It’s been a long grueling process, but it looks like the University of Texas-Pan American will fi nally have its new athletic director come Wednes-day morning. Multiple sources inside the university close to the decision process have said that it is likely that Chris King, the University of Alabama associate athletic director, will be the

next AD at UTPA.However, interim president Charles

Sorber said via e-mail to The Pan American that a selection had not been made and would not be announced until some time next week. John Ed-wards, the vice president of enroll-ment and student services, declined comment on the matter.

A press release was sent out Fri-day by the athletic department saying that the new AD would be announced

Wednesday at the visitor’s center, but did not provide a name.

In a phone interview, King said he was under instruction from Edwards not to comment in the interest of pre-serving the process. However, three days earlier, King had confi rmed that he believed the decision had come down to him and one other candidate; he said he didn’t know the name of the other candidate.

Sorber and Edwards have been

discussing the decision since Aug. 18 when the AD search committee, headed by Richard Treviño, made its recommendation.

“We as a committee, as we begin to go through applications we look at several things,” Trevino said. “We essentially, months and months ago, came up with a job description. Cer-tainly we were looking at the leader-ship of the individual, their ability to

A memo from Provost and Aca-demic Affairs Vice President Paul Sale to sociology professor Steven Liebowitz confi rms the presence of an investigation of the tenured professor. It also contains a directive ordering Leibowitz to remove himself from all activities that cause him to come into contact with students.

The memo was obtained by The

Pan American through the use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). It is dated July 2, 2009 and is signed by Sale.

According to Sociology Depart-ment Chair Chad Richardson, he can-not comment on the issue because of the ongoing nature of the investiga-tion. Van Reidhead, dean of the Col-lege of Social and Behavioral Scienc-es, was unavailable for comment.

Leibowitz was suddenly reassigned from his teaching duties on July 2. A

female student in one of his classes, who wished to not be identifi ed, said university staff came into the class, talked to students individually, and asked her questions concerning sexual misconduct.

In the memo, Sale said he has be-come aware of allegations that suggest Leibowitz may have violated provi-sions of HOP 6.5.1, which outlines faculty’s rights to academic freedom and their responsibility for the use of

The Student Government Associa-tion will hold its fi rst Valley Leader-ship Summit Sept. 17 at the Student Union, hoping to come out of the event with some answers to impor-tant issues.

SGA will be inviting elected of-fi cials such as Texas representatives to speak with students about issues and laws that directly affect the stu-dent body. Also invited to attend are students, faculty, mayors and district commissioners.

“A lot of the things that SGA fo-cuses on are things that have to do with the university,” explained Ra-ghuveer Puttagunta, SGA president. “But we want an opportunity for those students to be aware of things that happen outside of the university as well. “

Elected offi cials expected include Ryan Guillen from Rio Grande City, Ismael Flores from Palmview and Armando Martinez from Weslaco. Representatives from the offi ces of Ruben Hinojosa, originally from Ed-inburg, and Henry Cuellar, originally from Laredo, are expected to make presentations as well.

The summit is expected to begin at

THE PAN AMERICANVolume 66, No. 1 August 31, 2009

King likely AD, sources say By Kevin StichThe Pan American

SGA to hold Valley area leadership summit By Roxann GarzaThe Pan American

Provost memo on Leibowitz surfaces

See SUMMIT || Page 6

By Brian SilvaThe Pan American

CARTED OFF - Melissa Garza, an 18-year-old mechanical engineering major from Rio Grande City, settles into her dorm room at Unity Hall on Bronc Move-In Day along with other incoming freshmen.

INDEX OPINION PG. 2 NEWS PG. 3 ARTS & LIFE PG. 10 SPORTS PG. 14

For Convocation news see pages 8 & 9For Convocation news see pages 8 & 9

Brian Silva/The Pan American

See DIRECTOR || Page 5

See INVESTIGATION || Page 6

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THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN

THE PAN AMERICANPage 2 August 31, 2009

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Brian Silva / basilva1@utpa.edu

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Ana Villaurrutia / alvillaurru@utpa.edu

VIDEO EDITOR

Naxiely Lopez / naxiely@myway.com

A&L EDITOR

Isaac Garcia / izek_el@yahoo.com

SPORTS EDITOR

Kevin Stich/ k.stich@gmail.com

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Ben Briones / ben.briones.jr@gmail.com DESIGN EDITOR

Gregorio Garza / ggarzaz26@utpa.edu

SENIOR DESIGNER

Roy Bazan / rbazanzz@utpa.edu

ADVISER

Dr. Greg Selber / selberg@utpa.edu

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSOCIATE

Anita Reyes / areyes18@utpa.edu

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Mariel Cantu/ spubs@utpa.edu

WEBMASTER

Jose Villarreal / josemvillarrealcs@gmail.com

The Pan American accepts letters of 300 words or less from students, staff and faculty regarding recent newspaper content, campus concerns or current events. The Pan American reserves the right to edit submissions for grammar and length. The Pan Americancannot publish anonymous letters or submissions containing hate speech or gratuitous personal attacks. Please send all story ideas to thepanamerican@gmail.com.

Individuals with disabilities wishing to acquire this publication in an alternative format or needing assistance to attend any event listed can contact The Pan American for more details.

The Pan American is the offi cial student newspaper of The University of Texas-Pan American. Views presented are those of the writers and do not necessarily refl ect those of the paper or university.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

**Delivery**Thursday at noon

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

Fax: (956) 316-7122

August 31, 2009 Vol 66, No. 1

Letter from the EditorThe Pan American student newspa-

per has joined the forefront of student journalism organizations by offering a new medium for our newspaper. That medium, www.panamericanon-line.com, will allow us an amazing new opportunity to explore the world of online journalism. In a day and age when the world of journalism is quickly changing, the new site offers an array of elements that can build the different skills we need to be better journalists.

The new features include comment-ing, receiving breaking news alerts and newsletters, multimedia, and LiveBlog It.

Every story will have a feature that will allow anyone to leave a comment about the story. The area to leave re-marks is located toward the end of the article. Also in the same area will be comments left by other people. All readers have to do is fi ll in their name, comment, and write in the anti-spam-ming code. Then press the submit and your comment will be displayed for others to read.

Breaking News Alerts is a great feature that allows people to receive breaking news from The Pan Ameri-can on their e-mail. Any time a break-ing news story happens an e-mail with the story will be sent to registered us-ers. Also, a newsletter will be sent out providing our readers with brief tid bits about what is in that week’s issue and stories that are exclusively online. All you have to do to receive this e-mail notifi cations is sign up as a user on our site. To sign up all you have to do is fi ll out a few pieces of informa-tion and submit.

One of the most exciting new ad-ventures we’re embarking on is the multimedia area of journalism. To be a journalist now means you must be much more skilled than what was re-

quired of journalists before. We must now be able to not only write, but also take our own photography and video. Because our Web site allows for un-limited space, we will now be able to provide every facet of a story on the site. Pictures that we didn’t have space for can now all be put online. Short videos on the story can now be pack-aged with it. This not only allows us student journalists to build our skills to be 21 century journalists, but it also allows you to see a wider scope of news coverage of the UTPA com-munity.

Another element being established is a feature called LiveBlog It. Dur-ing live events this feature will allow you to see through the descriptions our reporter provides at an instantaneous moment. What happens is the reporter blogs in real time and describes the event that is under way. It also al-lows for users to comment alongside the reporter’s remarks, adding a fully interactive element to this multimedia feature. At times we’ll also be able to provide pieces of video to go along-side the reporter’s observations.

