October 24, 2002

THURSDAYOctober 24, 2002

An Inside Look:

■ News ............................................2■ A & E............................................7■ Sports ........................................16

T h e S t u d e n t N e w s p a p e r o f T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f T e x a s - P a n A m e r i c a n

Page 4

CCaammppuussVOICE

Howimportant

is it to voteon

November5?

STATE

■ RENEWALA decades-old traditionwill resume this year forTexas A&M Universit y,since the tragic collapseof the ritual bonfire thatkilled 12 students andinjured 27 in 1999.The controversial off-campus bonfire will takeplace Nov. 26 at a golfcourse in Magnolia.The High MeadowRanch Golf Club willcelebrate the event witha public barbecue,concer t and golftournament before thefires are lit. The bonfireusually takes placebefore the annual A&M-Texas football game.

CAMPUS

■ EARLY ELECTIONS The school’s Student

Union has been set upas an early votinglocation for the mid-term elections whichtake place Nov. 5. Earlyvoting began forregistered votersTuesday, Oct. 22 andruns until Friday, Nov. 1.Additionally, the HidalgoCount y Elections Officehas personnel in theUnion to answer allquestions.

Here is the schedule:Thursday, Oct. 24

from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.Friday, Oct. 25 from

8 a.m. to 5 p.m.Saturday, Oct. 26

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Sunday, Oct. 27 from

10 a.m. to 3 p.m.Monday, Oct. 28

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Tuesday, Oct. 29

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Wednesday, Oct. 30

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Thursday, Oct. 31

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Friday, Nov. 1 from 7

a.m. to 7 p.m.

Campaign posters and stickerscould be seen across the Universityof Texas-Pan American Mondaymorning when Democratgubernatorial candidate TonySanchez and Senate candidate RonKirk visited the campus as part of acampaign sweep though the RioGrande Valley.

Sponsored by the YoungDemocrats, Sanchez visited theStudent Union Theatre Monday atnoon and took time to talk to peopleabout the importance of voting. Hisbusy schedule for the day didn’tallow him to speak to people on anindividual basis. But the YoungDemocrats were happy to haveSanchez heard by people who maynot have had a chance to follow hiscampaigns. The elections are Nov.5.

Along with visiting the universitySanchez and Kirk also spoke atvarious places in San Juan,Edcouch, Mercedes, andBrownsville. He is a prominentbusinessman from Laredo who has

spent over $50 million of his ownmoney to try and unseat incumbentRick Perry, who has also visited thecampus a number of times this year.

According to Young Democratspresident Fernando Villarreal, theorganization was hoping to givepeople the opportunity to hearSanchez and learn about the viewsand ideas he has to offer in the racefor governor.

“A lot of times people don’t knowwhat the candidates represent, theyonly know what they see on acampaign sign,” Villarreal said.“By bringing different candidates tothe university, it really gives thestudents a chance to interact withthem [the candidates] and maybeeven decide that they agree with theideas and decide to vote for him orher.”

Villarreal also said that he hopedthat despite a person’s politicalparty, they would take the time tolisten to what Sanchez, a Democrat,had to say about the goals he has forthe future of Texas. The DallasMorning News released a pollSunday showing Perry ahead ofSanchez by 15 percent. The same

poll had Cornyn 10 percentagepoints ahead of Kirk.

The goals of the YoungDemocrats include promoting theparty, publicizing upcomingelections, and encouraing people tovote.

“We just want people, especiallyuniversity students, to know howimportant it is to vote and that thereare places all around the Valleywhere they can register,” Villarrealsaid. “Now that UTPA assists byhaving early-voting registration on

campus, it gives more people achance to participate in somethingso important to the country.”

With election day coming up, theYoung Democrats are working extrahard to augment political awareness.

Villarreal said that meetings areheld every Sunday evening at theUniversity Center. For moreinformation about the organizationand activities, contact the politicalscience department, or Dr. JoseHinojosa, one of the YoungDemocrat advisers.

Dem hopefulSanchez here

Laredo businessman visits campus twoweeks before election day

By CLARISSA MARTINEZThe Pan American

Photo by Lorena Garcia

MAKING A POINT— Gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez speaks atUTPA on Monday. He runs against incumbent Rick Perry Nov. 5.

Congressman Ruben Hinojosa,chairman of the educationcommittee for the HispanicCongressional Caucus, was one ofthe featured speakers at lastweek’s Hispanic EngineeringScience and Technology week(HESTEC) at the University ofTexas-Pan American, leading aroundtable discussion on Hispanicscience literacy.

According to a university flyer,the discussion was an opportunityto support the advancement of

minorities in the scientific fieldand increase their involvement.

Hinojosa started his speech byremarking on the outcome of theHESTEC week.

"UTPA had done a wonderfuljob with HESTEC," Hinojosa said."They’ve set the marker so highthat other colleges and universitieswill have to really struggle to beable to get higher."

Other corporate andgovernmental representatives atthe discussion included RitaColwell, director of NationalScience Foundation (NSF); DavidSwain, chairman’s office and

senior vice president of BoeingCorporation; Dr. John Slaughter,president of National ActionCouncil for Minorities Engineers;Dr. Richard E. Smalley, NobelLaureate of Rice University;Irving Wladawsky-Berger, vicepresident technology and strategyof IBM Corporation; Richard A.Croxall, vice president quality andchief Engineer of TRW Space andElectronics; Dr. Sylvia Hatton,executive director of Region OneEducation Service Center; FrankGuajardo, director of LlanoGrande.

All representatives agreed that

the well-being of individuals inthe country depends on theirknowledge and skills of math,science and engineering.

"[It is] science and technologyin the country [that] let us surviveWWI, and the Cold War," Swainsaid. "[It is] the strength [oftechnology] that most of us takefor granted."

Colwell stated that the NSFprogram is helping bettereducation with goals to encourage,educate, and recruit as manycitizens as possible.

"The important message is to

By SUNAYNA MAHTANIThe Pan American

HESTEC successful week’s work

See HESTEC page 5

Ben Piper is no newcomer to thegame of golf. He was given hisfirst set of clubs at the age of 5,and began to learn the game ofchampions when most kids werestill cutting their teeth on kickballand Dr. Seuss books.

For 15 years Piper has playedthe game of golf, many of thoseyears at the competitive level, and

he has achieved before the legaldrinking age what most golfersspend a good portion of their lifetimes chasing - clarity, composure,and self-actualization on thecourse.

As the senior member of theUTPA golf team Piper assumessome amount of leadership amonghis teammates, and the amount oftime spent with the Broncs is notthe only credential which entitleshim to the position.

The 20-year-old biology majorled his Lubbock Coronado HighSchool team to three statechampionships, finished seventhindividually in UTPA’s only

tournament championship, loggedthe lowest overall stroke averagefor the Broncs last season, and hasplayed a countless number ofproductive rounds for the Broncs.

But it is Piper’s modesty whenfaced with the reality of hisaccomplishments which trulymakes him admirable. And it is aquality which envelops his golfgame and is reflected in the styleof golf he plays.

“I’d have to consider myself aconservative player,” Piper said,“If I have a 200-yard shot overwater I’m more likely to lay up,because it’s a better percentageshot.”

It is this conservatism and self-control which makes Piper aconsistent low-scoring asset for theBroncs and has won the admirationof UTPA head coach Mark Gaynor.

“He’s a great player, a great guy,and he’s been having a goodseason,” said Gaynor.

At Squire Creek, the finalcompetition of the fall season,Piper led the Broncs to sixth placeoverall by shooting a 54-hole totalof 227 and finishing 13thindividually.

The outing was the team’s bestfinish of the season, but the

Celest Y. Tello/The Pan American

CONCENTRATION: McAllen native Jena Rae Rosales (right) executes a bump in Wednesday’sworkout. Teammate Winker Cruz of Harlingen looks on at left.

■ Lady Bronc BBall . . . . .15

■ Cruz Feature . . . .. . . . .14

■ Staff’s swami picks . . . 13

PAGE 16

SPORTS

JORDAN FILES SUIT:Washington Wizardsforward MichaelJordan filed a lawsuitagainst Karla Knafel.Jordan contends she istrying to extort $5 mil-lion from him to keepquiet about a relation-ship they both hadmore than 10 years agowhen Jordan was withthe Chicago Bulls. Thelawsuit was filed byJordan’s attorney inCook County CircuitCourt in Chicago.According to the suit,Jordan will seek the“trial by jury on allissues.” Jordan andwife Juanita have beenmarried for over 12years and were boundto get a divorce earlierin the year. TheJordans withdrew thedivorce and released astatement that theywere going to worktheir marriage out.

NBA

NFL

MILLEN APOLOGIZES:For the second time,Detroit Lions presidentMatt Millen apologizedto his team for callingan unidentified player a“devout coward.” Theplayer was criticize onMike Ditka’s radio showlast week when theywere talking aboutdefensive players whodon’t like making tack-les. Millen has not iden-tified the player, but saidhe was going to talk tohim behind closed doors.Despite the possible dis-traction, the Lions wereable to beat the ChicagoBears 23-20 in overtimeon Sunday.

Lubbock nativestarted playing game

at early age

The weather may begetting cooler, but theUniversity of Texas-PanAmerican volleyball team ison fire and doesn’t look tobe slowing down any timesoon.

The red-hot Lady Broncstake their five-game winningstreak on the road thisweekend against TexasSouthern and Prairie ViewA&M. These two squads areno strangers to the LadyBroncs.

It will be the third time theUTPA had faced TexasSouthern this season; theteam has won both matches,including their first victoryof the year at the Fieldhouse.Although UTPA won bothmatches, head coach DaveThorn expects the LadyTigers to be more dangerous,especially since they’re athome.

“Beating a team threetimes in row is alwaysdifficult because you knowthey’re going to come outand get you especially if it’sat their place,” Thorn said.“We’re familiar with oneanother because we play

every year.”The Lady Broncs swept the

Lady Tigers 30-16, 30-24,30-9 in the first match. Afterthat, they met each otheragain at the Islander Classicin Corpus Christi, withUTPA taking three out offour games 30-21, 30-18, 26-30 and 30-15. According toThorn, Texas Southern hasn’thad any breaks go its way inthe 2002 season.

“They’re kind of down thisyear,” Thorn said. “They’vehad some major injuries tokey players, and I don’t thinkthose players will be back.”

The following night, UTPAwill travel to Prairie ViewA&M, a team theydominated last Saturday 30-19, 30-22, 30-10.

The Lady Panthers had adismal .025 hittingpercentage in the first game.Prairie View A&M was ableto bounce back from the slowstart, but it was too muchUTPA that night. Junioroutside hitter Winker Cruzled the Lady Broncs with 16kills, while freshman middleblocker Danielle Holthemade her presence felt bycontributing with eight kills.

Team has won five games in a row,and eight of its last 10

By MIKE GONZALEZThe Pan American

Volleyballershit the roadon win streak

See VOLLEYBALL page 14

Inner calm guides golfer to successes

By BRIAN CARRThe Pan American

See PIPER page 14

“HEADS

UP!!!”

1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539(956) 381-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122

http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican51th Year – No. 9

EditorMatt Lynch

[email protected]

Layout Designers

Ashley Brooks

Mike Gonzalez

Gabriel Hernandez

Reporters

Veronica Barrera

Clarissa Martinez

Nikki Ramirez

Cesar Trevino

Celeste Y. Tello

Arianna Vazquez

Advertising

Dagoberto Perez

Circulation

Jesus M. Gonzalez

Advertising Coordinator

Juanita Sanchez

Adviser

Dr. Greg Selber

the PAN AMERICAN is theofficial studentnewspaper of TheUniversity ofTexas-PanAmerican. Views presentedare those of thewriters and do notnecessarily reflectthose of theuniversity.

The Pan Americangladly acceptsletters fromstudents, staff andfaculty regardingnewspaper contentor current issues.The Pan Americanreserves the rightto edit submissionsfor grammar andlength. Please limitsubmission lengthto 300 words. ThePan Americancannot publishanonymous letters,or submissionscontaining hatespeech orgratuitouspersonal attacks.Letters are printedat the discretion ofthe editor andmust include thewriter’s name,class/title andphone number.

Letters policy

October 242 0 0 2

Readers with dis-abilities mayrequest an alter-native format ofthis publicationat The PanAmerican busi-ness office. For special assis-tance to attendany event listedin this publica-tion, contact thecoordinator of theevent at least oneweek prior to theadvertised date.

Sports EditorMike Gonzalez

[email protected]

Celebrating 50 years

A & E EditorAshley Brooks

[email protected]

News EditorBelinda Reyes

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Copy EditorsSunayna Mahtani

andBelinda Reyes

Graphics EditorGabriel O.Hernandez

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NEWS■ Awards . . . . . . . . . .3■ Honors Society . . . .4 ■ Campus Calendar . 6

Mark Yudof, the chancellor of the 14-school University of Texas System, visitedThe University of Texas-Pan Americangrounds Monday, Oct. 21 to meet withadministration, faculty, and students andconfront issues concerning this institution.

Yudof arrived at 9 a.m. to meet withPresident Miguel A. Nevarez and hiscouncil, as well as with representatives ofthe Staff Senate. Then there was a tour ofcampus and luncheon with the ExecutiveCommittee. Yudof assumed the duties ofthe chancellor this year after replacinginterim chancellor Dan Burck. He is aformer professor at UT-Austin, and wasalso president of the University ofMinnesota.

The student body and their issues werealso accounted for when Yudof met withthe Student Government Association(SGA), which was led by President AlyssaMunoz. Student’s opinions of the schoolwere given and the chancellor answeredquestions.

According to Munoz, the chancellor’svisit was a great opportunity to get studentvoices heard. The government officialswere glad he took time to meet with themand hear their views.

“I know he talks to the executives andthey know more [about what the university

needs], but he can hear it from studentsand the concerns of a lot of people,”Munoz stated.

Yudof’s visit with SGA and tour ofcampus were made for one purpose. Thechancellor, with just three months on thejob, wants to know everything about theschools under his belt, including changes

that need to be made. According to the chancellor, UTPA is a

prosperous school that is doing well, andhe feels the student body andadministration’s hard work will pay off.

“I feel very positive about the studentbody at Pan Am,” Yudof said. “They areextraordinarily hardworking. There isprobably not another harder working

student body in America.” The only downside that Yudof

mentioned was the comparatively lowgraduation rate. He said Pan Am is adifferent case compared to otheruniversities because most of the studentshere are also working to supportthemselves or their family.

“Those students demonstrate a lot oftenacity and courage, which I reallyadmire,” Yudof commented.

Other subjects discussed in the meetingwith SGA were those of extending the lawprogram at UTPA, and building medicalfacilities. The SGA also gave their ideasand proposed new ideas for the campus.

Munoz explained some of the issuesthey have been working on, such as longerlibrary hours and a possible shuttle fromparking lot to campus.

According to Yudof, his visit wasinformative and it helped him learn moreabout the student’s needs and the changesnecessary at UTPA. He wishes to expandwhat has already been implementedalthough he knows the president, deans,faculty, and student body are the basicgoverning tools of the campus.

“I will continue to improve quality,which I think it is happening,” Yudof said.“I encourage the students to be preparedand work hard in obtaining their degree.With a Pan American degree the sky is thelimit.”

Yudof speaks on campusBy ARIANNA VAZQUEZThe Pan American

It is fall and high schools around thecountry are in the middle of their footballseason.

Cheerleaders, dance teams, JROTC,band members, coaches, directors,teachers, and football players prepare allweek for football Friday game night, alongtime American high school tradition.However, students from the South TexasIndependent School District are too busywith academics to think about football. Orany other sports, for that matter.

South Texas ISD has four schoolsserving Cameron, Hidalgo, and WillacyCounties. Med High and Science Academyare located in Mercedes, while TeacherAcademy is in Edinburg. The other school,South Texas High School in San Benito, iscurrently undergoing some changes.

They are magnet schools, meaning theentire curriculum focuses on one area.There are only a handful of suchalternative stand-alone schools in theValley.

