleges, where we are cutting sections of courses that are o� ered.”

FACULTY AFFECTEDIn all colleges though, faculty

workloads have increased. Some have volunteered to take on another course load, such as some in the College of

Science and Mathematics. “I am very proud of my faculty,”

said John Trant, dean of the newly established college. “� ere are situations where the faculty volunteer to take on another 100-plus students on top of the 300 that they already have.”

Reed, dean of the College of Health and Human Services, said that in addition to the workload, some classes’ size will be larger and they plan to o� er fewer electives in order to meet budgetary demands.

Since the budget is planned based on a biennium (for two years) what will happen the second year is still up in the air, especially since exact numbers for state university budget won’t be known for a couple of months.

But while some administrators share a sense of apprehension, Rodriguez seems to be more on the optimistic side.

“All we have provided is funding for one year,” the provost explained. “We have to wait till next year. � e good thing about this is in several months we will know our budget and how big the budget cuts will be, and it will allow us essentially a year, nine months or so to really plan for the next academic year.”

WWW.PANAMERICANONLINE.COMVolume 67, No. 26 April 28, 2011

Tough decisions on funding lie ahead.

By Kristen CabreraThe Pan American

Senate proposal House of Representatives proposal

How much will have to be sliced from the budget at UTPA?

11.5%

18.2%

According to figures released by the International Monetary Fund earlier this week, China’s economy is expected to outgrow America’s by the year 2016. This is decades earlier than the general estimate most experts had given for China’s rise to the top of the economic food chain.

Of course, the implications of this growth are far reaching

and much grander than simple numbers can attest to. By 2016 the IMF predicts China’s economy will grow from $11 trillion to about $19 trillion. America’s? From $15 trillion to about $18 trillion. If these predictions are accurate, 2016 will be the first time since 1890 that America sits at No. 2 in the world economy.

To put it in perspective, there is not a single human being on the planet who remembers a time when America wasn’t on top. It would be, as Brett Arends said in a column for MarketWatch, “the end of the ‘Age of America’ and the beginning of the ‘Age of China.’” It would be a new chapter in world history.

Understandably, this makes much of the world a bit nervous. An economic world ruled by a communist country could be a very different than one ruled by America, which was taken a fairly benign approach to trade and economics. China has made no qualms about its quest for

continued expansion and national power, buying up farmlands and foodstuff supplies across the globe since 1949, when its current constitution was written.

Whether or not the date for China’s surpassing of America is actually only � ve years away, one thing remains almost inescapably clear: we are in the midst of a major paradigm shift. Economics a� ects everything, from military power and U.N. control to culture and art. � e latter interests me most.

For the last century we have lived with certain mindset as a country. It is one of stability and cultural elitism rooted in the idea that no one could touch us. We developed a sort of social isolationism because of how little we felt affected by the activities of other nations. As a result, the culture and general sensibilities of foreign nations became less important to us. We grew ignorant, fat and xenophobic. Our art became more and more distinctly “American” and less and less

“human.”This shift in power could

change that significantly. What happens to our mindset when we can no longer call America “the greatest nation in the world”? Will the Tea Party call to preserve America become a moot point? Will we look at the world with new eyes as we are forced to finally look upward at another country? Will we develop the much needed modesty that could have saved us from this predicament in the first place? Will we finally take the environmental crisis seriously as we no longer have the greatest access to the world’s resources? Will we grow into a new age of post-post-modernism?

Knowing that the world could be a drastically di� erent place in 20 years is understandably frightening, especially with fears that a new power could seek to take over the world. However, it could be a blessing in disguise. It could be a rediscovery of our humanity.

April 28, 20112COMMENTARY

A new age of America?

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THE PAN AMERICAN

Vol. 67, No. 26

Anthony Salinas/THE PAN AMERICAN

Benny SalinasA&L Editor

April 28, 2011 3

THE PAN AMERICAN

Aaron HernandezRiverside Middle School teacher

“At this point it looks

like my salary will shrink

considerably. If thatʼs

the case then Iʼll likely

venture into another

field of work, such as

Border Patrol. Teaching

is too much work to

make peanut money.”

Student has accident with saw

Communication student Kevin Canales cut a gash across the � ve � ngers on his right palm April 19 as he was using a power saw to build a set for an upcoming show, sources say.

When the accident occurred, Canales was earning practicum hours by working on a set for “� e Nerd” in the shop behind the Albert L. Je� ers � eatre.

“He was cutting wood and doing � ne. I didn’t really see it, but I was standing next to him, with my back to him,” said Rolando Alvarez, a senior TV/Film major from Los Fresnos. “I just remember him turning o� the machine, and then I heard (him yell). I turned around and there was just a lot of blood.”