One of the key areas where we’ll be using LiveBlog It is during sports events. We’ll be able to tell you scores and descriptions of the plays in real time. During breaks in the games we’ll also be able to provide short video highlights, allowing you to see the game even if you can’t actually at-tend it. We strongly encourage you to check back during home games to see what the latest scores.

There are endless opportunities for us all to learn and grow via this new medium for our publication. Join us in our efforts and use the interactive features.

Thank you for reading!

Fill in your

information here

Choose them all

Tell us what you think

Live news!

Physical Plant representatives are drawing up plans for what they hope will be changes to the university’s road and crosswalk markings in order to alleviate pedestrian and vehicular traffi c and pre-vent possible accidents.

Assistant Director of Physical Plant John Patton said they are hoping to present their plans and budget to the city by late fall, but are requisitioning plans for now.

“Once we bid it out to other contractors and have a budget, then it will be submit-ted to the city,” Patton said. “It’s not a rapid process, but we’re moving right along.”

The changes are based on a crosswalk study conducted by surveying fi rm Halff Associates, Inc. The fi rm visited campus

from April 13 to April 16 around Sugar Road, Schunior Road and Van Week Street. The study recommended fi ve changes to the intersections around the Wellness and Recreational Sports Com-plex, an extension to the sidewalk north of Van Week Street, and modifi cations to Lot C, located behind the College of So-cial and Behavioral Sciences.

Based on a six-hour study of three peak traffi c times, vehicle traffi c averaged from 560 to 1,021 vehicles at the Sugar-Schunior intersection and about 162 to 253 pedestrians per day.

WRSC INTERSECTIONThe study found that the WRSC in-

tersection was the most utilized cross-walk and much of the study focused on it. The study pointed out the WRSC re-ceives a large amount of weekly visitors about 25,000 visitors monthly in 2009.

The midday peak time and the time after classes were found as prime traffi c times.

During these times, 38 drivers turned left within the six-hour peak time, despite there being a “right turn only” sign. The sign was implemented to prevent exiting cars from crossing three lanes and pos-sibly colliding with students crossing the road. The study said during Sugar Road’s traffi c hour, a driver’s view of the cross-walk would be blocked by traffi c.

“With the opening of the Wellness and Recreational Sports Center, there are an increase amount of students crossing,” said Patton. “No one has been hurt yet.”

The study recommended several dif-ferent medians, including a painted me-dian with or without textured pavers to be placed north from the WRSC crosswalk

Professor Emeritus Robert Henry Reeve left The University of Texas-Pan American in the last few years while technological advances such as wireless Internet and document cameras were being introduced to the university. Today, as the university mourns his death, they thank Reeve for contributing to the use of technology in the classroom.

Reeve died on Aug. 10 at age 85 after complications from surgery. He

is survived by his wife Shirley Ballard Reeve, his three sons, Cark, Alan and Gordon Reeve, and daughter Norma Reeve Wade.

Reeve grew up in northern New Jersey and joined the army during WWII. He advanced to corporal and went overseas three weeks after America’s historic invasion of Normandy. Reeve’s son, Gordon Reeve said his father decided to take advantage of the GI Bill and enrolled in Merryville College in Tennessee in 1946, earning his bachelor’s in biology. At Merryville, he met his future wife.

Reeve then got his master’s in bacteriology in 1953 at Lehigh (Pa.) University and Ph.D in science education in the late ‘60s. Gordon Reeve said his father became increasingly interested in technology during the ‘50s when the Russian satellite, Sputnik, was launched into orbit and the United States started to focus on education in science and math.

“He was part of the army of science professors that really pushed the U.S. into the forefront of science,” Gordon Reeve recalled.

Reeve started teaching biology at

Florida State University. There, he experimented with distance learning by taping lectures and presenting them to public schools.

“It was an early experiment in using educational technology…it was successful for several years,” Reeve said.

The son also remembered his father’s constant upkeep with technology that would characterize his career as an educator.

“He would drive us nuts with the latest technology,” he laughed. “Every time we’d turn around there was a new

gadget.” Reeve also taught at Ferris State

University and Indiana State University until he fi nally settled in Edinburg in 1972 at what was then Pan American University, becoming a full-time professor. During his time at UTPA, he taught courses in instructional technology, science education, research, and curriculum.

Long-time colleague John McBride remembered the early days when Reeve would integrate technology in the

The beginning of a new partnership between The University of Texas-Pan American, City of McAllen and the Rio Grande Valley community began Wednesday morning as UTPA had a ribbon cutting for new McAllen Teaching Site.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Sale, Interim President Charles Sorber, City of McAllen mayor Richard Cortez and UT System Regent James E. Dannembaum all spoke at the ribbon cutting.

With thse new teaching site comes accessibility for local businesses and teaching professionals to expand their careers as graduate students while having to drive far less often to UTPA’s main campus in Edinburg. Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services John Edwards is credited as the man behind the graduate site in McAllen.

“I love Edinburg and love the university campus out there,” Edwards said. “But it’s diffi cult sometimes to get out there to the campus and sometimes just the thought of the distance and the drive will stop some people.”

According to Edwards, the proximity of the site will “reinvigorate the market” for professionals to expand their education and knowledge. Already the site has over 200 students enrolled in its courses and it is anticipated that the site will outgrow by demand.

Sorber voiced his projections of the expanding site’s enrollment.

“These 12 or 14 courses are just the beginning. We intend to expand our offering as the demand is there,” Sorber said. “We’re going to have to look for a larger facility or expand this one at some point in time if this trend keeps up.”

Students who are looking to get their master’s in teaching or MBA in business will be able to take courses at the site.

Page 3THE PAN AMERICANAugust 31, 2009

Dates to Know:

Professor emeritus’ lessons live on after death

CROSSING OVER - A student walks across the stoplight walkway on Sugar Road from the main campus to the dorms area. The university plans to enhance the infrastructure in the area soon.

Hector J. Garcia/ The Pan American

New McAllen Teaching Site creates partnership

By Ana VillaurrutiaThe Pan American

See SITE || Page 7

Deadline to drop or add a course for fall 2009Th ursday, Sept. 3Registrarassist.utpa.edu

Freshman convocationNoon to 1 p.m.Th ursday, Sept. 3Quad and chapel lawn

See STUDY || Page 7

Infrastructure upgrade in works By Ana VillaurrutiaThe Pan American

See REEVE || Page 7

By Kristen CabreraThe Pan American

Daniel Flores / The Pan AmericanRIBBON CUTTING - (From left to right) Marco Barrera, Richard Cortez, Charles Sorber, James D. Dannenbaum, Paul Sale and Ve-ronica Gonzalez cut the ribbon at the new McAllen Teaching Site.

ADVERTISEMENTS August 31, 2009Page 4

ADVERTISEMENTS August 31, 2009Page 5

fi ve o’ clock with representative presentations on issues that they have collaborated on or feel should matter to students. They will also be encouraged to present changes that were passed during the recent Legislative session which conclud-ed this summer.

“Depending on the schedules of the representative we’ll be preparing focus groups for them to have more time to get the issue out,” Puttagunta said. “Those groups could be individuals that are affected by fi nancial aid, immigrants or illegal aliens; it just depends on what they would like to talk about.”

The second part of the summit will include an open question-response session. Appropriate questions will be posed ahead of time by students and faculty with the panel consisting of the representatives. Students can inquire on issues such as tuition and fees, fi nancial aid, information on taxes, and voting rights. The Texas Grant and Pell Grant may also be discussed.