“Our schools are unique, becauseeverything taught on campus by theteachers revolves around one discipline,”recruiter Jorge Lopez said. “For example,at Science Academy, the social studiesteachers teach all the basic concepts inhistory like in a regular high school, butwith the extenuation being in the area oftechnology. At Med High the extenuationinvolves medical advancements.”

According to Lopez, this makes it moreinteresting for students because it is anarea they are interested in and it helpsthem learn better.

“Kids are usually disinterested inhistory, but by teaching them what they areinterested in, be it medicine or technology,they see what is valuable,” Lopez said.“That is a great motivation.”

According to Frank Champion, acounselor at Med High, seven percent oftheir students continue to medical school,as opposed to the one-half percent averageof regular public schools. He feels whenstudents have an interest, it is importantfor them to start learning early about thatfield.

“They (Med High students) have all theregular core classes, plus electives in thehealth sciences and technology,” Championsaid. “They are ahead of others becausewhen they graduate from high school, theyare familiar with medical terms, have beenin special medical programs, gone tohospitals, veterinary clinics, heard guestspeakers, and so on.”

South Texas ISD schools have regular,pre-AP, and AP classes just as all otherregular public schools. They have openadmissions so that anyone can attend.However, Science Academy PrincipalEdward Argueta said there are two majordifferences that make magnet schoolssuccessful.

“For one, students who are here want tobe here,” Argueta explained. “Alsostudents concentrate on academics. There

are no distractions. No football. No peprallies. No cheerleaders. Seven hours arededicated to academics. This gives themmore academic growth.”

For many high school students, nothaving sports in their school is unthinkablebut, for South Texas ISD students the lackof athletic extracurricular activities is not abig deal. Some students feel there are evensome advantages to it.

“There are no favorites here because youare a star football player,” said NormaFlores, a senior at the Science Academy.“Everyone gets a fair chance. Everyone isthe same. There is no competition and nopressure.”

Flores feels the Science Academy hasprepared her for the future, when shehopes to continue her education at RiceUniversity or UTPA, with a major inastrophysics or aerospace engineering.

“I already have college credit throughconcurrent enrollment and AP exams,”Flores said. “The liberty given to us, thevigorous courses, and the higher level ofteaching has really educated me. I havebeen exposed to different types of peopleand attitudes and have a different outlookon life.”

Karina Rodriguez, also a senior atScience Academy, feels better prepared forcollege. She plans on attending UTPA nextfall as an accounting major.

“All the math courses have helped mewith the ACT and SAT,” Rodriguez said.“It does get tough at times, but I pullthrough. It is worth it.”

Alternative schools thrivingBy AMELIA GARCIAThe Pan American

I feel verypositive about thestudent body atPan Am.There isprobably notanother harderworking studentbody in America.

“

“

- Mark Yudof,Chancellor of UT Sytstem

Dress up isn’t just for little girlsanymore. In an effort to raise money forthe women’s athletic department, aMasquerade Ball will be hosted by theUniversity of Texas-Pan AmericanAthletic Foundation Saturday, Oct. 26from 7 p.m. to midnight at the SharyMansion in Sharyland.

The ball will consist of a number ofevents, including a live auction, casinogames and live music.

With a $50 donation, those inattendance will not only get the treat ofparticipating in those activities, but willget to know athletes who will benefitfrom donations during the eveningsevents.

Director of Institutional Research SusanGriffith is optimistic that the event willhelp benefit women athletics at UTPA.

"The athletes are going to help with theball by serving in the registration ordealing cards for blackjack," Griffith said."People are going to be able to identifythem by name tags with logos of thesports they play."

Part of the donation will go to the AnnLa Mantia Endowed Scholarship, madeespecially for women athletes who havefinancial need.

Some items available for the auctionand casino include an executive leatherchair from Today’s Office Center, 10 carwashes from Car Wash Car Wash, a DVDplayer, food baskets, jewelry fromOlivia’s, wine and dinner for 20.

Athletic director William Weidnerbelieves the ball will not only be a funevent to attend, but also a social gatheringfor people supporting the growth of thewomen athletic department at UTPA.

"I am excited about the concept of theMasquerade Ball," Weidner said. "I amexcited about the efforts being put forthby a number of individuals interested inbenefiting student women athletics."

Griffith added the event has been well-planned by organizers as well asvolunteers, and hopes to see people come

out, have a good time, and help outwomen athletes.

Tickets are available at the UTPAAthletic Office. For ticket information orquestions regarding the event, pleasecontact Griffith 316-7146.

It’s late October, the weather is gettingcooler and the days are getting shorter.

That only means basketball season isapproaching and UTPA women’s team havebegan their quest to turn a program that’sclimbed down the ladder the past fewyears.

UTPA will kick off the season in anexhibition game against the HoustonJaguars on Nov. 10, but for now Andersonis focusing on the Lady Broncs preparationfor the season rather than their opponents.The Lady Broncs will play their first fourgames at theFieldhouse includinga matchup againstWAC opponent TulsaNov. 30.

This year, theathletic program hiredTracy Anderson tobring UTPA to arespectable level afterlast year’s 7-21season. Thus far, theLady Broncs have hitthe floor for almosttwo weeks diving forballs, screaming ateach other, andsweating as if it’s 100degrees outside. Anderson realizes herplayers are learning a new system thisyear, but is pleased to see the progress herplayers are making since the first day ofpractice.

“I think we’ve made some great stridesin the first week,” Anderson said.“Obviously, it’s a new system on both endsof the floor that’s taken a little longer thanif it wasn’t a new staff.”

Anderson likes to take opponents out oftheir normal scheme by pressing a lot andpressuring the ball. She also realizes thepatience that must be made in order for herplayers to adjust to her style.

“I think their ability to adapt has beenpretty good,” Anderson said. “We’rethrowing a lot of new stuff at them rightaway, so that’s always difficult. I thoughtover the weekend we had two very good

practices that turned the corner a little bitfor the first time.”

While Anderson couldn’t wait to startpractice last week, the players, includingsenior Alex Gravel were anxious to put thesneakers on and start practice.

“It’s been going well,” Gravel said. “It’sonly been a week, but you can see theimprovement and we’ve come along prettywell.”

The Lady Broncs will have fourreturning starters including guard AlexGravel, forward Naima Williams, guardMichelle Smith and guard JenniferPiwonka. UTPA also recruited fivefreshman that hope will carry the torch thatthe seniors will leave behind. According toAnderson, the newcomers have come inand performed at a higher level thananticipated.

“I have been really happy with mynewcomers,” Andesonsaid. “There are a lotof times that you can’ttell they’re freshmanon the floor and that’swhat you want.”

It’s only natural fora team to be fatiguedafter a week’s worth ofhard work butaccording to Gravel,practice for her andher teammates is likeparadise for a kid at acandy store.

“We’re a little tiredbecause it’s a different

type of conditioning and movement in thepreseason,” Gravel said. “But we have fundoing it.”

The Lady Broncs have practiced for two-and-a-half hours a day according toAnderson, and she believes the offseasonworkouts have helped their conditioning.

“We had a pretty good offseasonprogram conditioning-wise,” Andersonsaid. “I think we’re in pretty good shape.That’s something that we’re going to haveto continue to improve on. Several of them[players] especially returners came back invery good shape. I can’t ask for them towork any harder.”

“I’m a big believer that you have to takecare of what you can do first,” Andersonsaid. “We won’t talk about that first gameuntil a couple days before it, but we’repreparing for the whole season right nowand that’s been our focus.”

October 24, 2002 sports Page 15


Practice under wayfor Nov. 10 opener

Conditioning key in Lady Broncs’ preparation

PASSING FANCY: Senior Julie Porter (right) looks to pass in a Lady Bronc practiceTuesday as freshman Alexis Coleman defends. The team’s season begins in three weeks.

Mike Gonzalez /The Pan American

Dress-up gig will raise funds for women’s athletics

By ARIANNA VAZQUEZThe Pan American

Masquerade Ball inMission coming up

We’re throwing alot of new stuff atthem right away,so that’s alwaysdifficult “

“

- Tracy Anderson,head women’s basketball coach

QUICK FACTSWHAT: Masquerade Ball

WHERE: Shary Estate, Mission

WHY: Benefits UTPA women’sathletics

October 24, 2002 THE PAN AMERICAN

Each year the Minnie Stevens Piper and theChancellor’s foundations hand out awards tooutstanding teachers in Texas. The latest round ofawards is coming up.

The Minnie Stevens Piper Award carries anhonorarium of $2,500 and two members from theUTPA faculty are nominated for the award. TheChancellor’s award is granted to the MinnieStevens Piper award nominee who receives thehighest vote by the UTPA faculty. The awardcarries an honorarium of $5,000.

In order to receive the Chancellor’s award, thenominee must be a tenured member of theundergraduate faculty or be on that track.

According to the awards committee, manynominations were received for these prestigiousawards. The committee selected five finalists andpresented their names to the UTPA faculty for avote.

The deadline to submit the ballots is 5 p.m.Monday Oct. 28. The committee will count thevalid ballots on Tuesday, Oct. 29 and submit areport to Provost/VPAAArevalo.

The finalists are Dr. Subhash Bose, Dr. Luis A.Materon, Dr. Nola Radford, Dr. Jose R. Llanesand Dr. Hassan Ahmad.

Each of the finalists wrote a brief self-appraisalwhich can be reviewed in the Faculty SenateOffice at the University Library room 2.111A,Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

• Dr. Bose, who joined the UTPA staff inSeptember 1993, is chair of the department ofmanufacturing engineering, and was responsiblefor developing the curriculum for theundergraduate program.

According to his self-appraisal, Bose gives hisstudents the opportunity to work on real-lifeproblems in manufacturing industries while inschool and his teaching philosophy of combiningclassroom education with training in

manufacturing industries has strong support fromthe Engineering Advisory Council.

• Materon, assistant professor in the biologydepartment, said “I am fully committed to excel inteaching at UTPA and I try hard to transmitenthusiasm.” He joined the UTPA staff in 1996and has been successfully using the innovativeteaching techniques of the Internet as an educationtool.

According to his self-appraisal, Materonlearned HTML programming and web design todevelop dedicated web sites for his courses, andwas awarded the Provost Technology in TeachingAward in 2000.

• According to her self-appraisal, Radford, anassociate professor of communication disorders,has established a solid record of research in tspeech-language pathology for the millions ofindividuals who have lost the ability tocommunicate, or whose communication isimpaired.

Her postdoctoral fellowship of $45,000 made itpossible to establish new clinics for studenttraining.

• Llanes joined the UTPA staff in September1994 and has conducted research every year.

“There is nothing I can do at this Universitythat is more important than to help developeducational leaders who in turn will have asubstantial impact over all of our society in thefuture,” said Llanes, professor for educationalleadership.

• Ahmad joined UTPA in 1992 and was grantedtenure and promoted to associate professor in1996. In September 2002 he was promoted to therank of full professor. He has taught bothundergraduate and graduate courses inbiochemistry, which is his area of specialization.

According to his self-appraisal, Ahmad becamethe UTPA director of the South Texas doctoralBridge Program, which brought more than$210,000 and has helped numerous students finishtheir degrees at UTPA.

Faculty awardspresented soonBy NIKKI RAMIREZThe Pan American

Chancellor award in offing

Three years ago Paula Berkley,records management analyst at TheUniversity of Texas-Pan American,noticed the administrative staff needed away to be more efficient and moreeffective.

After doing some research, Berkleydiscovered the International Associationof Administrative Professionals (IAAP),and in April 1999, she began the RioGrande Valley chapter of IAAP atUTPA.

“In any job, you have a certainperspective of how things are done,”Berkley said. “The conversations Iwould have with employees led me tobelieve that we needed something.”

IAAP is the world’s largestassociation for administrative supportstaff, with more than 600 chapters and40,000 members and affiliatesworldwide.

“It enhances our job throughnetworking,” said Carol Macheska,administrative associate with StudentFinancial Services and president of theValley’s IAAP chapter. “It keeps us upto date on various work requirements.”

The association allows professionalsin the administrative field to organize,giving assistants, secretaries, and clerksthe opportunity to learn from individualsthrough local, national and internationalnetworking.

“It makes a big difference,” saidLillian Carey, administrative secretary tothe Vice President’s Office for BusinessAffairs. “It allows the staff to share whatis happening in each departmentaloffice.”

With 15 chapter members at UTPA,Berkley said it was a difficult to createthe local IAAP chapter becausescheduled meetings were held in theevening, and members found it difficultto attend events because of familyobligations and other duties. But in aneffort to stabilize the chapter and givemore administrative assistants theopportunity to join, Berkley saidmeetings are now held during businesshours from 4-5 p.m. every thirdThursday of each month.

“It’s a whole lot easier now,” Berkleysaid. “The meetings give manyopportunities to the members.”

In the meetings, speakers come totrain members in different administrativetechniques so they can become confidentadministrative professionals.

“I learned why you should wear yourname badge on your right,” Macheskasaid. “The reason is because when youshake someone’s hand it is usually withyour right hand and people look at yourname badge in the process of thehandshake.”

Carey said she likes how members areable to present programs, which affordsthem the opportunity to get up and speakin front of a group, providing practicethat can go a long way toward battlingshyness and stage fright.

The organization also offers programsthat afford secretaries and clerks theopportunity of certifying their skills.Such programs include the CertifiedAdministrative Professional (CAP) andCertified Professional Secretary (CPS),which can only be attained by passingcomprehensive exams.

For more information on IAAP, logonto their Web site at www.iaap-hq.org.

By HILDA BARRIENTESThe Pan American

UTPA analyst pushes change

Administrative efficiency at heart of training,new association chapter

Although on the surface they seem to befierce competitors, the University of Texas-Pan American and South Texas CommunityCollege actually have much in common andmuch to share with each other.

UTPA, a four-year university, and STCC atwo-year institution, recently hammered out anarticulation agreement which facilitates thetransfer of education students from the latter tothe former institution. STCC has at least 2,000education students currently among its 11,000-plus students, and the agreement is designed tomake it easier for them to continue their workat UTPA after graduating from STCC. UTPA'slatest enrollment figure is 14,300.

The agreement, called a “2x2” articulationagreement, makes a fit between classequivalencies at the two schools, assuring thatthose graduating with two-year associatedegrees from STCC will be able to use theircoursework to complete the freshman-sophomore requirements at UTPA. The same

type of agreement was completed in the areaof nursing in 2001.

UTPA already produces more teachers thanany other stateuniversity, and leads thenation in trainingbilingual teachers andsending them out intothe field. By ensuringthat there is acontinuing and healthyflow of students intoeducation fields, theschools hope to do theirpart in alleviating theongoing teachershortage in the Valleyand South Texas. It alsosignals a new level ofcollaboration betweenthe schools.

In a school press release, UTPA Provost/VPfor Academic Affairs Rodolfo Arevalo said the

agreement is a good example of cooperation,and indicates the interest the UTPA has inmaking transition from one institution to

another much easier.Arevalo, along with

President Miguel A.Nevarez and HildaMedrano, dean ofUTPA's College ofEducation, were in onethe agreement, alongwith STCC's FrankWilliams, the vicepresident forInstructional Services.

Many observershave noted that whileUTPA and STCC pullfrom the sameprospective student

pool, the rising Valley population, nearing amillion, dictates that both will be able to gettheir share of talent. More Valley kids than

ever are attending Texas schools, and thegrowing enrollment at both Upper Valleyschools has reflected that.

The University of Texas-Brownsville, thethird education institution, does not directlycompete with the schools, as it draws itsstudent body mainly from the Lower Valleyand the Coastal Bend. Texas State TechnicalCollege in Harlingen serves a less academicniche by providing training in technical andpragmatic fields.

Recent rumors that the Texas A&M systemis looking to horn in on U’'s area monopolyare probably more intriguing than any sort oflocal competition between STCC and UTPA.

“They are looking to come down here,probably into McAllen,” said a dean of one ofUTPA's six colleges, who wished to remainanonymous. “A&M has also investigatedthings out in Starr County as well. I think thefuture of this conflict will be very interesting,and we need to be appraised of thedevelopments.”

Material taken in part from UTPA PressRelations.

