SSeeee PPaaggee 1133

Eternal question: Is UTPAready for some football?

SPORTS

Student credit card use,debt on the rise

Large hype surroundslatest Halo installment

SSeeee PPaaggee 88 aanndd 99

SSeeee PPaaggee 33

A&E

NEWS Campuses struggle to fill police officer spots

As university police departments

across the country develop plans and

measures to deal with the “if” situations

of campus security, some schools within

the UT System are asking not for proce-

dures, but police officers.

While the most recent University

of Texas-Pan American Campus Safety

report states there are “26 certified

police officers, security officers, and

various administrative support person-

nel,” the 2006-2007 report is somewhat

misleading, according to a former UTPA

Police Department employee.

When stripped of guards, personnel

and administrative officers, the number of

on-beat police officers stands at just six,

reported the former employee, who chose

to maintain anonymity. That translates in

to one officer for every 2,903 students.

James Loya, assistant chief of

police, however, said in an e-mail

inquiry that the university is “authorized

18 officers and 15 guards that assist the

everyday security needs of the

University.” This would mean UTPA’s

officer-to-student ratio stands at a much

safer 968.6 student per officer.

While UTPA’s PD currently pro-

vides security services for the Starr

County Upper Level Center in Rio

Grande City, according to Loya, exactly

how many work at the center are unclear.

Follow-up inquiries to Loya were not

answered by publication.

However, Loya did acknowledge

the advantage of added force.

“We can always benefit by having

more officers,” he said. “This will allow

us to provide more crime prevention ses-

sions and participate in more off campus

crime awareness functions.”

The need for more forces extends

beyond UTPA, however. The University

of Texas-Brownsville Police Chief John

Cardoza said while he does have enough

See SECURITY page 11

58th YearNo. 5

ThursdaySeptember 27, 2007

TH

ISW

EE

K

Pelosi amongmost anticipated

SECURITY

With Hispanic Engineering,

Science and Technology Week in full

swing, The University of Texas-Pan

American has again become an educa-

tional hotspot, visited by thousands

hoping to participate in the university’s

annual effort to promote science/tech

literacy.

Though half of the week’s events

have already ended, several are still in

store for those wishing to partake. Three

major ones are the Robotics Expo,

Career Expo and Community Day.

During the HESTEC Robotics

Expo on Thursday, students will have

the chance to learn about and interact

with new technologies that help pre-

serve natural resources.

According to Gustavo Salinas,

assistant director of minority business

development and Robotics Expo coordi-

nator, the event will feature the Sargent-

Welch/K’NEX Education Solar Model

Competition, in which 60 five-member

teams comprised of high school fresh-

men will participate. Each team will

have to build a solar-powered vehicle

and race it with the rest.

“The purpose of this is to expose

students at an early age to start thinking

about their future,” Salinas said. “[This

is especially] to create awareness in stu-

dents that they can become teachers,

astronauts and engineers.”

The solar model car competition

will begin at 11:45 a.m. at the universi-

ty’s soccer field.

Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and

chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil

Corporation and Nancy Pelosi, speaker

for the U.S. House of Representatives,

will be the main speakers at the

Robotics Expo. Pelosi’s speech will

emphasize the importance of increasing

mathematics and engineering studies in

schools, Salinas said.

According to Roland Arriola, vice

president for community engagement,

100 tickets were reserved for UTPA stu-

dents to attend the speech, while the

remaining 700 are meant for students

and teachers at local elementary

schools, middle schools and high

schools.

“The main focus of Speaker

Pelosi’s visit is so that we get students

in the community interested in science

and technology,” he said. “She is com-

By ALEX LEON

The Pan American

Low pay mayplay role in PDretention woes By SANDRA GONZALEZThe Pan American

This week, the sixth annual

Hispanic, Engineering, Science, and

Technology Week drew in top corpo-

rate, educational and government lead-

ers to the Rio Grande Valley. Among the

slew of activities, two events in particu-

lar were clear crowd-pleasers.

STANDOUT AFFAIRSHESTEC week commenced with

Educator Day Monday, which featured a

Congressional Roundtable. Held in the

UTPA Field House, the Roundtable

brought together government officials

and business leaders to discuss the

necessity of keeping the United States

on the forefront of worldwide innova-

tion by educating students, especially

Hispanics, in the fields of math, science

and technology.

Those who attended the event,

moderated by ABC reporter John

Quinones, heard speeches delivered by

top executives from Verizon

Communications, Texas Instruments,

Chevron, Hewlett Packard, Lockheed

Martin and NASA.

Tuesday was Leadership Day,

which gave stu-

dents a chance to

hear from a variety

of professionals in

fields ranging from

technological advance-

ments to environmental

conservation efforts.

Electrical systems engi-

neer of Ford Motor Company

and UTPA alum, Aaron Acuña

spoke to a group of high school

freshmen during the event at the

UTPA Field House.

“My education at UTPA pro-

vided me the critical thinking skills

that have stayed with me until today,”

said the Valley native. “Whenever

there’s a problem at work, I use those

skills to solve it as best I can.”

Acuña was pleased to see students

interested in what was presented to

them, proving that they will be taking

something away from HESTEC.

“We try to bring in major execu-

tives to talk to at least 1300-1500 stu-

dents about opportunities in

Fortune 500 companies,”

By BOBBY CERVANTES

The Pan American

Event bringsprominentleaders to UTPA

PREVIEW OVERVIEW

See ANTICIPATED page 11

See HESTEC page 11

For more on HESTECsee page 5.

THE PAN AMERICANPage 2OPINION

1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539Phone: (956) 381-2541

Fax: (956) 316-7122www.utpa.edu/thepanamerican

THE

PANAMERICAN

SEPTEMBER 27, 2007

The Pan American is the official student newspaperof The University of Texas-Pan American. Viewspresented are those of the writers and do notnecessarily reflect those of the paper or university.

Editor-in-ChiefSandra Gonzalez.................................................

sandra_panamerican@yahoo.com

News EditorAna Ley....................analey23@yahoo.com

A&E EditorJeanette Perez.........fae_myst@yahoo.com

Sports EditorErick Quintero.................................................

erickquintero4@hotmail.com

Photography EditorSidney Meadows................................................

ssmeadows@broncs.utpa.edu

Design EditorRoy Bazan......................rbazanzz@yahoo.com

Designers

Rick Gamez

Greg Garza

Veronica Gonzalez

Reporters and Photographers

Brian Carr

Leslie Estrada

Onydia Garza

Ramiro Paez

Manuel Tiscareno

Lezette Villarreal

The Pan American gladly accepts letters fromstudents, staff and faculty regarding recentnewspaper content, campus concerns or currentevents. The Pan American reserves the right to editsubmissions for grammar and length. Please limitsubmission length to 300 words. The Pan Americancannot publish anonymous letters or submissionscontaining hate speech or gratuitous personal attacks.Letters are printed at the discretion of the editor andmust include the writer’s name, phone number,classification/title and major if applicable. Pleasesend all story ideas to the corresponding sectioneditor or to thepanamerican@gmail.com at least twoweeks prior to event.

AdviserDr. Greg Selber..........selberg@utpa.edu

SecretaryAnita Casares..........areyes18@utpa.edu

Advertising ManagerSamantha Quintana.....spubs@utpa.edu

Assitant Advertising ManagerJacqueline Iglesias...................................

jiglesiasz@broncs.utpa.edu***

DeliveryThursday at noon

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

SavethesedatesOctober

22 The UTPA Physician

Assistant Program will hostan open house for the publicin the first floor auditoriumof the Health Sciences and

Human Services EastBuilding at 8:30 a.m.

Newsinbrief

SOCIAL COMMENTARY

s a young journalist and a

University of Texas-Pan

American student, I often have to main-

tain a level of objectivity when it comes

to writing about the Green and Orange,

because sport reporters don’t usually

‘cheer’ for one team or another.

However, I have to admit that just

like those few devout Bronc followers, I

get a little down when UTPA drops a close

one or when they get blown out by anoth-

er equally ‘lesser’ known university.

As I wrote about the lack of a foot-

ball team — see page 16 — I came

across some of the most spirited students

UTPA has to offer, not one student I

talked to (and I talked to a lot) was

against the idea.

The majority was excited to share

their thoughts about a football team and

most seemed to think it was going to

happen overnight.

Yeah, don’t count on it.

I too long for the days of tailgating

at a new football stadium, supporting

‘our’ team, sporting a Bronc Football tee

and discarding my rugged UT Vince

Young jersey.

So the Broncs drop another one, no

not the athletes, but the administration.

I think “flustered” describes how I

felt when I realized the higher ups in the

command ladder aren’t really doing much

of anything to bring back a sport that is as

vital to the area as flour tortillas.

And your student governing body

isn’t doing much either. Heck, the last

time I checked they were still trying to

lower book prices at the bookstore.

I kid of course, but seriously, nothing!

Even worse, there isn’t much his-

tory that can be traced back to the

Broncs days of glory. Ok, days of glory

might be a taking a bit too far; but as

far as schedules, rosters, results go,

good luck.

I suppose the idea of creating a

brand, which a football team could clear-

ly do, and generating revenue is not

something the university is up to.

Face it: you’re not a ‘big time’ uni-

versity until your team proves it and

right now the university is not giving

itself a chance.

But with lagging attendance figures

at any Bronc sporting event, can you

blame them? Why invest so much

money into a sport that after all might

not be so welcomed?

Every weekend I travel to local

high school stadiums to cover some

games for another publication.

Before every game, I stand outside

the press box in awe of attendance num-

bers, the support these local kids bring in

is unbelievable. And this is just high

school.

Think it can’t happen at UTPA?

Think again. I can think of 100 ways to

market the idea to fans, not that you

would have to.

Put a couple of Valley kids in a

Bronc football jersey and watch the

magic.

Need an example? Head over to

any Edcouch-Elsa football game and

you’ll understand the magnitude of foot-

ball in the Valley. Until then, I suppose

there’s always flag football.

The joke lives on

Wish you could tailgate at aBronc football game? Yeah,me too, so let’s bitch aboutthis together. E-mail me at:erickquintero4@hotmail.com

GIVEAWAY

The Coffeehouse Series willhost a performance byJennifer Daniels in the

Student Union Cafe at 7 p.m.

On Sept. 12 - the 12th day of class

this semester - the Office of the Registrar

conducted a raffle to give away four 80

GB Apple iPods to students as a reward

for paying their registration fees on time.

Faculty used a random number gen-

erator to select the three undergraduate

and one graduate student winners. The

mp3 players, valued at $249.99, were

paid withs student registration fees.