The fi nal part of the summit will include a meet and greet with food provided by the Union, at seven o’ clock.

Students and faculty will be able to get a bit more personal with the elected offi cials and discuss issues and concerns that directly affect them.

“Because of the limited time and we have so many repre-sentatives there, it is very hard to get those personal stories out there therefore we wanted to have a meet and greet and

show a commitment to our students,” Put-tagunta said. “This will also give pre-law students exposure and an opportunity to introduce themselves to representatives.”

SGA will be putting up posters, send-ing out Broncnotes, and e-mails during the second week of school to publicize the event even further.

“Events like this haven’t been planned before by student gov-ernment, recently in my tenure, so we want to test it out and see

how it would work and improve it,” Puttgunta explained. “And that way maybe next semester we can plan some-thing bigger and more ambitious.”

be an administrator and certainly the capacity for them to raise money, be-cause we all know that’s something the department has been trying to do for many years. So, fi nancial or fi scal management was certainly very im-portant to us.”

Treviño also talked about the em-phasis on choosing a leader who mod-eled honesty.

“There was a big question about integrity,” Treviño said. “We’ve had some issues with NCAA violations, so we wanted somebody to come in who knew about that, and who would be able to work with the staff and the coaches to make sure that we stop messing around with violations and do things properly.”

The search, which resumed in May after an internal investigation of the men’s basketball program com-menced, came down to four fi nalists in King, Steven Rackley, William Macriss and interim athletic director Ricky Vaughn, who has held the posi-tion since June.

The campus visits, which took place Aug. 4 to Aug. 17, included meetings with the Student Govern-ment Association and the Student

Athlete Advisory Committee. The trips were kept relatively low-key, with no media allowed to the on-cam-pus forums where candidates fi elded questions from university students and athletes.

“I thought it went okay, I enjoyed the students,” Rackley said in a phone interview. “I think the students are a

little more diffi -cult to gauge, but I thought it went well with the staff and the other peo-ple that were there as well. I think I have a lot to of-fer UTPA, but you never know what someone’s think-ing or what they truly want behind the scenes.”

After his visit, Rackley, who is from the University of Findlay, said that he had not heard any news on the position and had even inquired as to whether The Pan American had received word on the decision, further qualifying claims that the search had been narrowed.

Though the fi nal choice of King has not been confi rmed, there is rea-son to believe that he has been tabbed as the next AD, though fi nal confi r-mation is apparently not forthcoming until Wednesday.

that freedom.The memo also mandates that he

immediately be “reassigned from all teaching duties, all advising activities and all other activities that cause you (Leibowitz) to come into contact with students,” as a part of his employment with the university.

He was also ordered to turn over all his grades and student materials to evaluate students in his classes. The memo also confi rms that he was reassigned and was to report to Dean Reidhead.

Other documents concerning the investigation have been requested via the FOIA. However, the UT System Offi ce of General Counsel is request-ing that all other documents not be turned over because of certain ex-

emptions under the act. The request was sent to the Texas Attorney Gen-eral for an opinion on whether or not the exemptions apply to this case.

Last week The Pan American re-ceived a copy of a addendum to a legal brief sent by System to the at-torney general, which presented ad-ditional evidence for exemption.

The brief cited attorney-client privilege under the exemption “Tex-as Rules of Evidence, Texas Rules of Criminal Evidence, or the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.” The brief claims those in-dividuals in the e-mail qualify for the university’s attorney-client privilege ruling because some of the content is within the “course and scope” of their employment.

Leibowitz was to teach fi ve classes this semester: Principles of Sociology, Statistics for Behavioral Science, Social Psychology, and two Sociology Through Film classes. Richardson said all of Leibowitz’s courses will be honored by the uni-versity.

“His classes will not initially be taught by him… but as of Monday his classes will be covered,” he said. Richardson did not specify which faculty would cover Leibowitz’s classes.

He reiterated that students will not be without a class and there will be no disruptions to their work.

Leibowitz, who is the former chair of the Sociology Dept., has been with the university since 1975.

NEWS Page 6August 31, 2009

INVESTIGATION continued from Page 1V

SUMMIT continued from Page 1

“...we want an opportunity for

those students to be aware of

things that happen outside of

the university as well.”

Rhaguveer PuttaguntaSGA president

DIRECTOR continued from Page 1

Seen and Captured

SECURITY TEST - Students participating in the university’s active-shooter drill on Aug. 21 explain to a security offi cer what the pretend shooter looked like.

Brian Silva/The Pan American

“There was a big question about

integrity... We’ve had some is-

sues with NCAA violations, so

we wanted somebody to come

in who knew about that...”

Richard TreviñoSearch Committee chair

Other majors will be added as the site grows. Vice Provost for Graduate Studies Cynthia Brown spoke about a promise she made to a group of teachers participating in a teacher’s scholarship program.

“When we started the program last year… we promised to have the courses at a more convenient access for the teachers,” said Brown. “We have teachers driving from Starr County, Cameron County participating in this (scholarship program) so this is a more convenient, central location.”

The facility has eight smart classrooms equipped with the latest technology

that links back to the main campus as well as class sizes of 30 in the smaller classrooms and 48 in the largest. There is also an outside student lounge area and conference rooms with live video streaming into UTPA’s main campus computer labs.

Cortez related how eager he is for the budding opportunities to come of the university, the city and the surrounding community.

“The folks that showed up demonstrated the various partnerships that we have … we believe that our roles are to be a major partner in the

communities, plural because its not just McAllen, it’s Mission, it’s Edinburg, it’s Rio Grande City where we have our Starr County (center).”

McAllen is not the only site that UTPA has reached out to in order to better serve students. In Rio Grande City the university has the Starr County Upper-Level Center, which opened in 2003 with a modest trio of portable classrooms and a computer lab. Currently the construction of a permanent building for the center is in the works.

The McAllen Teaching Site is located at 1800 S. Main St. off Expressway 83.

to south of Lot C. Though this proposed median would not provide strong physical barriers to keep drivers from turning left out of the exit drive or into the entry drive, the study said the raised pavers would provide a “felt” barrier and “legally” driv-ers would not be allowed to turn left.

The study also recommended a more forbidding raised median but also said it would prevent emergency vehicles from traveling through Sugar.

SIDEWALK ALONG VAN WEEKThe study also found the sidewalk

close to the corner of Van Week and Sugar contributed to traffi c. The sidewalk along Van Week cuts off at the fi rst pathway into main campus. Most students, although the study does not cite how many, cross near the intersection of Van Week and Sugar, backing up traffi c on Sugar.

The recommendation was to lengthen the sidewalk across the entire length of Lot C, about 190 feet according to Patton.

LOT C TRAFFICLot C was also studied with an eye to-

ward improving traffi c fl ow within the lot. The entry drive across from the WRSC was also said to cause traffi c.

Barricades on the west side of Lot C have also been proposed between the en-try and exit sides in order to prevent cars from turning left into the way of pedes-trians walking toward the crosswalk and cars exiting the lot. Another barricade to the right of the entry would keep enter-ing vehicles from interacting with drivers coming south from inside the lot. How-ever, Patton said these recommendations will involve more discussion between the

police department and new Police Chief Roger Stearns.

“The modifi cations are a little bit involved,” he explained. “We will be speaking to the police department and police chief.”

OTHER OBSERVATIONSThe study also observed lighting

around the WRSC crosswalk and said the light was not strong enough for drivers to be able to observe crossing pedestrians. However, the study said UTPA has taken precautions by installing “yield” and “re-duce speed” school zone signs.