Articulation pact with STCC signedEducation students will benefit most

UTPA alreadyproduces more

teachers than anyother state university,and leads the nationin training bilingual

teachers andsending them out

into the field

THE PAN AMERICAN

Being an athlete is difficultwork. When you add student lifeinto the equation, day-to-day lifecan seem to spin out of control.However, Winker Cruz’s deepappreciation for volleyball has ledher to adjust to the life of astudent-athlete.

She admits that being a student-athlete can be hectic and describesher typical week as:

“No time to rest, no time tosleep, I hardly have time to eat. Igo from class to practice to studygroups and then we’re always outof town so e-mail becomes prettyimportant.”

Now a junior at UTPA, Cruzhas been playing volleyball sinceshe was a seventh-grader in theHarlingen ConsolidatedIndependent School system. Shetook up the sport in order to spendmore time among her peers.

“I started playing volleyballbecause I [wanted to stay atschool],” Cruz said.

Eventually she became a well-known powerhouse on the courtfor Harlingen South High Schooland was named the District 32-5AMVP and the Valley FreedomNewspapers Valley OffensivePlayer of the Year in 1998 and1999. She was also the first Valleyplayer to win the tournamentMVP at the San AntonioSouthside Tournament.

After her success at South, Cruzdecided to pursue her game close

to home at UTPA without losingher unique appreciation of thegame.

“I decided to continue playingbecause I like jumping, I lovediving on the floor. I like thefeeling of doing something thatlooks impossible to do when youwatch it happen,” Cruz said. “Ijust like the rush of chasing afterthe volleyball and getting thatspecial dig.”

Even though she spends most ofher time as part of a team, Cruzprefers to make her own path inlife rather than looking for a rolemodel to follow in life.

“I try to make my own path, Iknow I’m very headstrong,” shesaid. “I do what I want to do,what I think is best.”

One of her decisions after highschool was to stay local and playLady Bronc volleyball. Herdecision required some transitionto the game on a new level.

“It was totally different fromjust being in the Valley withpeople of the same culture,” Cruzsaid. “It was getting used topeople I hadn’t known for verylong or at all, there was differentattitudes and personalities.”

However, Cruz learned quicklythat no matter how different herteammates seemed, they were allalike in some way or other.

“People aren’t really who youthink they are when they’re fromdifferent places,” she said.“Everyone is the same in theirown way, everyone can findsomething to have in common.”

Aside from adjusting to newpeople, she also faces anobligation to the home crowd as alocal athlete.

“I feel that because when I wasin high school it was ‘WinkerCruz! Winker Cruz!” everyoneknew Winker Cruz,” she said.“When I came here everyone said‘the Hawk stayed in the nest.’ Itwas just a big deal, I feel like Ihave to live up to standards andmake my coaches proud of whatthey made me in high school.”

Her accomplishments havebegun to stack up at UTPA as wellas they did in high school. Herfreshmen and sophomore yearstats reflect her strength on thecourt. This season Cruz is oftendescribed as one of the strongestplayers on the team.

Despite these ccomplishments,she knows the importance of hereducation and said that balance isan important part of being astudent-athlete.

“Priorities really come in lineand you have to choose what ismore important,” Cruz said.

And as far as priorities go, shehopes to make an impact onUTPA during her upcoming finalyear.

“I want to make my last yearhere memorable,” she said. “Iknow people think of me as ‘Oh,she can jump!’ but that’s not howI want to be remembered. I wantto be remembered as a person thatworked hard and put their heart onthe floor every single game andreally cared about what they did.”

October 24, 2002 sports Page 14

By CELESTE Y. TELLOThe Pan American

Harlingen South grad Winker Cruz is one of the Lady Broncleaders; strong-willed player continues to progress

Valley high school star achieves at higher level

Freshman Katie Burke had 38 assists. Holthe anticipatesa much more focused Lady Panther team in thisweekend’s rematch.

“They’ll take what they learned from the first match,”Holthe said. “It’s going to be like every match and seewho can take what they learned when they play eachother again.”

On Tuesday, UTPA took three out of four matches bybouncing Texas A&M-Kingsville 30-28, 30-24, 26-30,30-26. It was a total team effort by the Lady Broncs asCruz had 19 kills, 19 digs while freshman middleblocker Stephanie Redd added 13 kills. Junior outsidehitter Jaclyn Muszynski continues to roll for UTPA as

she had 13 kills and 13 digs. Thorn was pleased at theperformance of the Lady Broncs against the LadyJavelinas who they lost to earlier in the year.

“I’m very proud of the team,” Thorn said. “Everybodyhad to step up in adverse conditions and we came into atough gym.”

UTPA is on a roll, having won eight of 10 games. Butsometimes it’s what a coach does that makes a differencebetween wins and losses. Thorn’s positive thinking andmotivation have been designed to create confidence andproductivity by the Lady Broncs.

“Anytime we go to a match, we expect to win,” Thornsaid.

accomplishment wasbittersweet, as the Broncswere four strokes out of thetop three.

“Of course we like itwhen we finish in the topten, but it’s frustrating to bejust a few shots away fromthird place,” said Piper.

Piper, whose family nowlives in the Valley afterrelocating from Lubbock,will have a few months towork on his game, and helpthe Broncs shave off theexcess strokes in an effortto remain competitiveduring major tournaments.

“We don’t play againuntil February,” Piper said,“ We’ll get lots ot time topractice and our chanceswill probably get better.”

But Piper doesn’t seegolf as just a game ofnumbers and individualstats. He expects that hisability will help him infuture endeavors, andmaybe even land him a job.

“It really helps ininterviews when employerssee that you played golf in

college,” Piper said. “Itgives you something to talkabout and gets rid of someof the tension.”

This is all part of therealism that Piperassociates with his golfcareer.

“I know I’ll always playgolf at the amateur level,”Piper said, “But there are alot of really good players,and right now my focus ison graduating and getting ajob.”

BEN PIPER

BUMPING: Junior Winker Cruz waits for the ball in a recent practice.Celeste Y. Tello /The Pan American

PIPER continued from page 16State boasts top small-college footballWith all the attention paid to the

Texas A&M Aggies and TexasLonghorns of the Big 12, it is easyto overlook some small collegeprograms around the state havingsuccessful football seasons in 2002.

Midway through the latest season,there are a pair of NCAA Division IIschools ranked in the top 25,according to the most recent USAToday poll.

Texas A&M-Kingsville, formerlyknown as Texas A&I, is seventh inthe nation with a 5-1 record, and

Tarleton State (6-1), located in thenorth central Texas town ofStephenville, is 11th. For theKingsville team, Valley native AbelGonzales of Rio Grande City is thestarting quarterback and is closing ina number of school offensive records

Grand Valley State in Michigan isthe first-ranked team in Division IIright now, followed by Valdosta(Ga.) State and Carson-Newman ofTennessee.

In the Division III rankings,Trinity in San Antonio is fourth andhas won all six of its games, whileMary Hardin-Baylor (Belton in

central Texas, 6-0) is a spot behind.West Texas power Hardin-Simmonsis tied for 14th in the Division IIIpoll, and Howard Payne rounds outthe top 25. Currently. Mount Union(Ohio), which has won severalnational championships in the past,is number one. Bridgewater (Va.) issecond with Rowan (N.J.) a spotahead of Trinity.

Unlike Division I, the teams fromthese smaller levels have a playoffsystem which runs for severalweeks, somewhat akin to thepostseason tournaments in collegebasketball.

From Staff Reports

VOLLEYBALL continued from page 16

October 24, 2002 Sports Page 13

Atlanta at New Orleans

This game will be a dog fight and both teams areplaying well. The team that runs the ball well willwin.

Saints by 7Matt Celeste GregSaints Saints Saints

Cleveland at N.Y. Jets

Both teams have been inconsistent this year. Attimes, they look like a playoff team, but they’vealso looked horrible as well.

Jets by 6Matt Celeste GregBrowns Browns Jets

Oakland at Kansas City

This is always a great game to watch. It looks likethe Raiders have slowed down just a bit. TheChiefs haven’t been able to win a close one.

Chiefs by 3Matt Celeste GregRaiders Raiders Raiders

Tennessee at Cincinnati

Both teams will be well rested for this one. It’sonly a mat ter of time before the Bengals will wina game, but it will not happen on Sunday.

Titans by 17Matt Celeste GregTitans Titans Titans

Denver at New England

Mike Shanahan against Bill Belichick. The gamewill be interesting to watch. You bet ter believeboth coaches will be aggressive. I think Shanahanwill come out on top.

Broncos by 10Matt Celeste GregBroncos Broncos Patriots

Indianapolis at Washington

The Redskins blew many oppor tunities last week.This is the time of year where Payton Manningtakes his game to another level.

Colts by 13Matt Celeste GregRedskins Redskins Colts

Chicago atMinnesota

The Vikings have been a huge disappointmentthis season. Can you say “rebuilding?”

Bears by 10Matt Celeste Greg Bears Vikings Bears

Detroit at Buffalo

The Lions got a lucky call at the end of regula-tion that got them the win. They won’t be luckythis week.

Bills by 10Matt Celeste GregBills Lions Bills

Pittsburgh atBaltimore

The Ravens have proven they can win withoutRay Lewis. This might have been a blessing indisguise. The Ravens are rolling.

Ravens by 7Matt Celeste GregSteelers Steelers Ravens

Tampa Bay at Carolina

The Bucs still haven’t proved they can win in coldweather. For tunately, the weather will be warmerin Carolina.

Bucs by 10

Matt Celeste GregBucs Bucs Bucs

Arizona at San Francisco

Who would’ve thought this will be a bat tle for firstplace in the NFC West at this time of year. Arivalr y could be born Sunday.

Niners by 13Matt Celeste GregNiners Niners Niners

Houston atJacksonville

The Texans have played a couple of tough ballgames, but have failed to win one. This will be myupset pick of the week.

Texans by 6Matt Celeste GregTexans Texans Jaguars

Seattle at Dallas

Fans may witness histor y as Emmit t Smith couldbreak Walter Payton’s record. The Seahawks areone of the worst teams against the rush, averag-ing 170 yards a game. Smith will have a greatshot if he is able to get his carries. ChadHutchinson will make his debut at quar terback.

Cowboys by 10Matt Celeste GregCowboys Seahawks Cowboys

N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia

The Eagles can take command of the NFC Eastwith a win Monday. The Giants are just too incon-sistent in their offense. The Eagles should roll.

Eagles by 14Matt Celeste GregEagles Eagles Eagles

Open Dates: Green Bay, Miami, San Diego, St. Louis

StaffMikeGonzalez:59-43,.578GregSelber:59-43,.578

Celeste Y.Tello: 50-51, .490 MattLynch: 59-43, .578

Staff Swami Records

Mike GonzalezSports Editor

Swamis

Dr. Greg SelberAdviser

Matt LynchEditor

Celeste TelloReporter

Men’s tennis teamcompete at UTSASophomores Filip Koziell and

Jeremy Salvo of the men’s doublestennis team advanced to the finalsat the Texas-San AntonioInvitational last weekend, but lostto Ricardo Almeida and DennisAndrade of UTSA 8-3. In singlesaction, freshman Oliver Steil lostin a quarterfinals match to St.Edward’s Kendall Smashey, 6-3, 6-3. In singles, junior TomMangleschots beat BrandonSilvester of UTSA, 6-1, 6-3, butlost to Dennis Andrade also ofUTSA, 6-3, 5-7, (10-8) in consola-tion action. Head coach ToddChapman likes the effort andprogress his team is making.

“We’re improving, and I’ve seenimprovement in the last two tour-naments, and that’s what I’ve beenlooking for,” Chapman said. “Filipand Jeremy didn’t get off to a goodstart in their [finals match] andteam they played against playedvery well.”

The Broncs will finish their fall

schedule at the Omni Hotels ITASouthwest Regional Tournamentthis weekend.

Broncs finishsixth at Louisiana

UTPA men’s golf team competedat the 15-team Square CreekInvitational at Choudrant, LA thisweek. The Broncs finished thetournament in sixth by shooting a311 in the final found. Leading theway for UTPA was junior BenPiper who shot a final round of 77and 227 total that put him 13thoverall. Junior Paul Manganillacame in 16th overall and shot afinal round of 74 and 228 total forUTPA. The Broncs came in thefinal round in second and headcoach Mark Gaynor knows histeam had an opportunity to comeout on top.

“It was nice to have an opportu-nity to win the tournament,”Gaynor said. “This gives us somethings to work on the offseason.”

SPORTS CLIPBOARDOctober 24, 2002 THE PAN AMERICAN

Erika EspinozaPsychologyFreshman

I think it is very important because we getto vote for the candidate that bestrepresents us and is going to dosomething for us.

Bobby CuellarMechanical EngineeringFreshman

It’s our future and we have to pickthe person who best represents usand who will lead us in the future.

Cesar QuintanillaKinesiologySenior

Because people need to practice theirright to make a change. We have toact as a community and to respondaccording to our needs.

How important is it to voteon November 5?

Ramiro VillarrealCriminal JusticeFreshman

I think it is really important for people tobe active in the voting process becauseone vote makes a difference.

VOICECCaammppuuss

Erik CastilloPre-LawFreshman

It is crucial that we vote because theperson that is being elected will be inoffice until next election time.

With all the different studentorganizations on campus, it’s difficult fora student to choose which one could servethem in the best way. Whether it’s goingGreek, focusing on department clubs, orjoining one of the other organizations oncampus, students at the University ofTexas-Pan American now have a largerarray of choices when it comes todedicating time and energy for theuniversity.

Those looking for an academic outletwhile participating with activities oncampus can do so by being part of anhonor society. With societies such asGamma Beta Phi, the Engineer HonorSociety, Lambda Alpha or Psi Chi,students have a chance to be involved inhonor societies best suited for theirspecific interest or major.

Gamma Beta Phi is one such groupopen to all majors, and the chapter atUTPA is sponsored by Honors StudiesProgram, which attempts to provide theacademic program with wider social andservice interests of honor students.

By being involved in that programstudents can enrich their education bytaking honors classes at the freshman andsophomore level, and participate in anindependent study at the upper level.They also have the opportunity to attendguest speaker events and developmentseminars.

Sharifa Llemit, a sophomore premedmajor, is an active member of GammaBeta Phi. She said she first found outabout the group when she was accepted tothe Honors Studies Program and waseligible to be a member of the honorsociety.

“I really enjoy meeting new people ingeneral, and helping out by participatingin community service is very gratifying,”Llemit said. “I’m in charge of organizingcommunity service projects so wecontribute our time to helping others asoften as we can.”

Beta Gamma Sigma, a national honorfraternity for business administration

majors, is one of the honor societies oncampus whose membership is byinvitation.

According to Dr. Angela Hausman, anadviser for Beta Gamma Sigma, selectionof members is done by examining theregister of students enrolled in theCollege of Business Administration. To beeligible for membership, a student mustrank in the top seven percent of the juniorclass, upper 10 percent of the senior class,or upper 20 percent of the graduatingmaster’s class. Undergraduates must havea GPA of 3.5 and graduate students 3.75.

Once the students are selected, a facultymember usualy visits the students in theirclassrooms to personally invite theindividual to be a part of the honorsociety.

“We want to encourage all the studentsto strive in their academics so they canbecome a part of Beta Gamma Sigma,”Hausman said. “By having members ofthe faculty personally invite the students[in front of their classmates] to BetaGamma Sigma it can lead other studentsto want that recognition too.”

By being a part of that group, studentsgain access to a database which allowsthem to learn about job opportunities,mentor programs, and seminars that canhelp their career plans.

The College of Education also has anhonors society that is by invitation only.Kappa Delta Phi is an international honorsociety based on high academicachievement and commitment toeducation as a career. Its motto is“Knowledge-Duty-Power.”

According to Dr. Veronica Estrada,Kappa Delta Phi counselor, the society isfocused on enhancing literacy at all levelsof education, including kindergarten andadult education.

“Last year Kappa Delta Phi adoptedZavala Elementary School in Edinburgand created literacy centers at the secondgrade level,” Estrada said. “This year weare striving to accomplish things such asproviding school supplies and books tothe children, and hopefully we’ll be ableto reach more students than we have beenin the past.”