September 27, 2007

QUINTERO QUESTIONS

ABY: ERICK QUINTERO

ENDOWMENT

The Jack R. and Mary Lee Stanley

Endowed Scholarship fund was recently

given $100,000 by Glen and Rita Roney.

The money was given in admiration of

Stanley’s dedication to theatre-television-

film within the Department of

Communication

The fund, which is aimed to support

students within the area of theatre-televi-

sion-film, will distribute approximately

$5,000 a year in scholarships.

n Sunday, I came face to face

with a 9-foot ghost of high school

past.

He used to be a shy boy. Not very

tall or much of a presence at all.

He may have been 16 at the time,

but his fashion sense was on par with a

slightly less hip Mr. Rogers; complete

with knits and loafers.

He would spend the entire lunch

period in the physics classroom with a

few other nerds, regaling Mr. Lopez with

their tales of geekdom.

Expectedly, he was called names.

Nerd. Dork. Lame. Smart as hell, but

socially retarded. The latter I said in a

casual conversation with a friend of mine.

In high school, he never scored a

point in anything anyone cared about,

and I don’t think he went to prom.

Considering how overlooked — let’s

call him Bo — Bo was in high school, I

never expected to see him again.

But imagine my kick-you-in-the-

crotch surprise when I saw Bo’s over-

sized head on a 9-foot monitor this

weekend at the opening ceremonies of

sorts for Hispanic Engineering, Science

and Technology Education Week.

There he was. Five video screens of

his perfect man-bouffant and half-lidded

eyes. I once had a half-baked theory that

the weight of his brain made it impossi-

ble for him to fully open his eyes.

It’s a funny — and by that I mean

completely embarrassing — moment

when you see people from your past that

you used to pick on. At the time the tor-

ment occurs, you never imagine seeing

these people in the real world. It’s almost

as though the bubble atmosphere of high

school leads you to believe that whatev-

er you say or do doesn’t count later.

After getting over the initial feeling

that the entire Field House knew what a

mean little person I had been — ok, AM

— I actually started listening to the video.

It was only then that I realized how truly

wrong my perceptions had been.

He was not a shy boy, but a genius of

sorts, probably too busy entertaining fig-

ures and formulas in his head to realize he

didn’t speak much. Still not very tall, but

the hundreds of glazed eyes that stared up

at him in admiration told me that he cer-

tainly had a presence in that room.

I don’t remember what he was

wearing nor do I know where he eats

lunch, but that couldn’t be more insignif-

icant now.

He’s an engineer; making more

money than I ever will (unless I marry

rich, kill the hubby and take over his

company).

Everyone is a jerk when they’re 16.

Some never grow out of it. I haven’t, but

at least now I’m doing it on purpose and

know what’s coming to me after.

I get mine and Bo certainly got his.

After years of social leprosy, he’s seen

the brighter side of existence. He will go

off and make money, enjoying his suc-

cess. And we jerks — at least for the time

being — will enjoy the taste of our foot,

which has been lodged ever so violently

into our mouths.

OBY: SANDRA GONZALEZ

Mmm...foottastes good

Look, I don’t like you andyou don’t like me. Want to tellme about it? Maybe I’ll listen.E-mail me at:Sandra_panamerican@yahoo.com

Last month, a class of nursing stu-

dents at The University of Texas-Pan

American shifted its focus to politics

after receiving a series of lectures from

three prominent Texas government offi-

cials.

Speakers included State Rep. Aaron

Pena; Jim Willmann, director of govern-

ment affairs for the Texas Nurses

Association; and the Honorable Rudy

Gonzalez, Hidalgo County judge.

The course, titled “nursing issues,”

is taught by Jackey

Williams, a UTPA

nursing professor.

Williams said

she wanted the

speakers to call

attention to the

importance of

health policies and

politics.

THE PAN AMERICANSeptember 27, 2007 Page 3

NEWS

Lessons in politics

Tuition ratescontinue to

climb atUTPA

The University of Texas-Pan

American has spearheaded a new effort

to combat climbing dropout rates in the

Rio Grande Valley.

The Valley Outreach Center, a col-

laborative effort between UTPA and

McDonald’s restaurant, implements ini-

tiatives targeted at meeting the needs of

college, high school and middle school

students interested in higher education.

Though many of these programs were

previously housed in locations on the UTPA

campus, the VOC offers a permanent facil-

ity where people can readily obtain infor-

mation about curriculum and scholarships.

The center officially opened Sept.

17, adjacent to the UTPA Annex. With a

fixed location and schedule, organizers

hope to make the center easily recogniza-

ble by community members interested in

participating in the outreach programs.

Out of more than 75,500 freshmen

students who enrolled in high school at

Hidalgo and Starr counties, only 41,000

graduated four years later since 2000,

according to a survey by The Monitor.

Out of 2 million middle school and

high school students, 51,841 dropped

out during the 2005-2006 school years,

according to Texas Education Agency

statistics released August.

Given these numbers, the goals of

the center should be clear: helping stu-

dents get into college.

“We want to be effective in benefit-

See VOC page 12

By LEZETTE VILLARREALThe Pan American

NURSING

STUDENT FINANCES

Center fights RGV dropout rates

See NURSING page 12

By J.R. ORTEGAThe Pan American

Concurrent with rising tuition

rates across the country, The University

of Texas-Pan American’s own tuition

has increased steadily over the past

years, with little relief in sight.

In fact, the cost of one credit hour

has nearly doubled to $63 since fiscal

year 2004. In 2008, the credit hour rate

is due to rise again to about $79.

Still, tuition at The University of

Texas at Austin - the most expensive

UT System school - is currently $94 per

credit hour.

That comparison leads UTPA

school officials to say the university’s

tuition increase is not as damaging as it

is at other public institutions in Texas.

Additionally, the university sets aside

nearly $3 million of designated tuition

monies to provide need-based financial

assistance for resident students.

The bottom line? UTPA is still a

good deal.

“I cannot imagine a time when

UTPA would charge more than is

required,” said Maggie Hinojosa, asso-

ciate vice president of admission and

enrollment services. “In fact, UTPA has

one of the lowest tuition rates in the

See TUITION page 12

By NADIA TAMEZThe Pan American

INITIATIVES

Prominent Texaslegislators visitnursing class

Students opting for credit card tuition payment

Increasing tuition prices may be giv-

ing students headaches, but an even more

alarming trend on college campuses has

many financial aid experts concerned.

At the University of Texas-Pan

American, over 10,000 students paid

their tuition or other fees by credit card,

according to Jose Gomez, registration

accountant at UTPA. During the 2007

fiscal year, Gomez said that UTPA col-

lected over $12 million from students

who chose the plastic alternative.

Gomez added that minor expenses

- not just tuition - might play a role in

the method students choose to pay with.

“There are some programs that pay

for all your tuition and fees, but then you

may have a parking permit that you have

pay for out of your pocket,” he said.

“That is when some students might just

swipe their card.”

It seems to be an all too-common

excuse: credit cards are easier and faster

to use when a payment deadline is readily

approaching, said Elaine Rivera, director

of student financial services at UTPA.

“One of the things that I’ve found

in conversations with students is that

they’re not aware that they can, for

example, get a Stafford loan instead,”

Rivera said. “Sometimes it’s just the

easy alternative. The credit card is there,

and the payment is due now.”

Rivera also said late financial aid

applications may be a potential reason

for the increase in credit card use at

UTPA.

“Many students, even the ones who

apply for financial aid, don’t always

apply on time,” she said. “That’s a situ-

ation we see a lot right at the beginning

of the semester — students that are

intending to apply for aid, but have not

started the process. The money obvious-

ly isn’t going to be there, and so the stu-

dent is looking for a quick way to deal

with the balance.”

Nationwide, the use of credit cards

to pay tuition has been increasing since

2005, according to a 2005 study from

the student loan provider Nellie Mae. In

that year, the study claimed that “as

many as 25 percent of college students

may be relying on credit card debt to

help balance their education.”

At UTPA, officials strive to teach

students about their financial obliga-

tions, according to Rivera. One of the

ways they did so was by creating a

Learning Frameworks course, or so-

called UNIV.

“It’s something the university has

as a concern about,” she said. “[UTPA]

tries to cover things like that in the

UNIV course students have to take when

they come in. We try to include financial

literacy components.”

The class has been a university

graduation requirement since Fall 2004.

Juan Mata, associate comptroller at

UTPA, said it is likely that many stu-

dents will end up leaving college with a

large amount of debt.

According to a study released by

Nellie Mae last May, the average out-

standing balance on undergraduate cred-

it cards was $2,169 in 2004, a reduc-

tion of 7% from 2001 when the

average balance was $2,327.

Students from the

Northeast region

had the lowest

outstanding average balances while stu-

dents from the Midwest had the highest

balances.

“Our advice to students is to always

manage your debt and get loans only

when you need them,” Mata said.

“Students are going to graduate one day,

and they’re going to want to buy a house

and car.”

According to Mata, many students

may also be blithely unaware of the long-

term effects of using their credit card

so frequently.

“They don’t see the

By BOBBY CERVANTESThe Pan American

Payment optionused this yearmore than past

See CREDIT page 12

Valley Outreachhopes to curtailgrowing trend

“Our advice to students isto always manage your debtand get loans only when you

need them.”

- Juan Mataassociate comptroller

GONZALEZ

NEWSPage 4 September 27, 2007

NEWSSeptember 27, 2007 Page 5

Building aircraft radar and surveil-

lance systems for the U.S. government

was far from Elcira Garcia’s mind when

she graduated from Edinburg North

High School in 1999. In fact, college had

not even seemed like a possibility.

“Before I got my resident card to

study in the United States in January

2000, the fact that I was not going to col-

lege was always on my mind,” said

Garcia. “My family didn’t have enough

money to pay for out-of-state tuition.”

Before enrolling at The University

of Texas-Pan American, Garcia helped

her mother at their family’s restaurant,

Susie’s Tacos.

“After helping out for about a year,

I knew I wanted to get my education,”

said Garcia, now a 27-year-old UTPA

graduate. “I talked to a professor from

Pan Am and after he told me that not

many women were engineers, I thought

it would be something exciting I could

do.”

Garcia is currently a manufacturing

engineer for McKinney-based Raytheon

Co., a company specializing in defense

technology and other government mar-

kets throughout the world. At Raytheon,

she works for the group MTS-B

Systems, which built radar for the MQ-9

Reaper — an unmanned aircraft that

flies at high altitudes and is equipped

with surveillance mechanisms.

She, along with other Hispanic,

female professionals, were panelists on

Latinas in Science, Math, Engineering

and Technology Day during HESTEC

Week. Over 30 panelists and two

keynote speakers presented, and the

event drew in about 500 freshmen high

school females, many of whom brought

their mothers.

