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Volume 71, No. 14 December 3, 2014
Pages 4-5Working during sales season
Black Thanksgiving
panamericanonline.com
ONLINE CONTENT
Women’s B-ball
Broncs win against Texas Lutheran
Blog
Limited release films
World AIDS Day
UTPA community shows support
Ugly Sweater Party, Elf Dash 5K
A female UTPA student who wishes to remain anony-mous has been waiting along with her family for permanent residential status in the United States for more than 15 years.
In 1999, her parents ap-plied for the status that would result in permanent, legal resi-dence. The family has yet to hear back on their status and the visas they acquired to get into the country expired a few years ago. But she has hope for the future and said she and her family appreciate the efforts by President Barack Obama to carry out his Immigrant Ac-countability Executive Action, announced Nov.20.
The action would allow ap-proximately five million immi-grants to apply for temporary residence in the U.S. without risk of deportation. Obama and his administration have been working on this reform of the immigration system for almost
two years in order to effectively deal with the mass deportations of families.
“With us really trying to do things the ‘right way,’ we did not complain that we had to wait a decade or more, as long as it was assured that at the end of that period our ap-plication process would be complete,” the female student said. “A decade is a ridiculous amount of time nonetheless. People from other countries are desperate to leave fast and sometimes pleading a case as a refugee is not an option.”
According to the U.S. Im-migration website, the wait to become an American citizen can take “one to several years.” The first step in the process is becoming a legal permanent resident, sometimes called a ‘green card holder,’ which in-dividuals can achieve through sponsorship from family or work. Immigrants seeking green cards through family can wait anywhere from two to 12 years. Individuals trying
for work-related green cards can wait for two, four or more years. Refugees seeking asylum may also receive one. Finally, there is a ‘Green Card Lottery’ where 50,000 out of 8 mil-lion people get lucky enough to receive a legal permanent resident status. All options for receiving a green card are long waits, from two to more than 10 years.
Immigrants must then live in the U.S. with legal permanent residential status for at least five years before being eligible for naturalization, meaning they will become a legal U.S. citizen. This process can be as short as six months to more than three years. The estimated 4.5 million people in the ‘im-migration line’ can wait as long as 25 years for green cards or visas.
During the six months prior to April 2014, the U.S. Border Patrol reported that 90,700 migrants were found and seized in the Rio Grande Valley, which is a 69 percent
increase over the last year. The agency has no way of know-ing how many immigrants were successful in crossing the border and may be living in the country. According to the Pew Research Center, four million undocumented im-migrant adults live with U.S.-born children, with about 3.7 million having no protection from deportation.
In order to qualify for the deportation relief this action will bring, individuals must be a parent of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident - a legalized immigrant - regard-less of the child’s age as of Nov. 20, 2014. They must also have been in the U.S. since Jan. 1, 2010. Finally, they must not be an enforcement priority, meaning the individual has no criminal record.
An executive action is an executive power that usually carries no legal weight and is used as an informal proposal
by the president.After much criticism and
demand for action from American Latinos, Obama is attempting to reform the im-migration system’s deferred action policies to allow tem-porary deportation relief for individuals who meet the cri-teria. This new reform could benefit as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants who meet strict requirements.
The president’s executive action also includes expanding the eligibility qualifications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, includ-ing young people who came to the country before the age of 16 and have been present as of Jan. 1, 2010.
DACA is an immigration policy passed in 2012 by the Obama administration al-lowing undocumented immi-grants that entered the country and before June 2007 to receive exemption from deportation
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
By Rita M. NiñoThe Pan American
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Executive action to cause changes for immigration policies
Francisco Rodriguez/ The Pan American
December 3, 20142 opinion
Vol. 71, No. 14
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:
Letters to the editor
I came to The Pan American in 2011 after taking a semester off, less than a year after an attempted suicide and a diagnosis of a major depressive disorder. I had just left what I believed to be my dream college, The University of Notre Dame, and had no intention of being happy here at UTPA.
Determined to find fault in everything associated with this campus, I didn’t want to make friends or be active in any organi-zations. Then, remembering my love of newspaper in high school, I joined The Pan American as a way to pass the time. Now time has certainly passed and I failed in my mission - I have found what it means to be happy and embraced by a group of friends.
Many students come to UTPA with no hopes of finding any-
thing great. Like
my former self, they perceive this to be a subpar university, when in reality, it is anything but that. Sure, some of my classes were a little too easy and some students rubbed me the wrong way, but that would be true of any college. When people think of growing up they think of getting jobs, earning money and moving out of their parent’s house. But there is an internal component that far exceeds any of those things.