The study also found that pedestrians are often not aware of their surround-ings when crossing intersections. Pat-ton stressed that with the addition of the crosswalk, responsibility has now shifted.

“If we had left the sidewalks off, the responsibility would have gone to the mo-torist, but now the responsibility is also in the pedestrian’s hands,” said Patton.

NEWSPage 7 August 31, 2009

STUDY continued from Page 3classroom, connecting a camera to a television so he could present lessons, graphs and diagrams to students.

“He made extensive use of the television and the speakerphone. He would call textbook authors and have them speak to a class and let the students ask questions,” McBride said.

At the university, Reeve and education professors Martha Tevis and McBride started the Rio Grande Valley’s Science and Math Collaborative in 1992, a Texas-wide program that provides in-service classes for public school teachers and offered credit for master’s degrees. Jaime Curts, associate dean for undergraduate studies in the COE, elaborated on the success of the program.

“The collaborative is currently alive and continues supporting science and

mathematics teachers interested in obtaining a master’s degree,” he said.

Reeve also formed a partnership with The University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston, holding a summer lecture series through distance learning for public schools on topics such as diabetes, cancer, and obesity. The series lasted for about 10 years.

Reeve’s work with technology and using distance learning was not lost on Curts, who feels that these early efforts are being presented in classrooms today.

“He immediately caught my attention on how he expanded the horizon of teacher preparation through the application and integration of technology to curriculum,” Curts noted. “When I participated on the College of Education New Building Committee, he approached

me and said, ‘Remember Jaime...the new building’s philosophy should be brick and click.’ Indeed that is currently refl ected on College of Education smart-classrooms as he envisioned it more than 20 years ago.”

McBride said Reeve’s most favored lesson was “lifelong learning,” a philosophy inscribed on a plaque awarded to the latter when he was named professor emeritus in 2007, about two years after his retirement.

“He was up every morning at 5 a.m. every day and he’d be working on something,” McBride said. “He was always keeping up with new issues in science.”

The COE is setting a goal to raise $25,000 for his endowed scholarship, Robert Reeve Endowed Scholarship, which was set up on his retirement.

REEVE continued from Page 3

SITE continued from Page 3

Traffi c peak hours-7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. 162 pedestrians 562 vehicles -11 a.m. to Noon 227 pedestrians 767 vehicles-5 p.m. to 6 p.m.253 pedestrians 1,021 vehicles

THE PAN AMERICANTHE PAN AMERICAN August 31, 2009 August 31, 2009 Page 9Page 8

Photos By: Daniel Flores

Last Friday Interim President Charles “Chuck” Sorber addressed faculty and staff at the Fine Arts Auditorium for Convocation. The president highlighted many of the university and faculty’s accomplishments over the past year.

His remarks ranged from the initiatives of different divisions to the budget and presiden-tial search.

On the subject of the university’s budget he announced that the UT System Board of Re-gents had recently approved this fi scal year’s budget. He said that higher education institu-tions were somewhat surprised by the increase given the downturn in the economy.

Still Sorber cautioned that a majority of the increase will disappear in a couple of years when the next session occurs.

“Unfortunately, the way the Legislature did this is by providing three percent of funding though stimulus funding,” he said. “We’ll be looking at a much tighter fi scal environment in two years and in four years.”

On a more upbeat note, Sorber told the au-dience that enrollment is expected to increase in the fall by around three percent. This would

put the university’s enrollment at over 18,000, which would be the fi rst increase after enroll-ment growth stalled the past two years.

Sorber went on to say that students’ average

ACT scores had risen. He also noted that the number of students who have to take remedial classes had fallen.

“This refl ects that all we’re doing is a suc-cess,” Sorber said.

Sorber updated faculty and staff on the process to fi nd a new permanent president. He declared to faculty that in a short period of time the uni-versity will have a new permanent leader.

He said the presidential search committee had whittled down the pool of candidates to 10 people.

“We expect the UT System to name fi nalists by around the end of next month,” Sorber said. “From this point on it will be a pretty transpar-

ent process.”He said that once the fi nalists are named they

will be brought onto campus and forums will be held for individuals to meet the fi nalists.

On the subject of technology Sorber unveiled the university’s freshly redesigned Web site, which went live on Friday. The front page of the site is completely redesigned and different widgets have been added to some divisions.

The president highlighted some of the uni-versity’s accomplishments. He touted the fact the university awarded its 50,000th degree, making it onto Forbes magazine’s Top 100 Best Public Colleges, the naming of the Guerra Honors Program, the groundbreaking of the Starr County Upper Level Center, the recently opened McAllen Teaching Center, and refur-bishing of the Veterans Assistance Center.

Sorber also introduced the new Student Govern-ment Association executive team to the audience.

He then recognized faculty that had made emeritus, reached the rank of professor, assis-tant professor, and those who had attained ten-ure. He also spoke of the various faculty recog-nitions and awards they had received.

President lauds faculty, staff in address

Des

igne

d By:

Roy Bazan • S

tory By: Brian Silva

Photo By: Hector J. Garcia

“This refl ects that all we’re doing is a success..”

Charles SorberInterim president

THE PAN AMERICANTHE PAN AMERICAN August 31, 2009 August 31, 2009 Page 9Page 8

Photos By: Daniel Flores

Last Friday Interim President Charles “Chuck” Sorber addressed faculty and staff at the Fine Arts Auditorium for Convocation. The president highlighted many of the university and faculty’s accomplishments over the past year.

His remarks ranged from the initiatives of different divisions to the budget and presiden-tial search.

On the subject of the university’s budget he announced that the UT System Board of Re-gents had recently approved this fi scal year’s budget. He said that higher education institu-tions were somewhat surprised by the increase given the downturn in the economy.

Still Sorber cautioned that a majority of the increase will disappear in a couple of years when the next session occurs.

“Unfortunately, the way the Legislature did this is by providing three percent of funding though stimulus funding,” he said. “We’ll be looking at a much tighter fi scal environment in two years and in four years.”

On a more upbeat note, Sorber told the au-dience that enrollment is expected to increase in the fall by around three percent. This would

put the university’s enrollment at over 18,000, which would be the fi rst increase after enroll-ment growth stalled the past two years.

Sorber went on to say that students’ average

ACT scores had risen. He also noted that the number of students who have to take remedial classes had fallen.

“This refl ects that all we’re doing is a suc-cess,” Sorber said.

Sorber updated faculty and staff on the process to fi nd a new permanent president. He declared to faculty that in a short period of time the uni-versity will have a new permanent leader.

He said the presidential search committee had whittled down the pool of candidates to 10 people.

“We expect the UT System to name fi nalists by around the end of next month,” Sorber said. “From this point on it will be a pretty transpar-

ent process.”He said that once the fi nalists are named they

will be brought onto campus and forums will be held for individuals to meet the fi nalists.

On the subject of technology Sorber unveiled the university’s freshly redesigned Web site, which went live on Friday. The front page of the site is completely redesigned and different widgets have been added to some divisions.

The president highlighted some of the uni-versity’s accomplishments. He touted the fact the university awarded its 50,000th degree, making it onto Forbes magazine’s Top 100 Best Public Colleges, the naming of the Guerra Honors Program, the groundbreaking of the Starr County Upper Level Center, the recently opened McAllen Teaching Center, and refur-bishing of the Veterans Assistance Center.

Sorber also introduced the new Student Govern-ment Association executive team to the audience.