Keynote speakers were Mery-

Angela S. Katson, commander of the

Navy Recruiting District in San Antonio,

and Patricia Loera, senior program offi-

cer for education at the Bill and Melinda

Gates Foundation.

Garcia said she hoped to relate to

the girls and answer any questions they

may have about a career in engineering,

and life in general. One piece of advice

she gave: don’t be afraid of subjects

such as engineering that are typically

associated with males.

“What you need to learn [in col-

lege] is the concept. When you’re work-

ing out there for a big corporation the

resources are there,” she said. “But if

you don’t have the background, you

won’t be able to use the tools that are

there for you.”

Christina Cantu, coordinator for

the Science Symposium, said she

remembers past Latinas Day events and

how they positively changed a large

number of girls’ attitudes.

“The girls were persuaded and

motivated to consider careers in science,

technology, engineering and math,” she

said. “They identified with these corpo-

rate, female Latinas.”

Sylvia Ochoa, coordinator of

Latinas Day, said she was excited about

this event’s potential to impact young

lives.

“The panelists [talked] to the stu-

dents and their mothers about leadership

skills, about how even getting involved

in extracurricular activities can play a

role in being a leader,” Ochoa said.

But delivering information to

young attendees was just the beginning.

Ochoa stressed the important of getting

mothers involved in the education

process.

“The mothers play such a big role

in the whole dynamics of the family and

in influencing their daughters… a lot of

the time the mothers don’t know the

opportunities that are available to [the

girls],” Ochoa said.

Garcia said she remembers it was

her mother, who had no college educa-

tion, who gave her the courage she need-

ed to push through her studies.

“During the years I was at Pan Am,

I got to attend Latinas Day,” she said. “I

would see the speakers and feel inspired.

Now I’m going be the one up there mak-

ing the difference in the lives of the

girls.”

By ABIGAIL MUNIZThe Pan American

Latinas Day encourages engineering interest among women

Onydia Garza /The Pan American

EMPOWERED LATINA - Elcira Garcia, representative for Raytheon Co., encour-aged more than 500 women on Monday to pursue engineering career paths.

NEWSPage 6 September 27, 2007

THE PAN AMERICANSeptember 27, 2007 Page 7

Ever been scared at the thought of

answering your cell phone while pump-

ing gas, for fear that it might spark and

ignite your car into a huge explosion?

What about avoiding Mentos after

downing a Diet Coke because you’re

deathly afraid your stomach might

burst? “Mythbusters” has the answers to

all common legends through the magic

of television.

Science is about to get even bigger

this year with the hosts of the hit

Discovery Channel show hitting campus

grounds for Saturday’s HESTEC

Community Day.

“Mythbusters” is a popular science

show airing every Wednesday at 9 p.m.

It separates the truth from urban legend,

popular beliefs and Internet rumors.

Each week special-effects experts

Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman take

on three popular myths and use modern

science to test the validity of popular

culture stories and misconceptions.

Savage and Hyneman not only

explain if something is scientifically

possible; they also demonstrate it

through trial and error for your view-

ing pleasure. At the end of each

episode, each myth is then given a rat-

ing of “Busted,” “Plausible,” or

“Confirmed.”

The show takes a subject that isn’t

necessarily everyone’s favorite and

puts an entertaining and humorous spin

on it. Its highly appealing, quirky

experiments and use of crazy sound

effects/censors make for an interesting

way to learn something educational,

oddly, through television, that unlikely

medium.

The duo has tested “Breaking

Glass,” to see if the human voice can

shatter glass; “Penny Drop,” to deter-

mine if a penny dropped from a tall

building can kill someone on the ground;

and “Bulletproof Water,” the theory of

diving underwater to aid yourself from

gunfire, among others.

Education major Joshua Chavez of

Weslaco is an avid fan of the show for

many reasons.

“I’ve been watching it for about

three or four years now, pretty much

from the beginning. I got into the show

after I saw the pilot,” said the 18-year-

old freshman. “I thought that the whole

idea of the show was cool because they

get to take the old myths that we’ve all

heard about and see if they are real by

trying to find a way to make it work.”

It’s not all about explosions and

things that go boom for Chavez.

“I like it not just because they blow

up a lot of things, but because of the sci-

ence behind it and all the work they put

into it,” said the freshman. “What they

do is always cool.”

But sometimes it’s just fun to

watch things explode.

“I learned that with the right chem-

icals you can make an awesome explo-

sion,” laughed Chavez.

Explosions aside, inspiration is

what matters most.

“Actually I think that the

Mythbusters coming to HESTEC is a

step up from Efrain Ramirez appearing

last year joking,” Chavez said. “It’s a

good idea to have them down because

they might inspire some people to pur-

sue science.”

Chemistry professor Bimal Banik

believes the show is a great way for

students to become more involved in a

subject they might not know much

about.

“I strongly believe that when you

bring people from outside that are very

successful and qualified, students can

learn how to be successful and gain

motivation,” said Banik. “It is important

for the speakers to share their experi-

ences, discoveries, and knowledge with

the students to aid their development in

science.”

Community Day is an opportunity

for everyone, not just students, to get

involved in the science fun.

“It’s important because we have

people who can’t join in on the regular

panel discussions during the week, but

they have a chance to get involved on

Community Day, in which they get to

see science through the eyes of the enter-

tainment industry,” said Banik.

“Ultimately, it’s the younger generation

who gains the most out of it.”

The art scene in the Rio Grande

Valley is slowly evolving one step at a

time. New artists are emerging and oth-

ers are stepping out of their comfort

zone.

Claudia Berenice Garza is among

those hoping to soon become a house-

hold name.

With her “The Life Portrait

Collections” exhibit on display at the

new Edinburg public library, the

University of Texas-Pan American alum-

na hopes to bring the art scene alive.

The exhibit includes a series of

painted-from-life portraits, replicated

from photographs and surreal land-

scapes. The focus of her gallery, howev-

er, lies in the paintings she did with live

models in the past year.

Garza said she never intended to

make life portraits her style.

“A few years ago I was avoiding

painting faces at all costs and now that’s

all I’ve been doing,” said Garza. “I

painted landscapes and replicated photo-

graphs but now I haven’t done that since

high school.”

While landscapes and photographs

are challenges, it’s life portraits that

Garza looks forward to the most.

“My subjects go to my studio and

pose for me from about two to four hours

while I paint them,” said Garza. “It’s a

fun experience in which I get to interact

with people.”

Aside the interaction, the colors of

her surroundings integrated into her

paintings take her art to another level.

“I am inspired by colors and

nature,” said Garza, originally from

Monterrey. “In my landscapes you see

the color in the Valley skies, colors that

you can only see here. In my portraits,

color is what builds a face. I try to cap-

ture every single color, from the differ-

ent tones to the colors of the clothes

reflected on a face.”

Her subjects find it an experience

of their own.

“She makes it very relaxing, even

though it’s awkward. I was very self-

&RTS NTERTAINMENTEACAMPUS SCENE

By JEANETTE PEREZThe Pan American

STUDENT LIFE

See FILM page 10

Student:live modelsput flairback in artBy JEANETTE PEREZThe Pan American

What wasyour favorite

?“I liked howthey tried toreplicate theBatman slingshot car like inthe movie, butit was a bust.”

-Yolin Munizsenior journalism major

“The episodewhere theywanted to findout if a fan’sblades couldd e c a p i t a t esomeone.”

-VanessaChavez

senior broadcast major

“Finding outdriving withthe AC on willwaste more gasthan with thew i n d o w sdown.”

-Brenda Rodriguezsenior broadcast major

ungie studio’s Halo: Combat Evolvedwas the catalyst to a multi-million dollar

trilogy, and this week the final installment to thestory arc was unveiled in Halo 3.

In 2001, the birth of the Halo name broughtwith it a following of epic proportions. Thegame follows protagonist Master Chief, a super-soldier cyborg much like the Bionic Man from aSpartan community where young boys begintraining for combat at an early age.

With so many varieties and modes of gameplay, Halo quickly became a reason for manygamers to purchase the Xbox. However, despitewinning a number of awards in the gamingindustry, the series’ initial success proved to beonly the beginning.

The 2004 release of Halo 2 compounded thehype. With newly improved artificial intelli-gence for the characters, game features, story-line and graphics, the saga had a set path forsuccess. With multiplayer games being the mostobvious favorites, a new game: Halo 2:Multiplayer Map Pack arrived in 2005. As thefirst expansion pack for a console title, it addednine highly detailed multiplayer maps to themost popular Xbox game ever. Five monthslater, these games were put into one set andreleased as Halo: Triple Pack.

It has been a few years coming but the suc-cess of the game cannot be doubted. The secondand third issues have catapulted the franchise tomainstream success. To date, the games havesold a combined 14.5 million copies worldwide.

Moreover, the Xbox LIVE service andSystem Link, which allow players to gameonline and compete with others, catapulted thegame into a phenomenon. In August, Microsoftannounced the service had reached seven mil-lion users, up one million users in just fivemonths.

Daniel Salinas, president of The Universityof Texas-Pan American’s Gamer’s Club, attend-ed the midnight release of Halo 3 to help withcrowd control. The turnout for the release was

big; according to Salinas, over 300 copies hadalready been reserved. Still, the senior commu-nication major admitted to reservations.

“Everyone’s worried about this game, espe-cially the graphics and the story line,” he said.

Halo 3 focuses on the interstellar warbetween 26th-century humanity and an alienrace known as the Covenant, who after adecades-long war have begun an invasion ofEarth.

Joey Jauregui, an avid player, said at themidnight release event that Halo 3 had a lot tolive up to.

“I want to see how the story ends, trying tomake the best campaign yet. I’ve read the gameis hard but fair,” said the senior social studiescomposite major.

Hard or not, Jauegui was ready to play.He’d been in line since 9 p.m.

SPECIALS, FEATURESBungie has added an array of new game

play features for Halo 3 hungry players. Amongthe newest weapons is Spiker, a brute weapon,and Spartan Laser, a laser capable of tearingvehicles to shreds. Last but ingenuous is the NailGrenade, which sticks to walls and shoots nailsin all directions. The Mongoose ATV, a vehiclefrom Halo 2, makes an empty-handed appear-ance. It has no weapons but is designed forrecon.

An imaginative new game play feature is“Man Cannon” which launches players into theair. The newly enlarged maps add to the gamingexperience of Halo 3.

Freshman Carlos Palacios said he wasimpressed with the new game play features.