Honor societiessteadily prosperSome are open, others are invitation only; all offer

chance to enhance college experience

GOT SOMETHING TOSAY?

The Pan American wants to hear what youhave to say about stories, current events oranything you want to rant about. Send yourresponses to [email protected]

October 24, 2002 THE PAN AMERICAN October 24, 2002 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 12

Gabriel O. Hernandez/The Pan American

COPTER DOWNFirefighters and rescue technicians confer at the scene of an accident last week on campus. A N303CH helicopter hadto crashland due to a windshear late in the afternoon Thursday after arriving from South Padre Island carryingHESTEC participants. The copter went down less than 10 feet from the HPE II Building. There were no major injuries.

Photo by Jesus Beltran

ROUNDTABLE: A collection of notable politicians and educators participate in a discussion about minorities, scientific education, and employmentopportunities during last week’s HESTEC event.

increase the underrepresented group inscience and technology," Colwell said.

One of the solutions proposed was toencourage students by providing themwith additional help.

"Personal tutors really do help in thelearning," Wladawsky-Berger said.

Local representative Guajardo, UTPAprofessor and director of the LlanoGrande program, spoke about the locallack of resources.

"There are no more talented peopleanywhere in this country than there arein South Texas," Guajardo said. "Thelack of science and engineeringinfrastructure is a reason for not havinggenerated more scientists and engineersin South Texas"

Founded in part by Guajardo, LlanoGrande was formally established in1997 in Edcouch-Elsa.

According to a publicity pamphlet theprogram started as an effort to bridgethe gap between communities andschools. It has striven to aid learning,teaching reflection and teamwork,enabling students to leave for collegewith both knowledge and strong youthleadership skills.

"Our work as a grassrootsorganization based out of a high schoolto build young leaders for the purposeof developing the community,"Guajardo said.

HESTEC continued from page 1

LAW PROGRAM TOKICK OFF NEXT WEEK

The University of Texas-Pan American Small BusinessDevelopment Center and theState Bar of Texas Law OfficeManagement Program willintroduce a new program, TheLaw Office ManagementInstitute and The Law OfficeTechnology Summer School.Oct. 30.

The new program willfeature its first workshop,"Selecting the Right BusinessEntity for Your Law Practiceand Developing YourClientele with a NurturingAttorney/Client Relationship"at 8:45 a.m. at theInternational Trade andTechnology Building.

"The Small BusinessDevelopment Centers offer theuse of their training centersand state-of-the-art equipmentto help us reach State Barmembers in areas of the statewe may not have reachedbefore" said Gisela Bradley,director of the program, in aUTPA press release.

The course is part of a 12-month program designed tohelp small law offices andsolo practitioners develop theoffice management skills theyneed to survive in today'seconomy.

For seminar registrationinformation, call the State Barof Texas Law OfficeManagement Program at (800)204-2222, extension 1300, orcall Esperanza Perez at (956)316-2610.

HUB VENDOR FAIR ONTAP SOON

The 2nd annual HistoricallyUnderutilized BusinessesVendor Fair will be held inearly November, presenting anopportunity to meet variousminority and women businessowners.

The University of Texas-Pan American HUB ProgramOffice is sponsoring the fair aspart of a good faith effort toutilize HUBs in theprocurement process. Productand service information willalso be available at the fair, inthe UTPA Ballroom from 9a.m. to 1 p.m.

Topics for vendor exhibitbooths include: officesupplies, janitorial and safetysupplies, promotional items,medical and laboratorysupplies, furniture, computerequipment and printingsupplies, and more.

Alex Valdez is the HUBcoordinator for materialsmanagement, and can bereached at 316-7105.

UPCOMING EVENTS

To report news or suggest story ideas, call 381-2542 or 381-2546. Anyone interested infreelance or paid work as a reporter, photographer, or designer may also call.

October 24, 2002 THE PAN AMERICAN

Thursday, Oct. 24Career Placement

Services will sponsor agraduate and profession-al school fair, takingplace in the StudentUnion from 10 a.m. to 2p.m. Representativesfrom more than 40 uni-versities will be in atten-dance to answer ques-tions for interested stu-dents.

Saturday, Oct. 26The University

Program Board will hostthe Great PumpkinFestival from 7-11 p.m.at the UTPA Fieldhouse.Food, games, and cos-tumes will highlight theevent. The event is opento the public, and formore information call316-7991.

Saturday, Oct. 26The UTPA Athletic

foundation presents aMasquerade Ballfundraiser held at theShary Estate in Missionbeginning at 7 p.m. Theevent will feature livemusic, food, casinoroom games, and a silentauction. Proceeds fromthe event will benefitUTPA women’s athlet-ics. For more informa-tion, contact SusanGriffith at 316-7146.

Monday, Oct. 28through Friday, Nov. 1Oct. 28 marks the startof Greek Week at UTPA.The week will feature anumber of activitiesdesigned to promoteGreek life on campus.The events will be freeand open to all students.

For more information,call 381-2660.

Tuesday, Oct. 29Student Health Serviceswill host the UTPABirthday Bash HealthFair from 11 a.m. to 2p.m. in the UTPABallroom. A number oflocal health organiza-tions will be present atthe event to providehealth-related informa-tion. For more informa-tion, call 381-2511.

Tuesday, Oct. 29The UTPA Lady Broncsvolleyball team playshost to Southwest TexasState. The match beginsat 7 p.m. in theFieldhouse. Tickets are$3 for general admis-sion, $2 for high schoolstudents, and $1 for chil-dren. Admission forUTPA students, staff andfaculty is free. For moreinformation, call 381-2221.

Tuesday, Oct. 29Student Health Serviceswill provide free flushots for costume-wear-ing students, staff, andfaculty all day in EmiliaSchunior Ramirez HallRoom 1.113. For moreinformation, call 381-2511.

Friday, Nov. 1The UTPA Mariachi willhold a concert beginningat 7 p.m. The event willbe held in the Fine ArtsAuditorium, and ticketsare $5 in advance. Theevent is open to the pub-lic, and for more infor-mation, call 381-3471.

Cam

pus

Cale

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OctoberOctober 24, 2002 Arts & Entertainment Page 11

GETGETINFORMED!INFORMED!with the FREE NewsSource of the Valley

Read The Pan Americanevery Thursday afternoon

■ News■ Arts & Entertainment

■ Sports

MUSEUM continued from page 7

A Valley man was hanged in 1914 fromthis famous ‘hanging tower’ back whenthe museum served as the HidalgoCounty jail.

The museum’s new expansion wasconstructed in Mexican and Spanish styles.

Saturday, November 23, Medieval Faire and Shining KnightsFestival from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., sponsored by the HidalgoCounty Historical Museum and the Society for Creative Anachronism.Events include sword-fighting, medieval combats, dancing, music,centuries-old arts and crafts, and foods from the Middle Ages. Theevent will utilize new facilities at the museum, including the CourtyardGallery.

Sunday, December 1, Guitarist Brooks Ausborn will present aclassical Spanish and holiday music concert at 2 p.m. in theCourtyard Gallery.

Sunday, December 8, Award-winning author and historian RutheWinegarten will talk about her coming book “Las Tejanas: 300 Yearsof History” at 1:30 p.m. in the Courtyard Gallery.

Hidalgo County Museum Eventsand a patron reading room for research. Thebuilding’s architecture is a cross betweenSpanish and Mexican styles, and the lobbyarea doubles as a reception hall that can fitup to 400 people. The building’s firstwedding will be held this December, McKonesaid.

Rankin said that along with the museum’snew addition will come a new name. Thename will be released in the Fall of 2003,when the new area opens.

The most current exhibit is a wedding dressexhibit, with donated gowns that have beenpreserved from the early 1800s to the present.

For more information on upcominggalleries and events, call (956) 383-6911. Themuseum is located on 121 E. McIntyre,behind the Hidalgo County Courthouse.

Belinda Reyes/The Pan American

Today, the Hidalgo CountyHistorical Museum is gettingbusy with ongoing expansions tofulfill the goal of becoming thelargest historical museum in theRio Grande Valley.

Public Relations officer JimMcKone said the museum’sentire construction costs reachednearly $5 million. Its purpose isto increase its size by preservingand preventing borderlandheritage in South Texas andNortheastern Mexico from south

of the Nueces River to thePanuco River in Mexico.

“We wanted to multiply theexhibit space times five,” saidMcKone.

The new wing should becompleted in a year to createmore space for exhibits in the

complex. Another area that isbeing renovated is the museum’sannex, a former HEB building,which will be complete for useby next month.

“Right now we are moving toand from different buildings forconstruction purposes, [butthanks] to private donationsfrom local and out of statefoundations, they are making agreat investment in the Valley,”McKone said. “[There are not alot] of exhibits but it will beworth the wait.”

Shan Rankin, executivedirector, said the museum’srenovation goals are to gainrecognition from the AmericanAssociation of Museums[A.A.M.].

“Only 10 percent of museumsin the nation are accredited, with[A.A.M.]. Now [with theexpansion] we can meet thestandards,” Rankin said. “Wewant to be the first place peoplecome to for the historicoverview of the [Valley]region.”

Rankin also noted theexpansion will helpaccommodate more people in themuseum who either visitgalleries or attend variousprograms the building willfacilitate. Another reason for theincreased space is to provide theproper environment for eachexhibit and enable the staff togive proper care for historicaldocuments from the Valley.

“It will increase the size ofschool tours for the future,whereas in the past we couldonly fit 60 students at a time,”Rankin said.

Added features in the newwing include an archive center

■ Gallery exhibit . . . . 8-9

■ Culture club . . . . . . 10

■ Movie Review . . . . . 10ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

PAGE 7

AroundTown

Latino Comedy ProjectOct. 24 through 26 at 8p.m.Place: McAllenConvention CenterEvent: Bilingual cast ofValley natives will performstand-up comedy.Phone: (956) 789-7763

Gallery HopOct. 25Place: 820 N. 10th St.Event: An evening of artin midtown McAllen. The‘hop’ will encouragepatrons to view multipleworks of art by variousartists while walkingbeneath the stars.Call: Bill Jay at (956)631-6638 or GilbertLongoria at (956) 994-1981

OktoberfestOct. 25 from 7 to 11 p.m.Place: McAllen CivicCenterFeatures: AuthenticOompah band andGerman food. Sponsoredby the McAllen SouthRotary Club. Price: $20 per person.Phone: (956) 682-3161

Dia de los MuertosOct. 27 through Nov. 2Place: Donna HooksFletcher Museum, SouthMain Street in DonnaFeatures: Guest artistswill exhibit their Dia delos Muertos altars. Therewill also be a Dia de losMuertos fundraiser andfood buffet.Price: $5 at the door.Phone: (956) 464-9989

See MUSEUM page 11This Spanish-style lobby inside the new wing can accommodate upto 400 people and be used for receptions and dinners.

By BELINDA REYESThe Pan American

Right now we are moving to andfrom different buildings for

construction purposes, [but thanks]to private donations from local andout of state foundations, they aremaking a great investment in the

Valley. [There are not a lot] ofexhibits but it will be worth the wait

“

“

- Jim McKone, public relations officer

River Highway:Replicas of early Mexicoand Texas eras.

Origins: Mammothreconstructed fromactual mammoth bonesfound in North Mexicoregion.

River Crossroads:Reconstruction ofMcAllen trade area in itsearlier days.

FutureGalleriesEverything old

is new againRenovated Valleymuseum provideslearning venue


‘Backbone’ turnsviewers spineless

October 24, 2002 Arts & Entertainment Page 10

Movie: “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”Book: “The Stranger” by Albert CamusWebsite: mifuturo.com

CD: “Sin Bandera” by Sin BanderaMovie: “Toy Story 2”Website: canzion.com

CD: “Big Ones” by AerosmithBook: “Deaf Like Me” by Thomas and James SpradleyMovie: “Se7en”

Jennifer SikesSophomoreUndeclared

Hadassa MarquezFreshmanBusiness Management

Itza MartinezFreshmanPre-dental/biology

CULTURE CLUBWhat students like to read, listen to and surf.

The

As Halloween slithers itsway toward us, people arebecoming filled with aninsipid need for fear. So itsrefreshing to know thatvideo stores throughout theValley will carry the veryfrightening foreign film“The Devil’s Backbone.”It’s psychological, it’smetaphorical, and it’s morefrightening than spendingan evening with in-laws.Directed by Guillermo delToro (Blade II, Comus,Mimic), this drama-meets-Devil flick is one that willbring tears down your faceand chills down your spine.

Abandoned at anorphanage for boys, Carlos(Fernando Tielve) enters a

worldfilled

with

conspiracies, sexualtriangles, and adisgruntled spirit. AsCarlos’ time in theorphanage continues, hebegins making contactwith the spirit, and learnsthat the spirit was Santi,a boy from the sameorphanage who wasmurdered because he sawtoo much...

As the plot unfolds,viewers meet Jacinto(Eduardo Noriega), aworker for the orphanagewho is having an affairwith Carmen (MarisaParedes), the orphanageheadmistress. It is learnedthat Jacinto covets the barsof gold hidden inside theorphanage, and he iswilling to do anything toget his hands on them. Inthe end, Jacinto causes anexplosion in the orphanageand most of the childrenare killed. The remainingchildren are left at hismercy and the one hopethey have lies in the handsof the ghost they feared.The final scenes of thisfilm will leave viewersbreathless. The priceJacinto will pay for hisavarice will leave youspeechless.

The one thing audienceswill love about this movieis seeing Marisa Paredes asa leading-actress. Afterplaying a Spanish lesbianfilm star in PedroAlmodóvar’s “All Aboutmy Mother,” it isrefreshing to see theveteran actress “break aleg” in this powerfulmovie. Not all good talentis overlooked.

It’s interesting to notethat this film was producedby theAlmodóvarbrothers, Pedroand Agustín,and they trulylive up to theirreputation asgreatfilmmakers.Pedro, the elderbrother, is a

living film legend in Spainand most of Europe andhas created suchmemorable movies as“Women on the Verge of aNervous Breakdown” andmore recently, the abovementioned “All About MyMother.” With talent likethe Almodóvars overseeingthis project, it’s no wonderthat “The Devil’sBackbone” is such atremendous film. TheseSpanish elites have createda Spanish marvel.

Despite the fact that thefilm is originally inSpanish and has yellowsubtitles flashing at thebottom of the screen, it isfast-paced, and audienceswill quickly forget thatthey are watching a foreignfilm. This film is a genuinetestament to the horrors ofgreed. With mind-boggling special effects,Oscar-worthyperformances, and a plotthicker than Anna NicoleSmith’s waist, “The Devil’sBackbone” is a filmdivinity that should bewatched over and overagain.

By DÄGOBERTO PÉREZThe Pan American

Spanish filmlegends unite tocreate a ‘bone’

chilling masterpiece

Starring: Eduardo Noriega,Marisa Paredes,

Frederico Luppi, InigoGarces, Fernando Tielve,

Irene VisedoDirector: Guillermo del

ToroMPAA rating: R, forviolence and some

sexuality.Running time: 106

minutes

Reviewer’s Rating:

out of 5 stars

October 24, 2002 Arts & Entertainment Page 9October 24, 2002 Arts & Entertainment

A faculty art exhibition wasunveiled last week and will rununtil Oct. 30 in the UniversityGallery in the communicationdepartment. The art workcomes from 11 art professors.

Dindy Reich, art gallerydirector and lecturer, said theexhibition’s title is “Celebration11/ 75” because it reflects the11 full-time art studio facultymembers celebration of thethe 75th anniversary of theuniversity.

Faculty galleries are eventsthat occur every semester atUTPA, but this is Reich’s firstshot at running the show.

“The faculty has had othershows before. This is the firstone that I have organized,”Reich said. “It is a normalthing for faculty to have showsof their work on campus.”

The reception for the facultywas held Oct. 17.


Eleven faculty members exhibit work innew University Gallery exhibit

Photos byGabriel O.Hernandez

“Living in mountainous and aridenvironment of the West attracted me tothe visual statements of African cultureand other desert landscapes. My Jewish

heritage has inspired me to study therich profusion of stories, myths and

history of Eastern European heritage.”

