april 22, 2004

H A P P YF INALS !

With the ending ofa semester, theUniversity of TexasBoard of Regentsare alreadypreparing for theupcoming year afternaming the sevenfinalists for thepresidency of theUniversity of Texas-Pan American.

The Board hasannounced thefinalists afterrecommendations ofthe advisorycommittee andnominations for theposition. Thec o m m i t t e e ,consisting ofvarious facultymembers andExecutive Vice Chancellor forAcademic Affairs for the UT System

as the chair, met April 15 to create thefinal list of candidates and announcedthem in a UT System press release on

Monday. Under Texas law, university

governing boards must name finalistsfor a presidency at least 21 daysbefore making an appointment. A

meeting atwhich the UTSystem boardwill make afinal decisionhas not yet beenscheduled.

"The finalistswhom the Boardof Regents hasnamed today ared i s t i n g u i s h e dleaders capableof taking UT-Pan American toa higher level ofprominence int e a c h i n g ,research, andpublic service,"said Board ofR e g e n t s '

Chairman Charles Miller in the UT-

THURSDAYApril 22, 2004

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 Te x a s - P a n A m e r i c a n

‘ C o n n i e &

C a r l a ’

See Page 8 fordetails

HEADLINES

Cell phone use becoming hazard

Presidential finalists revealedBy CLARISSA MARTINEZThe Pan American

See PRESIDENT page 12

You are taking a test and all of asudden your concentration isinterrupted because someone’s cellphone has gone off.

Cell phone usage has boomed inrecent years and people are beginning touse them as an everyday thing.

People have begun to use their cellphones as a means to converse withfriends and for everyday phone calls,rather than for emergency use.

Freshmen electrical engineeringmajor Mario Martinez recognizes thathe uses his phone often and it is notonly for emergency use.

Martinez explains that he uses his cellphone about 15-20 minutes dailydepending on the reason.

“It depends on if I have to call peopleto meet some place to study orsomething like that, or just to callfriends,” he said.

There are students who still only usetheir cell phones for emergencies only.Being a parent and a student has anaffect on some students’ perception ofthe importance of not using cell phones

for things other than emergencies. Students such as Paula Guzman, a

graduate student of interdisciplinarystudies, uses her cell phone strictly for

emergencies.“I use it when I am here at work or at

school to check on my kids,” said

By ANGELA I. CANALESThe Pan American

See CELL PHONES page 12

Lessons stretch beyond college classes. This pastweek student representatives in the Student GovernmentAssociation for the 2004 SGA elections learned markedlife lessons.

When Nathan Schwarz and Nadya Maldanadochallenged the SGA election results, the process beganon exactly how to fix the problems. After aninvestigation indicated that certain election rules werebroken, and election processes were not accounted for, astudent trial was held, with the result ending in a secondelection.

Dean of Students Jerry Price feels the mishaps camefrom overzealous expectations from the studentcommittee.

“With the organization, I felt like in many ways, theyjust overestimated what they would be able to handle,”Price said. “They tried really hard, but didn’t cometogether the right way.”

Though Price feels he should have said something inthe planning process of the elections, he also feels thestudents have learned valuable lessons from thecontroversy.

“The students are better for it in the long run,” Pricereflected. “They learned they have to be careful whenwriting the [election] rules and how to word certainrequirements since they are taken very seriously.”

This was the first year that SGA extended the hoursand days of the elections from 24 hours of open pollsto nearly 60 hours. With the extension of the hours,

DEJA VU:SGA election

Franco Caballero/The Pan American

I VOTED— Freshman Rachella Mascorro, votesfor the second SGA election on Wednesday morn-ing at the Library.


HELLO— During class break, students communicate electronically via cell phone atthe Student Union Wednesday afternoon. Studies show that cell phone use isbecoming a national hazard. Various car accidents have been credited to its use.

UTPUTPAAPRESIDENTIALPRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACANDIDATESTES

Dr. Blandina Cardenas- Dean of theCollege of Education and HumanDevelopment, UTSA.

Dr. Lynda Y. de la Viña- AssociateDean and Director of the GraduateDivision of Business and Managementand Chair of the Department ofFinance and International Business,JHU.

Dr. Tim Hudson- Provost and VicePresident for Academic Affairs,University of Southern Mississippi.

Dr. Herman Lujan- Provost and VicePresident forAcademic Affairs,LACU.

Dr. Lois Muir-Provost and VicePresident forAcademic Affairs, University ofMontana.

Dr. Richard A. Navarro- senior project officer for UNICEF.

Dr. Fernando M. Treviño- Dean ofthe School of Public Health at theUniversity of North Texas HealthScience Center.

Source: UT System News Release

By CLARISSA MARTINEZThe Pan American

See SGA page 6

Who cares? Jerry Martínez does.Nicknamed “The

Whistler,” Martínez hasbeen a loyal Texas-PanAmerican baseball fan forthe past eight years andhas proved to be muchmore than a common fan.

While filling up his gastank back in 1996,Martínez decided to headover to Judy RamseyStadium because thelights were on.

“It was fun,” Martínezsaid. “So I kept on comingback”

Ever since then, it hasbeen somewhat of an addic-

tion for Martínez, who has becomea permanent figure along the third-base line at the new EdinburgBaseball Stadium.

“The Whistler” haggles the play-ers from the opposite team andsince some of the teams have beencoming down for years to play the

Broncs, he has acquiredtidbits of inside informa-tion, which he uses tohassle them a little more,all in good spirits ofcourse.

Since the 1996 seasonhe has coined such oneliners as: “All it takes isone,” “Get that bullpengoing,” “You’re scared,”and “Runner on first –he’s going.”

Martínez makes uphis one liners on the fly.

He also has made T-shirts for the last couple of

HIDALGO - The Rio GrandeValley Dorados (1-1) af2 team had aweek off to prepare for Saturday’srematch against the Oklahoma CityYard Dawgz (2-0) at the DodgeArena at 7:30 p.m.

The two teams met earlier thisseason with the Yard Dawgz gettingthe best of the Dorados 55-17 whenlast year’s ArenaCup MVP andDawgz quarterback Craig Stricklandput on a clinic.

Strickland hit 18 of 28 passes for256 yards and five touchdowns. Healso ran for two scores.

Head Coach Gary Gussmanbelieves controlling Strickland willbe the key to victory for theDorados.

“The quarterback they have isgood and proven hecan play,” Gussmansaid. “Controllinghim is a part of ourgame plan.”

Rio Grande Citynative andquarterback AbelGonzález tied the af2record for the longesttouchdown pass byconnecting with MikeDuncan on 49-yard strike.

González, who is sharing timewith quarterback Will Burch, is justhappy to be back in the Valley andplaying where he grew up.