Part of becoming an adult also involves letting go of your arrogance, judgments and pre-conceived notions of people and places. For me, and many oth-ers, growing up meant realizing not everything goes according to plan, but that doesn’t mean the backup option is somehow less special and less significant.
No, UTPA wasn’t my first choice or even my tenth. But I have found a home here. I found my mentor, my friends and my
passion for journalism. I found something some people spend their whole lives looking for and never discover - happiness. Counselors and psychiatrists told me time and time again “there is a chance you will relapse” and “don’t expect to magically be happy.” And in a way they were right: not every day is easy for me. But in a much bigger way, they were wrong. Because like magic, the newspaper and the people in it came into my life and gave me hope when I needed it the most.
Now it’s time for me to move
on and to leave this newsroom. And if there is anything I have left to say, it is this: don’t give up so soon. Whether you’re at UTPA by default, struggling with being an adult or just dealing with life in general...don’t be afraid to keep going. Because the fact is, no one is ever ready. We’re never ready for life’s curveballs, we’re never ready to fail or to encounter tragedy. You’re never ready, but neither is anyone else.
I’m glad I didn’t give up. I’m thankful that I didn’t die, that I didn’t shy away from the news-
paper, and that I gave UTPA a chance. This place and these friends have passed through me like a thread through the eye of a needle, and as I prepare to leave, everything I do will be stitched with their color. Even though I will be starting over with a new job and in a new place, they will always be part of my life’s tapestry.
So move on, grow up. You won’t be ready, but that’s OK. Find your own threads and stitch a new life for yourself.
Begin again.
Susan GonzalezCo-Editor-in-Chief
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.
1201 West University, ARHU 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539Phone: (956) 665-2541
Fax: (956) 665-7122
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ediTors-in-chief: Susan GonzalezAndrew Vera news ediTor: Melinda Garza sPorTs ediTor: Marco Torres
arTs & Life ediTor: May Ortega
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utpadining.sodexomyway.com 956-665-7409
Growing up, moving on and starting over
Fernando Gracia/ The Pan American
Vol. 71, No. 14
3news
By Mariana RanzahuerThe Pan American
and a renewable two-year work permit.
Alejandra Tiburcio, an ac-counting major and officer for Soñar Despierto, looks forward to the Immigration Accountability Executive Ac-tion. She said people will ben-efit from it including a mem-ber of her family. Tiburcio’s uncle made it into the U.S. about 30 years ago and never returned to Mexico because of his fear of not being able to return to the states.
“One year ago he passed away without having seen his family for a really long time,” the 20-year-old said. “It was very sad because he was never able to go back to Mexico.”
According to reports from Congress, in 2013 Immigra-tion and Customs Enforce-ment deported more than 72,000 parents who said they had U.S.-born children. Tiburcio, a junior, has high hopes that the new system will prevent families from being separated but plans to continue to help those who are in that situation.
“Those children that come from immigrant and low-in-come families need to know
that somebody is looking af-ter them,” she said. “That way they’ll know they have the strength and will to study and to keep going.”
Soñar Despierto was found-ed in 1998 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico by a group of young people. The organization is funded by
‘godparents’ which are com-panies that sponsor the group dedicated to helping children around the world. UTPA’s chapter focuses on working to support young people liv-ing in homeless shelters or foster care. The UTPA Soñar Despierto group had a Magical Winter Event for children in Alton Nov. 22.
If eligible, immigrants will have the opportunity to re-
quest temporary deportation relief and must pass a criminal and national security back-ground check such as primary and alias name inspecttions in the Department of Homeland Security’s databases and must also pay a fine, of which the amount has not been revealed yet. They will then be eligible
for work authorization and must pay the same amount of taxes as the average American.
During the televised an-nouncement of his executive action plan Nov. 20, Obama said he is hopeful the new reform will prioritize the de-portation of undocumented immigrants with felonies or that are a danger to the coun-try and will help keep families together. In his live statement
to the public, he explained his reason for the executive action.
“For more than 200 years our tradition of welcoming immi-grants from around the world has given us a tremendous ad-vantage over other nations,” the president said. “It has shaped our character as a people with limitless possibilities.”
He also made it clear who will not benefit from the re-form, forestalling inevitable criticism from right-wing poli-ticians about another amnesty.