~ Dindy Reich

“As a graphic designer, I create formand function. This idea is the result ofreference, research and reconstructionprocess that I integrate to a complete

visual product for my client.”

~ Edwin Cuenco

EXHIBITORS

Lenard Brown, Edwin Cuenco,James Dutremaine, Philip Field,

Richard Hyslin, Maria ElenaMacias, Wil Martin, Esau Peña,

Nancy Moyer, Dindy Reich,Chuck Wissinger

ARTIST STATEMENTS

Lenard Brown

Below, work byMaria Elena Macias

Above, Work by Richard Hyslin

October 24, 2002 Arts & Entertainment October 24, 2002 Arts & Entertainment Page 8

A faculty art exhibition wasunveiled last week and will rununtil Oct. 30 in the UniversityGallery in the communicationdepartment. The art workcomes from 11 art professors.

Dindy Reich, art gallerydirector and lecturer, said theexhibition’s title is “Celebration11/ 75” because it reflects the11 full-time art studio facultymembers celebration of thethe 75th anniversary of theuniversity.

Faculty galleries are eventsthat occur every semester atUTPA, but this is Reich’s firstshot at running the show.

“The faculty has had othershows before. This is the firstone that I have organized,”Reich said. “It is a normalthing for faculty to have showsof their work on campus.”

The reception for the facultywas held Oct. 17.


Eleven faculty members exhibit work innew University Gallery exhibit

Photos byGabriel O.Hernandez

“Living in mountainous and aridenvironment of the West attracted me tothe visual statements of African cultureand other desert landscapes. My Jewish

heritage has inspired me to study therich profusion of stories, myths and

history of Eastern European heritage.”

~ Dindy Reich

“As a graphic designer, I create formand function. This idea is the result ofreference, research and reconstructionprocess that I integrate to a complete

visual product for my client.”

~ Edwin Cuenco

EXHIBITORS

Lenard Brown, Edwin Cuenco,James Dutremaine, Philip Field,

Richard Hyslin, Maria ElenaMacias, Wil Martin, Esau Peña,

Nancy Moyer, Dindy Reich,Chuck Wissinger

ARTIST STATEMENTS

Lenard Brown

Below, work byMaria Elena Macias

Above, Work by Richard Hyslin

Today, the Hidalgo CountyHistorical Museum is gettingbusy with ongoing expansions tofulfill the goal of becoming thelargest historical museum in theRio Grande Valley.

Public Relations officer JimMcKone said the museum’sentire construction costs reachednearly $5 million. Its purpose isto increase its size by preservingand preventing borderlandheritage in South Texas andNortheastern Mexico from south

of the Nueces River to thePanuco River in Mexico.

“We wanted to multiply theexhibit space times five,” saidMcKone.

The new wing should becompleted in a year to createmore space for exhibits in the

complex. Another area that isbeing renovated is the museum’sannex, a former HEB building,which will be complete for useby next month.

“Right now we are moving toand from different buildings forconstruction purposes, [butthanks] to private donationsfrom local and out of statefoundations, they are making agreat investment in the Valley,”McKone said. “[There are not alot] of exhibits but it will beworth the wait.”

Shan Rankin, executivedirector, said the museum’srenovation goals are to gainrecognition from the AmericanAssociation of Museums[A.A.M.].

“Only 10 percent of museumsin the nation are accredited, with[A.A.M.]. Now [with theexpansion] we can meet thestandards,” Rankin said. “Wewant to be the first place peoplecome to for the historicoverview of the [Valley]region.”

Rankin also noted theexpansion will helpaccommodate more people in themuseum who either visitgalleries or attend variousprograms the building willfacilitate. Another reason for theincreased space is to provide theproper environment for eachexhibit and enable the staff togive proper care for historicaldocuments from the Valley.

“It will increase the size ofschool tours for the future,whereas in the past we couldonly fit 60 students at a time,”Rankin said.

Added features in the newwing include an archive center

■ Gallery exhibit . . . . 8-9

■ Culture club . . . . . . 10

■ Movie Review . . . . . 10ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

PAGE 7

AroundTown

Latino Comedy ProjectOct. 24 through 26 at 8p.m.Place: McAllenConvention CenterEvent: Bilingual cast ofValley natives will performstand-up comedy.Phone: (956) 789-7763

Gallery HopOct. 25Place: 820 N. 10th St.Event: An evening of artin midtown McAllen. The‘hop’ will encouragepatrons to view multipleworks of art by variousartists while walkingbeneath the stars.Call: Bill Jay at (956)631-6638 or GilbertLongoria at (956) 994-1981

OktoberfestOct. 25 from 7 to 11 p.m.Place: McAllen CivicCenterFeatures: AuthenticOompah band andGerman food. Sponsoredby the McAllen SouthRotary Club. Price: $20 per person.Phone: (956) 682-3161

Dia de los MuertosOct. 27 through Nov. 2Place: Donna HooksFletcher Museum, SouthMain Street in DonnaFeatures: Guest artistswill exhibit their Dia delos Muertos altars. Therewill also be a Dia de losMuertos fundraiser andfood buffet.Price: $5 at the door.Phone: (956) 464-9989

See MUSEUM page 11This Spanish-style lobby inside the new wing can accommodate upto 400 people and be used for receptions and dinners.


Right now we are moving to andfrom different buildings for

construction purposes, [but thanks]to private donations from local andout of state foundations, they aremaking a great investment in the

Valley. [There are not a lot] ofexhibits but it will be worth the wait

“

“

- Jim McKone, public relations officer

River Highway:Replicas of early Mexicoand Texas eras.

Origins: Mammothreconstructed fromactual mammoth bonesfound in North Mexicoregion.

River Crossroads:Reconstruction ofMcAllen trade area in itsearlier days.

FutureGalleriesEverything old

is new againRenovated Valleymuseum provideslearning venue


‘Backbone’ turnsviewers spineless

October 24, 2002 Arts & Entertainment

Movie: “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”Book: “The Stranger” by Albert CamusWebsite: mifuturo.com

CD: “Sin Bandera” by Sin BanderaMovie: “Toy Story 2”Website: canzion.com

CD: “Big Ones” by AerosmithBook: “Deaf Like Me” by Thomas and James SpradleyMovie: “Se7en”

Jennifer SikesSophomoreUndeclared

Hadassa MarquezFreshmanBusiness Management

Itza MartinezFreshmanPre-dental/biology

CULTURE CLUBWhat students like to read, listen to and surf.

The

As Halloween slithers itsway toward us, people arebecoming filled with aninsipid need for fear. So itsrefreshing to know thatvideo stores throughout theValley will carry the veryfrightening foreign film“The Devil’s Backbone.”It’s psychological, it’smetaphorical, and it’s morefrightening than spendingan evening with in-laws.Directed by Guillermo delToro (Blade II, Comus,Mimic), this drama-meets-Devil flick is one that willbring tears down your faceand chills down your spine.

Abandoned at anorphanage for boys, Carlos(Fernando Tielve) enters a

worldfilled

with

conspiracies, sexualtriangles, and adisgruntled spirit. AsCarlos’ time in theorphanage continues, hebegins making contactwith the spirit, and learnsthat the spirit was Santi,a boy from the sameorphanage who wasmurdered because he sawtoo much...

As the plot unfolds,viewers meet Jacinto(Eduardo Noriega), aworker for the orphanagewho is having an affairwith Carmen (MarisaParedes), the orphanageheadmistress. It is learnedthat Jacinto covets the barsof gold hidden inside theorphanage, and he iswilling to do anything toget his hands on them. Inthe end, Jacinto causes anexplosion in the orphanageand most of the childrenare killed. The remainingchildren are left at hismercy and the one hopethey have lies in the handsof the ghost they feared.The final scenes of thisfilm will leave viewersbreathless. The priceJacinto will pay for hisavarice will leave youspeechless.

The one thing audienceswill love about this movieis seeing Marisa Paredes asa leading-actress. Afterplaying a Spanish lesbianfilm star in PedroAlmodóvar’s “All Aboutmy Mother,” it isrefreshing to see theveteran actress “break aleg” in this powerfulmovie. Not all good talentis overlooked.

It’s interesting to notethat this film was producedby theAlmodóvarbrothers, Pedroand Agustín,and they trulylive up to theirreputation asgreatfilmmakers.Pedro, the elderbrother, is a

living film legend in Spainand most of Europe andhas created suchmemorable movies as“Women on the Verge of aNervous Breakdown” andmore recently, the abovementioned “All About MyMother.” With talent likethe Almodóvars overseeingthis project, it’s no wonderthat “The Devil’sBackbone” is such atremendous film. TheseSpanish elites have createda Spanish marvel.

Despite the fact that thefilm is originally inSpanish and has yellowsubtitles flashing at thebottom of the screen, it isfast-paced, and audienceswill quickly forget thatthey are watching a foreignfilm. This film is a genuinetestament to the horrors ofgreed. With mind-boggling special effects,Oscar-worthyperformances, and a plotthicker than Anna NicoleSmith’s waist, “The Devil’sBackbone” is a filmdivinity that should bewatched over and overagain.

By DÄGOBERTO PÉREZThe Pan American

Spanish filmlegends unite tocreate a ‘bone’

chilling masterpiece

Starring: Eduardo Noriega,Marisa Paredes,

Frederico Luppi, InigoGarces, Fernando Tielve,

Irene VisedoDirector: Guillermo del

ToroMPAA rating: R, forviolence and some

sexuality.Running time: 106

minutes

Reviewer’s Rating:

out of 5 stars

October 24, 2002 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 6

Thursday, Oct. 24Career Placement

Services will sponsor agraduate and profession-al school fair, takingplace in the StudentUnion from 10 a.m. to 2p.m. Representativesfrom more than 40 uni-versities will be in atten-dance to answer ques-tions for interested stu-dents.

Saturday, Oct. 26The University

Program Board will hostthe Great PumpkinFestival from 7-11 p.m.at the UTPA Fieldhouse.Food, games, and cos-tumes will highlight theevent. The event is opento the public, and formore information call316-7991.

Saturday, Oct. 26The UTPA Athletic

foundation presents aMasquerade Ballfundraiser held at theShary Estate in Missionbeginning at 7 p.m. Theevent will feature livemusic, food, casinoroom games, and a silentauction. Proceeds fromthe event will benefitUTPA women’s athlet-ics. For more informa-tion, contact SusanGriffith at 316-7146.

Monday, Oct. 28through Friday, Nov. 1Oct. 28 marks the startof Greek Week at UTPA.The week will feature anumber of activitiesdesigned to promoteGreek life on campus.The events will be freeand open to all students.

For more information,call 381-2660.

Tuesday, Oct. 29Student Health Serviceswill host the UTPABirthday Bash HealthFair from 11 a.m. to 2p.m. in the UTPABallroom. A number oflocal health organiza-tions will be present atthe event to providehealth-related informa-tion. For more informa-tion, call 381-2511.

Tuesday, Oct. 29The UTPA Lady Broncsvolleyball team playshost to Southwest TexasState. The match beginsat 7 p.m. in theFieldhouse. Tickets are$3 for general admis-sion, $2 for high schoolstudents, and $1 for chil-dren. Admission forUTPA students, staff andfaculty is free. For moreinformation, call 381-2221.

Tuesday, Oct. 29Student Health Serviceswill provide free flushots for costume-wear-ing students, staff, andfaculty all day in EmiliaSchunior Ramirez HallRoom 1.113. For moreinformation, call 381-2511.

Friday, Nov. 1The UTPA Mariachi willhold a concert beginningat 7 p.m. The event willbe held in the Fine ArtsAuditorium, and ticketsare $5 in advance. Theevent is open to the pub-lic, and for more infor-mation, call 381-3471.

Cam

pus

Cale

ndar

OctoberOctober 24, 2002 Arts & Entertainment

GETGETINFORMED!INFORMED!with the FREE NewsSource of the Valley

Read The Pan Americanevery Thursday afternoon

■ News■ Arts & Entertainment

■ Sports

MUSEUM continued from page 7

A Valley man was hanged in 1914 fromthis famous ‘hanging tower’ back whenthe museum served as the HidalgoCounty jail.

The museum’s new expansion wasconstructed in Mexican and Spanish styles.

Saturday, November 23, Medieval Faire and Shining KnightsFestival from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., sponsored by the HidalgoCounty Historical Museum and the Society for Creative Anachronism.Events include sword-fighting, medieval combats, dancing, music,centuries-old arts and crafts, and foods from the Middle Ages. Theevent will utilize new facilities at the museum, including the CourtyardGallery.

Sunday, December 1, Guitarist Brooks Ausborn will present aclassical Spanish and holiday music concert at 2 p.m. in theCourtyard Gallery.

Sunday, December 8, Award-winning author and historian RutheWinegarten will talk about her coming book “Las Tejanas: 300 Yearsof History” at 1:30 p.m. in the Courtyard Gallery.

Hidalgo County Museum Eventsand a patron reading room for research. Thebuilding’s architecture is a cross betweenSpanish and Mexican styles, and the lobbyarea doubles as a reception hall that can fitup to 400 people. The building’s firstwedding will be held this December, McKonesaid.

Rankin said that along with the museum’snew addition will come a new name. Thename will be released in the Fall of 2003,when the new area opens.

The most current exhibit is a wedding dressexhibit, with donated gowns that have beenpreserved from the early 1800s to the present.

For more information on upcominggalleries and events, call (956) 383-6911. Themuseum is located on 121 E. McIntyre,behind the Hidalgo County Courthouse.


October 24, 2002 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 5October 24, 2002 THE PAN AMERICAN

Gabriel O. Hernandez/The Pan American

COPTER DOWNFirefighters and rescue technicians confer at the scene of an accident last week on campus. A N303CH helicopter hadto crashland due to a windshear late in the afternoon Thursday after arriving from South Padre Island carryingHESTEC participants. The copter went down less than 10 feet from the HPE II Building. There were no major injuries.

Photo by Jesus Beltran

ROUNDTABLE: A collection of notable politicians and educators participate in a discussion about minorities, scientific education, and employmentopportunities during last week’s HESTEC event.

increase the underrepresented group inscience and technology," Colwell said.

One of the solutions proposed was toencourage students by providing themwith additional help.

"Personal tutors really do help in thelearning," Wladawsky-Berger said.

Local representative Guajardo, UTPAprofessor and director of the LlanoGrande program, spoke about the locallack of resources.

"There are no more talented peopleanywhere in this country than there arein South Texas," Guajardo said. "Thelack of science and engineeringinfrastructure is a reason for not havinggenerated more scientists and engineersin South Texas"

Founded in part by Guajardo, LlanoGrande was formally established in1997 in Edcouch-Elsa.

According to a publicity pamphlet theprogram started as an effort to bridgethe gap between communities andschools. It has striven to aid learning,teaching reflection and teamwork,enabling students to leave for collegewith both knowledge and strong youthleadership skills.

"Our work as a grassrootsorganization based out of a high schoolto build young leaders for the purposeof developing the community,"Guajardo said.

HESTEC continued from page 1

LAW PROGRAM TOKICK OFF NEXT WEEK

The University of Texas-Pan American Small BusinessDevelopment Center and theState Bar of Texas Law OfficeManagement Program willintroduce a new program, TheLaw Office ManagementInstitute and The Law OfficeTechnology Summer School.Oct. 30.

The new program willfeature its first workshop,"Selecting the Right BusinessEntity for Your Law Practiceand Developing YourClientele with a NurturingAttorney/Client Relationship"at 8:45 a.m. at theInternational Trade andTechnology Building.

"The Small BusinessDevelopment Centers offer theuse of their training centersand state-of-the-art equipmentto help us reach State Barmembers in areas of the statewe may not have reachedbefore" said Gisela Bradley,director of the program, in aUTPA press release.

The course is part of a 12-month program designed tohelp small law offices andsolo practitioners develop theoffice management skills theyneed to survive in today'seconomy.

For seminar registrationinformation, call the State Barof Texas Law OfficeManagement Program at (800)204-2222, extension 1300, orcall Esperanza Perez at (956)316-2610.