“To be able to play in this area isgreat,” González said. “I lovefootball down here. I got thisopportunity and I could not pass itup.”

Dawgz wide receiver Al Hunt wasnamed the Ironman of the Week forhis four-touchdown performance,including one interception on thedefensive side last time the twoteams matched up.

Former Defensive Player of the

Week Karleton Thomas will be theone the team looks to in order tokeep pressure on Strickland. Hebelieves a strong pass rush will helpthe Dorados and limit the Dawgz’offensive outbursts.

“We are just trying to put out abetter performance than last time,”

Thomas said. “If they aregoing to beat us we wantthem to earn it and not justgive it to them.”

The last time these twoteams hooked up, theDawgz shut down theDorados’ offense in thesecond half.

Gussman knows histeam has to be efficient onthe offensive side of the

ball and cannot afford a goose eggin either half to escape with a winSaturday night.

“Offensively we got a chance towatch a lot of film and correct themistakes we made in that game,”Gussman said.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30p.m., however, a tailgate party willbe held in the arena parking lot at 4p.m.

“It looked like the community hada great time, González said. “It isexciting for them to see this type offootball. I am glad for thecommunity that we have this downhere for them.”

■ Football. . . . . . . . . . . . 16

■ Track. . . . . . . . . . . . .15

■ Sports Clipboard . . . . . 13

PAGE 16

SPORTSDorados face OKC in rematch at ArenaBy MATT HALLThe Pan American

By DELISA GUADARRAMAThe Pan American

‘Whistler’ gets big cheersfrom Broncs and crowd

Photo by Delisa Guadarrama/The Pan American

Dorados kicker Eric Houle practices at Dodge Arena Wednesday inpreparation for RGV’s matchup with Oklahoma City Saturday night.

Men’s tennis routed,women win closer

The University of Texas-PanAmerican men’s tennis team was routedby rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 7-0, to end the regular season.

The green and orange are nowpreparing for the Southland ConferenceTournament that will be held in SanAntonio beginning April 30 andconcluding May 2.

Assistant Coach Kati Gyulai believesthe effort was there and no one gave up.

“The effort was there,” Gyulai said.“But we just are not playing the bigpoints and that is the difference.”

At No. 4 singles Oliver Steil showedtoughness and heart after he lost hisopening set 6-4. He came back and wonthe second set 6-1, unfortunately Steillost the tiebreaker 10-5.

He believes obtaining the goal theyset out to at the beginning of the year ispossible, but it will be a fight.

“We can do it and since we are theunderdog people don’t give us respect,”Steil said. “With a good team effort wecan still get far in the tournament.”

Jeremy Salvo lost a nail-biter toGoncalo Figueiredo in three sets 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Salvo and his partner Steil put up avaliant effort in the doubles, but lost 8-4.

Salvo knows the odds are stackedagainst them, but he still thinks Pan Amcan win the tournament.

“We have always had the confidenceto win,” Salvo said. “If we give the sameeffort we should be fine and come out ontop.”

One thing the Broncs have againstthem is the loss of senior TomMangelschots, who has two herniated

By MATT HALLThe Pan American


Jerry “The Whistler” Martínez has supported theBroncs baseball team since 1996.

See WHISTLER page 15 See TENNIS page 15

Who: Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz atRGV DoradosWhen: Saturday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m.Where: Dodge ArenaRecords: Dorados (1-1); Yard Dawgz(2-0)Last game: Yard Dawgz routedDorados 55-17 on April 10Notable: Former N.Y. Giants line-backer Gary Reasons (1984-91) isthe Oklahoma City head coach; theYard Dawgz are one of three confer-ence teams RGV will face two out ofthree times on home turf this season.RGV will also face OKC on July 10.

at

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

http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican53rd Year – No. 27

Layout Designers

Dägoberto Pérez

Ginmarie Mabry

Reporters

Angela Canales

Vanessa Castillo

Julian Cavazos

Edwina Garza

Dulce Gonzalez

Matt Hall

Christina Harris

Aaron Lozano

Vanessa Lucio

Amy Medellin

Photographers

Franco Caballero

Delisa Guadarrama

Copy Editor

Joe Anna Moreno

Student Pub. Secretary

Jo Anne Murphy

Adviser

Dr. Greg Selber

The PANAMERICAN isthe official 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 orgratuitous personalattacks. Letters areprinted at thediscretion of theeditor and mustinclude the writer’sname, class/titleand phone number.

Letters policy

April 22 2 0 0 4

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 EditorEd Chrnko

[email protected]

A & E EditorOmaira [email protected]

News EditorClarissa Martinez

[email protected]

Graphics EditorDaniel Aguilar

[email protected]

EditorArianna Vazquez

[email protected]

OPINION l e t t e r s ■ e d i t o r i a l s ■ c a r t o o n sPAGE 2

Stray pets, lazy owners becomes epidemicIt’s not

unusual to findthe occasionala b a n d o n e dn o n - w o r k i n ga p p l i a n c e ,worn tires,even bags fullof trash whiledriving downrural roads inthe Rio GrandeValley. Aperson would

think twice before dumping anyone ofthese items out in the open, consideringit’s illegal, but in a world wherediscarding anything that is no longer ofuse or inoperable, this is the norm insteadof the exception. When dumping includesunwanted pets, it’s time to draw the line.

This practice of abandoning animals inremote areas is rampant, even thoughthere are laws to protect innocent andhelpless animals. But it continues tohappen. The law in the state of Texasmakes it a Class A misdemeanor foranyone failing to provide necessary food,care or shelter for an animal in a person’scustody, or abandoning an animal in theperson’s custody. Violation is punishableby incarceration in the county jail for upto one year and a fine not to exceed$4,000. But offenses continue to goundetected.

It prompted Elizabeth Johnson to starther own animal rescue shelter, OasisAnimal Sanctuary, in her parent’s homelocated in rural Mission. Johnson,originally from New York, moved toMission three years ago. She doesn’tunderstand how people can abandon theirpets in the middle of nowhere.

Neither can John Vidaurri, executive

director for The Upper Valley HumaneSociety in Edinburg. The Center hasquietly sheltered and advocated for theseneglected animals, serving 13communities in Hidalgo County. Theirmission is to shelter stray animals, thosewho are unwanted, or abused.

The Center can house up to 600animals, mostly cats and dogs. It handlesa little over 100 pets per day. Last yearmore than 42,000 animals came and wentthrough its doors. The three-year averagebetween 2000-2003 was at 40,250. Thenumbers are increasing.

One problem is education. Few petowners take the time to study the breedthey’re considering for adoption. Oftentimes it can be a high-maintenance animaland they fail to look into the time andamount of work it will take to care fortheir pet. Owning a pet takes a lot ofcommitment. That commitment includesresponsibility for the offspring of thesepets. Only a handful knows aboutneutering or spaying their pet, fewer stillcan afford it. In this border region, wherethe poverty level is high, pet owners areunwilling to pay for medical care for theirpets much less for such extravagances asneutering or spaying.