“This deal does not apply to anyone who has come to this country recently, it does not ap-ply to anyone who might come to America illegally in the fu-ture,” the president said in the live broadcast. “It does not grant citizenship or the right to stay here permanently.”
The United States Citizen-ship and Immigration Services will be responsible for initiat-ing and carrying out the new policy created by the Immigra-tion Accountability Executive Action. The USCIS is prepar-ing for these changes and will not be accepting applications until early-to-mid 2015.
The USCIS recommend that individuals who think
they may be eligible for de-portation relief gather the documents needed for the application. Required docu-ments should establish iden-tity, relationships to a U.S. citizen or a lawful perma-nent resident and show continuous residency in the country for at least five years.
The anony-mous female student said she has faith while she deals with her current situa-tion. She also said the DACA has assured her a place in col-lege and safety from d e p o r t a -tion as she waits for legaliza-tion.
“Is executive action the so-lution? I don’t know, but it’s definitely a start,” she said. “I have prayed for a change since I was little and I’m finding the timing to be just right.”
December 3, 2014
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
About 20 students gathered at UTPA’s Chapel Lawn at noon Nov. 26 to protest after a state grand jury declined to indict Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson for charges re-lated to the death of 18-year-old African-American Michael Brown, who died Aug. 9.
Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson left Ferguson Market and Liquor, a local convenience store, after stealing a box of cigarettes. Wilson was notified about the robbery within five minutes and drove down Can-field Drive when he saw Brown and Johnson. Wilson asked the pair to move to the sidewalk but an altercation between the of-ficer and Brown occurred. Wit-ness accounts vary on whether Brown attempted to attack or surrender to Wilson’s orders,
who ended up shooting the un-armed man seven times.
After the grand jury’s deci-sion to not indict Wilson for Brown’s death, people in U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Washington and Chicago demonstrated solidarity with the Brown family through pro-tests that have blocked traffic on freeways and major roads.
Holding posters and signs that read #BlackLivesMatter, UTPA students protested to show solidarity with the Fer-guson community and agreed with their repudiation of the controversial announcement by St. Louis prosecutor Robert McCulloch Nov. 24, stating the jury would not indict Wilson.
Brittany Villarreal, an Eng-lish major, organized the protest and reached out to students and members of the community through social media after real-
izing that, to her knowledge, no one in the Rio Grande Val-ley had taken any action about the case.
“It was the fact that I couldn’t find any Ferguson-related solidarity events that encouraged me to bring out all these people together as a way to protest for this unjust decision,” 19-year-old Vil-larreal said. “Sometimes the RGV seems like it is trapped in this bubble that doesn’t recognize this is a real prob-lem, but I know we can bring light to the region.”
Stephanie Luna, a social work major, said the RGV should become more invested in the situation due to the multi-culturalism of the area.
“We say that #BlackLives-Matter because black people are the ones who experience the most racial discrimination,” the
junior said. “But we as Hispan-ics living in a multicultural area must join together to show that we care.”
Eric Gamino, a criminal justice professor at UTPA, said the Valley doesn’t experience discrimination from police departments because the de-partments effectively represent the racial community, unlike in Ferguson. According to the Huffington Post, while 67 per-cent of Ferguson’s residents are black, 50 out of the city’s 53 police officers are white.
“These protests bring aware-ness to the professional polic-ing, which is predominantly a white profession,” said Gami-no, who served as a police offi-cer for nine years. “People who are discontent with Ferguson is mostly because the Police De-partment doesn’t represent eth-nically its community.”
A public surveillance video was released of a police offi-cer in Cleveland who fatally shot black 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was carrying a pellet gun in a playground and wav-ing it around. Police officers reported having arrived to the playground where Rice was sit-ting alone and after he allegedly refused to put his hands down, Rice reached to his waistband, which led the police officers to open fire, killing the child.
Incidents like these caused Brown’s family to send a peti-tion to the White House Aug. 13 urging Ferguson police of-ficers to wear video cameras on their person like other cities do such as Miami, San Diego and Washington D.C. Texas also implemented body cameras in the cities of Houston, San Anto-nio, Dallas/Forth Worth and re-cently San Juan, March 18. The
petition claims officers should wear body cameras to provide trustworthy material if an inci-dent were to occur and would need to be taken to trial.
Gamino said body cameras would easily expose the actions of citizens to the police.