HUB VENDOR FAIR ONTAP SOON

The 2nd annual HistoricallyUnderutilized BusinessesVendor Fair will be held inearly November, presenting anopportunity to meet variousminority and women businessowners.

The University of Texas-Pan American HUB ProgramOffice is sponsoring the fair aspart of a good faith effort toutilize HUBs in theprocurement process. Productand service information willalso be available at the fair, inthe UTPA Ballroom from 9a.m. to 1 p.m.

Topics for vendor exhibitbooths include: officesupplies, janitorial and safetysupplies, promotional items,medical and laboratorysupplies, furniture, computerequipment and printingsupplies, and more.

Alex Valdez is the HUBcoordinator for materialsmanagement, and can bereached at 316-7105.

UPCOMING EVENTS

To report news or suggest story ideas, call 381-2542 or 381-2546. Anyone interested infreelance or paid work as a reporter, photographer, or designer may also call.

October 24, 2002 Sports

Atlanta at New Orleans

This game will be a dog fight and both teams areplaying well. The team that runs the ball well willwin.

Saints by 7Matt Celeste GregSaints Saints Saints

Cleveland at N.Y. Jets

Both teams have been inconsistent this year. Attimes, they look like a playoff team, but they’vealso looked horrible as well.

Jets by 6Matt Celeste GregBrowns Browns Jets

Oakland at Kansas City

This is always a great game to watch. It looks likethe Raiders have slowed down just a bit. TheChiefs haven’t been able to win a close one.

Chiefs by 3Matt Celeste GregRaiders Raiders Raiders

Tennessee at Cincinnati

Both teams will be well rested for this one. It’sonly a mat ter of time before the Bengals will wina game, but it will not happen on Sunday.

Titans by 17Matt Celeste GregTitans Titans Titans

Denver at New England

Mike Shanahan against Bill Belichick. The gamewill be interesting to watch. You bet ter believeboth coaches will be aggressive. I think Shanahanwill come out on top.

Broncos by 10Matt Celeste GregBroncos Broncos Patriots

Indianapolis at Washington

The Redskins blew many oppor tunities last week.This is the time of year where Payton Manningtakes his game to another level.

Colts by 13Matt Celeste GregRedskins Redskins Colts

Chicago atMinnesota

The Vikings have been a huge disappointmentthis season. Can you say “rebuilding?”

Bears by 10Matt Celeste Greg Bears Vikings Bears

Detroit at Buffalo

The Lions got a lucky call at the end of regula-tion that got them the win. They won’t be luckythis week.

Bills by 10Matt Celeste GregBills Lions Bills

Pittsburgh atBaltimore

The Ravens have proven they can win withoutRay Lewis. This might have been a blessing indisguise. The Ravens are rolling.

Ravens by 7Matt Celeste GregSteelers Steelers Ravens

Tampa Bay at Carolina

The Bucs still haven’t proved they can win in coldweather. For tunately, the weather will be warmerin Carolina.

Bucs by 10

Matt Celeste GregBucs Bucs Bucs

Arizona at San Francisco

Who would’ve thought this will be a bat tle for firstplace in the NFC West at this time of year. Arivalr y could be born Sunday.

Niners by 13Matt Celeste GregNiners Niners Niners

Houston atJacksonville

The Texans have played a couple of tough ballgames, but have failed to win one. This will be myupset pick of the week.

Texans by 6Matt Celeste GregTexans Texans Jaguars

Seattle at Dallas

Fans may witness histor y as Emmit t Smith couldbreak Walter Payton’s record. The Seahawks areone of the worst teams against the rush, averag-ing 170 yards a game. Smith will have a greatshot if he is able to get his carries. ChadHutchinson will make his debut at quar terback.

Cowboys by 10Matt Celeste GregCowboys Seahawks Cowboys

N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia

The Eagles can take command of the NFC Eastwith a win Monday. The Giants are just too incon-sistent in their offense. The Eagles should roll.

Eagles by 14Matt Celeste GregEagles Eagles Eagles

Open Dates: Green Bay, Miami, San Diego, St. Louis

StaffMikeGonzalez:59-43,.578GregSelber:59-43,.578

Celeste Y.Tello: 50-51, .490 MattLynch: 59-43, .578

Staff Swami Records

Mike GonzalezSports Editor

Swamis

Dr. Greg SelberAdviser

Matt LynchEditor

Celeste TelloReporter

Men’s tennis teamcompete at UTSASophomores Filip Koziell and

Jeremy Salvo of the men’s doublestennis team advanced to the finalsat the Texas-San AntonioInvitational last weekend, but lostto Ricardo Almeida and DennisAndrade of UTSA 8-3. In singlesaction, freshman Oliver Steil lostin a quarterfinals match to St.Edward’s Kendall Smashey, 6-3, 6-3. In singles, junior TomMangleschots beat BrandonSilvester of UTSA, 6-1, 6-3, butlost to Dennis Andrade also ofUTSA, 6-3, 5-7, (10-8) in consola-tion action. Head coach ToddChapman likes the effort andprogress his team is making.

“We’re improving, and I’ve seenimprovement in the last two tour-naments, and that’s what I’ve beenlooking for,” Chapman said. “Filipand Jeremy didn’t get off to a goodstart in their [finals match] andteam they played against playedvery well.”

The Broncs will finish their fall

schedule at the Omni Hotels ITASouthwest Regional Tournamentthis weekend.

Broncs finishsixth at Louisiana

UTPA men’s golf team competedat the 15-team Square CreekInvitational at Choudrant, LA thisweek. The Broncs finished thetournament in sixth by shooting a311 in the final found. Leading theway for UTPA was junior BenPiper who shot a final round of 77and 227 total that put him 13thoverall. Junior Paul Manganillacame in 16th overall and shot afinal round of 74 and 228 total forUTPA. The Broncs came in thefinal round in second and headcoach Mark Gaynor knows histeam had an opportunity to comeout on top.

“It was nice to have an opportu-nity to win the tournament,”Gaynor said. “This gives us somethings to work on the offseason.”

SPORTS CLIPBOARDOctober 24, 2002 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 4

Erika EspinozaPsychologyFreshman

I think it is very important because we getto vote for the candidate that bestrepresents us and is going to dosomething for us.

Bobby CuellarMechanical EngineeringFreshman

It’s our future and we have to pickthe person who best represents usand who will lead us in the future.

Cesar QuintanillaKinesiologySenior

Because people need to practice theirright to make a change. We have toact as a community and to respondaccording to our needs.

How important is it to voteon November 5?

Ramiro VillarrealCriminal JusticeFreshman

I think it is really important for people tobe active in the voting process becauseone vote makes a difference.

VOICECCaammppuuss

Erik CastilloPre-LawFreshman

It is crucial that we vote because theperson that is being elected will be inoffice until next election time.

With all the different studentorganizations on campus, it’s difficult fora student to choose which one could servethem in the best way. Whether it’s goingGreek, focusing on department clubs, orjoining one of the other organizations oncampus, students at the University ofTexas-Pan American now have a largerarray of choices when it comes todedicating time and energy for theuniversity.

Those looking for an academic outletwhile participating with activities oncampus can do so by being part of anhonor society. With societies such asGamma Beta Phi, the Engineer HonorSociety, Lambda Alpha or Psi Chi,students have a chance to be involved inhonor societies best suited for theirspecific interest or major.

Gamma Beta Phi is one such groupopen to all majors, and the chapter atUTPA is sponsored by Honors StudiesProgram, which attempts to provide theacademic program with wider social andservice interests of honor students.

By being involved in that programstudents can enrich their education bytaking honors classes at the freshman andsophomore level, and participate in anindependent study at the upper level.They also have the opportunity to attendguest speaker events and developmentseminars.

Sharifa Llemit, a sophomore premedmajor, is an active member of GammaBeta Phi. She said she first found outabout the group when she was accepted tothe Honors Studies Program and waseligible to be a member of the honorsociety.

“I really enjoy meeting new people ingeneral, and helping out by participatingin community service is very gratifying,”Llemit said. “I’m in charge of organizingcommunity service projects so wecontribute our time to helping others asoften as we can.”

Beta Gamma Sigma, a national honorfraternity for business administration

majors, is one of the honor societies oncampus whose membership is byinvitation.

According to Dr. Angela Hausman, anadviser for Beta Gamma Sigma, selectionof members is done by examining theregister of students enrolled in theCollege of Business Administration. To beeligible for membership, a student mustrank in the top seven percent of the juniorclass, upper 10 percent of the senior class,or upper 20 percent of the graduatingmaster’s class. Undergraduates must havea GPA of 3.5 and graduate students 3.75.

Once the students are selected, a facultymember usualy visits the students in theirclassrooms to personally invite theindividual to be a part of the honorsociety.

“We want to encourage all the studentsto strive in their academics so they canbecome a part of Beta Gamma Sigma,”Hausman said. “By having members ofthe faculty personally invite the students[in front of their classmates] to BetaGamma Sigma it can lead other studentsto want that recognition too.”

By being a part of that group, studentsgain access to a database which allowsthem to learn about job opportunities,mentor programs, and seminars that canhelp their career plans.

The College of Education also has anhonors society that is by invitation only.Kappa Delta Phi is an international honorsociety based on high academicachievement and commitment toeducation as a career. Its motto is“Knowledge-Duty-Power.”

According to Dr. Veronica Estrada,Kappa Delta Phi counselor, the society isfocused on enhancing literacy at all levelsof education, including kindergarten andadult education.

“Last year Kappa Delta Phi adoptedZavala Elementary School in Edinburgand created literacy centers at the secondgrade level,” Estrada said. “This year weare striving to accomplish things such asproviding school supplies and books tothe children, and hopefully we’ll be ableto reach more students than we have beenin the past.”


Honor societiessteadily prosperSome are open, others are invitation only; all offer

chance to enhance college experience

GOT SOMETHING TOSAY?

The Pan American wants to hear what youhave to say about stories, current events oranything you want to rant about. Send yourresponses to [email protected]

October 24, 2002 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 3

Each year the Minnie Stevens Piper and theChancellor’s foundations hand out awards tooutstanding teachers in Texas. The latest round ofawards is coming up.

The Minnie Stevens Piper Award carries anhonorarium of $2,500 and two members from theUTPA faculty are nominated for the award. TheChancellor’s award is granted to the MinnieStevens Piper award nominee who receives thehighest vote by the UTPA faculty. The awardcarries an honorarium of $5,000.

In order to receive the Chancellor’s award, thenominee must be a tenured member of theundergraduate faculty or be on that track.

According to the awards committee, manynominations were received for these prestigiousawards. The committee selected five finalists andpresented their names to the UTPA faculty for avote.

The deadline to submit the ballots is 5 p.m.Monday Oct. 28. The committee will count thevalid ballots on Tuesday, Oct. 29 and submit areport to Provost/VPAAArevalo.

The finalists are Dr. Subhash Bose, Dr. Luis A.Materon, Dr. Nola Radford, Dr. Jose R. Llanesand Dr. Hassan Ahmad.

Each of the finalists wrote a brief self-appraisalwhich can be reviewed in the Faculty SenateOffice at the University Library room 2.111A,Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

• Dr. Bose, who joined the UTPA staff inSeptember 1993, is chair of the department ofmanufacturing engineering, and was responsiblefor developing the curriculum for theundergraduate program.

According to his self-appraisal, Bose gives hisstudents the opportunity to work on real-lifeproblems in manufacturing industries while inschool and his teaching philosophy of combiningclassroom education with training in

manufacturing industries has strong support fromthe Engineering Advisory Council.

• Materon, assistant professor in the biologydepartment, said “I am fully committed to excel inteaching at UTPA and I try hard to transmitenthusiasm.” He joined the UTPA staff in 1996and has been successfully using the innovativeteaching techniques of the Internet as an educationtool.

According to his self-appraisal, Materonlearned HTML programming and web design todevelop dedicated web sites for his courses, andwas awarded the Provost Technology in TeachingAward in 2000.

• According to her self-appraisal, Radford, anassociate professor of communication disorders,has established a solid record of research in tspeech-language pathology for the millions ofindividuals who have lost the ability tocommunicate, or whose communication isimpaired.

Her postdoctoral fellowship of $45,000 made itpossible to establish new clinics for studenttraining.

• Llanes joined the UTPA staff in September1994 and has conducted research every year.

“There is nothing I can do at this Universitythat is more important than to help developeducational leaders who in turn will have asubstantial impact over all of our society in thefuture,” said Llanes, professor for educationalleadership.

• Ahmad joined UTPA in 1992 and was grantedtenure and promoted to associate professor in1996. In September 2002 he was promoted to therank of full professor. He has taught bothundergraduate and graduate courses inbiochemistry, which is his area of specialization.

According to his self-appraisal, Ahmad becamethe UTPA director of the South Texas doctoralBridge Program, which brought more than$210,000 and has helped numerous students finishtheir degrees at UTPA.

Faculty awardspresented soonBy NIKKI RAMIREZThe Pan American

Chancellor award in offing

Three years ago Paula Berkley,records management analyst at TheUniversity of Texas-Pan American,noticed the administrative staff needed away to be more efficient and moreeffective.

After doing some research, Berkleydiscovered the International Associationof Administrative Professionals (IAAP),and in April 1999, she began the RioGrande Valley chapter of IAAP atUTPA.

“In any job, you have a certainperspective of how things are done,”Berkley said. “The conversations Iwould have with employees led me tobelieve that we needed something.”

IAAP is the world’s largestassociation for administrative supportstaff, with more than 600 chapters and40,000 members and affiliatesworldwide.

“It enhances our job throughnetworking,” said Carol Macheska,administrative associate with StudentFinancial Services and president of theValley’s IAAP chapter. “It keeps us upto date on various work requirements.”

The association allows professionalsin the administrative field to organize,giving assistants, secretaries, and clerksthe opportunity to learn from individualsthrough local, national and internationalnetworking.

“It makes a big difference,” saidLillian Carey, administrative secretary tothe Vice President’s Office for BusinessAffairs. “It allows the staff to share whatis happening in each departmentaloffice.”

With 15 chapter members at UTPA,Berkley said it was a difficult to createthe local IAAP chapter becausescheduled meetings were held in theevening, and members found it difficultto attend events because of familyobligations and other duties. But in aneffort to stabilize the chapter and givemore administrative assistants theopportunity to join, Berkley saidmeetings are now held during businesshours from 4-5 p.m. every thirdThursday of each month.

“It’s a whole lot easier now,” Berkleysaid. “The meetings give manyopportunities to the members.”

In the meetings, speakers come totrain members in different administrativetechniques so they can become confidentadministrative professionals.

“I learned why you should wear yourname badge on your right,” Macheskasaid. “The reason is because when youshake someone’s hand it is usually withyour right hand and people look at yourname badge in the process of thehandshake.”

Carey said she likes how members areable to present programs, which affordsthem the opportunity to get up and speakin front of a group, providing practicethat can go a long way toward battlingshyness and stage fright.

The organization also offers programsthat afford secretaries and clerks theopportunity of certifying their skills.Such programs include the CertifiedAdministrative Professional (CAP) andCertified Professional Secretary (CPS),which can only be attained by passingcomprehensive exams.

For more information on IAAP, logonto their Web site at www.iaap-hq.org.

By HILDA BARRIENTESThe Pan American

UTPA analyst pushes change

Administrative efficiency at heart of training,new association chapter

Although on the surface they seem to befierce competitors, the University of Texas-Pan American and South Texas CommunityCollege actually have much in common andmuch to share with each other.

UTPA, a four-year university, and STCC atwo-year institution, recently hammered out anarticulation agreement which facilitates thetransfer of education students from the latter tothe former institution. STCC has at least 2,000education students currently among its 11,000-plus students, and the agreement is designed tomake it easier for them to continue their workat UTPA after graduating from STCC. UTPA'slatest enrollment figure is 14,300.

The agreement, called a “2x2” articulationagreement, makes a fit between classequivalencies at the two schools, assuring thatthose graduating with two-year associatedegrees from STCC will be able to use theircoursework to complete the freshman-sophomore requirements at UTPA. The same

type of agreement was completed in the areaof nursing in 2001.