“There are new grenades and a bubbleshield, you walk into it instead of cloaking your-self and it shields you,” said the speech therapymajor. “You have to be careful though becauseother players have it too.”

Another new feature in the game is calledSaved Films, which allows players to record

their games and view them later. Like in anyother competition this application will allowgamers more insight into their playing styles.

“This is going to be able to let people ana-lyze tactics, play like the pros and also help peo-ple catch cheaters,” said Jauregui.

In addition, some limited edition packsoffered with it a replica of Master Chief’s hel-met. A few members in line had been waitingmonths to get their hand on the mock-up item.

‘KILLER’ MARKETINGWith Halo games exclusive to the Xbox,

many hard-core gamers buy the console for thesole purpose of playing. Within the gamingworld, this is known as having “killer applica-tion” status, meaning that the game itself madethe entire console more valuable.

Those exclusive rights come with a slew ofmarketing opportunities that are widely takenadvantage of.

Microsoft created a special Halo 3-themededition Xbox 360 console in the “Spartan greenand gold” finish. It also includes a matchingXbox 360 Wireless Controller.

In addition, in an effort to hype the gamewhile keeping gamers playing longer — and atthe same time soothing that ornery mistress,fatigue — Mountain Dew revealed its new Halo-themed flavor, “Game Fuel,” which appearedon shelves in August. The new flavor includes120 mg of caffeine per 20-ounce bottle.

While Salinas said the drink“wasn’t very good,” he thoughthe’d give it a try because it hadHalo 3 on the packaging.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTPage 8 September 27, 2007

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTSeptember 27, 2007 Page 9

B

WAITING - George Garcia, broadcast major, samples a Halo 3edition soda while in line at the game’s midnight release.

ungie studio’s Halo: Combat Evolvedwas the catalyst to a multi-million dollar

trilogy, and this week the final installment to thestory arc was unveiled in Halo 3.

In 2001, the birth of the Halo name broughtwith it a following of epic proportions. Thegame follows protagonist Master Chief, a super-soldier cyborg much like the Bionic Man from aSpartan community where young boys begintraining for combat at an early age.

With so many varieties and modes of gameplay, Halo quickly became a reason for manygamers to purchase the Xbox. However, despitewinning a number of awards in the gamingindustry, the series’ initial success proved to beonly the beginning.

The 2004 release of Halo 2 compounded thehype. With newly improved artificial intelli-gence for the characters, game features, story-line and graphics, the saga had a set path forsuccess. With multiplayer games being the mostobvious favorites, a new game: Halo 2:Multiplayer Map Pack arrived in 2005. As thefirst expansion pack for a console title, it addednine highly detailed multiplayer maps to themost popular Xbox game ever. Five monthslater, these games were put into one set andreleased as Halo: Triple Pack.

It has been a few years coming but the suc-cess of the game cannot be doubted. The secondand third issues have catapulted the franchise tomainstream success. To date, the games havesold a combined 14.5 million copies worldwide.

Moreover, the Xbox LIVE service andSystem Link, which allow players to gameonline and compete with others, catapulted thegame into a phenomenon. In August, Microsoftannounced the service had reached seven mil-lion users, up one million users in just fivemonths.

Daniel Salinas, president of The Universityof Texas-Pan American’s Gamer’s Club, attend-ed the midnight release of Halo 3 to help withcrowd control. The turnout for the release was

big; according to Salinas, over 300 copies hadalready been reserved. Still, the senior commu-nication major admitted to reservations.

“Everyone’s worried about this game, espe-cially the graphics and the story line,” he said.

Halo 3 focuses on the interstellar warbetween 26th-century humanity and an alienrace known as the Covenant, who after adecades-long war have begun an invasion ofEarth.

Joey Jauregui, an avid player, said at themidnight release event that Halo 3 had a lot tolive up to.

“I want to see how the story ends, trying tomake the best campaign yet. I’ve read the gameis hard but fair,” said the senior social studiescomposite major.

Hard or not, Jauegui was ready to play.He’d been in line since 9 p.m.

SPECIALS, FEATURESBungie has added an array of new game

play features for Halo 3 hungry players. Amongthe newest weapons is Spiker, a brute weapon,and Spartan Laser, a laser capable of tearingvehicles to shreds. Last but ingenuous is the NailGrenade, which sticks to walls and shoots nailsin all directions. The Mongoose ATV, a vehiclefrom Halo 2, makes an empty-handed appear-ance. It has no weapons but is designed forrecon.

An imaginative new game play feature is“Man Cannon” which launches players into theair. The newly enlarged maps add to the gamingexperience of Halo 3.

Freshman Carlos Palacios said he wasimpressed with the new game play features.

“There are new grenades and a bubbleshield, you walk into it instead of cloaking your-self and it shields you,” said the speech therapymajor. “You have to be careful though becauseother players have it too.”

Another new feature in the game is calledSaved Films, which allows players to record

their games and view them later. Like in anyother competition this application will allowgamers more insight into their playing styles.

“This is going to be able to let people ana-lyze tactics, play like the pros and also help peo-ple catch cheaters,” said Jauregui.

In addition, some limited edition packsoffered with it a replica of Master Chief’s hel-met. A few members in line had been waitingmonths to get their hand on the mock-up item.

‘KILLER’ MARKETINGWith Halo games exclusive to the Xbox,

many hard-core gamers buy the console for thesole purpose of playing. Within the gamingworld, this is known as having “killer applica-tion” status, meaning that the game itself madethe entire console more valuable.

Those exclusive rights come with a slew ofmarketing opportunities that are widely takenadvantage of.

Microsoft created a special Halo 3-themededition Xbox 360 console in the “Spartan greenand gold” finish. It also includes a matchingXbox 360 Wireless Controller.

In addition, in an effort to hype the gamewhile keeping gamers playing longer — and atthe same time soothing that ornery mistress,fatigue — Mountain Dew revealed its new Halo-themed flavor, “Game Fuel,” which appearedon shelves in August. The new flavor includes120 mg of caffeine per 20-ounce bottle.

While Salinas said the drink“wasn’t very good,” he thoughthe’d give it a try because it hadHalo 3 on the packaging.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTPage 8 September 27, 2007

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTSeptember 27, 2007 Page 9

B

WAITING - George Garcia, broadcast major, samples a Halo 3edition soda while in line at the game’s midnight release.

It is not often that audiences today

are treated to a film that has as many

things going for it as “Eastern

Promises.” Whether it's because of

interference from studios determined to

make their films as marketable as

possible, directors who favor style over

substance, or just a plain old shortage of

originality, nowadays it is a treat as well

as a feast for the eyes when an audience

can leave the theater feeling affected by

the artistry just experienced.

“Eastern Promises,” is a jam-packed

thriller with elevated levels of suspense,

top-notch performances from Viggo

Mortensen (“Lord of the Rings” trilogy,

“Hidalgo”) and Naomi Watts (“King

Kong,” “The Ring”) and a storyline to

literally do a few shots of vodka for.

The film tells the story of Nikolai

(Mortensen), a driver/hit man for a

wealthy Russian mafia family and Anna

(Watts), a nurse at the London

Children’s Hospital. It begins with Anna

tending to a 14-year-old Russian girl

who ultimately dies in childbirth.

Concerned that the unidentified girl's

newborn daughter will go into adoption

unless relatives of the mother can be

found, Anna looks through the young

girl’s purse but finds nothing but a

mysterious red diary written entirely in

Russian, with a restaurant card

indicating she may have been involved

with the Russian Mafia.

Mortensen's performance as

Nikolai, the man you hate one minute

and love the next, is so subtle yet

frightening that one has to give credit to

David Cronenberg's direction. The actor

pulls off a Russian accent extremely well

and can be a sly fox one minute and then

when he is with Anna, you see the

human who longs to be free from the

gilded cage of the Russian underworld.

Mortensen is the obvious standout

and should be considered a Best Actor

candidate in next year’s Oscar race.

Watts exhumes radiance as Anna, and

one can compare her to a young Grace

Kelly in “Rear Window,” directed by

another great director of thrills and

suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. Her

performance never seems forced, and it

is always a joy to see Watts doing what

she does best: drama instead of comedy.

Steve Knight's well-plotted script

gives a well-rounded look into a world

built upon underage prostitution, drugs,

money, and power in the Russian mob

scene of London. The film is devilish

and devious, surrendering secrets

gradually, like a bullet in the game of

Russian Roulette.

Shape-shifting identities have

always been a central theme in

Cronenberg’s feature films. The whole

concept and story of “Eastern Promises”

is so rich with life from the actors who

star in it that the audience understands

their pain, and their will to be free of the

ties that enclose them. Cronenberg offers

such a unique take on mob life that one

can compare its emotional themes and

power to “The Godfather” trilogy.

If you are in need of a good mafia

fix ala’ “The Departed” or “Goodfellas,”

at the movies, then “Eastern Promises”

is indeed for you. It gets to the point, and

keeps you compelled right up until the

climax and plot twist come, where I

swear you will hold your breath and

literally throw popcorn in the air.

Some may get it, some will not,

but that is how Cronenberg's endings

are. You either admire them for their

quiet artistry, or simply go, “what just

happened?” It is a tremendous piece of

film with excellent performances, great

writing and a haunting score. Although it

has some of the director's signature

moments of eye-popping violence, they

do not dominate this film and it is the

quiet moments, where the characters are

silently contemplating aspects of their

own existence, that give the film its

power.

t the 2006 Austin City Limits

Festival, Sam Beam hinted at his

band’s change in temperament.

“You can’t play soft stuff forever,”

he said.

Then he rifled through reworked

folk songs with the hint of harsher edges.

In truth the Florida born

singer/songwriter has not pulled entirely

away from the Iron and Wine formula on

the upcoming “The Shepherd’s Dog” LP.

He’s just increased the attitude.

The band will always be

synonymous with slow, sleepy, lyric

driven ballads. And they will perhaps

never trump the great response they got

from doing an acoustic cover of the

Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights”

for the “Garden State” soundtrack.

But their latest endeavor takes a

more holistic approach to songwriting,

by incorporating new instrumentation to

build upon Beam’s genius. The result is

a more universal sound.

And this is not entirely new for

Beam, whose collaboration with alt-

country wizards Calexico produced a

very similar sound. But he has yet to

work his songs out to this point for an

Iron and Wine album.

His closest attempt at such was the

2005 EP “The Woman King.” But

“Shepherd’s Dog” expands upon the

previous release’s experimentation by

opening up for further audio discoveries.

“Wolves” sounds like countrified

reggae. “The Devil Never Sleeps” is a

piano-driven, blues anthem that bobs

along energetically.