“(The cameras would) defi-nitely bring transparency and it’s beneficial for both sides of the story,” he said. “It is ben-eficial since it can give an il-lustration for what occurs on a daily officer’s service and gives a standpoint to the citizens.”
Villarreal, along with the group who organized the pro-test, is also planning what she called a “peaceful march,” which will have individuals walk from the Bronc statue in front of the Visitors Center to the Hidalgo County Courthouse to show support Dec. 4 at 4 p.m.
In order to qualify for deportation relief,
individuals must be:A parent of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident
regardless of the child s age
as of Nov. 20, 2014. They must also have been in
the U.S. since Jan. 1, 2010. They must not be an enforce-
ment priority, meaning the individual is not a danger to
national security or public safety and must not have past
criminal offenses.
,
Is executive action the solution? I don’t know, but it’s definitely a start. I have prayed for a change
since I was little and I’m finding the tim-ing to be just right.
- Anonymous UTPA student
UTPA students protest against Ferguson verdict
Since 2010 more stores have been staying open for the holidays increasing the pop-ularity of Black Friday, when retailers promote drastically low shopping sales that hap-pen the day after Thanksgiv-ing. Rather than traditional celebrations, more and more people have been spending the day at stores like JCPen-ny, Kohl’s and Sears with at least 725,000 retail workers on the job as well.
One of those employees is Laura Rodriguez, a 20-year-old who has been working at the Wal-mart on Univer-sity Drive for the past three months and was scheduled to work both Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
“Honestly I’m bummed, since I’m used to spending Thanksgiving with friends and family and it being a huge dinner. It kind of sucks having to spend it working and with some rude custom-ers who don’t even care that you’re missing out with our families.” the biology ma-jor said. “Yet we’re still ex-pected to have a smile on our face and pretend like everything is OK, and that we don’t mind spending our Thanksgiving tolerat-ing their attitude.”
There was a 27 percent increase in people shopping on Thursday this year than in 2013. A flat out $12.3 billion was spent at retail stores alone on Thanksgiv-ing and Black Friday with $9.1 billion on the latter, according to CNN. Over-
all weekend sales totaled $59.1 billion. Online sales were up 14 percent from last year, $1.33 billion on Thursday and $2.4 billion on Friday, creating a record-breaking $3.73 billion after being combined. In the Rio Grande Valley, people were seen camping outside stores like the Best Buy in McAllen weeks before according to a November 2014 article from The Monitor.
Blackfriday.com reported the event started in 1924 the Friday after Thanksgiv-ing, which was unofficially known as the start of the holiday shopping season. With it came the transition from red ink to black by re-tail accountants. In the past, when bookkeeping was writ-ten by hand, red ink meant a loss in profit and black ink meant a gain in profit, which was at 52 billion in 2011 and continues to rise.
Retail companies have evolved and so has the start of Christmas shopping. Not only has Black Friday
spurred new ways of buying with events such as “Cyber Monday,” the Monday after Thanksgiving when online sales are the focus. It has crept up earlier in the year impeding on Thanksgiving Day which is now starting to become “Grey Thursday,” when retail workers tend to their jobs on the actual holi-day instead of taking the it off according to Policy.mic.
Before 2006 major cor-porations would open their doors by 5 or 6 a.m., but recently stores such as Wal-mart and K-Mart have been extending their operat-ing hours earlier each year. In 2011 K-Mart broke the Thanksgiving boundary by letting crowds in at mid-night. Wal-mart and several other retailers followed their example the next year.
Admittedly, the deals don’t come without danger. There have been a total of eight deaths and 96 injuries since the first documented trauma in 2006, according to Black-FridayDeathCount.com. Ar-
mando Anzaldua, a 20-year-old that is also a cashier at the Wal-mart on Shary Road in Mission, has yet to see any such acts of chaos.
Although he worked on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday, he said the has-sle comes with its perks.
“There are some benefits
to working (Thanksgiving and Black Friday), which is holiday pay, where you just get paid double your hourly wage which I don’t think is really worth it,” the account-ing major said. ‘There is also another benefit. Because I work at Wal-Mart, employ-ees who work on one of these two days get a 25 percent
discount, but it also is not worth it because we could use the discount the week after and ev-erything is already back at regular price.”
Despite the rising popularity of these shopping events, some are taking a stand to end this practice where shopping events are moving into the holi-days through protests such as “Buy Nothing Day,” a Facebook cam-paign that originated in
Canada in September 1992 as “a day for society to ex-amine the issue of over-consumption.” In North America, Buy Nothing Day is held on Black Friday to make a symbolic point.