To compound matters, the Center hasbeen without a veterinarian sinceNovember 2003. There are few, onlyabout 40 veterinarians to service fourcounties. Most vets are overworked andunderpaid. Meanwhile, only adoptablecats, and dogs are being neutered, orspayed at the Center by a volunteerveterinarian for a reduced fee.

While there is quite of bit of success inplacing a number of pets for adoption, notall animals are adoptable. Non-adoptablepets are euthanized. The numbers keeprolling in. It costs $1.1 million yearly to

run the Center. The majority of themoney, $640,000 to be exact, comes fromcontracts with the surrounding cities. Therest, almost 50 percent, comes fromfundraisers and grant writing.

Johnson funds her own shelter with herown monies and through donations. She,too, is in dire need of a veterinarian forrescued animals. She normally can getthem spayed or neutered for $50 inCorpus Christi when she travels there ather own expense. Other times people arewilling to donate $100 for each animal, inthe event that she has to get it done herein the Valley.

For Vidaurri, a solution where pets canbe neutered or spayed at an affordablerate and no pets are euthanized, wouldmean a no-kill facility but that wouldrequire an animal hospital instead of aclinic. It would mean it could providelong-term treatment for animals that arediseased and need 2-3 months to heal. Afull-care facility is a long-range vision forVidaurri. Bigger cities have them. Here,it all comes down to economics.

Consider this factor the next time yousee a stray cat or dog out in the country,or better yet in your neighborhood. Twouncontrolled breeding cats, plus all theirkittens and all their kittens’ kittens, ifnone are ever neutered or spayed, can addup to two litters per year with 2.8surviving kittens per litter each with a 10-year breeding life. In 10 years, thenumber of cats could reach up past 80million. For one male dog and one femaledog, the first year can average fouroffspring, two of them females. In sevenyears, there would be 4,372 offspring.

There is still a long way to go gettingthe public educated and making themresponsible pet owners. Stop the abuse.Do your part, be a responsible pet owner.

DIANA GARZA

Advertising cheapening women’s power“All the

w o m e nindependent,throw yourhands up atme,” wassung byD e s t i n y ’ sChild in thes o u n d t r a c kof the hitm o v i e

“Charlie’s Angels.” Since thenindependence in women has been themantra, as well as a marketing stunt.

It is a time when celebrating awoman’s success and status isimportant, and jewelry companieshave learned it well.

Right-hand rings have been in themarket since the fall of 2003, andstores from Tiffany’s to Wal-Marthave been at the core of the fad.

The ring symbolizes beingindependent and happy, and the rule tofollow is that women should buy it forthemselves as a way of applaudingtheir success in life. The rings areusually worn on the fourth finger of

the right hand. Celebrities such as aMinnie Driver, Eve, and the cast fromthe HBO show “Sex and the City”have worn them. It was the perfectscam to capture already diamondloving women so that they will buymore diamonds without feeling guiltyof buying them for themselves. Right-hand rings have even gotten as pricyas engagement rings, and theirpopularity and demand have growndue to the help of singers and actressesthat endorse the product.

The ad campaigns for the rings haveillustrated the importance and thesymbol of owning a right-hand ring tothe dot. They explain how they areexplicitly for independent, powerful,and accomplished women. The ads arealso seen in famous women magazinessuch as Vogue, Elle, andCosmopolitan, capturing different agegroups with the same idea. It is a welldeveloped and conceived publicitystunt.

Women were given the upper handon things and given a place in society,even though it is all an illusion: theyare simply the target market for

jewelers. Women have been given thechance to feel good about not havinganyone to buy them jewelry becausethe rings have also proven to be astatus symbol of being single.

It was a perfect cover, to switchroles and make women feel powerover men. The rings are thick likemen’s rings, they have an x number ofdiamonds versus engagement rings,which are typically solitaires, and theyare worn in the opposite hand wheresociety has placed wedding bands, theuniversal symbol of being attached“forever.”

The right-hand ring is simply anadvertising strategy that has madebillions of dollars for jewelrycompanies, and the sad thing is,women are listening and believingwhat they are being told. The adcampaign launched by the DiamondTrading Company read: “Women ofthe World, Raise Your Right Hand.”Do it, but raise it with or without aring because advertisers should not bethe ones to give the approval of whatconstitutes the universal symbol ofwomen’s independence.

ARIANNA VAZQUEZ

April 22, 2004 Sports Page 15

The friendly soccer match playedlast week between Mexican Leaguerivals Pumas of UNAM and Tigres of

UANL drewover 13,000fans toM c A l l e nV e t e r a n sM e m o r i a lStadium andmade Valleysports history.

H o w e v e r ,the organiza-tion of theevent itselfwas not what

you may call the most efficient or thesafest on behalf of the City ofMcAllen.

The McAllen Police Departmentin conjunction with the McAllen ISDPolice claimed that they were ready

and it would be treated as other bigevents that have taken place at thatparticular stadium, such as highschool football games.

Great. Glad to hear it.Except there’s one little flaw in the

police department’s arrogant assess-ment.

If you are experienced in big-timeevents whether they are held in a5,500-seat arena or a 14,000-seat sta-dium, you can’t compare high schoolfootball to a professional sportingevent, much less a professional soc-cer match. The comment alone showsthat you have no idea what you aredoing.

Because there were no incidentsreported, it doesn’t mean it wentsmoothly. It just means the city gotoff lucky.

As far as traffic control was con-cerned, it was not the greatest. I wait-

ed 20 minutes to advance half a blockalong Bicentennial in order to turn onTamarack, only to wait another 15m i n u t e sb e f o r emaking itto my des-i g n a t e dp a r k i n garea. Idon’t mindwaiting intraffic if it’sj u s t i f i e d ,but in thiscase, therewas no rea-son for it.

In citieswhere pro-f e s s i o n a ls p o r t i n gevents are held on a regular basis and

officials do have experience in thesematters, you would see a police offi-cer directing traffic. I didn’t see a

meter maid out there, much less aMcAllen police officer doing muchof anything at this particular inter-section except a motorcycle copriding around in circles as I, alongwith several other vehicles, waitedin line.

To be fair, the police did an effi-cient job of directing traffic after

the match.Once inside the stadium, the police

presence was quite noticeable, how-ever, they were too busy pullingguard duty around an emptyteam bus instead of controllingthe crowd that could’ve easilygotten out of hand and trampledseveral people that stood aroundthe locker rooms.

I got caught in this humanwave. Actually, I literally waspulled in and, luckily, was spitout at the other end. And I amexperienced in these types ofevents.