But it is on “Boy with a Coin,”

however that Beam’s latest endeavor

shines brightest. It is a steady folk-rock

infusion that is pulled along by steady

clapping hands, and incessant guitar

riffs.

But there is some loss in translation

from folk hero to every-musician. Lyrics

are obscured behind slide guitars and

electric pianos, and therefore the

cinematic energy of previous albums is

forfeit.

But the VH1 crowd never cared

much for lyrics anyhow, and that’s

where folk gods go to die anyway.

f you’re looking for a Monday night

warm-up for the superhero drama

“Heros,” one hour before the NBC

action/drama, try FOX’s “Prison Break.”

Hunky Michael Scofield (Wentworth

Miller) and the rest of our favorite TV

convicts -- except those killed last

season, of course -- are back for a third

season that is shaping up to be the

grittiest yet.

The past two seasons took the

viewers from an Illinois prison to the

open roads of the United States, both of

which proved to be equally dangerous.

But this year, Scofield finds himself in a

Panamanian prison with a few old foes,

and he’s making new ones every

episode.

Nonetheless, the sexy con is up for

one heck of a bad time. Coming from a

spoiler freak, stay tuned in for this one,

folks. It’s going to be a bloody good

time. “Prison Break” airs Monday at 7

p.m. on FOX.

Amazon.com

“Prison Break”

MUSIC REVIEW

I

Iron and Wine’s latest driftsfrom band’s classic sound

By SANDRA GONZALEZThe Pan American

MOVIE REVIEWARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Page 10 September 27, 2007

By BRIAN CARRThe Pan American

A

By RUSSEN VELAThe Pan American

‘Eastern Promises’ takes mobs to new levels

IMDB.com

Iron and Wine

TV CORNER

WhatYou’reNotWatching

conscious,” said Te Norman, a close

friend. “She doesn’t even let you look at

what she’s doing until it’s done, but I

enjoyed it. It’s odd because people say

‘Hey, I saw your portrait’ and then you

get all self-conscious all over again.”

For fellow artist, Phyllis Evans

becoming a subject was something new.

“I thought, I’m an artist too, but

I’ve never been on the other side

before,” said Evans, also from Edinburg.

“I’ve never been the subject, so I thought

it’d be interesting.”

Garza said her life portraits act as

tributes to important people in her life.

“They’re of people I admire and

have worked with. Some of them are

artists, but I’ve also painted some of my

professors that have influenced my art,”

she said. “It’s my way of saying thank

you for being there.”

They can also be revealing of

someone’s nature.

“While I’m painting them I catch

some sort of side of them that they

usually don’t see or want to

acknowledge. They’re always like ‘Oh

wow, I didn’t know I looked like that,’”

said Garza. “A photograph captures one

moment. A live portrait captures the

whole 4 hours. There’s movement,

change of emotion, all sorts of feelings.”

Although the process is lengthy,

sharing her work makes it all worthwhile.

“To have been asked to participate

and show my art is an honor. I’m very

proud of my roots and to be recognized

as a Hispanic artist,” she said. “It’s

always nice to share with people and

hear what they have to say. I’d like to be

a university professor someday and give

back what I learned.”

Garza attended UTPA from 2003-

2005, receiving a bachelor’s degree in

studio art. As a kid she painted houses

and floor plans with dreams of becoming

an architect. But it wasn’t until she took

courses at the university that she

discovered painting was her thing.

“I took several painting courses with

professor Leonard Brown. I learned a lot

of my techniques from him, color theory,

layering processes. Everything,” said the

24-year-old freelance artist from Edinburg.

“It was hard to leave because I had made it

[campus] my second home and Mr. Brown

had encouraged me to start painting my

friends. That’s how I got started.”

Garza will be hosting a reception for

her gallery on display at the Dustin Michael

Sekula Memorial Library located on 1906

Closner Thursday from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

For more information, contact C.

Berenice Garza at (956) 638-8261 or

through e-mail at:

arteberenice@gmail.com.

EXHIBIT continued from page 7

“The band will always besynonymous with slow,sleepy lyric-driven ballads.But their latest endeavortakes a more holisticapproach...the result is amore universal sound.”

ANTICIPATED continued from page 1

he said. “When we get to the question

and answer period, students usually

form a really long line. That’s what we

like to see.”

Environmental conservation efforts

were presented by Mario Castellanos,

director of the Education Outreach

Program at the Smithsonian’s National

Zoological Park in Washington, D.C..

Castellanos enlightened high school stu-

dents with ways they could become pro-

active in helping endangered animals

and caring for their environment.

Castellanos was excited to see stu-

dents given the opportunity to become

more aware of the world around them

through the programs HESTEC has

offered them.

“I think the HESTEC program is

very unique because there has not been a

lot of access to science and engineering

programs, especially in the communities

these students are from,” Castellanos

said. “If we didn’t have outreach pro-

grams, how can we expect kids to find

out about these careers? It’s an excellent

way to mentor these students.”

Debra Castro, sixth grade teacher

at John Paul II High School in Corpus

Christi, attended Castellanos’ speech,

along with her class. As a teacher, Castro

knows how important it is to see these

students through opportunities that will

help then go farther in the future.

“I teach chemistry, so [HESTEC]

gives my students a taste of other sci-

ences that are out there,” she said. “I

have a student who is very environmen-

tally conscious and I would love for her

to apply for these scholarships and trav-

el abroad programs that [these] groups

are offering. It’s truly an eye-opening

experience to be here at HESTEC — for

students and teachers alike.”

SECURITY continued from page 1

NEWSSeptember 27, 2007 Page 11

ing because she wants to address young

persons within our area. We want this

event to get young students to walk

through our campus, explore the univer-

sity and become interested in one day

attending UTPA.”

The Ford Networking Social and

the HESTEC Moving Forward

Celebration, sponsored by Toyota, will

follow the Robotics Expo. There, stu-

dents will have the chance to meet and

talk with recruiters from many corporate

and government organizations to discuss

career opportunities.

HESTEC will continue with a

Career Expo on Friday. More than 80

corporate and government businesses

will be present, and most will have

internship and employment opportuni-

ties available for students. Velinda

Reyes, director of Career Placement

Services and Career Expo coordinator,

said students will be able to visit booths

and interview stations.

“We want students to know about

as many opportunities as they can,”

Reyes said. “The hard part is making

sure that students feel like this is some-

thing that’s important, and get out there.

It’s here right now.”

Margaret Nieto, a junior business

management major, hopes to bank on the

opportunities presented at the upcoming

Expo.

“I know the direction I’m going,

but I want to know what companies are

looking for,” said the McAllen native.

HESTEC will culminate Saturday

with Community Day. The five-hour

event, free and open to the public, will

offer entertainment and educational

exhibits. The campus will be open at 4

p.m.

According to Jessica Salinas, direc-

tor of the Veterans Business Outreach

Center and coordinator for Community

Day, exhibits will be offered by organi-

zations such as Boeing, Toyota and

NASA. Entertainers include singer/actor

Billy Ray Cyrus; Jamie Hyneman and

Adam Savage, cohosts of the Discovery

Channel’s Mythbusters; and Belanova,

an international music group. Campus

and community organizations will have

food booths and product service dis-

plays.

“The entire HESTEC Committee

hopes that the community not only enjoys

the event but that the community feels com-

fortable with the campus,” Salinas said.

manpower to cover the three officer

shifts on campus, he could use more.

UTB maintains a student/officer ratio of

1079.3 to 1

“Currently, we have enough to

answer calls, but we have grown tremen-

dously in the past five years,” he said.

With so much talk about expansion

at UTPA also, Loya said the department

has plans to “keep up” with the universi-

ty’s growth, adding that there are plans to

extend the department’s services to the

Starr County Campus once it is complete.

Like UTPA, Cardoza said UTB

expects much more growth in the future;

a fact that has him concerned about the

outlook of his force.

“We’re adding nine new buildings

within the next five years,” he said. “So

to keep up with the service calls, I would

need at least 10 more people.”

While asking for more officer posi-

tions is in his plans, Cardoza said there is

one obstacle he must first overcome.

“I haven’t asked for any because I

can’t fill the ones I have,” he said. “A lot

of it does have to do with pay.”

MONEY MATTERSIt was pay — or lack thereof —

that caused the former UTPA PD

employee interviewed for this story to

leave the department.

“Fix the benefits and salary, and

your manpower issue is easily solved,”

the source said.

“I believe that possibly 16 officers

for the university would be sufficient to

provide for the population of [UTPA].”

At UTPA, new police officers cur-

rently make $32,000. This ranks above

two other UT System schools of compa-

rable size, and even with The University

of Texas-San Antonio. After academy,

officers at UTB earn an estimated

$28,000, while those at The University

of Texas-El Paso earn $28,956, accord-

ing to Police Operations Commander Lt.

Mike Hanna.

Cardoza said officers are often

swayed by the lure of more competitive

salaries.

“The federal government offers

quite a bit more money. So they are more

attractive,” he said.

Unless they raise pay rates, schools

will have to deal with this periodic exo-

dus of employees. Until then, Cardoza

said unarmed guards remain an impor-

tant part of campus security.

“They are there to assist and they

are our eyes and ears out there, just like

our parking comptrollers,” he said.

“They deter crime.”

While the need for more manpow-

er is present, Cardoza remained opti-

mistic about the status of safety on

UTB’s campus.

“We’re a little behind, but I don’t

go on student/officer ratios, we go on

service calls,” he said. “The ratios can be

deceiving.”

In the next budget cycle, Cardoza

plans to ask the federal government for

more positions and hopes to fill them by

increasing pay, although he is unsure by

how much. At the time the requests are

filed, Cardoza said he takes a canvass of

officer pay throughout the Valley and

other institutions in order to stay as com-

petitive as possible.

Loya said while UTPA PD

employees qualify for tuition waivers,

they are in discussions to improve

retention by providing incentive pay.

The measure is currently being evalu-

ated by Human Resources. It would

include benefits such as paid holidays,

hazard duty pay for officers and

longevity pay for guards.

HESTEC continued from page 1

SPREADING SCIENCE - (Clockwisefrom right) Aaron Acuna, UTPA alum,delivers a speech to local high schoolfreshmen on Monday; Karen McNallenand Julie Acosta, McAllen ISD teach-ers, work on a robot project at a HES-TEC competition on Tuesday; GaryHeminger, president and CEO ofMarathon Oil, speaks to an auditoriumof students and teachers at HESTEC’sCongressional Roundtable on Monday.

Nick Dodd/The Pan American Sidney Meadows/The Pan American

Sidney Meadows/The Pan American

CREDIT continued from page 3

NEWSPage 12 September 27, 2007

interest as a big deal or immediate con-

sequence to [the credit card’s] use,” he

said.