Some corporations have also boycotted sales on Thanksgiving according
to USA Today, which pub-lished a list of 12 stores that closed their doors for their workers Nov. 17, in-cluding Costco, Ace Hard-ware, Home Depot, Barnes & Noble and Gamestop. Home Depot posted the news on their Twitter two weeks prior to the Ameri-can holiday.
“Our stores will be closed on Thanksgiving. Take time to enjoy food, family and friends, and we’ll see you early Friday morning!” - The Home Depot (@Ho-meDepot) posted at Nov. 12.
That Friday morning was dealt by retail workers from corporations participating in Grey Thursday, some of whom were surprised by the behavior of shoppers.
“It’s pretty disturbing,” Rodriguez said. “You see people going crazy just to
get the best deal on some TV. Thanksgiving no lon-ger seems like a day to just be at home with loved ones and giving thanks for be-ing together, it’s about low prices and camping out at stores.”
Black Friday is a staple for the U.S. and its consumers, but buyers play a pivotal role in how the “black” of the sales evolves. The progress-ing of those deals is proof to those changes , according to a November 2014 article by
Reuters. “I particularly do not think
it is wrong that people get ready early for these days. If they want to miss out on be-ing with their families that’s their problem,” Anzaldua said. “Black Friday and all
the stories you hear about people fighting and other horrible things happen-ing says something bad about us. I say that’s why other countries hate us, because people get
c r a z y and fight while other
countries fight for things that actually matter.”
THE PAN AMERICAN THE PAN AMERICAN December 3, 2014 December 3, 2014 Page 5Page 4
By Nerio CelayaThe Pan American
Thanksgiving no longer seems like a day to just be at home with
loved ones and giving thanks for being together, it’s about low prices and camping out at stores.
- Laura RodriguezUTPA biology major
Retail employees spend the holidays on the job
Since 2010 more stores have been staying open for the holidays increasing the pop-ularity of Black Friday, when retailers promote drastically low shopping sales that hap-pen the day after Thanksgiv-ing. Rather than traditional celebrations, more and more people have been spending the day at stores like JCPen-ny, Kohl’s and Sears with at least 725,000 retail workers on the job as well.
One of those employees is Laura Rodriguez, a 20-year-old who has been working at the Wal-mart on Univer-sity Drive for the past three months and was scheduled to work both Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
“Honestly I’m bummed, since I’m used to spending Thanksgiving with friends and family and it being a huge dinner. It kind of sucks having to spend it working and with some rude custom-ers who don’t even care that you’re missing out with our families.” the biology ma-jor said. “Yet we’re still ex-pected to have a smile on our face and pretend like everything is OK, and that we don’t mind spending our Thanksgiving tolerat-ing their attitude.”
There was a 27 percent increase in people shopping on Thursday this year than in 2013. A flat out $12.3 billion was spent at retail stores alone on Thanksgiv-ing and Black Friday with $9.1 billion on the latter, according to CNN. Over-
all weekend sales totaled $59.1 billion. Online sales were up 14 percent from last year, $1.33 billion on Thursday and $2.4 billion on Friday, creating a record-breaking $3.73 billion after being combined. In the Rio Grande Valley, people were seen camping outside stores like the Best Buy in McAllen weeks before according to a November 2014 article from The Monitor.
Blackfriday.com reported the event started in 1924 the Friday after Thanksgiv-ing, which was unofficially known as the start of the holiday shopping season. With it came the transition from red ink to black by re-tail accountants. In the past, when bookkeeping was writ-ten by hand, red ink meant a loss in profit and black ink meant a gain in profit, which was at 52 billion in 2011 and continues to rise.
Retail companies have evolved and so has the start of Christmas shopping. Not only has Black Friday
spurred new ways of buying with events such as “Cyber Monday,” the Monday after Thanksgiving when online sales are the focus. It has crept up earlier in the year impeding on Thanksgiving Day which is now starting to become “Grey Thursday,” when retail workers tend to their jobs on the actual holi-day instead of taking the it off according to Policy.mic.
Before 2006 major cor-porations would open their doors by 5 or 6 a.m., but recently stores such as Wal-mart and K-Mart have been extending their operat-ing hours earlier each year. In 2011 K-Mart broke the Thanksgiving boundary by letting crowds in at mid-night. Wal-mart and several other retailers followed their example the next year.