However, children and olderspectators that could’ve or did

get caught up in this autograph-seeking mob only a few feet awayfrom McAllen’s finest may not beused to this and could’ve actually

gotten hurt.On the promotional side of the

event, it could’ve been better sinceonly one gate was open to sell theremaining tickets available as well asto admit people into the stadium.

The event’s lack of advertisingalso was not what it could’ve been,although in the end it wasn’t neces-


A huge crowd swarmed around the locker room area of thePumas and Tigres during their friendly match April 14 in McAllen.

Pro events not like high school sports

Pan Am track and fieldhas Twilight on horizon

A couple of weeks ago, a sudden increase in lightningstrikes cancelled the Texas A&M Invitational after the secondheat of the men’s 800-meter dash.

Texas-Pan American Head Coach Ricky Vaughn thoughtthat meet went really well considering the sudden intrusion ofthe inclement weather.

“The ones that got to compete did very well,” Vaughn said.“Isaac [Ybarra] got second overall, Rashaad [Ben] ran goodin the hurdles, and Amy Moses competed well.”

The UTPA trio has already secured a spot at the NCAARegionals

David Treviño finished with a time of 4:01.16 and placedfifth overall in the 1500-meter run.

“David Treviño has run very consistent and solid in the dis-tance area,” Vaughn said.

The Broncs had the weekend off, but the team looks for-ward to having a good showing at the Rice Twilight in

Houston this week-end.

“I think we willdo well,” Vaughnsaid. “We have twoor three more indi-viduals that I thinkhave a good shotqualifying forregionals and hope-fully we can get thatdone.”

“We usually havepeople that step it upat the end of the sea-son,” Ybarra said.

“Amber Kelly

has had a great season,” Vaughn said. “She has come in as afreshman and has had a lot of success. Amy has had a solidseason, I still really think she has a lot more left in her.”

Vaughn expects good things out of Kelly in the future.“I’m happy with what I’ve done, but I think I could be

doing better,” Kelly said. Although the season has gone “fast” according to Vaughn,

he admits that “its gone well.”He credits Ben and Ybarra to have stepped it up this season.“They knew what they needed to do, what they wanted to

focus on and both have had good seasons,” Vaughn said.“And I really think they have a chance of making it to theNCAA’s.”


disks and will not compete.Salvo believes that his teammates

will step up and perform fine in theabsence of Mangelschots.

“It is hard to replace a player likeTom,” Salvo said. “Armando haswelcomed the challenge. We justhave to step up at all of the otherpositions.”

Women’s Tennis

The women’s tennis team do nothave a conference tournament toprepare for, instead they finishedtheir season on a winning note afterdefeating Indiana-Purdue-FortWayne, 6-1, on the final day ofNCAA Division I IndependentChampionships.

Gyulai was happy to see the girls

end their season on a positive note.“Definitely I am very happy with

they way they played and ended theseason,” Gyulai said. “It was a greatexperience for the newcomers.”

Pharr native and mid-season walkon Jessica Chávez destroyed JessicaVervynckt of IFPW at No. 6 singles,6-0, 6-1.

Chávez believes this win willcarry over to next season and giveher confidence to come back andbuild upon this win for next year.

“I believe that winning and losinghas a lot to do with what onebelieves he or she can do,” Chávezsaid. “I feel I gained a lot ofexperience being part of the tennisteam and it was a greatopportunity.”

He also has made T-shirts for thelast couple of seasons, paying themout of his own pocket, and distrib-utes them to other fans.

Although he never played base-ball and, at times, gets ice, gum, andeven grapefruits thrown at him, “TheWhistler” keeps coming back.Martínez has even taken a leave ofabsence and reshuffled his work

schedule to attend Bronc baseballgames.

He has now gathered about 15regulars to his crew.

“When we go on the road some ofthe fans can be 10 times worse thanJerry,” said sophomore LouieAlamia. “He is just a really awesomeguy to have out in the stands on ourside.”

Track continued from page 16

Whistler continued from page 16


The UTPA track and field team will participate in theRice Twilight in Houston this weekend.

Date Opponent ScoreMarch 6 Border Olympics NoneMarch 13 Angela Proctor Invit. NoneMarch 19-20 Whataburger/UTSA None

RelaysMarch 27 Bayou Classic 5 of 8April 1-3 Texas Relays NoneApril 10 Texas A&M None

InvitationalApril 18-19 Southwestern Bell

ClassicApril 24 Rice TwilightMay 1 Tom Tellez InvitationalMay 15 Texas A&M All-Comers

MeetMay 27-29 NCAA Regional

ChampionshipsJune 9-12 NCAA Outdoor

Championships

Men’s Track & FieldIndoor Season

ED CHRNKOTIRO DEESQUINA

April 22, 2004 THE PAN AMERICAN

NEWS■ Volunteer Fair. . . . . . . . . . 4■ Theft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5■ Accountability. . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Continuing lawsuit plagues Edinburg ecomony

A local construction company is trying to resolve issuesat hand after not completing what was agreed under theircontract.

The Edinburg Economic Development Corporation(EEDC) and Shea Development, a limited liabilitycompany, have recently been in disputes over contract dealsand negotiations since August 2001. Now, SheaDevelopment owner Hector Casas has made an offer toEEDC, which EEDC could agree to, but only under certainrestrictions.

The EEDC is a corporation that focuses on bringingexpansion to the Edinburg economy by attracting newbusinesses and industries. Services provided are siteselection assistance, and real estate database of propertiesand buildings.

However, on Aug. 28, 2001, the agreement between thetwo corporations was made. Shea Development agreed tobuild a 16,000-square-foot conference center, andrestaurant next to the Los Lagos Golf Course in Edinburg.The conference center would employ 15 personnel, and therestaurant, 30. The two projects would cost $4.5 million,according to the Plaintiff Petition.

In return, the EEDC would provide infrastructureimprovements, such as problems with sanitary sewers,paving, and drainage. The EEDC would have theinfrastructure improvements completed within six months.As the Plaintiff Petition stated, they were completed byApril 2002, costing $299,960.

Contrarily, Shea Developments failed to complete thetwo buildings. An extension was asked for on July 29,2002, agreeing that the conference center and restaurantwould be completed in six months after October 2002.After the EEDC agreed, they gave Shea until August 28,2003 to complete them, the document pointed out. If Shea

failed to have the two buildings completed by that finaldeadline, a reimbursement of $300,000 would have to bepaid to the EEDC.

Still, Sheafailed toa c c o m p l i s hwhat waspromised. TheEEDC thenfiled a suitagainst Shea,claiming of abreach, orviolation, ofcontract. Sheat h e nresponded tothe lawsuitwith an offerto the EEDC,which theEEDC willonly accept under certain restrictions. EEDC attorneyCynthia Gutierrez said an agreement has not beenestablished yet.