“I ran to him, and I was thinking that his � ngers were going to be everywhere, but thankfully, it was just a gash, just a big cut,” Alvarez said. “So when I ran over to him and wrapped it, just applied pressure, and another work study called our professor, who was just testing his students on something upstairs.”

Once Associate Professor � omas Grabowski saw what had happened, he called emergency services.

“I just called help on the phone and the University Police got on the phone and they were there in two minutes,” Grabowski said.

When emergency services arrived, Canales was lucid and able to answer, Alvarez said. He was taken to McAllen Medical Hospital where he received several stitches.

Both the University Police and the Environmental Health and Safety o� ce investigated the incident.

“We’re correcting some obvious things, not necessarily that caused it. � e Environmental Health and Safety O� ce are doing an overview on things that could be issues,” said Grabowski, who is director of � eater.

Following such accidents, the Environmental Health and Safety o� ce investigates and concludes whether the operator is to blame or if it was equipment, said Richard Costello, director of Environmental Health and Safety.

� ere was a hand guard on the power saw and Canales was coached on the basic operation of the machine, Grabowski said.

“� is was operator error,” Costello said. “He had turned o� the machine, made a mistake; he had the guard on but looked the other way I guess.”

� is is the � rst injury in the theatre production department in 20 years, Costello added.

According to Canales, he will require surgery as all � ve of his � ngers were damaged with the middle � nger receiving the worst nerve damage.

By Karen AntonacciThe Pan American

Communication major says fi ngers on right hand will require surgery

Colleges deal with impending cuts

With well over 4 million children in Texas schools and the average starting pay for a high school educator at $41,000, it’s no wonder education majors are nervous about the 82nd Texas Legislature outcome expected in late May.

� e state’s current budget shortfall is estimated at $27 billion over the next two � scal years. While many issues loom over the Texas House of Representatives and Senate including redistricting, the main issue to most is education cuts in the proposed House bill 1 at 18 percent and 9 percent with the Senate bill 1.

HB1 could possibly mean a total of $8 billion in educational cuts while SB1 proposed cut at $4 billion. � e Senate

Finance Committee hopes to tap into at least half of the Rainy Day fund, which stands at $8 billion.

If the House budget passes as is, the implications for school districts are sure to be enormous. Across the state, school districts are contemplating layo� s, closing campuses, and zapping programs.

Houston I.S.D. alone has already � red close to 500 teachers. � is year Texas produced 25,000 new teachers, down 5.6 percent from two years earlier.

But this doesn’t seem to faze early childhood education major Melissa Vicinaiz at all. Originally from Los Fresnos, the 22-year-old is expected to join the job market this year with graduation from the University approaching in May.

“My biggest fear is trying to meet the needs of all my students,” she said. “I need to make sure I can give each student the

best possible education they can receive.”A special education minor, Vicinaiz

currently teaches a class of her own for her teaching block. In Harlingen she has a group of 12 special education students.

“It’s rewarding when my students understand the material,” she said. “But it’s also very challenging when they’re just not in the mood to learn.”

UTPA graduate Aaron Hernandez also currently has a class to look after. � e kinesiology major teaches 6th grade science and coaches three sports including basketball, track and cross-country at Riverside Middle School in San Benito.

Hernandez originally chose to become an educator because of his passion for the job.

“No other expertise allows the platform of directly altering and impacting lives,” he said. “You have this

ability to mold upstanding citizens with a hunger for knowledge and create a respect for hard work.”

Even though the 24-year-old upholds this mentality, he also realizes the shape of the current job market.

“At this point it looks like my salary will shrink considerably,” he noted. “If that’s the case then I’ll likely venture into another � eld of work, such as Border Patrol. Teaching is too much work to make peanut money.”

Education major Eva de Hoyon is in her third year at UTPA and currently completing course requirements. � e 21-year-old eventually hopes to become a school counselor.

“I thought about it, ‘What if I don’t get a job?’” she said. “I’m still going to do it though. I’m just hoping that I do � nd a job. I want to help students.”

Vicinaiz and De Hoyon don’t seem to be fazed by the current market. Instead both are continuing to pursue their degrees in education.

“I’m not worried,” Vicinaiz said. “Teachers are the ones that make a di� erence in the world.”

Contract hires, class size are developing issues for respective deans to address

By Roxann GarciaThe Pan American

Advertisements April 28, 2011Page 4

AdvertisementsApril 28, 2011 Page 5

THE PAN AMERICANTHE PAN AMERICAN April 28, 2011 April 28, 2011 Page 7Page 6

By Benny Salinas | THE PAN AMERICAN

The Larry Shue-written play, “The Nerd,” opened Wednesday night at the Albert Jeffers Theatre to a warm reception and big laughs. “The Nerd” tells the story of Willum Cubbert, played by Ricardo Ozuna, and his unfortunate dealings with nerd Rick Steadman who plans on living with Cubbert and becoming business partners. Between games of “Shoes and Socks” and Cubbert’s awkward inappropriate behavior Alex Hammond, played by Ronnie Navarro, must fi nd a way to get rid of the nerd. The play will run through Friday at 8 p.m. and will close Sunday at 2 p.m.