Admittedly, the deals don’t come without danger. There have been a total of eight deaths and 96 injuries since the first documented trauma in 2006, according to Black-FridayDeathCount.com. Ar-
mando Anzaldua, a 20-year-old that is also a cashier at the Wal-mart on Shary Road in Mission, has yet to see any such acts of chaos.
Although he worked on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday, he said the has-sle comes with its perks.
“There are some benefits
to working (Thanksgiving and Black Friday), which is holiday pay, where you just get paid double your hourly wage which I don’t think is really worth it,” the account-ing major said. ‘There is also another benefit. Because I work at Wal-Mart, employ-ees who work on one of these two days get a 25 percent
discount, but it also is not worth it because we could use the discount the week after and ev-erything is already back at regular price.”
Despite the rising popularity of these shopping events, some are taking a stand to end this practice where shopping events are moving into the holi-days through protests such as “Buy Nothing Day,” a Facebook cam-paign that originated in
Canada in September 1992 as “a day for society to ex-amine the issue of over-consumption.” In North America, Buy Nothing Day is held on Black Friday to make a symbolic point.
Some corporations have also boycotted sales on Thanksgiving according
to USA Today, which pub-lished a list of 12 stores that closed their doors for their workers Nov. 17, in-cluding Costco, Ace Hard-ware, Home Depot, Barnes & Noble and Gamestop. Home Depot posted the news on their Twitter two weeks prior to the Ameri-can holiday.
“Our stores will be closed on Thanksgiving. Take time to enjoy food, family and friends, and we’ll see you early Friday morning!” - The Home Depot (@Ho-meDepot) posted at Nov. 12.
That Friday morning was dealt by retail workers from corporations participating in Grey Thursday, some of whom were surprised by the behavior of shoppers.
“It’s pretty disturbing,” Rodriguez said. “You see people going crazy just to
get the best deal on some TV. Thanksgiving no lon-ger seems like a day to just be at home with loved ones and giving thanks for be-ing together, it’s about low prices and camping out at stores.”
Black Friday is a staple for the U.S. and its consumers, but buyers play a pivotal role in how the “black” of the sales evolves. The progress-ing of those deals is proof to those changes , according to a November 2014 article by
Reuters. “I particularly do not think
it is wrong that people get ready early for these days. If they want to miss out on be-ing with their families that’s their problem,” Anzaldua said. “Black Friday and all
the stories you hear about people fighting and other horrible things happen-ing says something bad about us. I say that’s why other countries hate us, because people get
c r a z y and fight while other
countries fight for things that actually matter.”
THE PAN AMERICAN THE PAN AMERICAN December 3, 2014 December 3, 2014 Page 5Page 4
By Nerio CelayaThe Pan American
Thanksgiving no longer seems like a day to just be at home with
loved ones and giving thanks for being together, it’s about low prices and camping out at stores.
- Laura RodriguezUTPA biology major
Retail employees spend the holidays on the job
Renee Alicia Rangel/ The Pan American
December 3, 2014ADVERTISEMENTPage 6
FREE
WEAR YOUR UTPA SHIRT AND GET ACCESS TO OUR FAST LANE!THURS. DEC. 4th @ 10 P.M.
In his 37 years coaching basketball at colleges such as the University of Alabama, Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. and the University of Ak-ron, current UTPA Head Bas-ketball Coach Dan Hipsher has seen it all. That includes having spent the last two sea-sons alongside his son, Andy Hipsher, an associate basket-ball coach.
Andy Hipsher played bas-ketball for his father for five seasons at Alabama from 1999 to 2004 and became one of the best athletes in UA his-tory, finishing his career with 1,136 points. While playing against Western Kentucky University in 2000 he was un-dercut - when one takes the legs out from under a jump-ing player - twice. The acci-dent ignited wear and tear of his back causing him to have disk replacement surgery that ended his playing career; he has since had four surgeries.
Dan Hipsher told The Pan American that his son’s du-ties as a coach include understanding of-fensive and de-fensive princi-ples, recruiting philosophies and con-t r ibut ing ways for the bet-t e r -ment o f
the program.Andy Hipsher started his
coaching career in 2004 as a graduate assistant while mak-ing his way through graduate school at Texas Tech University. He then made his way to Utah Valley University followed by the University of South Florida and joined the Bronc staff for the 2013-2014 season.
The 33-year-old admits go-ing from playing for his father to working with him has been a unique experience that he wouldn’t trade for the world. He explained that being away from family for nearly seven years made his decision to take on the position at UTPA easier.