“The settlement discussions are confidential, there is noagreement yet. We are still under mediation,” Gutierrezsaid.

Ramiro Garza Jr., EEDC executive director, said theEEDC is working on bringing more retail and industries toEdinburg.

“We have four different industrial parks in the city andwe continue to attract different industries [that] come to thecity or work with industries that have a need to expand,”said Garza. “We also want to make that informationavailable for companies that could provide products that arehardly provided to fulfill the demand here in our city.”

A retail study done by Buxton Company of Fort Worth

analyzed that there is retail demand in Edinburg. Accordingto Garza, the strong support for business and meticulousplanning is the cause for so many businesses to become

receptive to coming to Edinburg.“As the population increases, there is a

number of products and services needed tosupport the increasing population, encouragingnew growth in the city,” Garza explained.

According to an article in The Monitor,locations that are likely to have high retailpotential are: 10th Street and State Highway107; Canton Road and U.S. Highway 281; State107 and Raul Longoria; and U.S. 281 and Farm-to-Market Road 2812. The Edinburg-McAllen-Mission area was also recently ranked fourthamong metropolitan statistical areas with thelargest over-the-year percentage of employmentincreases, according to the Bureau of LaborStatistics.

The new headquarters for the Rio GrandeBorder Patrol Sector will be built along TrentonRoad and U.S. Highway 281. The headquarters

will bring 200 more jobs to the city. Other businesses, suchas Merkafon, a leading teleservice company, and UTPAhave also contributed to the decrease in unemployment inEdinburg. Merkafon alone has brought about 300 jobs toEdinburg. Also, about 15 new subdivisions are alsocurrently being proliferated.

Garza is confident about the future of the economy inEdinburg, considering how it is growing rapidly both inbusiness and population.

“[Edinburg is] thriving. We know the different sectorsthat possibly fit our city, so the idea is to be able to go afterthose that match our demographics. We have thenumbers [and] all indicators reflect positive growth.We are working to make sure that this continues, and beable to adapt to any changes of the economy that mightcome in the future,” Garza concluded.

By JULIAN CAVAZOS The Pan American

Students will be able to see where their service feeshave gone next week with the release of theuniversity’s official magazine/yearbook.

This year’s issue of The Panorama will be availableMay 1. The free publication, themed “Everything youNever Expected,” will be larger and longer than the lastedition.

“I think we’ve created a book that we’re very proudof and the university will be proud of,” said Dr.Kimberly Selber, advertising professor and first-yearadviser for The Panorama. “Expect radical changes thisyear in the format and design. It’s like a yearbookwithout all the mug shots.”

She also said that the publication’s staff focused bothon the aesthetics and content.

“The cover’s different,” said Gabby Barajas,communication graduate student and creative editor forThe Panorama. “It’s more simplistic, but has a moreelegant look.”

Barajas said the magazine will be laid out differentlyand will include coverage of each college on campus.

“We wanted to focus on each college and not just onebecause it’s important to recognize each college,” she

said. “We hope to meet the students’ expectations.”“I didn’t want to be wasteful with the students’

money,” Selber said, referring to the 10,000 orderedcopies of this year’s publication. Student service feesfunded The Panorama’s production.

Many copies were left over from last year’s issue,Selber said. She attributed the excess issues to lastyear’s release date, which was after finals. However,this year’s Panorama will be available while studentsare still attending school during finals week.

The Panorama’s staff was split into teams and eachteam was assigned a college. Also, students from theuniversity’s art department contributed to themagazine/yearbook, fostering more of a university-wide production of the publication.

In addition to making this year’s issue more of auniversity-wide edition, rather than a communicationdepartment publication, Selber hoped to feature theachievements of students and faculty throughout theuniversity.

“We’re working toward a bigger concept,” Selbersaid. “I know this sounds like a cliché, but UTPA is ahidden gem. A lot of people have stereotypes, but thenthey’re surprised at UTPA. We do have Ph.D.s, we dohave great computer facilities, and we wanted tohighlight all these positive things.”

Other university students throughout the state also

publish magazines that feature their schools’ successes.For example, students at the University of Texas atAustin produce Orange, which is also free to students.

The Panorama will be available across campus and atthe Edinburg Chamber of Commerce. It will also beavailable at this semester’s commencementceremonies.

Freshman Jenice Garza, a physician’s assistantmajor, was excited to hear about the upcoming issue ofThe Panorama.

“I find that interesting, considering this is my firstyear and I want to be able to remember what happenedor what I missed,” Garza said.

The Panorama staff began developing the publicationlast September.

“I’ve seen the students go from looking for guidanceto taking the lead and guiding others,” Selber said.“The credit goes to the students who wrote it, producedit and designed it.”

And although the publication will not be availableuntil next week, Selber is planning for next year’sedition of The Panorama. She wants to start recruitingstaff already to fill the paid and non-paid positionsavailable.

“We’ll have different approaches next year,” Selbersaid. “I really want to build bridges across campus.”

Changes coming with release of student magazineBy CLAUDIA L. FARIASThe Pan American

◆ Shea Development agreed to constructa conference center and restaurant costing $4.5 million◆ In return, the Edinburg EconomicDevelopment Corporation agreed to pro-vide improvements in sanitary paving,and drainage.◆ Shea Development failed to constructthe two buildings, and could have to pay$300,000.

Edinburg Economic DevelopmentCorporation (EEDC) Lawsuit


In 1996, Democrat Bill Clintongained 72 percent of the Hispanicvote. In 2000, it looked as thoughthe Democrats lost a few pointswith the Hispanic community asAl Gore only earned 62 percent ofHispanic votes while RepublicanGeorge W. Bush received 35percent, the highest showing everfor a Republican. As thepresidential election draws near,both parties are making strongattempts to win the Hispanic votefor the 2004 election.

Since being named the largestminority in the U.S., 35.3 millionin 2000, and one of the fastestgrowing segments of theelectoral, both parties areattempting to ensure the Hispanicvote, one that could easily makeor break an election.

The National Council of LaRaza has said that Hispanic-voters numbered less than 5million in 1996, nearly 6 millionin 2000, and anticipate 8 millionvoters this year. With thesestatistics, the Republicans have

been working diligently over thepast few months to sway Hispanicvoters, commonly loyalDemocrats, to vote for theRepublican Party. And likewise,the Democratic Party is doing itsbest to keep its voters.

“We’re seeing an unprecedentedamount of attention to courtLatino votes,” said Rosalind Goldof the National Association ofLatino Elected and AppointedOfficials Educational Fund to theMansfield News Journal. “Bothparties are realizing that Latinosdon’t march in lockstep and areup for grabs.”