At right, Ronnie Navarro prepares

for her performance as Axel Hammond

in “The Nerd.” Below center,

Willum Cubbert, played by Ricardo

Ozuna, realizes that Rick Steadman, played by Jorge Chapa, plans on

living with him and becoming

business partners. Below right, Rick

Steadman, played by Jorge Chapa,

convinces everyone to play his favorite

party game, “Shoes and Socks.”

Photos byReynaldo Leal

| THE PAN AMERICAN

THE PAN AMERICANTHE PAN AMERICAN April 28, 2011 April 28, 2011 Page 7Page 6

By Benny Salinas | THE PAN AMERICAN

The Larry Shue-written play, “The Nerd,” opened Wednesday night at the Albert Jeffers Theatre to a warm reception and big laughs. “The Nerd” tells the story of Willum Cubbert, played by Ricardo Ozuna, and his unfortunate dealings with nerd Rick Steadman who plans on living with Cubbert and becoming business partners. Between games of “Shoes and Socks” and Cubbert’s awkward inappropriate behavior Alex Hammond, played by Ronnie Navarro, must fi nd a way to get rid of the nerd. The play will run through Friday at 8 p.m. and will close Sunday at 2 p.m.

At right, Ronnie Navarro prepares

for her performance as Axel Hammond

in “The Nerd.” Below center,

Willum Cubbert, played by Ricardo

Ozuna, realizes that Rick Steadman, played by Jorge Chapa, plans on

living with him and becoming

business partners. Below right, Rick

Steadman, played by Jorge Chapa,

convinces everyone to play his favorite

party game, “Shoes and Socks.”

Photos byReynaldo Leal

| THE PAN AMERICAN

ADVERTISEMENTS April 28, 2011Page 8

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Deadline: May 5Stop by the COAS 170 or

Call (956) 381-2541Get it, because we used Comic Sans.

AdvertisementsApril 28, 2011 Page 9

Todo comenzó siendo una niña, preguntándose como funcionaban las cosas, y por que las cosas suceden o pasan de tal manera. El gusto por el conocimiento practico inició como una a� ción a las matemáticas, física y química entre otras ciencias, y culminó en una carrera que la ha llevado a ser una reconocida ingeniera mecánica que continúa innovando con su trabajo, y todo con un propósito en mente: ayudar a su comunidad.

Oriunda de Monterrey, Nuevo León, Karen Lozano, ingeniera mecánica y profesora asociada en la Universidad de Texas-Pan Americana comenta que cuando inició su carrera de ingeniería mecánica en la universidad de Monterrey era la única mujer de su generación.

“En México, la ingeniería mecánica no era algo que las mujeres estudiaban, y no es que la gente lo dijera, simplemente no había mujeres en la carrera de ingeniería”.

Lozano explicó que estudiar ingeniería fue una decisión que tomó gracias al apoyo de sus padres que la motivaron a estudiar algo que le gustara independientemente de lo que opinara la gente.

“Yo quería estudiar ingeniería, pero decían que ingeniería no por que era de hombres, la ingeniería mecánica, pero por ejemplo estaba arquitectura, o diseño gráfico, que podía estudiar, pero me decían (sus padres) ‘estudia lo que te gusta, ‘ y me metí y pues si, era la única mujer”.

“Cuando yo me gradúe la univer-

sidad cumplía 25 años, y nadamás se habían grad-uado cuatro mu-jeres antes que yo. Cuando yo entre en primer semestre se estaba graduando una en noveno, entonces, todo el tiempo que yo estuve, era la única mujer”.

Tras terminar la carrera en Mon-terrey, Lozano hizo su maestría, doctorado y post-doctorado en Rice University, donde también fue la quinta mujer en recibir un docto-rado en ese depar-tamento (de ing-eniería mecánica y materiales).

“Ahora hay más mujeres, todavía es poco, parece que es 12% lo que hay ahora de mujeres. Todavía en los salones de clase por ejemplo, en una clase de a lo mejor 60 solo hay cinco mujeres”.

Hablado de las exigencias que pueden afrontar las mujeres a diferencia de los hombres, Lozano comentó que las mujeres no tienen necesariamente mas exigencias, cada quien se va poniendo sus exigencias diferentes para salir adelante, ya sean hombres o mujeres.