UTPA already produces more teachers thanany other stateuniversity, and leads thenation in trainingbilingual teachers andsending them out intothe field. By ensuringthat there is acontinuing and healthyflow of students intoeducation fields, theschools hope to do theirpart in alleviating theongoing teachershortage in the Valleyand South Texas. It alsosignals a new level ofcollaboration betweenthe schools.

In a school press release, UTPA Provost/VPfor Academic Affairs Rodolfo Arevalo said the

agreement is a good example of cooperation,and indicates the interest the UTPA has inmaking transition from one institution to

another much easier.Arevalo, along with

President Miguel A.Nevarez and HildaMedrano, dean ofUTPA's College ofEducation, were in onethe agreement, alongwith STCC's FrankWilliams, the vicepresident forInstructional Services.

Many observershave noted that whileUTPA and STCC pullfrom the sameprospective student

pool, the rising Valley population, nearing amillion, dictates that both will be able to gettheir share of talent. More Valley kids than

ever are attending Texas schools, and thegrowing enrollment at both Upper Valleyschools has reflected that.

The University of Texas-Brownsville, thethird education institution, does not directlycompete with the schools, as it draws itsstudent body mainly from the Lower Valleyand the Coastal Bend. Texas State TechnicalCollege in Harlingen serves a less academicniche by providing training in technical andpragmatic fields.

Recent rumors that the Texas A&M systemis looking to horn in on U’'s area monopolyare probably more intriguing than any sort oflocal competition between STCC and UTPA.

“They are looking to come down here,probably into McAllen,” said a dean of one ofUTPA's six colleges, who wished to remainanonymous. “A&M has also investigatedthings out in Starr County as well. I think thefuture of this conflict will be very interesting,and we need to be appraised of thedevelopments.”

Material taken in part from UTPA PressRelations.

Articulation pact with STCC signedEducation students will benefit most

UTPA alreadyproduces more

teachers than anyother state university,and leads the nationin training bilingual

teachers andsending them out

into the field

THE PAN AMERICAN

Being an athlete is difficultwork. When you add student lifeinto the equation, day-to-day lifecan seem to spin out of control.However, Winker Cruz’s deepappreciation for volleyball has ledher to adjust to the life of astudent-athlete.

She admits that being a student-athlete can be hectic and describesher typical week as:

“No time to rest, no time tosleep, I hardly have time to eat. Igo from class to practice to studygroups and then we’re always outof town so e-mail becomes prettyimportant.”

Now a junior at UTPA, Cruzhas been playing volleyball sinceshe was a seventh-grader in theHarlingen ConsolidatedIndependent School system. Shetook up the sport in order to spendmore time among her peers.

“I started playing volleyballbecause I [wanted to stay atschool],” Cruz said.

Eventually she became a well-known powerhouse on the courtfor Harlingen South High Schooland was named the District 32-5AMVP and the Valley FreedomNewspapers Valley OffensivePlayer of the Year in 1998 and1999. She was also the first Valleyplayer to win the tournamentMVP at the San AntonioSouthside Tournament.

After her success at South, Cruzdecided to pursue her game close

to home at UTPA without losingher unique appreciation of thegame.

“I decided to continue playingbecause I like jumping, I lovediving on the floor. I like thefeeling of doing something thatlooks impossible to do when youwatch it happen,” Cruz said. “Ijust like the rush of chasing afterthe volleyball and getting thatspecial dig.”

Even though she spends most ofher time as part of a team, Cruzprefers to make her own path inlife rather than looking for a rolemodel to follow in life.

“I try to make my own path, Iknow I’m very headstrong,” shesaid. “I do what I want to do,what I think is best.”

One of her decisions after highschool was to stay local and playLady Bronc volleyball. Herdecision required some transitionto the game on a new level.

“It was totally different fromjust being in the Valley withpeople of the same culture,” Cruzsaid. “It was getting used topeople I hadn’t known for verylong or at all, there was differentattitudes and personalities.”

However, Cruz learned quicklythat no matter how different herteammates seemed, they were allalike in some way or other.

“People aren’t really who youthink they are when they’re fromdifferent places,” she said.“Everyone is the same in theirown way, everyone can findsomething to have in common.”

Aside from adjusting to newpeople, she also faces anobligation to the home crowd as alocal athlete.

“I feel that because when I wasin high school it was ‘WinkerCruz! Winker Cruz!” everyoneknew Winker Cruz,” she said.“When I came here everyone said‘the Hawk stayed in the nest.’ Itwas just a big deal, I feel like Ihave to live up to standards andmake my coaches proud of whatthey made me in high school.”

Her accomplishments havebegun to stack up at UTPA as wellas they did in high school. Herfreshmen and sophomore yearstats reflect her strength on thecourt. This season Cruz is oftendescribed as one of the strongestplayers on the team.

Despite these ccomplishments,she knows the importance of hereducation and said that balance isan important part of being astudent-athlete.

“Priorities really come in lineand you have to choose what ismore important,” Cruz said.

And as far as priorities go, shehopes to make an impact onUTPA during her upcoming finalyear.

“I want to make my last yearhere memorable,” she said. “Iknow people think of me as ‘Oh,she can jump!’ but that’s not howI want to be remembered. I wantto be remembered as a person thatworked hard and put their heart onthe floor every single game andreally cared about what they did.”

October 24, 2002 sports

By CELESTE Y. TELLOThe Pan American

Harlingen South grad Winker Cruz is one of the Lady Broncleaders; strong-willed player continues to progress

Valley high school star achieves at higher level

Freshman Katie Burke had 38 assists. Holthe anticipatesa much more focused Lady Panther team in thisweekend’s rematch.

“They’ll take what they learned from the first match,”Holthe said. “It’s going to be like every match and seewho can take what they learned when they play eachother again.”

On Tuesday, UTPA took three out of four matches bybouncing Texas A&M-Kingsville 30-28, 30-24, 26-30,30-26. It was a total team effort by the Lady Broncs asCruz had 19 kills, 19 digs while freshman middleblocker Stephanie Redd added 13 kills. Junior outsidehitter Jaclyn Muszynski continues to roll for UTPA as

she had 13 kills and 13 digs. Thorn was pleased at theperformance of the Lady Broncs against the LadyJavelinas who they lost to earlier in the year.

“I’m very proud of the team,” Thorn said. “Everybodyhad to step up in adverse conditions and we came into atough gym.”

UTPA is on a roll, having won eight of 10 games. Butsometimes it’s what a coach does that makes a differencebetween wins and losses. Thorn’s positive thinking andmotivation have been designed to create confidence andproductivity by the Lady Broncs.

“Anytime we go to a match, we expect to win,” Thornsaid.

accomplishment wasbittersweet, as the Broncswere four strokes out of thetop three.

“Of course we like itwhen we finish in the topten, but it’s frustrating to bejust a few shots away fromthird place,” said Piper.

Piper, whose family nowlives in the Valley afterrelocating from Lubbock,will have a few months towork on his game, and helpthe Broncs shave off theexcess strokes in an effortto remain competitiveduring major tournaments.

“We don’t play againuntil February,” Piper said,“ We’ll get lots ot time topractice and our chanceswill probably get better.”

But Piper doesn’t seegolf as just a game ofnumbers and individualstats. He expects that hisability will help him infuture endeavors, andmaybe even land him a job.

“It really helps ininterviews when employerssee that you played golf in

college,” Piper said. “Itgives you something to talkabout and gets rid of someof the tension.”

This is all part of therealism that Piperassociates with his golfcareer.

“I know I’ll always playgolf at the amateur level,”Piper said, “But there are alot of really good players,and right now my focus ison graduating and getting ajob.”

BEN PIPER

BUMPING: Junior Winker Cruz waits for the ball in a recent practice.Celeste Y. Tello /The Pan American

PIPER continued from page 16State boasts top small-college footballWith all the attention paid to the

Texas A&M Aggies and TexasLonghorns of the Big 12, it is easyto overlook some small collegeprograms around the state havingsuccessful football seasons in 2002.

Midway through the latest season,there are a pair of NCAA Division IIschools ranked in the top 25,according to the most recent USAToday poll.

Texas A&M-Kingsville, formerlyknown as Texas A&I, is seventh inthe nation with a 5-1 record, and

Tarleton State (6-1), located in thenorth central Texas town ofStephenville, is 11th. For theKingsville team, Valley native AbelGonzales of Rio Grande City is thestarting quarterback and is closing ina number of school offensive records

Grand Valley State in Michigan isthe first-ranked team in Division IIright now, followed by Valdosta(Ga.) State and Carson-Newman ofTennessee.

In the Division III rankings,Trinity in San Antonio is fourth andhas won all six of its games, whileMary Hardin-Baylor (Belton in

central Texas, 6-0) is a spot behind.West Texas power Hardin-Simmonsis tied for 14th in the Division IIIpoll, and Howard Payne rounds outthe top 25. Currently. Mount Union(Ohio), which has won severalnational championships in the past,is number one. Bridgewater (Va.) issecond with Rowan (N.J.) a spotahead of Trinity.

Unlike Division I, the teams fromthese smaller levels have a playoffsystem which runs for severalweeks, somewhat akin to thepostseason tournaments in collegebasketball.

From Staff Reports

VOLLEYBALL continued from page 16

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http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican51th Year – No. 9

EditorMatt Lynch

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Ashley Brooks

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Reporters

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the PAN AMERICAN is theofficial studentnewspaper of TheUniversity ofTexas-PanAmerican. Views presentedare those of thewriters and do notnecessarily reflectthose of theuniversity.

The Pan Americangladly acceptsletters fromstudents, staff andfaculty regardingnewspaper contentor current issues.The Pan Americanreserves the rightto edit submissionsfor grammar andlength. Please limitsubmission lengthto 300 words. ThePan Americancannot publishanonymous letters,or submissionscontaining hatespeech orgratuitouspersonal attacks.Letters are printedat the discretion ofthe editor andmust include thewriter’s name,class/title andphone number.

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NEWS■ Awards . . . . . . . . . .3■ Honors Society . . . .4 ■ Campus Calendar . 6

Mark Yudof, the chancellor of the 14-school University of Texas System, visitedThe University of Texas-Pan Americangrounds Monday, Oct. 21 to meet withadministration, faculty, and students andconfront issues concerning this institution.

Yudof arrived at 9 a.m. to meet withPresident Miguel A. Nevarez and hiscouncil, as well as with representatives ofthe Staff Senate. Then there was a tour ofcampus and luncheon with the ExecutiveCommittee. Yudof assumed the duties ofthe chancellor this year after replacinginterim chancellor Dan Burck. He is aformer professor at UT-Austin, and wasalso president of the University ofMinnesota.

The student body and their issues werealso accounted for when Yudof met withthe Student Government Association(SGA), which was led by President AlyssaMunoz. Student’s opinions of the schoolwere given and the chancellor answeredquestions.

According to Munoz, the chancellor’svisit was a great opportunity to get studentvoices heard. The government officialswere glad he took time to meet with themand hear their views.

“I know he talks to the executives andthey know more [about what the university

needs], but he can hear it from studentsand the concerns of a lot of people,”Munoz stated.

Yudof’s visit with SGA and tour ofcampus were made for one purpose. Thechancellor, with just three months on thejob, wants to know everything about theschools under his belt, including changes

that need to be made. According to the chancellor, UTPA is a

prosperous school that is doing well, andhe feels the student body andadministration’s hard work will pay off.

“I feel very positive about the studentbody at Pan Am,” Yudof said. “They areextraordinarily hardworking. There isprobably not another harder working

student body in America.” The only downside that Yudof

mentioned was the comparatively lowgraduation rate. He said Pan Am is adifferent case compared to otheruniversities because most of the studentshere are also working to supportthemselves or their family.

“Those students demonstrate a lot oftenacity and courage, which I reallyadmire,” Yudof commented.

Other subjects discussed in the meetingwith SGA were those of extending the lawprogram at UTPA, and building medicalfacilities. The SGA also gave their ideasand proposed new ideas for the campus.

Munoz explained some of the issuesthey have been working on, such as longerlibrary hours and a possible shuttle fromparking lot to campus.

According to Yudof, his visit wasinformative and it helped him learn moreabout the student’s needs and the changesnecessary at UTPA. He wishes to expandwhat has already been implementedalthough he knows the president, deans,faculty, and student body are the basicgoverning tools of the campus.

“I will continue to improve quality,which I think it is happening,” Yudof said.“I encourage the students to be preparedand work hard in obtaining their degree.With a Pan American degree the sky is thelimit.”

Yudof speaks on campusBy ARIANNA VAZQUEZThe Pan American

It is fall and high schools around thecountry are in the middle of their footballseason.

Cheerleaders, dance teams, JROTC,band members, coaches, directors,teachers, and football players prepare allweek for football Friday game night, alongtime American high school tradition.However, students from the South TexasIndependent School District are too busywith academics to think about football. Orany other sports, for that matter.

South Texas ISD has four schoolsserving Cameron, Hidalgo, and WillacyCounties. Med High and Science Academyare located in Mercedes, while TeacherAcademy is in Edinburg. The other school,South Texas High School in San Benito, iscurrently undergoing some changes.

They are magnet schools, meaning theentire curriculum focuses on one area.There are only a handful of suchalternative stand-alone schools in theValley.

“Our schools are unique, becauseeverything taught on campus by theteachers revolves around one discipline,”recruiter Jorge Lopez said. “For example,at Science Academy, the social studiesteachers teach all the basic concepts inhistory like in a regular high school, butwith the extenuation being in the area oftechnology. At Med High the extenuationinvolves medical advancements.”

According to Lopez, this makes it moreinteresting for students because it is anarea they are interested in and it helpsthem learn better.

“Kids are usually disinterested inhistory, but by teaching them what they areinterested in, be it medicine or technology,they see what is valuable,” Lopez said.“That is a great motivation.”

According to Frank Champion, acounselor at Med High, seven percent oftheir students continue to medical school,as opposed to the one-half percent averageof regular public schools. He feels whenstudents have an interest, it is importantfor them to start learning early about thatfield.

“They (Med High students) have all theregular core classes, plus electives in thehealth sciences and technology,” Championsaid. “They are ahead of others becausewhen they graduate from high school, theyare familiar with medical terms, have beenin special medical programs, gone tohospitals, veterinary clinics, heard guestspeakers, and so on.”

South Texas ISD schools have regular,pre-AP, and AP classes just as all otherregular public schools. They have openadmissions so that anyone can attend.However, Science Academy PrincipalEdward Argueta said there are two majordifferences that make magnet schoolssuccessful.

“For one, students who are here want tobe here,” Argueta explained. “Alsostudents concentrate on academics. There

are no distractions. No football. No peprallies. No cheerleaders. Seven hours arededicated to academics. This gives themmore academic growth.”

For many high school students, nothaving sports in their school is unthinkablebut, for South Texas ISD students the lackof athletic extracurricular activities is not abig deal. Some students feel there are evensome advantages to it.

“There are no favorites here because youare a star football player,” said NormaFlores, a senior at the Science Academy.“Everyone gets a fair chance. Everyone isthe same. There is no competition and nopressure.”

Flores feels the Science Academy hasprepared her for the future, when shehopes to continue her education at RiceUniversity or UTPA, with a major inastrophysics or aerospace engineering.

“I already have college credit throughconcurrent enrollment and AP exams,”Flores said. “The liberty given to us, thevigorous courses, and the higher level ofteaching has really educated me. I havebeen exposed to different types of peopleand attitudes and have a different outlookon life.”

Karina Rodriguez, also a senior atScience Academy, feels better prepared forcollege. She plans on attending UTPA nextfall as an accounting major.

“All the math courses have helped mewith the ACT and SAT,” Rodriguez said.“It does get tough at times, but I pullthrough. It is worth it.”

Alternative schools thrivingBy AMELIA GARCIAThe Pan American

I feel verypositive about thestudent body atPan Am.There isprobably notanother harderworking studentbody in America.

“

“

- Mark Yudof,Chancellor of UT Sytstem

Dress up isn’t just for little girlsanymore. In an effort to raise money forthe women’s athletic department, aMasquerade Ball will be hosted by theUniversity of Texas-Pan AmericanAthletic Foundation Saturday, Oct. 26from 7 p.m. to midnight at the SharyMansion in Sharyland.