The Republican Party has beenmaking its strong showing bydemonstrating that the partyshares many of the equal valuesthat Hispanics do such as familyand religion.

Julio Zermeño, a junior atUTPA, said he would be votingfor Bush this November becauseof the conservative values that theRepublican Party has.

“I’m a little more conservativethan I am liberal,” he said. “Iagree with a lot of the things theparty stands for.”

Bush along with his family andsupporters have been makingappearances on Spanish televisionnetworks asking for the support ofHispanics come election time.Another one of Bush’s advantagesthe party uses is his ability tospeak Spanish. And in hopes tostrengthen ties with Hispanics,the President has been followinghis weekly radio speeches withSpanish translators.

Zermeño calls the strategy agood move. “It’s a very popular,smart choice he made, and youcan see where it’s headed—to justget votes, and that’s fine. Politicsis politics, you have to do whatyou have to do.”

In a memo to the DemocraticParty, vice president to the NewDemocratic Network MariaCardona explained theRepublican’s goals.

“The Republicans are notaiming to get the majority of theHispanic vote, they don’t needit—they only need five or sixmore percentage points to win,”she said. “And they are beingincredibly aggressive aboutmaking it happen.”

At 11 p.m. the event began, and the sounds of peopletalking filled the Student Union. The halls of the first floorwere lined with tables draped with banners, each onedesignating a different organization.

This semester’s Volunteer Recruitment Fair hadorganizations ranging from the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aideto UTPA’s own Office of Services for Students withDisabilities. The purpose was to try and get help from anyperson wiling to lend a hand.

Representatives from each organization took informationsuch as name, telephone number, and e-mail, to facilitate thevolunteer process. The success of the annual fair is markednot by those attending, but by the numbers willing to sign upto help, and end up coming through down the road.

Sandra Morales from the Office of Services for Personswith Disabilities addressed this tension. “Last fall, 30students signed up to volunteer,” she said. “We need morepeople to volunteer because we have a lot of students withdisabilities.”

Most of the people currently employed by the Office are ondirect wage, but some are on the work-study program.

“If we could get enough students to volunteer, we could usethe money that would otherwise be used to pay employeewages to buy new and updated equipment,” Morales said,adding that most of the equipment they use is out dated.

Dawne Hill, coordinator of campus activities, took part inthe event, distributing flyers enabling students to enter into araffle at fair’s end. Hill and the Office of Student Activitiesdonated a Samsung DVD player, along with two DVDs, “KillBill” and “Old School.”

“Last semester students came to the fair mainly for thegiveaway prizes, but then got interested in actuallyvolunteering,” Hill said. “Overall, this is a successful eventand every time we have it, we have a great turnout.”

Also in attendance was Dean of Students Jerry Price, whohopped from table to table, asking each organization how itwas doing.

“The circumstances that would have provided maximumattendance were not perfect, with final exams coming up, butorganizations find themselves pretty occupied,” Price said.“This fair allows students to express their support to thedifferent groups while also allowing the students toexperience themselves what the community has to offer.”

April 22, 2004 THE PAN AMERICAN

Students raise funds for medical aid

Medicine for a toothache seemssimple enough to obtain doesn’tit? How about spending moneyfor a night out with friends? Timeand time again material itemssuch as these are unequivocallytaken for granted. But recently agroup of students at UTPA havegotten a glimpse at how people inthe third-world country of ElSalvador cope with terminalillness, without the luxury ofmedicine, and realized that caringabout the well-being of others isas important as caring about theirown.

Former Student GovernmentAssociation President FranciscoVielma was asked by theUniversity of Texas System Boardof Regents to organize aphilanthropic event that wouldencompass the entire student bodyand surrounding communities.While his father, a journalist, wasdocumenting a hospice in SanSalvador, El Salvador, he sent hiswife pictures and lettersdescribing the conditions. He wasrecently quoted saying, “I think ofa hospital as a place where peopleget well. What I found there wasa place where people are being

helped to die,” he said. “It isgetting harder to put into wordswhat we see. It doesn’t seempossible, but every day we seethings that are more tragic thanthe day before.”

In the event of his father’s visitto the hospital, Vielma wastouched and wanted toincorporate Hospital DivinaProvidencia to the Board ofRegent’s request.

“My father shared a story withme about a group of patients whogathered in a corner of thisfacility and were praying to God.They weren't praying to Godasking for a new car, for a datewith a beautiful person, or for hishelp passing a math exam. Theywere praying to God asking himfor someone to comfort theirfamily when they passed away,for God's help in making itthrough the last painful days oftheir lives, for his help to bestrong. We never realize that thenearest helping hand is at the endof our own arm,” said Vielma.

Throughout National VolunteerWeek, Vielma has organized agroup of students that handed outpackets of information about thehospital in an effort to raise fundsfor medical staff, medicine, medicalsupplies, and hospital equipment.Hospital Divina Providencia was

established in 1969, to assist peoplewho were dying of cancer, leukemia,and other malignancies who weretoo poor to afford care andsometimes died on the streets of SanSalvador. It is the only hospital ofits kind in Central America andthrough the United NeighborsCouncil, a project of Comfort HouseCharities, Inc., Vielma has broughtthis issue to the attention of manywho may have not realized thathelping others can make adifference. Sister Therese Corkery,a member of the Divina ProvidenciaTask Force, expressed herappreciation for the student’s hardwork.

“I think it is wonderful thatstudents are becoming aware ofpeople that are less fortunate thanwe are here in the United States,”she said. “I’m glad that they havestopped to look around and see thatsometimes others need help too.”

Closing the week of volunteerismand fund-raising, the students andfaculty will subsidize an on campustelethon on Sat. April 24 at theVisitor’s Center. Members of TauKappa Epsilon and other student andfaculty volunteers will be answeringphones from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

UTPA is comprised ofapproximately 15,000 students; ifeveryone pledged a dollar, it wouldmake a world of difference to peoplewho have almost nothing.

All contributions are tax

By JOSE CAMEROThe Pan American

See HISPANICS page 12

By VANESSA CASTILLOThe Pan American

Organizationsseek volunteers

Candidates vie for Hispanic votesBy EDWINA P. GARZAThe Pan American

See VOLUNTEER page 6


VOLUNTEER— Stephanie Chavez (left) and Laura Duranview volunteer opportunities Tuesday afternoon at theStudent Union commons area.