He then recognized faculty that had made emeritus, reached the rank of professor, assis-tant professor, and those who had attained ten-ure. He also spoke of the various faculty recog-nitions and awards they had received.

President lauds faculty, staff in address

Des

igne

d By:

Roy Bazan • S

tory By: Brian Silva

Photo By: Hector J. Garcia

“This refl ects that all we’re doing is a success..”

Charles SorberInterim president

Organic coffee, vinyl records and sweet oldies -- this is not a description of a high-end Austin joint.

It’s what Valley people can find in their backyard; Ambrosia, a new haven for music and coffee lovers alike.

McAllen native Nicholas Anzaldua is the proud owner of the “new” coffee shop located on 6501 North 10th St. in McAllen.

This being the rebirth of Ambrosia, Anzaldua explains a move in location may be the ticket to being successful the second time around.

“There wasn’t enough traffic in our old location, we were breaking even for a while but it wasn’t a good decision to stay there,” Anzaldua said.

Though moving from downtown McAllen to the north part of town may be a big leap due to coffee shops like Starbucks and Moonbeans in that area, the owner is not afraid of the challenge.

“I don’t want to take anyone down I think there is enough money for everybody,” Anzaldua said. “I have no hard feelings towards corporate business or local ones; if anything, I wish them luck.”

Anzaldua is extremely passionate about coffee, but his idea was originally to have a record label.

“I’ve always wanted to support musicians; the whole idea was to start a label to put my music up as well as others,” he said.

Still hoping to get into the music business, Anzaldua has added a vinyl shop connected to Ambrosia called Green Cherry Records.

The generation of iPods and mp3s may be too young for vinyl, but Anzaldua believes that the nostalgia of records will bring in the older crowd but at the same time grab the interest of youngsters.

“I mean I have an iPod, but records just sound warmer and better,” Anzaldua mused. “We even have vinyl transfer, where you can bring in your record and we will change it to mp3 for a small fee.”

Aside from records and coffee, customers can also fi nd good food and live acoustic acts. The menu includes coffee, smoothies, sandwiches, pitas, humus and falafel.

If the libations don’t reel you in, the ambience will.

Sitting in the shop opening day on Aug. 27 was Ambrosia’s regular, 47-year-old Tony Navarra.

When asked why he followed

Anzaldua to the new location he simply stated every café has its own personality.

“When I come in here I could either be inside, separate from all of the activity out front, or I can be out front and participate in conversation,” Navarra said. “It’s really nice to have a place to let your hair down.”

Ambrosia gives a comfortable vibe that customers and employees both enjoy.

Employee Jacqueline Sohocki talks about the perks of the coffee shop.

“I get to drink coffee whenever I want,” the McCook native joked. “The place has a great atmosphere; it’s like a breath of fresh air because it’s not like any other coffee shop.”

With the inviting aura the building gives off, Anzaldua hopes the shop is a comfortable place for anyone who decides to drop by.

“I think there is a snootiness that comes with coffee shops sometimes and we don’t want people to feel that way, because that’s rude,” he explained. “We don’t want to exclude anyone we want them to feel welcome, and we want to offer them a cup of coffee.”

Anzaldua is hopeful that the new location and vinyl shop will garner enough interest to keep people coming back for more

THE PAN AMERICAN August 31, 2009Page 10

Dates to Know:Th e Second City to performSept. 2, 7 p.m.Student Union Th eatre

“Of Mice and Men” castingSept. 3 and 4, 7 p.m. Studio Th eatre CAS 107

Coff ee shop brews again after seven-month hiatus By Andrielle FigueroaThe Pan American

WORK IT - NicholasAnzaldua sells Katz coffee purchased out of Houston. The shop also includes organic food, sugar and milk.

Daniel Flores /The Pan American

Independent author explores power of control, future of America

What if there were a contagious virus that has been quietly infecting millions of people across the world and will one day signal the end of America, as we know it?

In his new non-fi ction book, Illinois author Tim Hall explores the power of control as a virus in a series of specula-tive essays aptly titled “How America Died: A Letter To The Future.”

Hall’s last release, “Full of it,” a pseu-do-autobiographical tale of his time work-ing on an underground newspaper was released in January 2009. He’s currently been working on a series of serialized text-comics, “Uplift The Postivicals,” and “How America Died” is currently in lim-ited release.

Using self-discovery, Hall was able to put “How America Died” together.

“I performed a kind of self-exorcism in the spring. I felt I had come to the lim-it of what I could do with autobiographi-cal fi ction/memoir and felt tapped out. So I burned a few cases of my own nov-els and then went into a weeklong trance after that,” Hall said. “That was the week when I wrote ‘How America Died.’ Maybe it was a nervous breakdown, I don’t know. Wouldn’t be my fi rst.”

“How America Died” is an unbiased

exploration of control and abuse from a biological and sociological perspective. The book seeks to answer what control is and how one can rid oneself of it. Hall argues that control is spread through so-ciety much like a virus by physical contact with those infected. By ven-turing through pol-itics, biology and psychology, Hall argues how control is essentially a vi-rus he has dubbed a “Vyron.”

So is Hall say-ing that he has discovered a new virus that will one day be recognized by the CDC?

“Well, in a strictly literal sense I can’t be sure that control will be ultimately classi-fi ed as a virus in the way we think of them now,” he said. “But it certainly behaves like one. I just learned there’s a group in Chicago that has been study-ing the similarities between gang violence and how STDs spread, for example, and they’re having fantastic results.”

But Hall doesn’t take full credit for exploring the world of the control virus.

“Artists are seers, canaries in the coal mine, they can often see the future. Bur-roughs was a drug addict, monster, and

social pariah, but much of his writ-ing has come true. That’s a prophet to me,” Hall said. “I didn’t invent the idea of the con-trol virus, but not enough people un-derstand the con-nection. I’m just the town crier, try-ing to alert folks while keeping it entertaining.”

Just like any vi-rus, people need to learn all they can to prevent infection and Hall can help.

“I think people should read the

book to understand it better, but basi-cally it spreads via trauma, which people can recover from in small doses but over extended periods causes infection by the control virus,” he commented. “Post-traumatic stress disorder is an example

of people who are fi ghting infection; the hippocampus actually shrinks, and certain brain chemicals are permanently altered, affecting the ‘fi ght or fl ight’ in-structions of the brain.

“These people are on the edge, and I think they are the key for understanding how infection works.”

Although it only took Hall fi ve days to complete the initial draft of the book, he later shortened it from 40,000 to 18,000 words and embarked on extensive re-search.

“I wrote everything from memory at fi rst, then went back and started fi nding all the data to back it up, or made cor-rections where necessary,” he explained, “But this was all swirling around my head. I had to get it out.”

The book is in limited release, but friends and critics alike have already started to generate buzz and Hall has received invitations at speaking events.

“I’ve already been invited to speak at Columbia University, and have engage-ments in the works at Bard and a college on Long Island, I think,” Hall said. “I at-tribute the positive early reaction to the fact it’s not a political polemic, though of course I don’t expect people to agree with everything I’ve written. I’m looking at is-sues of trauma, fear, and control from a health standpoint, not an ideological one.

One of the interesting aspects of “How America Died” is that the book is alive. Not in the walking, talking kind of way, but Hall has devoted a special section in the book for essays and letters from people who would like to contrib-ute their thoughts in later editions of the book.

“The Living Book is an entirely new approach to publishing I’ve created, to coincide with ‘How America Died’ by us-ing print-on-demand judiciously, utilizing the technology itself as an art form,” he elaborated. “I’m adding to the book on a rolling basis. Most current affairs books are out of date by the time they’re in print; I’m keeping printings very small for now and updating the text like software. Peo-ple who read and like the book can sub-mit essays for consideration in upcoming printings.”