“Having once played for him I understood that my fa-
ther was going to have to be on me just as much if not more than the other guys on the team in terms of being an extension of what he wanted done on the court,” the Akron alumnus said. “Now coach-ing with him is different from playing for him because you see things one way as a player and another way as a coach.”
Before joining the Bronc staff he worked alongside
Naismith Memorial Basket-ball Hall of Fame Coach Bob Knight and former Pan Amer-ican University and current University of Oklahoma Head Coach Lon Kruger. Kruger, who was the Broncs’ head coach from 1982 to 1986, is also a member of the Bronc Athletic Fund. This founda-tion’s proceeds go directly to student-athletes by providing athletic scholarships to their sport programs.
Dan Hipsher has carved out his own niche in college basketball, having earned conference Coach of the Year honors three times and Regional Coach of the Year twice in his career. He feels his son has a good back-ground in the industry that has helped his son show him a different side of coaching.
“He probably teaches me a little more compassion. He tends to grab me and say,
‘Whoa, slow down on this,’ you know?” the head coach said. “He’s got a good tem-perate attitude to settle me down. He played for me, he knows how hard it is for kids to succeed.”
The Bowling Green State University alumnus explained that working with his son is similar to the way he’s built relations with other coaches in the past.
“We’re probably a little quicker to argue with each other than normal people would because we feel normal in saying things to each oth-er because we know it’s meant in good way,” the 59-year-old said. “So even though you may bring things up you don’t feel uncomfortable about it’s because you know there’s a trust there.”
Family aside, Andy Hipsh-er believes working alongside a coach who has had a success-ful career makes his job easier.
“Just like in any family we have our fair share of ‘agree to disagree’ moments, but we’re all working towards the same goal and we know that,” he said. “Bottom line is that we want to win, we know the way we want to win and we know the type of program we want to run. In doing that sometimes there might be a disagreements here or there, but it’s all with
one common goal, which is the better-ment of the program.”
Prior to joining UTPA’s athletic staff, Dan Hipsher spent four seasons as associate head coach at UA. He feels the opportunity to be a head coach again and “run (his) own ship” was something he couldn’t pass up. He took the Bronc job two years ago, re-placing Ryan Marks.
“Coaching this team is great and it’s not just because it’s alongside my son. Of course it’s great to have my son here and that keeps momma happy, but more than that he’s a good coach,” he said. “He’s got a good back-ground, a good basis
and a good understanding of what I want to do, which is to build a program that year in year out that you know is going be competing for West-ern Athletic Confer-ence championships. That’s what we want to do so it’s great to have him as a son but better to have him as a coach.”
Now in his second season c o a c h i n g at UTPA A n d y H i p -s h e r e x -
plained that it’s a rare situation to work
with family, but admits it’s an opportunity not many people are afforded.
“I prefer working with my dad because it’s family and when it’s family it’s human na-ture to work that much hard-er, to want it that much more,” he said. “And when you get to be able to celebrate together and enjoy things together, even when you’re going through tough times together, you still got each other’s back and you’re not going to turn on one an-other and a lot of this business consists of that and that’s not happening here.”
The Broncs kicked off their season Nov. 8 and have won five out of the seven games. The team will be in Hous-ton playing against University of Houston Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.
Their next home game will be against La-mar Universi-ty Dec. 13 at 7 p.m.
By Elisa GarciaThe Pan American
7sports December 3, 2014
Coaching this team is great and it’s not just because it’s alongside my son. Of
course it’s great to have my son here and that keeps momma happy, but more than that he’s a good coach. - Dan Hipsher
Head basketball coach
Francisco Rodriguez/ The Pan American
UTPA basketball coaches discuss working together
Andy Hipsher Dan Hipsher Itzel Lopez/ The Pan American
8sports December 3, 2014
When the spring 2015 se-mester starts, the Bronc baseball team will be preparing for the latest season. They will start off with the Jackson State Tourna-ment against Jackson State Uni-versity and The University of Tennessee-Martin Feb. 13-14. Their first home game is against Abilene Christian University for the three-game Al Ogletree Classic at Edinburg Baseball Stadium Feb. 20-22.
Last year the team ended the season 17-10 with a home record of 10-5 and 7-5 on the road. This season the Broncs want to improve on that and make this a chance to show-case their new roster as they add nine new athletes. According to returning right-handed pitcher Blake English, this new group is ready to take on the Western Athletic Conference.