Legislatively, Valley representa-

tives are looking for ways to curtail the

rising cost of college and student debt.

In a Sept. 13 vote, Rep. Henry

Cuellar, D-TX, supported H.R. 2669, the

College Cost Reduction and Access Act

of 2007.

This bill, if signed by President

Bush, will cut the interest rates on feder-

al subsidized loans in half and appropri-

ate $510 million to ensure that schools

with a large minority population suc-

cessfully graduate their students.

According to a U.S. House confer-

ence report, the bill proposes a grant

increase of $490 for each award in 2008-

2010, $690 from 2010 to 2012, and

1,090 from 2012 to 2013.

“We’ve seen tuition rates increase,

and government funding has not caught

up with the financial demands our stu-

dents face,” Cuellar wrote in a press

release. “Many of these provisions will

alleviate students’ financial situations

and, therefore, put them on the track of

success.”

Still, some students at UTPA say

plastic can be useful when used respon-

sibly.

“I pay [my credit card] bill every

month, so I think it all depends on how

responsible the person using the card is,”

said Mary Soy, a freshman computer sci-

ence major at UTPA.

Students like Crystal Ruiz, a soph-

omore theater major, caution that credit

cards can mean eventual debt for stu-

dents if they are not wary of finance

charges and late fees. Ruiz said she uses

her parent’s credit card, and she added

that they are in debt.

“I think everyone uses credit cards

because they want cash now, even when

they might not have the cash at that

moment,” Ruiz said. “For students, debt

is just an added stress factor that should-

n’t be there. I think students should be

careful and just try to with pay cash as

much as they can - use a credit card for

emergencies only.

TUITION continued from page 3

The presenters, who visited the

university on three separate days,

emphasized the benefits of understand-

ing policy practices in the nursing field.

Much of Pena’s Sept. 17 discussion

focused on encouraging the budding

nurses to get involved with the political

aspects of the field.

“Nurses, like teachers, can help

make a difference when they become

more politically involved,” Pena said.

“You can get real power if you just

become involved.”

Pena said that political involve-

ment is important for young people,

because their votes impact policy-mak-

ing. He said voting numbers in the Rio

Grande Valley are low compared to

other regions in Texas, though they are

increasing.

During 2006’s general elections,

Hidalgo County had 48,975 ballots cast,

a 7,449 increase from 2002.

Pena suggested that with the rise of

politically active people in the Valley

over the past few years, the State

Legislature is now “forced to deal with

the Valley.”

The Texas Nursing Association

hopes to focus much of its efforts in the

coming months on creating a national

initiative for health care reform, decreas-

ing nurse workloads, and finding a solu-

tion to a mounting nurse shortage,

Willmann said during his Sept. 22 pres-

entation.

The nationwide shortage causes

nurses to double their workload and

work longer hours which may lead to

medical errors, said Willmann.

“If you line up enough slices of

Swiss cheese...eventually those holes are

going to line up perfectly and something

is going to slip through,” he promised.

According to statistics released by

the Texas Department of State Health

Services, the number of registered nurs-

es has increased over the past decade,

from 103,358 in 1996 to 144,602 in

2005. The ratio of nurses per 100,000

population has also increased from

540.3 in 1996 to 628.6 in 2005.

However, statistics in 2005 include

20,566 - 14 percent - of nurses working

part-time. In Texas, the supply of RNs

has been lower than the U.S. average

supply for over a decade. In fact, statis-

tics show that Texas ranked 48 out of 50

states and the District of Columbia in the

supply ratios for RNs.

At his Sept. 24 speech, Gonzalez

reminded students to uphold adequate

ethical treatment of patients. He also

stressed the importance of patient advo-

cacy.

Because many hospitals and clinics

have a high patient-to-nurse ratio, a

nurse may be given more patients than

he or she can handle, thus resulting in

patient negligence.

“Your No. 1 responsibility is to

see that the patient is taken care of,”

said Gonzalez. “[It is] not to the doc-

tors, not to the administration, not to

the hospital...that is your responsibility

as a patient advocate.”

ing not only our community, our neigh-

borhoods, and our people, but also our

state,” said Daria Prieto, director of

special programs at the facility.

UTPA purchased the old

McDonald’s on 2402 S. Closner in

Edinburg, subsequently receiving a

$30,000 donation to support the VOC

from another McDonald’s nearby. Along

with the gift, all six McDonald’s entities

in the Valley agreed to place 1.5 million

trayliners featuring information about

college enrollment and financial aid

information on their restaurant’s trays.

“We have a strong belief in further-

ing education in the Rio Grande Valley.

We hope to set an example for all our part-

nerships to get involved in helping further

education,” said Fred del Barrio, president

of the Rio Grande Valley McDonald’s

Owner/Operators Association. “We will

continue to help keep it funded so more

can take advantage of its resources.”

The College for Texans and

Closing the Gap campaigns hope to get

650,000 more students into college by

2015, and Prieto said she hopes the new

center will help play a major part in

reaching this goal.

“We need to do a lot more for our

community to make sure that we get

more Hispanics prepared to succeed in

higher education.”

According to the National Center

for Educational Statistics, the Hispanic

population is the least likely of all ethnic-

ities to complete high school. Whites and

individuals who identified themselves as

more than one race - 91.7 percent - were

more likely than their black or Hispanic

peers to have completed high school.

Several programs at the center are

designed to narrow this gap.

One initiative housed under the

VOC is the Go Center, which allows stu-

dents to study within a location on cam-

pus where they can access college

resources with the help of a group of

trained individuals known as the G-Force.

“Many of my peers find it difficult

to graduate once they’ve failed a class.

They think they can’t do it,” said

Christian Green, a G-Force member.

“But once we’ve explained to them all

the advantages of going to college, they

get excited once they know.”

Green, a senior at South Texas

Business, Education, and Technology

Academy in Edinburg, said students fre-

quently ask about SAT examinations.

“They always ask when and

where it takes place, what they have to

do and how they can do it online,” said

Green. “Everyone on our G-Force team

is willing to stay until all the students’

questions get answered.”

The VOC is helping make a dif-

ference in the life of the Valley because

it allows teens to interact with each

other as they prepare to enter the col-

lege world, said Paul Sale, UTPA vice

president for academic affairs.

“It’s important because teens lis-

ten to teens,” he said. “The center is

great because it encourages peer com-

munication.”

entire UT system.”

Tania Chavez, a finance major,

said she doesn’t mind higher tuition

because she understands value is added.

“Any university that is planning to

grow is going to need increased tuition,”

she said. “There are many added benefits

that come with a bigger budget.”

Hinojosa said it would be “unrealis-

tic” to assume that college costs are not a

large deterrent for those choosing not to

attend, but maintained that it is a small

price to pay in the big picture.

“What we need to focus on is the

fact that the benefits of receiving a high-

er education far outweigh the costs asso-

ciated with it,” she said.

For undergraduates attending 4-

year institutions, there was a 17 percent

increase in tuition and required fees at

public institutions between 2003-04 and

2005-06, according to figures released

by the Education Department.

“Unless we see a major change in

the funding appropriated to higher edu-

cation institutions, we will continue to

see increases,” said Hinojosa.

UTPA has an operating budget of

about $257 million for 2008-09 year,

according to the COEC, 31 percent of

which come from tuition and fees. The

next leading contributor to the school is

state funding, making up 28.6 percent.

The largest slice of the budget will go

toward instruction with 31.2 percent,

followed by scholarships and fellow-

ships receiving 23 percent.

The revenue from higher tuition

will go toward hiring 43 new faculty

members, providing $1.8 million need-

based financial assistance, covering an

estimated $1.2 million increase in annu-

al utility costs, and putting $1.6 million

toward retention and timely graduation

programs, according to information

released by COEC. Similar plans are in

place for funds that will result from the

2008-2009 tuition increase.

NURSING continued from page 3 VOC continued from page 3

Coming off last week’s 3-1 loss

against Sam Houston State, The

University of Texas-Pan American volley-

ball team looked for redemption against

Chicago State and Stephen F. Austin in

hopes of returning to its winning ways.

On Saturday the Lady Broncs took

a big step, celebrating a big win against

the Chicago State Cougars in a 30-27,

30-28, 21-30, 30-27 victory and

improved to 7-12 on the year.

Chicago State kept the game close

in the first match of play but in the end

the Green and Orange were able to pull

away with the close win.

The team carried the momentum in

the next game, drawing first blood, but

Chicago State played great defensive

and was able to keep the score close.

Midway through the match the Lady

Broncs pulled away in a 7-2 point run

making the score 17-9. The lead was

enough to put the Coogs away 30-28.

In the third game, answered back

with a dominating performance over

UTPA and closed the game out with a

30-21 victory. The women finally closed

the game out with a 30-27 win in the

fourth game capturing an important road

victory over Chicago State.

“We executed and played the way

wanted to play,” UTPA’s head coach

Angela Hubbard said. “Our team strug-

gled a bit but we fought hard and were

able to come out with a big win.”

Deanna Schneyer led the Lady

Broncs with a match-high 16 kills to go

along with a .387 hitting percentage.

Teammate Noelle Mayor collected her

first career double-double with a 10-kill,

12-dig performance.

UTPA proved to be the better team

statistically in kills (59-54), total attacks

(163-160), assists (58-51) and digs (70-65).

On Tuesday, the women traveled to

Nacogdoches, determined to keep the

momentum up, but the Ladyjacks put

those hopes to rest by closing out a dom-

inating 3-0 set victory. The Ladyjacks

outplayed the Green and Orange offen-

sively as well as defensively, defeating

them 30-10, 30-12, and 30-21.

In the first two games, SFA jumped

out to commanding leads and never

looked back, winning convincingly in the

first two matches, by quelling any type of

rally the Lady Broncs tried to establish.

In the third game the Green and

Orange came out firing jumping out to a

10-3 lead early in the game. But defen-

sively, the team broke down as SFA

came storming back to pull ahead mid-

way through match. The Lady Broncs

never established an offensive rhythm as

they fell to the Ladyjacks 30-21 to close

the game out.

On a positive note, Mayor led the

Lady Broncs with eight kills to go along

with a career-high 16 digs. Chelsea

Blakely put up a team high 20 assists in

the UTPA defeat. In addition, newcomer

Danielle Reed was named Defensive

Player of the Week.

“We are getting better as the sea-

son progresses,” Hubbard said. “There

are some things we still need to work on

but over all I’m still happy in the way

they performed during the away games.”

Next, the women travel to

Beaumont, Texas to take on Lamar

University on Monday at 7 p.m.