Ultimately Hall is only seeking to spark thought and self-refl ection.

“It’s a heuristic essay, meaning, it’s meant to provoke thought, not outrage or fear,” he cautioned. “I want people to put down the spectator glasses of politics for a while, turn off the damn television, especially the news programs and think outside their comfort zones for a bit. It’s not easy at fi rst, but once you get used to it, you’ll almost never put the TV on again…I promise.”

By Isaac GarciaThe Pan American

Page 11THE PAN AMERICANAugust 31, 2009

When life gives you lemons, give it a ‘Valley Squeeze’By Victor ItuarteThe Pan American

This summer when some students trudged through a job and/or arduous classes, Pharr native Leo Cavazos and a group of friends joined to create Val-ley Squeeze.

The Web site collates the area’s of-ferings in entertainment in one easy to find location: ValleySqueeze.com.

“It’s a different way to get to know the Valley,” said 21-year-old Stephanie Becerra, cofounder of Valley Squeeze and a broadcast journalism major at The University of Texas-Pan Ameri-can. “We know there are probably a billion other Valley Web sites that tell you what the Valley is, but what we do is show you. With our videos, we get in-depth and intimate with the people and things we cover.”

It began when Cavazos’ father bought a Web site capable of stream-ing video, according to Becerra.

He told his friend about it and asked if she knew anyone that would be interested to help. That’s where Becerra comes in.

“We all got together and had a meet-ing talking about what we could do with it,” the San Juan native said. “As we were talking about all the things we could do, we realized that we wouldn’t have free rein of what we wanted to do because Leo’s dad would want input. That’s when we decided to go on our own and start our own thing.”

The name was a finalist among the group. According to Becerra, “Val-ley Squeeze” was selected because the area is known for its citrus and it sounded good to them.

“I wanted to name it Valley Madre or Valley Syrup, but they quickly shot it down,” she said.

Reva Garza, a political science ma-jor from Rio Hondo, said the site is an excellent source of local entertainment news.

“There’s news on this Web site that normally you would know noth-ing about by just relying on hearsay,” said the 20-year-old. “If you are really looking for a good time without hav-ing to ‘guess’ what is up in the Valley, this Web site is definitely the place to go.”

Garza particularly liked the calen-dar of Valley events on the side of the site’s front page.

An all-ages concert in Harlingen with headliners Girl In A Coma from San Antonio for Saturday Aug. 29 was promoted on the site.

A live performance of Disney’s High School Musical for that same day at the McAllen Civic Center was also featured.

“Instead of just relying on the typi-cal ‘let’s go downtown for the week-end’ mentality, this calendar gives you events and things to do almost daily,” she added. “Being that I’m a minor, its nice to know that there’s hot events going on without having to be 21 and

over.”Visitors can find plenty to do on

the page besides finding entertainment news.

There is an ongoing contest called “Where in the Valley is Leo?” that fea-tures the 22-year-old Pharr native at various locations in the area. Correct answers garner gift cards.

“Valley Soundcheck is a segment dedicated to bands, singers, and mu-sicians established in the RGV,” said 19-year-old Lilliana Lopez, a broad-cast journalism major. “Lunch with Lilli is a newer segment that focuses on Valley-owned and established eat-eries and coffee houses.” The first epi-sode gave light to Jitterz Coffee Bar in Mission.

Unique to the site is a “dragumen-tary” series that provides a special look at regional drag queens.

“These are very interesting because you get to see the process that each drag queen goes through to get ready for a performance and hear what it was that inspired them to become a drag queen,” Lopez explained.

In addition to eateries and unof-ficial landmarks, Becerra joked that their list of plans for the future may reach Canada.

“We’re working on some new seg-ments which include sports and videos that interact with our audience,” she explained. “We are also working on a new design.” IMAGE BY: VALLEYSQUEEZE.COM

Mixed martial artist knocks out gender roles

Judy Garcia, a psychology ma-jor at The University of Texas-Pan American, attended the weigh-in for her fi rst sanctioned fi ght Aug. 14. Her presence was needed as part of regulations for her fi ght on Aug. 15 at the McAllen Con-vention Center with South Texas Fighting Championship 8.

To Garcia’s dismay, she lost to her opponent, Dallas native, Anita Rodriguez. Rodriguez won through submission one minute and 53 seconds into the fi rst round. Submission is a move that can ex-plain a range of holds and choke positions. Usually when a fi ghter ends the round through submis-sion, the opponent may be injured or in a large amount of pain.

From looking at Garcia, one wouldn’t be able to tell she is a hard-training, mixed martial arts fi ghter. From her glittering Nike shoes to her girly demeanor, she seems like your average 20-year-old gal. But she’s a warrior all the same.

MMA is rapidly vying for the number one slot as America’s fa-vorite sport. A fi erce sport, it gives a reality check of adrenaline for those who are involved physically or just observing.

The sport is a composite of jiu jitsu, Muay Thai, boxing, karate and kickboxing. Women’s role in the sport has also grown drastical-

ly; the MMA organization Strike-force became the fi rst to have a female fi ght as the main event on Aug. 15 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

Garcia’s love for mixed martial arts started when she was 6 and her parents put her in karate to keep her busy.

“Actually, it was just supposed to be a summer thing…when I was small, I hated karate,” she recalled. “My dad would always force me to practice.”

Over the years, Garcia accepted fi ghting, and had developed a love for it despite her early dislike. She trains at Pump gym, also her spon-sor. The training also extends over to the Jaycee Annex Building in Edinburg. There, Garcia trains and teaches a karate class of her own.

Recently, the Edinburg native realized that she can use her skills to teach others to protect them-selves in dangerous situations.

“My dad is in charge of the po-lice academy in Mission. A lot of his cadets are interested in getting private sessions,” she said.

Helping cadets to use martial arts as a defense mechanism on the job is a future goal Garcia hopes to attain, but this summer she was preparing for her fi ght.

When we caught up with Gar-cia, she was undergoing strenu-ous preparation for the event. The workouts consisted of intense physical conditioning Monday

through Friday. Mornings start off at 5:30 with

a run; after school and work, the prep continues with an hour of Jiu Jitsu, an hour of standing, striking, kicking and an hour of Muay Thai.

Not to mention the week before the fi ght she was limited to a diet with no carbohydrates, mainly vegetables, tilapia and chicken.

Garcia’s opponent Rodriguez, weighed in at 122-and-a-half pounds and had two wins and one loss entering the fi ght. Garcia weighed in at 121 pounds, but be-ing nervous wasn’t an option. By training with males, she feels she can take on whatever a female brings to the plate.

“When it gets to practic-ing groundwork (fi ghting on the ground) the guys will put all their weight on me…they have always taught me to be confi dent,” she ex-plained.

Garcia has taken a week-long break after the fi ght, but has start-ed training again for a fi ght she hopes to do in November. Win or lose, Garcia knows it’s all a part of the game. The loss does not defi ne who she is or cut down her deter-mination.

“Anybody will tell you that I have a lot of confi dence,” Gar-cia stated. “The way I see it is if I don’t believe in myself, nobody will believe in me.”

By Andrielle FigueroaThe Pan American

Photos byDaniel Flores/The Pan American

KICK IT - Judy Garcia lost the match against her opponent Anita Rodriguez, but that hasn’t stopped her from her daily routine of vigorous training.