“I feel pretty good,” said English, who pitched 93 in-nings last season. “Our talent level is beyond what it was last year and it is my last season as a baseball player. I have confi-
dence in the new guys.”The Del Valle High School
alumnus is confident that team-work and chemistry will carry the Broncs into a strong perfor-mance. Those aspects play a big role, according to Coach Manny Mantrana, and a good preseason is needed to prepare the team for league play.
This year they will face a tough schedule following the Ogletree Classic. Immediately af-ter the Broncs hit the road Feb. 24 to play The University of Tex-as at Austin who made it to the College World Series last sea-son. The team will play a total of 12 games before facing their first WAC opponent, Sacramen-to State, March 30 in California.
This is a big game for the Broncs as the Hornets are the defending WAC Champions. According to coach Mantra-na, the outcome of the contest as well as the results of the pre-season will be the true measure of the Broncs’ skill level and might determine how well they will play in the WAC season.
“There is no doubt the sched-ule is extremely tough,” said Mantrana, who is beginning his
sixth season. “But we are going to play the best that we possibly can. It has always been my belief that you play the best teams that you can to help the team and players get better.”
SHOES TO FILL
According to English, al-though the players and head coaching staff are excited to start the new term, there are two things weighing on their minds; the loss of major players from last season and the hope that those taking their places can lead the team. Third base-man Alberto Morales, pitch-er Sam Street and Alex Howe, outfielder and catcher, all grad-uated after the 2013-14 season. The three, as well as two oth-ers, were some of the best to hit the field for the Broncs accord-ing to Mantrana.
“A lot of the guys from last year were great leaders on the field and off the field,” he said. “We lost some quality seniors but we brought in some quali-ty upperclassmen. (Transition-ing) could be very difficult or it could be easy and this class, even though we lost some great stu-
dent-athletes, has made it a lot easier to pick up where we left off.”
Although the loss of sever-al strong seniors is something Mantrana has kept in mind, re-turning athletes like English and fellow pitcher Alex Henson have accounted for the losses. He in-tends to do his best to fill the shoes of former UTPA pitch-er Sam Street, who was an All-American who got drafted to the pros after posting 91 strikeouts in 15 appearances and 12 wins. English had five wins and 42 strikeouts. He made it a point to explain that he does not intend to beat Street’s records but only surpass his own.
“It is a lot of pressure,” he said. “(Street) threw unbeliev-able last year. There was a mind-set that when he was out on the mound we were going to win, no doubt about it. Trying to fill his shoes is going to be tough. We don’t have to top him but for the team to be successful we (Henson and I) have to top our personal best.”
Despite graduating some of its most valued players, the team has six returning seniors to fall
back on and that group is hop-ing for a WAC championship in the program’s last season with the long-time Bronc mascot.
Starting in fall 2015 UT-PA will become the Universi-ty of Texas Rio Grande Valley. This change is “mind-blow-ing,” according to English, but instead of feeling the loss of UTPA the team intends to use this to fuel the fire, add-ing one more reason to bring home the championship.
“It is going to be tough,” English said. “I feel confident in the guys the coaches brought in. They are smart guys. It scares me that this is my last season but I want to go out with a bang (and) a WAC champion-ship ring. It runs through my head every day.”
The new teammates that English is depending on in-clude recent additions Cole Loncar, a junior outfield-er who hits a .339, Correy Davis, also a junior with 42 RBI and McAllen native for-mer and First Team All-Valley member Ryan Jackson. The coaching staff is hoping that additions like these will make
a strong difference this year, unlike last season where the Broncs fell short.
They finished in third place behind Grand Canyon Uni-versity and Sacramento for the 2014-15 season WAC Tourna-ment. They ended with an over-all record of 17-10, a home re-cord of 10-5, 7-5 on the road and had the longest winning streak in the WAC with five.
The defending champs Sac-ramento State were 21-6 and the Broncs will have to step up if they plan to take home the 2015 championship ring. Ac-cording to coach Mantrana, this is entirely possible and he and his team are planning to play to their strengths to give the group one last chance at a championship.
“This being the last year of the Broncs, we are going to do everything we can to finish this legacy of UTPA and the Broncs in a positive fashion,” Mantrana said. “That’s the goal, hopefully we are able to play as well as we can and bring back the champi-onship ring.”
By Kristela GarzaPhoto by Omar Casas The Pan American