Date Opponent Score

Nov. 1 Green and White GREEN, 2-1

Jan. 31 Texas State-San Marcos L 7-8

Feb. 1 Texas State-San Marcos L 2-6

Feb. 3 Texas Kingsville W 6-3, 3-2

Feb. 6 Lamar vs. Kansas 3-2

Feb. 6 Sam Houston State L 2-7

Feb. 7 Kansas W 8-6

Feb. 7 Lamar vs. Sam Houston 7-4

Feb. 8 Sam Houston vs. Kansas 8-8

Feb. 8 Lamar W 2-1

Feb. 15 Lamar (DH) L 1-16, W 8-6

Feb. 16 Lamar L 4-6

Feb. 18 Texas A&M-Kingsville W 15-5




Feb. 27 Washington State W 3-2

Feb. 28 Washington State L 3-15


March 6 Arkansas W 4-1


March 9 TAMUCC W 2-0


March 12 Texas-San Antonio W 6-4

March 13 Texas-San Antonio L 1-3

March 14 Texas-San Antonio ppd.

March 16 Texas-Arlington W 7-5

March 17 Texas-Arlington L 5-13

March 19 Oral Roberts L 0-1


March 21 Oral Roberts W 4-1



March 26 Dallas Baptist L 7-11



March 30 Texas L 1-10

April 6 Texas State-San Marcos L 5-6


April 9 TAMUCC (DH) L6-7, W11-3

April 13 Texas-San Antonio W5-1, L1-2

April 14 Texas-San Antonio 2

April 16 Arizona 9

April 17 Arizona 9

April 18 Arizona 3

April 23 Dallas Baptist (DH) 4

April 24 Dallas Baptist 1

May 7 Southeastern Louisiana 7



May 11 Arkansas 7:05


May 14 Oklahoma 7:05


May 16 Oklahoma 1

Date Tournament Result

Feb. 9-10 Rice Intercollegiate 14 of 14

March Bearkat Invitational 14 of 16

14-15

March Lindsay Collegiate 15 of 15

29-30 Classic

April 5-6 Hal Sutton 3 of 10

Intercollegiate

April 23-24Andrea Brotto Cavalier

Classic

May 7-9 National Minority

Golf Championships

Local / RegionalCoverage

Team W - D - L GF:GA PTSx-Chiapas 11 - 3 - 1 30:16 36U.N.A.M. 9 - 5 - 1 30:13 32Guadalajara 9 - 2 - 4 22:17 29Toluca 7 - 4 - 4 23:19 25Pachuca 6 - 6 - 3 25:22 24Atlas 5 - 6 - 4 22:20 21América 5 - 5 - 5 25:23 20Necaxa 5 - 5 - 5 19:18 20Querétaro 4 - 8 - 3 21:22 20Irapuato 5 - 5 - 5 16:24 20Puebla 5 - 4 - 6 23:21 19Morelia 5 - 4 - 6 20:23 19Santos 5 - 3 - 7 22:21 18Tigres 5 - 3 - 7 29:30 18Monterrey 2 - 9 - 4 20:21 15Cruz Azul 4 - 3 - 8 23:27 15 Atlante 3 - 6 - 6 19:23 15Veracruz 3 - 5 - 7 18:25 14Club San Luis 3 - 4 - 8 15:27 13U.A.G. 3 - 2 - 10 25:35 11x-Claimed playoff berth

Week 15 results April 17-19: Toluca 2,Monterrey 0; Guadalajara 3, U.A.G. 1;Morelia 2, San Luis 1; Necaxa 1,Veracruz 0; Pachuca 2, Santos 0;U.N.A.M. 0, Irapuato 0; Querétaro 1,Atlas 0; Puebla 3, Cruz Azul 2; Chiapas2, Atlante 1; Tigres 2, América 1.

Week 16 schedule April 24-25: Veracruzvs. Puebla; Cruz Azul vs. U.N.A.M.;Monterrey vs. Guadalajara; San Luis vs.Querétaro; Atlas vs. Tigres; U.A.G. vs.Necaxa; América vs. Toluca; Irapuato vs.Chiapas; Atlante vs. Pachuca; Santos vs.Morelia.

Week 17 May 1-2: Toluca vs. Atlas; CruzAzul vs. Irapuato; Morelia vs. Atlante;Tigres vs. San Luis; Guadalajara vs.América; Necaxa vs. Monterrey;U.N.A.M. vs. Veracruz; Pachuca vs.Chiapas; Querétaro vs. Santos; Pueblavs. U.A.G.

Week 18 May 8-9: Veracruz vs. CruzAzul; Chiapas vs. Morelia; Monterrey vs.Puebla; San Luis vs. Toluca; Atlas vs.Guadalajara; América vs. Necaxa;Pachuca vs. Irapuato; Atlante vs.Querétaro; Santos vs. Tigres; U.A.G. vs.U.N.A.M.

Week 19 May 15-16: Toluca vs. Santos;Cruz Azul vs. U.A.G.; Tigres vs. Atlante;Morelia vs. Pachuca; Guadalajara vs.San Luis; Necaxa vs. Atlas; U.N.A.M. vs.Monterrey; Querétaro vs. Chiapas;Puebla vs. América; Irapuato vs.Veracruz.

Liguilla (Playoffs):May 19-23 Recalificación (Wildcard)May 26-30 QuarterfinalsJune 2-6 SemifinalsJune 9-13 FinalNote: Liguilla played in two legs; winner based

on aggregate score of both matches.

Date Dorados vs. Time/ResultsApril 3 Laredo W 37-6April 10 at Oklahoma City L 17-55April 24 Oklahoma City 7:30May 1 at Laredo 7:30May 8 Wichita 7:30May 15 at C. Valley 9:30May 22 Laredo 7:30May 28 at Tulsa 7:30June 12 Tulsa 7:30June 18 at Boss-Shreve. 7:30June 26 at Birmingham 6:30July 3 Wichita 7:30

July 10 Oklahoma City 7:30July 17 at Tulsa 7:30July 24 Arkansas 7:30July 31 at Wichita 7