ARTS AND LIFEPage 12 August 31, 2009

August 31, 2009Page 13 ADVERTISEMENTS

With hope for a fresh start for the Lady Broncs, the University of Texas-Pan American Athletic Department for-mally announced Denny Downing as the new head coach for women’s basketball.

The introduction took place at a press conference held at the UTPA Visi-tors Center Wednesday morning, where Downing committed to improve the team’s performance from last year, when it tied a program record with 14 wins. He noted that he wants to convince people to put their trust in the program.

“A lot of it is getting people to be-lieve,” he said. “If everybody believes and everybody is trying to fi gure out how to make things work within what we are and who we are, it makes everything easier.”

Downing was selected from among three fi nalists that included Stephen F. Austin’s fi fth-season assistant coach Ta-queta Braxton and University of West Georgia’s head coach Craig Roden, who has been there for 13 seasons.

“We had three wonderful candidates for this position,” said Charles A. Sorber, interim president of UTPA. “Every one of these people could have come out here and done a good job, but Denny was the right person.”

Interim athletic director Ricky Vaughn mentioned that Downing’s qualifi cations were optimal for the posi-

tion since he has demonstrated his capa-bilities for success during his seven-year tenure at Texas A&M-Commerce in East Texas.

“He’s got good head coaching expe-rience, he’s got an incredible record,” Vaughn said. “If you look at Texas A&M-Commerce, the resources they had were probably at the bottom of that conference that they’re in and he came in and has compiled multiple years of 20-plus wins. They went to the elite eight, he’s actually had a young lady make the WNBA off one of his teams a couple of years ago, and I just think that shows that he’s got incredible coaching ability to do what he’s done there.”

Downing earned a 106-99 overall re-cord with the Lady Lions, guiding them to the Lone Star Conference’s North Division championship in 2006-07; his star, Britney Jordan, was drafted by the pro Los Angeles Sparks in April.

Still, Vaughn admits that success de-pends in great part on the bond that the coach and the players will develop. But he thinks the situation gives both play-ers and the new coach an opportunity to improve and strive for new goals.

“With head coaching changes you always know there’s going to be tran-sition,” he said. “You’ve seen coaches go into programs with the same play-ers and do incredible jobs, you’ve seen coaches go in and take cham-pionship level teams and do nothing with them.”

Downing said his approach to the team will be to identify with the players, and try to create a relationship that will encourage the Lady Broncs to accom-plish their expectations.

“Coaching is really about players and getting them to play together and teach them how to be good teammates, and that’s one of the things that I’m look-ing to carry out,” said the 2006-07 LSC North Coach of the Year.

To guide the group into a smooth transition, seniors as guard Rose Esther Jean, Rachel Hester and Randall Chavez, as well as forwards Aleeya Grigsby and Taylor Schneider will return to fi nish their collegiate career with the Lady Broncs.

Vaughn added that Dawning’s experi-ence with recruiting will bring a positive change to the group because his methods differ from what the program is used to.

“He’s going to have a lot of recruit-ing to do because we lose some key se-niors and things,” he said. “But when we looked at his recruiting ability; that was one of the reasons we felt like he could get the job done here.”

Downing mentioned that, as part of the process, he will take time to ap-praise what the group is made of in or-der to make wise recruiting decisions.

“I think we’re going to evaluate what our needs are and if there’s an opportunity to bring somebody in or sign somebody early, we’ll probably do both,” he said. “But in no way do we want to sign somebody just to be signing somebody. There may be a sit-uation where we don’t bring anybody in until 2010, 2011.”

The program is recovering from the controversial resignation of for-mer head coach Deanne Craft, who left UTPA after six years and landed a head coaching position at Division II St. Anselm College days after her de-parture. There was also the transfer of promising guard Epiphany Smith, but Downing is not troubled about past struggles in the athletic department.

“I have no concerns with what happened before I got here, my only concern is moving forward and find-ing out what we’re going to do,” he said. “My job is to focus on what I’ve got to do. I never can speak for a professional decision that anybody makes”

There was an overwhelmingly pos-itive tone to Head Men’s Golf Coach Santiago De Larrea’s voice as he spoke about Shane Pearce and Armen Kirakossian.

“They’re just great guys,” De Larrea said after speaking of their accomplishments.

De Larrea’s enthusiasm is eas-ily understood. The two golfers have had great years at UTPA, culminating in both receiving the All- American Scholar award.

The award is given to exceptional college students who participate in extra-curricular activities while still maintaining high academic marks. The program requires a 3.3 GPA, nomina-tion by teacher, coach or counselor, and a “well-balanced schedule of academics and extra-curricular activi-ties.”

Both students were unaware that they had been chosen by the United States Achievement Academy, which

gives out the award along with schol-arships of up to $10,000, as they are both out of town for the summer. Pearce is current-ly in Anchorage, Alaska and Kira-kossian is in Dal-las.

They were not informed until a week ago when De Larrea contacted them.

“I was really excited to find out I had won this award,” Pearce said. “This is something I had re-ally been working for.”

Pearce and Ki-rakossian were two of only 108 stu-dents across the nation who won the award, one of the most prestigious in college sports. As special as the honor is, Kirakossian seemed less enthusias-tic about it.

“I kind of remember filling out the application a few months back,” he said. “I was really unaware that I was

even being consid-ered for the award.”

Both students, despite their differ-ences in reaction to the award, have proven themselves very worthy of it. They have both competed and done well in nine tourna-ments throughout the last year, each with wins under their belt.

Pearce fin-ished five under par at the Fairway Club Invitational

held August 8-9, 2008 with a two-day total of 139, winning him first place. At the National Minority Col-legiate Golf Championships with a low round of 66, Kirakossian did the same.

Both students have maintained a 73.6 stroke average throughout their college career.

In October, Pearce was named the America Sky Conference Golfer of the Week.

Off the golf course both students have proven themselves very success-ful. Pearce recently graduated with a degree in marketing, and Kirakossian has maintained a 3.4 GPA as he enters his senior year.

As successful as both athletes have been, their futures are still uncertain. Pearce is currently undecided about his prospects in the professional world.

“He’s always changing his mind,” the coach said. “He’s very talented though, and could turn pro if he tried.”

Pearce’s plans are still in the air, do-ing what he can to keep his options open.

“I think I’m just going to compete in a few tournaments for now and see what happens” Pearce said.

Though undecided, Pearce main-tains that he plans to keep golf as a part of his life.

“Even if I don’t play golf profes-

sionally, a marketing job within the world of golf would still be great,” Pearce said.

Kirakossian has the same feelings toward his future, though he still has a year to make up his mind. The busi-ness management degree he is cur-rently working toward presents many opportunities within the golf world.

De Larrea is very optimistic about Kirakossian.

“He’s one of the best up-and-com-ing players I’ve seen,” De Larrea said. “I really think he has a good shot out there.”

Their achievements up to now have earned these players the esteem of their coaches.

“Being an All-American Scholar is a big achievement and the highest honor and both are very deserving of this award,” said Ofelia Lopez, direc-tor of men’s and women’s golf, in a release from the UTPA Sports Infor-mation Department. “Their hard work and dedication to school and golf paid off and I could not be any prouder of them for what they achieved.”

SPORTS August 31, 2009Page 14

Pearce, Kirakossian chosen for All-American scholar awardBy Benny SalinasThe Pan American

Downing aims to usher in new era for UTPA women’s basketball By Sara HernandezThe Pan American

Ben Briones/The Pan AmericanBRING IN THE GUNS - New women’s head basketball coach Denny Downing will try to bring a winning culture to the Bronc program.