The ball will consist of a number ofevents, including a live auction, casinogames and live music.

With a $50 donation, those inattendance will not only get the treat ofparticipating in those activities, but willget to know athletes who will benefitfrom donations during the eveningsevents.

Director of Institutional Research SusanGriffith is optimistic that the event willhelp benefit women athletics at UTPA.

"The athletes are going to help with theball by serving in the registration ordealing cards for blackjack," Griffith said."People are going to be able to identifythem by name tags with logos of thesports they play."

Part of the donation will go to the AnnLa Mantia Endowed Scholarship, madeespecially for women athletes who havefinancial need.

Some items available for the auctionand casino include an executive leatherchair from Today’s Office Center, 10 carwashes from Car Wash Car Wash, a DVDplayer, food baskets, jewelry fromOlivia’s, wine and dinner for 20.

Athletic director William Weidnerbelieves the ball will not only be a funevent to attend, but also a social gatheringfor people supporting the growth of thewomen athletic department at UTPA.

"I am excited about the concept of theMasquerade Ball," Weidner said. "I amexcited about the efforts being put forthby a number of individuals interested inbenefiting student women athletics."

Griffith added the event has been well-planned by organizers as well asvolunteers, and hopes to see people come

out, have a good time, and help outwomen athletes.

Tickets are available at the UTPAAthletic Office. For ticket information orquestions regarding the event, pleasecontact Griffith 316-7146.

It’s late October, the weather is gettingcooler and the days are getting shorter.

That only means basketball season isapproaching and UTPA women’s team havebegan their quest to turn a program that’sclimbed down the ladder the past fewyears.

UTPA will kick off the season in anexhibition game against the HoustonJaguars on Nov. 10, but for now Andersonis focusing on the Lady Broncs preparationfor the season rather than their opponents.The Lady Broncs will play their first fourgames at theFieldhouse includinga matchup againstWAC opponent TulsaNov. 30.

This year, theathletic program hiredTracy Anderson tobring UTPA to arespectable level afterlast year’s 7-21season. Thus far, theLady Broncs have hitthe floor for almosttwo weeks diving forballs, screaming ateach other, andsweating as if it’s 100degrees outside. Anderson realizes herplayers are learning a new system thisyear, but is pleased to see the progress herplayers are making since the first day ofpractice.

“I think we’ve made some great stridesin the first week,” Anderson said.“Obviously, it’s a new system on both endsof the floor that’s taken a little longer thanif it wasn’t a new staff.”

Anderson likes to take opponents out oftheir normal scheme by pressing a lot andpressuring the ball. She also realizes thepatience that must be made in order for herplayers to adjust to her style.

“I think their ability to adapt has beenpretty good,” Anderson said. “We’rethrowing a lot of new stuff at them rightaway, so that’s always difficult. I thoughtover the weekend we had two very good

practices that turned the corner a little bitfor the first time.”

While Anderson couldn’t wait to startpractice last week, the players, includingsenior Alex Gravel were anxious to put thesneakers on and start practice.

“It’s been going well,” Gravel said. “It’sonly been a week, but you can see theimprovement and we’ve come along prettywell.”

The Lady Broncs will have fourreturning starters including guard AlexGravel, forward Naima Williams, guardMichelle Smith and guard JenniferPiwonka. UTPA also recruited fivefreshman that hope will carry the torch thatthe seniors will leave behind. According toAnderson, the newcomers have come inand performed at a higher level thananticipated.

“I have been really happy with mynewcomers,” Andesonsaid. “There are a lotof times that you can’ttell they’re freshmanon the floor and that’swhat you want.”

It’s only natural fora team to be fatiguedafter a week’s worth ofhard work butaccording to Gravel,practice for her andher teammates is likeparadise for a kid at acandy store.

“We’re a little tiredbecause it’s a different

type of conditioning and movement in thepreseason,” Gravel said. “But we have fundoing it.”

The Lady Broncs have practiced for two-and-a-half hours a day according toAnderson, and she believes the offseasonworkouts have helped their conditioning.

“We had a pretty good offseasonprogram conditioning-wise,” Andersonsaid. “I think we’re in pretty good shape.That’s something that we’re going to haveto continue to improve on. Several of them[players] especially returners came back invery good shape. I can’t ask for them towork any harder.”

“I’m a big believer that you have to takecare of what you can do first,” Andersonsaid. “We won’t talk about that first gameuntil a couple days before it, but we’repreparing for the whole season right nowand that’s been our focus.”

October 24, 2002 sports


Practice under wayfor Nov. 10 opener

Conditioning key in Lady Broncs’ preparation

PASSING FANCY: Senior Julie Porter (right) looks to pass in a Lady Bronc practiceTuesday as freshman Alexis Coleman defends. The team’s season begins in three weeks.

Mike Gonzalez /The Pan American

Dress-up gig will raise funds for women’s athletics

By ARIANNA VAZQUEZThe Pan American

Masquerade Ball inMission coming up

We’re throwing alot of new stuff atthem right away,so that’s alwaysdifficult “

“

- Tracy Anderson,head women’s basketball coach

QUICK FACTSWHAT: Masquerade Ball

WHERE: Shary Estate, Mission

WHY: Benefits UTPA women’sathletics

THURSDAYOctober 24, 2002

An Inside Look:

■ News ............................................2■ A & E............................................7■ Sports ........................................16

T h e S t u d e n t N e w s p a p e r o f T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f T e x a s - P a n A m e r i c a n

Page 4

CCaammppuussVOICE

Howimportant

is it to voteon

November5?

STATE

■ RENEWALA decades-old traditionwill resume this year forTexas A&M Universit y,since the tragic collapseof the ritual bonfire thatkilled 12 students andinjured 27 in 1999.The controversial off-campus bonfire will takeplace Nov. 26 at a golfcourse in Magnolia.The High MeadowRanch Golf Club willcelebrate the event witha public barbecue,concer t and golftournament before thefires are lit. The bonfireusually takes placebefore the annual A&M-Texas football game.

CAMPUS

■ EARLY ELECTIONS The school’s Student

Union has been set upas an early votinglocation for the mid-term elections whichtake place Nov. 5. Earlyvoting began forregistered votersTuesday, Oct. 22 andruns until Friday, Nov. 1.Additionally, the HidalgoCount y Elections Officehas personnel in theUnion to answer allquestions.

Here is the schedule:Thursday, Oct. 24

from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.Friday, Oct. 25 from

8 a.m. to 5 p.m.Saturday, Oct. 26

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Sunday, Oct. 27 from

10 a.m. to 3 p.m.Monday, Oct. 28

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Tuesday, Oct. 29

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Wednesday, Oct. 30

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Thursday, Oct. 31

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Friday, Nov. 1 from 7

a.m. to 7 p.m.

Campaign posters and stickerscould be seen across the Universityof Texas-Pan American Mondaymorning when Democratgubernatorial candidate TonySanchez and Senate candidate RonKirk visited the campus as part of acampaign sweep though the RioGrande Valley.

Sponsored by the YoungDemocrats, Sanchez visited theStudent Union Theatre Monday atnoon and took time to talk to peopleabout the importance of voting. Hisbusy schedule for the day didn’tallow him to speak to people on anindividual basis. But the YoungDemocrats were happy to haveSanchez heard by people who maynot have had a chance to follow hiscampaigns. The elections are Nov.5.

Along with visiting the universitySanchez and Kirk also spoke atvarious places in San Juan,Edcouch, Mercedes, andBrownsville. He is a prominentbusinessman from Laredo who has

spent over $50 million of his ownmoney to try and unseat incumbentRick Perry, who has also visited thecampus a number of times this year.

According to Young Democratspresident Fernando Villarreal, theorganization was hoping to givepeople the opportunity to hearSanchez and learn about the viewsand ideas he has to offer in the racefor governor.

“A lot of times people don’t knowwhat the candidates represent, theyonly know what they see on acampaign sign,” Villarreal said.“By bringing different candidates tothe university, it really gives thestudents a chance to interact withthem [the candidates] and maybeeven decide that they agree with theideas and decide to vote for him orher.”

Villarreal also said that he hopedthat despite a person’s politicalparty, they would take the time tolisten to what Sanchez, a Democrat,had to say about the goals he has forthe future of Texas. The DallasMorning News released a pollSunday showing Perry ahead ofSanchez by 15 percent. The same

poll had Cornyn 10 percentagepoints ahead of Kirk.

The goals of the YoungDemocrats include promoting theparty, publicizing upcomingelections, and encouraing people tovote.

“We just want people, especiallyuniversity students, to know howimportant it is to vote and that thereare places all around the Valleywhere they can register,” Villarrealsaid. “Now that UTPA assists byhaving early-voting registration on

campus, it gives more people achance to participate in somethingso important to the country.”

With election day coming up, theYoung Democrats are working extrahard to augment political awareness.

Villarreal said that meetings areheld every Sunday evening at theUniversity Center. For moreinformation about the organizationand activities, contact the politicalscience department, or Dr. JoseHinojosa, one of the YoungDemocrat advisers.

Dem hopefulSanchez here

Laredo businessman visits campus twoweeks before election day


Photo by Lorena Garcia

MAKING A POINT— Gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez speaks atUTPA on Monday. He runs against incumbent Rick Perry Nov. 5.

Congressman Ruben Hinojosa,chairman of the educationcommittee for the HispanicCongressional Caucus, was one ofthe featured speakers at lastweek’s Hispanic EngineeringScience and Technology week(HESTEC) at the University ofTexas-Pan American, leading aroundtable discussion on Hispanicscience literacy.

According to a university flyer,the discussion was an opportunityto support the advancement of

minorities in the scientific fieldand increase their involvement.

Hinojosa started his speech byremarking on the outcome of theHESTEC week.

"UTPA had done a wonderfuljob with HESTEC," Hinojosa said."They’ve set the marker so highthat other colleges and universitieswill have to really struggle to beable to get higher."

Other corporate andgovernmental representatives atthe discussion included RitaColwell, director of NationalScience Foundation (NSF); DavidSwain, chairman’s office and

senior vice president of BoeingCorporation; Dr. John Slaughter,president of National ActionCouncil for Minorities Engineers;Dr. Richard E. Smalley, NobelLaureate of Rice University;Irving Wladawsky-Berger, vicepresident technology and strategyof IBM Corporation; Richard A.Croxall, vice president quality andchief Engineer of TRW Space andElectronics; Dr. Sylvia Hatton,executive director of Region OneEducation Service Center; FrankGuajardo, director of LlanoGrande.

All representatives agreed that

the well-being of individuals inthe country depends on theirknowledge and skills of math,science and engineering.

"[It is] science and technologyin the country [that] let us surviveWWI, and the Cold War," Swainsaid. "[It is] the strength [oftechnology] that most of us takefor granted."

Colwell stated that the NSFprogram is helping bettereducation with goals to encourage,educate, and recruit as manycitizens as possible.

"The important message is to

By SUNAYNA MAHTANIThe Pan American

HESTEC successful week’s work

See HESTEC page 5

Ben Piper is no newcomer to thegame of golf. He was given hisfirst set of clubs at the age of 5,and began to learn the game ofchampions when most kids werestill cutting their teeth on kickballand Dr. Seuss books.

For 15 years Piper has playedthe game of golf, many of thoseyears at the competitive level, and

he has achieved before the legaldrinking age what most golfersspend a good portion of their lifetimes chasing - clarity, composure,and self-actualization on thecourse.

As the senior member of theUTPA golf team Piper assumessome amount of leadership amonghis teammates, and the amount oftime spent with the Broncs is notthe only credential which entitleshim to the position.

The 20-year-old biology majorled his Lubbock Coronado HighSchool team to three statechampionships, finished seventhindividually in UTPA’s only

tournament championship, loggedthe lowest overall stroke averagefor the Broncs last season, and hasplayed a countless number ofproductive rounds for the Broncs.

But it is Piper’s modesty whenfaced with the reality of hisaccomplishments which trulymakes him admirable. And it is aquality which envelops his golfgame and is reflected in the styleof golf he plays.

“I’d have to consider myself aconservative player,” Piper said,“If I have a 200-yard shot overwater I’m more likely to lay up,because it’s a better percentageshot.”

It is this conservatism and self-control which makes Piper aconsistent low-scoring asset for theBroncs and has won the admirationof UTPA head coach Mark Gaynor.

“He’s a great player, a great guy,and he’s been having a goodseason,” said Gaynor.

At Squire Creek, the finalcompetition of the fall season,Piper led the Broncs to sixth placeoverall by shooting a 54-hole totalof 227 and finishing 13thindividually.

The outing was the team’s bestfinish of the season, but the

Celest Y. Tello/The Pan American

CONCENTRATION: McAllen native Jena Rae Rosales (right) executes a bump in Wednesday’sworkout. Teammate Winker Cruz of Harlingen looks on at left.

■ Lady Bronc BBall . . . . .15

■ Cruz Feature . . . .. . . . .14

■ Staff’s swami picks . . . 13

PAGE 16

SPORTS

JORDAN FILES SUIT:Washington Wizardsforward MichaelJordan filed a lawsuitagainst Karla Knafel.Jordan contends she istrying to extort $5 mil-lion from him to keepquiet about a relation-ship they both hadmore than 10 years agowhen Jordan was withthe Chicago Bulls. Thelawsuit was filed byJordan’s attorney inCook County CircuitCourt in Chicago.According to the suit,Jordan will seek the“trial by jury on allissues.” Jordan andwife Juanita have beenmarried for over 12years and were boundto get a divorce earlierin the year. TheJordans withdrew thedivorce and released astatement that theywere going to worktheir marriage out.

NBA

NFL

MILLEN APOLOGIZES:For the second time,Detroit Lions presidentMatt Millen apologizedto his team for callingan unidentified player a“devout coward.” Theplayer was criticize onMike Ditka’s radio showlast week when theywere talking aboutdefensive players whodon’t like making tack-les. Millen has not iden-tified the player, but saidhe was going to talk tohim behind closed doors.Despite the possible dis-traction, the Lions wereable to beat the ChicagoBears 23-20 in overtimeon Sunday.

Lubbock nativestarted playing game

at early age

The weather may begetting cooler, but theUniversity of Texas-PanAmerican volleyball team ison fire and doesn’t look tobe slowing down any timesoon.

The red-hot Lady Broncstake their five-game winningstreak on the road thisweekend against TexasSouthern and Prairie ViewA&M. These two squads areno strangers to the LadyBroncs.

It will be the third time theUTPA had faced TexasSouthern this season; theteam has won both matches,including their first victoryof the year at the Fieldhouse.Although UTPA won bothmatches, head coach DaveThorn expects the LadyTigers to be more dangerous,especially since they’re athome.

“Beating a team threetimes in row is alwaysdifficult because you knowthey’re going to come outand get you especially if it’sat their place,” Thorn said.“We’re familiar with oneanother because we play

every year.”The Lady Broncs swept the

Lady Tigers 30-16, 30-24,30-9 in the first match. Afterthat, they met each otheragain at the Islander Classicin Corpus Christi, withUTPA taking three out offour games 30-21, 30-18, 26-30 and 30-15. According toThorn, Texas Southern hasn’thad any breaks go its way inthe 2002 season.

“They’re kind of down thisyear,” Thorn said. “They’vehad some major injuries tokey players, and I don’t thinkthose players will be back.”

The following night, UTPAwill travel to Prairie ViewA&M, a team theydominated last Saturday 30-19, 30-22, 30-10.

The Lady Panthers had adismal .025 hittingpercentage in the first game.Prairie View A&M was ableto bounce back from the slowstart, but it was too muchUTPA that night. Junioroutside hitter Winker Cruzled the Lady Broncs with 16kills, while freshman middleblocker Danielle Holthemade her presence felt bycontributing with eight kills.

Team has won five games in a row,and eight of its last 10


Volleyballershit the roadon win streak

See VOLLEYBALL page 14

Inner calm guides golfer to successes

By BRIAN CARRThe Pan American

See PIPER page 14

“HEADS

UP!!!”

October 24, 2002

Documents

Transcript of October 24, 2002