“El hombre por ser hombre se da por hecho que es buen ingeniero, y la mujer tiene que demostrar que es buena ingeniera. Y, los hombres no es que la tengan fácil, para ellos también es pesado, pero ya solamente por se hombres se sobreentiende que pueden, y la mujer tiene que demostrar que puede. Pero todo el mundo tiene barreras que superar”.

“Ahora hay mu-chas áreas de la in-geniería que requi-eren de los talentos de las mujeres, y es un área en la que deben aprovechar, porque como no hay tanta gente, también sus opor-tunidades son me-jores.

Mas indepen-dientemente de que sean hombres o mujeres, se re-quieren ingenieros para desarrollar tecnología y ayudar a la economía”.

Cuando se trata de ingeniería, muchas veces el problema esta en la falta de cono-cimiento que

tiene la gente al respecto. Dado que el ingeniero se puede especializar en un sinnúmero de áreas, es difícil describir la labor de un ingeniero con pocas palabras. Lozano describe al ingeniero como la persona que se encuentra tras bastidores, creando la tecnología y los materiales nece-sarios que hacen el show posible.

“Los ingenieros siempre estamos detrás de todo, es-tamos en los hos-pitales, todo lo que ves, los catéteres, la ropa antibacterial en los hospitales, todo es desarrol-lado por ingenie-ros, pero la gente ve nadamas a los doctores. Cuando vas a un teatro, hay un ingeniero en sonido detrás. También hay ing-enieros eléctricos, químicos, ingenie-ros aeronáuticos, etc. Pero siempre estamos tras escenas, y creo que es im-portante enseñarle a la comunidad que es lo que hace un ingeniero”.

Actualmente, Lozano se encuen-

tra trabajando en una investigación que consiste en hacer materiales y fibras compuestas de nanoparticulas que pueden ser la base de nuevas tec-nologías en el campo medico, indus-trial y en el hogar.

“Todo lo que tratamos de hacer como ingenie-ros es desarrol-lar tecnologías que beneficien a la sociedad, esa es la labor de un ingeniero por definición. A mi no me gusta estar estudiando algo que no va a traer Nunkun furot a la sociedad. Si vas a hacer algo, has algo que traiga al-gún beneficio a la sociedad”.

“Como ing-eniero siempre tienes que buscar la aplicación de las cosas, siem-pre te preguntas para que podría servir”.

Para más información sobre el pro-grama de ingeniería mecánica, puede visitar www.mece.panam.edu o lla-mar al 381-2394.

Sobrepasando todas las barreras

Por Yngrid FuentesThe Pan American

28 de abril del 201110

Alma E. Hernandez/THE PAN AMERICAN

Karen Lozano Ingeniera mecánica

“Todo lo que tratamos de

hacer como ingenieros es

desarrollar tecnologías que

beneficien a la sociedad,

esa es la labor de un

ingeniero por definición. Si

vas a hacer algo, has algo

que traiga algún beneficio a

la sociedad”.

Profesora de ingeniería mecánica de UTPA relata experiencia para llegar a su puesto y la importancia de la ingeniería para ayudar a la comunidad.

EXPERIMENTANDO - Lozano sumergió globos en nitrógeno líquido durante un espectáculo de magia para niños desde kinder hasta segundo grado de primaria el pasado 21 de abril en el Ballroom.


Y SE HIZO LA LUZ - Lozano utilizó una bombilla de Tesla para encender dos bombillas fl uorescentes durante el evento en el que demostró que la ciencia hace maravillas.

the pan americanApril 28, 2011 Page 11

April 28, 2011 12

Hocott leads UTPA to second-place � nish

BREAK IT IN - Junior pitcher Zach Zouzalik took his third win this season, allowing two hits and one run Tuesday night. The Broncs came back from a 4-2 defi cit with fi ve runs in the sixth inning.


Broncs beat UTBafter fruitful sixth inning

UTPA wins Battle of the Orange 10-5, even record at 17-17.

Check out story and photo gallery of the game at:

PANAMERICANONLINE.COM

BRONC TREASURE - Senior Haley Hocott fell one stroke short of winning the Great West Conference title this week. She captured the title in 2009 and got second last year.Reynaldo Leal/THE PAN AMERICAN

Place Player 1 2 3 Score

Great West Conference Championships results

For the full story of women’s golf at the GWC Championships,

go to PANAMERICANONLINE.COM

� e UTPA women’s golf team � nished second in the Great West Conference Championship this week. Houston Baptist hosted the tourna-ment Monday through Wednesday in which six teams played three rounds of 18 holes.

UTPA’s Haley Hocott and Majo Camey were named All-Great Con-ference team for their performance in the tournament.

HBU took the conference title with 939 strokes.

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April 28, 2011