Behind all the equipment and

amenities the new Wellness and

Recreation Sports Center at The

University of Texas-Pan American the

center offers, runs a business. It is a busi-

ness that needs to be operated according-

ly to guarantee the center is successful

and will be in the future, but also to

ensure that students are getting the prop-

er facilities and services it takes to

accomplish the overall goal of establish-

ing a healthy lifestyle for them.

To achieve that objective, three

new, prominent additions were made to

the center’s staff by Jim Watson, director

of the WRSC.

Travis Hughes, assistant director of

the WRSC; Colleen Price, marketing coor-

dinator and Jackque Adams, fitness coor-

dinator, are the most recent hires staff in

hopes of making it a successful business.

According to Watson, Hughes was

hired as assistant director to operate the

building leaving more of the financial

aspects for Watson to handle.

Hughes attended Texas A&M-

College Station and worked at the Parks

and Recreation center there. He received

a master’s in sports management in 1994.

From 1997-2000, Hughes was the

coordinator of campus activities and then

left UTPA for four years to become the

superintendent of the McAllen recreation.

Hughes returned to UTPA in 2004 to teach

in the kinesiology department, until his

recent move to the recreation center.

Other than Watson, Hughes has the

biggest responsibility at the center. From

making sure the building is clean to get-

ting employees trained in different areas

to overseeing the aquatics vicinity,

Hughes is piled with multiple tasks. He

said he is content with the fact that the

business opened on schedule and is run-

ning smoothly, but at the same time has

faced many challenges.

“Any time you open a building,

there’s going to be little things that don’t

work and things that people forgot to

think about or to put in,” said Hughes.

“We’re going to trying to take care of the

things we’re finding out as we go, plus

operate the building and get everyone

used to it.”

After attending the University of

San Francisco and working with their

recreation center, Price was brought to

UTPA as a marketing coordinator. Her

responsibilities are membership servic-

es, helping alumni and faculty get situat-

ed and increasing the number of atten-

dees at the center.

According to her intern, Gabriel

Quintanilla, Price was brought here to

start from scratch.

Currently, an Oct. 30 ribbon cutting

ceremony is one of many events planned

to help attract people to the center.

“I really like working with

Colleen,” said Quintanilla, a junior

advertising major. “Anything that I bring

up to her, she’ll never shut me down and

we’ll talk.”

But Price and Quintanilla face the

tough task of increasing numbers, which

has been difficult since many students

already have memberships at other gyms.

Quintanilla said they are doing

whatever they can to get students to

switch over in the hopes of achieving

their primary goal.

“We want students to go unwind,

stay active and stay fit,” said

Quintanilla. “That’s the message that

we’re trying to get across to everybody.”

After seven years of working in the

gym atmosphere, Adams knows what it

takes to be a fitness coordinator .

Born and raised in Rollamo, Mo.,

Adams attended the University of West

Florida and worked for the recreation

department all through college. She

graduated in December 2005 with a

degree in exercise science.

She was a fitness specialist and a

group exercise coordinator for one year

and eight months at the White House,

working with the president’s staff.

Adams then decided that she needed a

change to explore new areas and things.

She was contacted by Watson and

was brought here to promote and edu-

cate on health and wellness education.

She decided on the new job

because her philosophy is that every-

body can be into fitness.

“Everyone has a niche in fitness,”

Adams said. “It’s not just going and run-

ning on the treadmill every day. There

are tons of different activities to staying

active and healthy. I just kind of like

being part of helping people find that

niche in the fitness program.”

The WRSC is up and running,

gaining popularity as the days pass. It is

in its first two months of existence, so

the center still has a lot of growing to do,

according to Watson.

“We’ve had a few rough spots, but

all in all it’s been going very well for a

facility that is just starting up,” said

Watson.

VOLLEYBALL

By DANNY GARZAThe Pan American

Women crush Chicago State, improve to 7-12Lady Broncssurpass lastyear’s win total

TENNIS

SPORTSSeptember 27, 2007 Page 13

Onydia Garza/The Pan American

By RAMIRO PAEZThe Pan American

Watson adds three new people to growing Sports Complex

Upcoming Upcoming VVolleyballolleyballScheduleSchedule

Oct. 2 @ Lamar Beaumont 7 p.m.

Oct. 5 @ Utah Valley State Orem, UT 7 p.m.

Oct. 9 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi UTPA Field House 7 p.m.

FAMILIAR FACE - Travis Hughes takes over as WRSC assistant director.

On Saturday, the UTPA men’s and

women’s cross country teams competed

in the Texas A&M Invitational in

College Station seeking to follow up on

an impressive start to the 2007 season.

They’d finished second and fourth

in two previous meets, but this time

around, however, the men’s team was

not at full strength. Freshman standout

Angel Ramirez was left off the roster as

he is nursing a minor injury. Despite the

absence, the team pulled together and

earned a strong sixth-place result in the

8,000 meter race. Compiling his third

top-ten finish, La Joya native Luis Nava

had another remarkable performance

culminating in a seventh-place finish

with a time of 24:54.

“It’s very important. Luis is step-

ping up to be a leader,” said Coach

Dennis Darling. “I think he was even

surprised at himself a bit. He knows now

that he can run with some of the best.”

J.J. Hernandez, a junior hailing

from San Juan, contributed to the team’s

success by posting a time of 26:00, good

enough for 27th place. Jorge Rodriguez

and Wally Gonzalez rounded out the

effort with, 57th, and 64th place finishes,

respectively.

Now the coach expects his runners

to keep on rolling.

“We’re hosting the Independent

Conference Championship this year and

I want to win overall in both the

women’s and men’s divisions,” Darling

said. “So, our focus is always running

fast and getting the team together and

prepared for it.”

The women’s cross country team

topped the men’s overall finish with a

fifth-place offering in the 5,000 meter

contest at A&M. Junior runner Shardae

Bey continued her consistent work with

a 41st place showing and a total time of

19:38.

She’s been very consistent, becom-

ing one of the top runners for the

women’s team,” said Assistant Coach

Hugo Cervantes. “She’s a game runner

when it comes down to racing.”

Not far behind, Edinburg-bred

Rose Escovedo managed to remain at

the top half of the meet’s applicants,

earning 45th place out of 99 total run-

ners. Sara Rodriguez and Diana Galloso

also helped supply the team a

respectable finale, chiming in at 51 and

60, respectively.

“The women really stepped up and

performed as a team, really for the first

time this season,” Darling said. “They

placed fifth overall, when there were

some big schools over there. That was a

big accomplishment for them; they

should take it and apply it to the upcom-

ing week.”

The cross-country teams will look

to build on their success at the Splash

Invitational Sept. 28, hosted by Texas

A&M-Corpus Christi. Darling believes

that this week’s training and preparation

will provide the team the necessary

motivation to continue improving in all

facets of the sport.

“In track and field, all you can

hope for is to get better every week and

to compete at a high-standard level,”

Darling said. “Hopefully they can go up

there and do that this weekend. It won’t

be as big as The Texas A&M

Invitational, but we can have a better

performance and placing in Corpus

Christi.”

SPORTSPage 14 September 27, 2007

CROSS COUNTRY

Women takefifth overall atCollege StationBy ORLANDO BUENTELLOThe Pan American

Luis Nava records another top-10 finish

Onydia Garza/The Pan American

GOING THE DISTANCE - (Left) Junior Gil Castillo; sophomore Vidal Ruiz;freshman Leo Adame and Junior Luis Nava train for Friday’s SplashInvitational hosted by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Nava, a La Joya native,earned his third top-ten finish of the season for the Green and Orange.

The men’s program finished just

below the top half of the conference with

fifth-place laurels. Though the men

played better than they had in the previ-

ous tourney, members remained less

than ecstatic about the outcome.

After split-location tournaments

Monday and Tuesday, the men’s and

women’s golf teams felt that their play

were sub par.

Following concurrent seventh

place standings after Monday’s rounds,

both Bronc teams succumbed to what

Head Coach Ofelia Lopez referred to as

“mediocre performances.”

After Monday’s 18 fairways at the

American Sky Conference

Championship in Utah, Carrollton native

Shane Pearce had garnered a first place

standing on the men’s side shooting a

score of 66, the second best single round

score to emerge in program history.

Finishing the same round in a distant

40th place was sophomore Armen

Kirakossian.

“It was all in the putting yesterday

and I was hitting great,” Pearce said. “I

wasn’t giving myself the right opportu-

nities to make birdies [today]. I was

leaving myself a lot of hard putts and I

wasn’t scoring as well as I did Monday.”

Despite his first day performance,

on day two of the campaign Pearce

cracked the top 10 to tie for sixth place

overall in the championship.

Kirakossian claimed the fourteenth posi-

tion overall followed by Van Horn,

Texas High School’s Jeff Hensley.

“The boys didn’t play so well

today,” Lopez said. “Armen

[Kirakossian] shot 73. He played very

well but for him it will still be mediocre

because anything under 72 for him is

mediocre.”

As the men toughed it out in Utah,

the women were busy with a battle in the

bayou as they fought rain and low visi-

bility at the Fred Marx Invitational in

Monroe, La.

“We were playing in a monsoon,”

Lopez said. “We could barely see the

green. Everything was wet and there

were puddles. There was no letting up on

the rain and we were drenched from

head to toe.”

The ladies finished Monday’s two-

round set in the 7th spot with senior and

Alberta, Canada Native Bronwyn

Sandberg leading the pack in 19th place.

Sandberg reemerged as Lady

Bronc front-runner on the second day of

the competition managing 25th place

overall and a three-round-mark of 235.

Coming in behind Sandberg and tied for

42nd place was Mariale Camey. The

Green and Orange managed 10th place

of 10 teams to end the series.

“We have a lack of confidence

[and] all these goals we want to achieve.

We need to realize that [the goals] are

legit,” Lopez said. “Once we get to the

tournament we don’t need to back down

or play in fear. All of the girls know what

they want; it’s just a matter of them

believing in themselves.”

The Bronc coach continued to say

that the team had been confident at the

beginning of the tournament, so any-

thing less than fifth place was unac-

ceptable.

Leadership was spread thin

between the men’s and women’s teams

during their tournaments this week as

Lopez was unable to command both

squads. The tightly scheduled coach del-

egated responsibility this week by trav-

eling to Louisiana with the ladies and

leaving the men under the supervision of

former head track coach Ricky Vaughn.

“I would have loved to be in two

places at once, but I don’t have super-

powers so I can’t,” Lopez said. “I respect

both teams equally and the boys know I’ll

see them at their next tournament.”