“Being an All-American Schol-ar is a big achievement and the highest honor, and both are very deserving of this award. Th eir hard work and dedication to the school and golf paid off and I could not be any prouder of them for what they achieved.”

Ofelia LopezDirector of golf

Page 15SPORTSAugust 31, 2009Ph

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The Bronc cheerleader crew prepares for the 2009-2010 season of UTPA Athletics.

New women’s basketball head coach Den-ny Downing poses with Bucky the Bronc at his introductory press conference.

Ricky Vaughn’s days as ath-letic director seem to have come to an end with the AD search.

Volleyball’s fi rst home game is Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

AD candidate Steven Rackley (left) chats with LAC Director Richard Treviño, member of the selection committee.

SEEN ANDCAPTURED

SPORTS

Head volleyball coach Angela Hubbard has high hopes for the Lady Broncs, and not without good reason. The University of Texas-Pan American volleyball team has been readily preparing for the upcoming season by putting an emphasis on team chem-istry in hopes of creating a more cohesive squad.

“The outlook is good I think. We have a very young team, so we still have a lot to learn and some things to work out, but the ceiling is high and I’m excited about what I think that this team could do this year,” she said. “Our goal for preseason was improving every day and to create team chemistry, and with there be-ing so many new girls, that was really important to us for them to get to know each oth-er and learn how to play with each other.”

Hubbard added that the team’s setters, a group com-prised of juniors Ariana Ber-mea and Charity Cucancic as well as freshman Rita Gon-zalez, will play key roles in the offense, setting up hitters like junior Marci Logan (2.24 kills per game in 2008) and senior Noelle Mayor (1.43 kpg) on the outside.

Mayor and her comrades have bought into the team chemistry philosophy as well, practicing unity on and off the court.

“We are already starting to gel together nicely,” she said. “We definitely spend a lot of time together outside of the court. We have lunches and team bonding activities that we do. Me personally, I just try to keep everybody involved in decisions that we make, whether it be what

music to put on our warm-up tape, or what shirts to wear, or where we’re going to go to dinner.”

The Lady Broncs were ranked fifth out of the seven teams in a recent Great West Conference preseason poll, with the top spot belonging to Utah Valley State. But the team doesn’t mind the under-dog role.

“It’s always better to come from behind I guess,” Hub-bard said. “It doesn’t really affect me at all, I don’t think that it’s an indicator of what

we’re doing. Our goal is to go into the (Great West Confer-ence) tournament a top three team, and I think we still have the potential to do that if we continue to work hard and come together.”

However, Mayor said that the ranking does give her some quiet motivation.

“I definitely think that us being ranked fifth gives us a goal to work toward,” she said. “And I think we’re go-ing to take people by surprise because it’s always easier to come from behind.”

Hubbard is 23-36 at the helm of the Lady Bronc team in her third year as head coach. After a 15-18 record in their 2007 campaign, the women went a disappointing 8-18 last season, despite a solid 4-4 record at home.

The coach attributes last season’s woes to lack of qual-ity numbers on the roster, but said she thinks that the team has jumped that hurdle.

“We just didn’t have enough depth in our lineup to push us, and I think that’s the strength this year,” she

explained. “We have enough girls to push each other, and to come off the bench and do great things. You know that was a problem we’ve had in the past and I think that we’ve got past that.”

The team will open the season at the Comfort Suites SHSU Invitational in Hunts-ville, where they will face Louisiana-Lafayette and Sam Houston State Friday, finish-ing with Southern Utah and Delaware State Saturday.

Wednesday the women held a green versus white inter-squad practice to help them prepare for the start of the season.

“I think we have a really good chance of doing well this weekend,” Hubbard said. “We’re still young, we’re still working through some things, but I think we have a really good chance of being competitive.”

The last time the Lady Broncs met Louisiana-La-fayette (8-20 in 2008) they suffered a 3-0 setback, giv-ing up 43 kills to the oppo-sition. Sam Houston (15-19) and UTPA have not met since 2007, when the Lady Bear-kats handed the Lady Broncs a 3-2 loss.

None of Hubbard’s UTPA team’s has faced either South-ern Utah (inaugural season) or Delaware State (16-11). The Lady Broncs will look to gain some momentum early in the season to stay competi-tive going into conference play starting September 17.

The team will have its first home game September 1 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, followed by a “Bat-tle of the Orange” match-up against the University of Tex-as Brownsville.

By Kevin StichThe Pan American

August 31, 2009Page 16

SET FOR SUCCESS: TEAM CHEMISTRY

2008 statisticsDigs: 370Assists: 35Aces: 17

2008 statisticsDigs: 86Kills: 99Blocks: 28

Rebecca Toddy Noelle Mayor

Sports Commentary

Attention AD By Kevin StichThe Pan American

If it’s true that Chris King is slated to be the University of Texas-Pan American’s next athletic director, then UTPA might be on its way to athletic success.

Unfortunately, the new director is going to inherit some of the old problems, including a big one in the departmental budget. Perhaps an equally daunting task is attracting new talent to a university that has seen its fair share of controversy in the past year.

Between coaches and players leaving, and public issues, the new athletic director is going to need more than just knowledge of sports and the teams. He’s going to need charisma, and a lot of it.

It won’t be easy, as the department’s reputation has become tarnished and shrouded in a drama worthy of daytime television.

The new director will need, not only integrity, but also openness -- something that interim athletic director Vaughn lacked. In his tenure Vaughn had a habit of being a media misfi t, often tiptoeing around subjects and playing the “no comment” card, almost by force of habit.

Sure, it’s okay to give a calculated answer to hot-topic issues, but when it comes to information that doesn’t impose on an individual’s well being, there’s no need to drag one’s feet – just be candid. Sometimes there’s no viable reason to give a political answer, when the honest answer will do just fi ne.

That expression seems to have become ubiquitous whenever controversy rears its head at UTPA, especially in athletics. The DeAnn Craft and Epiphany Smith dilemma was poorly handled, and it became apparent that the department as a whole wasn’t being run properly.

A few athletes were even willing to come out and say that they were unhappy with the way things were going in athletics. What was more astounding is that there are even more student-athletes who are unhappy and aren’t saying anything.

“It just really seems like they’re focusing on the wrong stuff, when they need to be focusing on the athletes and taking care of us,” said one athlete who wished to remain anonymous. “If I were to try to recommend a friend where to go school, I defi nitely wouldn’t tell them to come here.”

Of course there is great effort put into keeping these complaints underneath the radar. With that being said, there are things that the new athletic director won’t be able to keep quiet even if he wants to.

The Freedom of Information Act is a journalist’s godsend. It allows the media – with some degree of inherent diffi culty due to “open interpretations” of requests – to acquire information that may be pertinent to a story, and keep the readership well informed.

If it is King, he needs to be ready to answer tough questions; if not, tough luck.

Hector Garcia/The Pan AmericanREACHING HIGH - Ijanae Holman from Niceville Fla. is one of the new additions this season. She stretches to reach a ball during an inter-squad scrimmage Wednesday.

Sept. 1 Texas A&M- Corpus Christi 6 p.m.

Sept. 2 UT- Brownsville 7 p.m.

Sept. 9 Cal State-Bakersfi eld 7 p.m.

Oct. 8 North Dakota 7 p.m.

Oct. 10 South Dakota 7 p.m.Nov. 6 Utah Valley 7 p.m.

Nov. 13 Houston Baptist 7 p.m.

2009 Volleyball Home Schedule