Vaughn, the assistant athletic direc-

tor for academic support and student

services, said he witnessed tremendous

effort during the two day trial.

“The guys went out there and

played hard,” he said. “But they had a

difficult time with their putts.”

Lopez said her absence had little to

do with the men’s performances, and

placed trust in Vaughn’s coaching abilities.

The next stop on the men’s sched-

ule is slated for Oct. 8 at the Crown

Classic in Lufkin, while the women set

their sights Tulsa, for the ORU

shootout Oct. 1.

A wealth of talent and cohesive

play, according to soccer club adviser

Marcelo Schmidt, has the University of

Texas-Pan American Bronc Soccer Club

off to another strong start in the

Southeast Division of the Texas

Collegiate Soccer League.

Luis Reynoso’s third goal of the sea-

son was just enough for the men to slip

past Texas A&M University No. 2, 1-0 at

College Station. With its much larger

enrollment, A&M has two teams of equal

talent; No. 1 plays in the Central Division

while No. 2 is in the Broncs’ division.

The Broncs (3-1) have pushed

their way to the top of the Southeast

standings with back-to-back victories,

including a 3-2 road win over the

University of Texas-San Antonio on

Sept. 15 – avenging last season’s only

defeat. Reynoso found the back of the

net twice against the Roadrunners and

was instrumental as the team assumed a

3-1 lead in that game.

An edge in possession time derived

from a solid formation combined with

steady team play; the result is that

resilient Broncs are stacking up victories

once again.

“We had total control of the ball,

maybe 70 to 80 percent of the time we

had the ball but couldn’t score,” Schmidt

said, following the A&M game.

Against the Aggies, Luis

Barrenechea failed to give the Broncs an

early lead in the first half, after his

penalty kick was stopped in the early

stages of the game and the teams went

into halftime knotted at 0-0.

With slight tweaks and modifica-

tions to the line-up, Schmidt decided to

adjust his team’s four-man midfield.

Both wings stayed home, looking for

breakaways up the sidelines. One of

UTPA’s midfielders looked to quarter-

back the club while the other sat back

as a stopper.

“We played a diamond-shaped

midfield with our playmaker moving

closer to our forwards, and it proved to

be an incredible thing,” the coach said.

Unrelenting runs finally evolved

into scoring opportunities, and with the

lineup changes the Broncs were able to

buck the Aggies 20 minutes into the

second half.

UTPA’s Juan Ramon, who kicked

back as a stopper, took a drive up the left

side and filtered a pass to Reynoso in the

box. Reynoso shot twice but both of his

attempts bounced off the keeper’s chest

and back at his feet. The third shot

proved to be the charm, and Ramon was

credited with the assist.

Originally, the Green and Orange

were scheduled to play back-to-back

games, but Saturday’s game against the

University of Texas No. 2 was resched-

uled for Oct. 14 due to travel and safety

concerns, Schmidt said.

“It was risky, because it would

have been too much driving with little

rest,” Barrenechea said. “The team

would have had to drive back after the

Texas game, pack again and head over to

College Station, so instead the

Longhorns agreed to reschedule.”

After spending some successful

time on the road, the soccer club now

shifts gears to make a home stand begin-

ning Saturday at 1 p.m. against Rice,

which may very well be the weakest

team in the division. The Owls’ best

result has been a 2-2 tie against San

Antonio College and they have been

outscored 11-5 on the year. Schmidt said

he’ll try out different players who have

not yet been considered for the starting

11. But he says that the team isn’t taking

a win for granted.

“I’m not going to call it a weaker

squad,” he said.

A reprise of the Broncs’ 3-2 win

over UTSA is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Sunday at the intramural practice field;

one, which Schmidt said, should be an

“incredible match.”

The Lady Broncs (0-1-1) have yet to

post a victory and the Saturday road game

versus UTSA was rescheduled for Oct. 7;

their adviser had prior commitments.

“The girls were kind of upset

because we couldn’t play this weekend,”

said sophomore right center Cynthia

Sanchez. “Our adviser couldn’t make the

trip and we couldn’t find someone to go

with us.”

By ERICK QUINTERO

The Pan American

Lady Broncs taketenth at FredMarx Invitational

CLUB SOCCERSPORTS

September 27, 2007 Page 15

Men finished fifth overall at Conference Championships

Melissa Uriegas

By GABRIEL SALDANAThe Pan American

Reynoso strikes again, Broncs slip past Texas A&MMen improve to3-1, claim topspot in division

GOLF

Onydia Garza/The Pan AmericanUP FOR GRABS - Senior ArtemioArriaga (right) fights for position. Themen face Rice University on Saturdayat the intramural practice field.

SWING - Junior Mariale Camey had another solid outing for The University ofTexas-Pan American women’s golf team: she tied for 42nd overall Monday.

SPORTS

2

11Number of formerCongressmen who have

played football at UTPA -Kika de la Garza

2Recent additions to themen’s basketball team

StatsAtAGlance

55Round in which formerUTPA basketball player

Colin Lien was drafted bythe Rio Grande Silverados of

the CBA

The 2007 women’s tennis season

officially got under way on Friday as

they traveled to Lubbock, Texas to com-

pete in the Red Raider Shootout and

gave a tough performance.

The women had a successful first

day going 6-6 in single matches and 2-1

in doubles.

Senior Silke Buksik had a stellar

performance as she qualified for finals

after going undefeated in all of her

matches. She defeated Natalie McLeod

of Texas State posting a victory of 6-0

and 6-4.

In doubles action, the Germany

native teamed up Megan Bedeau and

secured an 8-2 victory defeating Alex

Buckingham and Shanei Garcia of North

Central Junior College.

Julia Cirne-Lima posted a victory

against Meghan Kiser of Air Force 6-0,

6-1 and battled in the super tie breaker

but came up short against Janet Durham

6-2, 3-6, 10-2.

Sophomore Stephanie Willerding

went 1-1 in the third flight and Bedeau

posted a victory in her first round match

3-6, 6-3 and 10-1.

In top the flight of double’s action,

Oliveira and Cirne-Lima won handily 6-

0, 6-1 against Christine Abayan and

Erlyn Rudico of Air Force.

TENNIS

ShortSports

THE PAN AMERICANPage 16 September 27, 2007

Bronc football, buried in historyFOOTBALL

It’s a question Athletic Director

Scott Street has been asked many times

and one which there is really no short

answer to. ‘Why does the University of

Texas-Pan American not have a football

team?’

After all, Texas is a hotbed for

football talent and it’s safe to say for

most Valley residents football is life.

The bottom line is, like with everything

else that makes the world go round—

money.

“Certainly there have been discus-

sions about adding football over the

years, long before I was here and what

people don’t realize is that UTPA did

have football at one time,” said Street

who added that there is no timeline set

to implement a football program. “My

understanding is they stopped it right

about the Korean war time in the early

fifties.”

From its early beginnings as

Edinburg Junior College in 1927 foot-

ball was a staple of athletics followed

closely by basketball, baseball and track

and field.

As a member of the South Texas

Conference, the Broncs played the likes

of Southwest Texas Junior College of

Uvalde, Victoria College, Texas

Southmost College of Brownsville,

Wharton County Junior College and

Del Mar College of Corpus Christi, but

were dropped after the institution devel-

oped into a four-year college—Pan

American College in 1952.

The intention was there but the

football program failed to survive the

new budget and was buried under the

success of the 1960’s Bronc basketball

teams.

Only vague memories remain,

embedded on a few yearbooks neatly

stacked in the office of special collec-

tions. A dilapidated 16mm film serves

as the only proof of the Broncs gridiron

gang—which is in the process of being

restored and digitalized.

A general and natural desire for

school unity but most important the

longing to identify with the Green and

Orange as many other ‘big time’ univer-

sities do around their colors seems to be

the general consensus among UTPA

students like junior business marketing

major Mae Vela.

“I wish we did have one, just

because I think football is more known

and I think it would attract more atten-

tion than volleyball. Right when you get

out of high school that’s the main thing

[football],” Vela said. “I think that they

have plenty of money now, or they

should, with as much as we pay.”

Junior education major, Rodrigo

Arellano echoed Vela’s sentiment and

said he would support an increase in

tuition fees if the university was willing

to implement a football team just like

they did for the new Wellness and

Recreational Sports Complex.

“We should be able to make that

approach,” said Vela. “It kind of does

[bother me] a little bit, because I see the

other universities all around especially

like Texas A&M and the Longhorns; its

just that whole atmosphere from the stu-

dents, it’s just totally awesome and I

wouldn’t mind seeing that around

UTPA.”

Carr Sports Associates, Inc. con-

ducted a feasibility study for the

University of Texas-San Antonio in

Feb. 2006 to determine the necessary

approach to deliver football to the

Roadrunners. This study benchmarked

all the infrastructure developments

required to do so, chief among them—

funds, gender equality and attendance.

Conversely if UTPA wanted to add

football it would have to not only add

65 scholarships if it entered as Division

I AA, or 85 if it entered as a Division I

A, but it would have to match that same

number of scholarships for women’s

sports. Meaning the athletic department

would have to add more women’s sports

and at a time when not all teams are

fully funded i.e. baseball, the likelihood

of Saturday tail gating fades into obscu-

rity.

If UTPA started as Division I-AA,

the aproximate startup cost, excluding a

facility, to pay for coaches, staff, travel,

scholarships and administrators would

be anywhere between $1.5 to $4 mil-

lion. Whereas starting as Division I-A

would run anywhere between $4 mil-

lion and $8 million.

“That’s one issue right there,

we’re not just looking too add a football

team, but a multitude of teams. Not to

mention we have no facilities right now

to house any of those programs, and just

the startup cost alone, that’s a big chunk

right there,” Street said.

Furthermore Division I A requires

an annual average attendance of at least

15,000 in actual or paid attendance bi-

annually for all home football games.

Florida International and Florida

Atlantic have both instituted football

programs in recent years, both started as

Division IAA and moved up to a I A

conference, provide a tried and tested

model for a instituting football pro-

grams.

“I probably have a better knowl-

edge than other people about the whole

process,” said Street, who prior to com-

ing to UTPA worked for seven years at

UTSA; one of his duties, traveling to

other developing football campuses to

study their approach

“Those schools are great models,

even if you go back to Marshall

University, they came from I AA and

worked themselves back up, so I think

there’s a variety of models out there that

we can look at.”

CLASS OF 1951 - The 1950-1951 Bronc football team, coached by James Brooks (second row, farright) was cut after the university expanded into a four-year institution. Former congressman Kika dela Garza (third row, second from right) suited up for what was then known as Pan American College.

By ERICK QUINTEROThe Pan American

Office of Special Collections.