Date Roadrunners vs.May 6 at PensacolaMay 7 at PensacolaMay 8 at PensacolaMay 9 at PensacolaMay 10 at Fort WorthMay 11 at Fort WorthMay 12 at Fort WorthMay 14 PensacolaMay 15 PensacolaMay 16 PensacolaMay 17 Fort WorthMay 18 Fort WorthMay 19 Fort WorthMay 20 Fort WorthMay 21 at ShreveportMay 22 at ShreveportMay 23 at ShreveportMay 24 at JacksonMay 25 at JacksonMay 26 at JacksonMay 28 AmarilloMay 29 AmarilloMay 30 AmarilloMay 31 at Coastal BendJune 1 at Coastal BendJune 2 at Coastal BendJune 3 San AngeloJune 4 San AngeloJune 5 San AngeloJune 6 San AngeloJune 8 ShreveportJune 9 ShreveportJune 10 ShreveportJune 11 at San AngeloJune 12 at San AngeloJune 13 at San AngeloJune 14 at San AngeloJune 15 at AmarilloJune 16 at AmarilloJune 17 at AmarilloJune 18 Coastal BendJune 19 Coastal BendJune 20 Coastal BendJune 21 Coastal BendJune 23 JacksonJune 24 JacksonJune 25 JacksonJune 26 JacksonJune 28 at PensacolaJune 29 at PensacolaJune 30 at PensacolaJuly 1 at PensacolaJuly 2 at Fort WorthJuly 3 at Fort WorthJuly 4 at Fort WorthJuly 5 at Fort WorthJuly 6 PensacolaJuly 7 PensacolaJuly 8 PensacolaJuly 9 Fort WorthJuly 10 Fort WorthJuly 11 Fort WorthJuly 13 ShreveportJuly 14 ShreveportJuly 15 ShreveportJuly 16 JacksonJuly 17 JacksonJuly 18 JacksonJuly 20 ALL-STAR GAMEJuly 22-25 AmarilloJuly 26-27 Coastal BendJuly 28 at Coastal BendJuly 29 at Coastal BendJuly 30 San AngeloJuly 31 San AngeloAug. 1 San AngeloAug. 3-5 ShreveportAug. 6-9 San AngeloAug. 10-13 at AmarilloAug. 15 Coastal BendAug. 16 at Coastal BendAug. 18-21 Jackson

UTPA HOME GAMES IN BOLDAll games p.m. unless noted.

FOR THE RECORD

Broncs Baseball

Mexican Soccer

Men’s Golf

James gets rookie of year award

Lebron James,19, became the youngest player in the his-tory of the NBA to win the NBA Rookie of the Year AwardTuesday.

The 6-foot-8 James received 66 percent of the first placenominations from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters.

“It brings a smile a smile to my face,” James said.

Brown named NBA coach of year

Memphis Grizzlies Head Coach Hubie Brown, 70, wonthe NBA Coach of the Year Award Wednesday after leadingthe Grizzlies to a 50-32 season record and their first playoffappearance in team history.

The award is Brown’s first in 26 years. He began coach-ing in 1978 when he led the Atlanta Hawks in 1978.

Israel soccer ban lifted

Israel has the chance to play its first home game in morethan two years.

The recent lull in terrorism prompted UEFA, the sport’sEuropean governing body, to allow games only in the Tel-Aviv area with guaranteed security.

Israel’s first game is set for May 8 when the women’snational team hosts Estonia.

Pan American Golf Classic

The 15th annual Pan American Golf Classic will be heldApril 23 at the Tierra Santa Golf Course in Weslaco.

The golf classic will be to benefit scholarships that willhelp deserving students at UTPA.

Golfers can participate in three different flight levels for$6,000 in cash prizes in the two-man, low-ball tournament.

The highlight of the event will be a hole-in-one opportuni-ty for an automobile.

For more information, call 381-2500.


SSPPOORRTTSSCCLLIIPPBBOOAARRDD

af2: RGV Dorados

Roadrunners Baseball

Due to a recent rash of car thefts oncampus, the University Police have beenactive of late, searching for perpetratorsand trying to get prevention informationout to the campus community.

Three pick-up trucks have been stolenfrom various parking lots around theUTPA campus in the last six weeks,according to University Police. All threewere Chevy/GMC vehicles from the late1980s to early 1990s, and were stolen atdifferent times throughout the day.Police suggest that there may be a gangin operation, either using a ‘slim-jim,’which is a long piece of metal used tobreak the lock, or possibly even a sort ofmaster key. There was no sign of forcedentry according to police reports.

To help combat car theft, as well astheft of parking permits and bicycles,Assistant Chief of Police W. Jay Carey said that the

depa r tmen thas increasedpatrols. Headded that thet h r e eincidents isatypical forthe UPTAcampus, butadded, “Weneed a higherdegree of

keeping our eyes open.”

Carey also asked students to keep their own eyes openand to become more aware of what‘s going on aroundthem. He added that students really are the eyes and ears ofthe campus.

According to Carey, “People have to understand, thiscampus is a small community. It’s larger than some Texastowns,” and that theft will happen anywhere. We likeeveryone to feel safe here. Chief [Howard] Miller andmyself strive to keep it that way. It’s a daily process. Ourmission, our vision, our goal.”

Local police departments are also involved in trying totrack down those responsible for the thefts. Carey said thecampus continues to work closely with the Edinburg PoliceDepartment on the matter. Anyone with information, orseeing anything suspicious is urged to call 316-7151 fromany cell phone, dial 911, or head to the nearest blue kiosk,where the phone can be connected to the police department.

April 22, 2004 THE PAN AMERICAN April 22, 2004 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 12

HISPANICS continued from page 4

By EMMA CLARKThe Pan American

Car theft increase alarms police

More money from students fees and tuition, isn’talways a negative aspect of paying for college.Now, the students will gain more from theuniversity from money given.

Stronger academic programs and more financialaid for students were supposed to be the results ofdecisions made by the TexasCoordinating Board of Regents toincrease tuition this spring. The Boardacted on Nov. 18 to approve proposalsfrom Texas college campuses for highercosts.

After the legislature alloweduniversities to set their own tuition rates,rising expenses led Governor Rick Perryto direct an executive order to all Texasuniversities. This order asked regents tobegin setting accountability standards fortax money schools receive.

A deadline of Dec. 17 was given toTexas colleges for emergentaccountability system proposals, butUTPA is ahead of the game.

“We knew we were going to have to account forthe extra money in tuition fees we asked for,” saidDr. Susan Griffith, executive director for theOffice of Institutional Research and Effectiveness.“This increase and accountability plan has been inthe works since last year, we have ours ready.”

If you recall, students and faculty were asked tovote on the tuition increase, last fall, but did youwonder where that extra money went?

Tuition was augmented from $32 to $38 persemester credit hour. This designated six-dollarcharge kept UTPA tuition below the statutory capthat was set prior to tuition deregulation.Mandatory increases were enforced in librarytechnology fees and a new fee for students whorepeat a course for a third time was also

implemented. Inaddition to theswell in tuition,UTPA wanted toencourage studentsto take largercourse loads andbased its flat feeson 14 semestercredit hours insteadof 12.

N u m e r o u scomplaints camefrom parents andstudents who wereangry over the

increase that followed the state’s decision to letpublic universities set their own rates. Somelegislators questioned whether students weregetting enough information about financial aid asderegulated tuition rates climbed at some schools.However, Griffith explained that thisdissatisfaction does not pertain to UTPA.

“The truth is, we didn’t increase tuition by thatmuch, not as much as other schools like UT[Austin],” she said. “We are using the money tohire more staff so that smaller classes will bepossible. This way our students will have a betterlearning environment.”

Currently, the Communication Department ishaving potential faculty members visit the campusas part of the interviewing process. Thedepartment is planning to increase the staff byadding more advertising and public relationsprofessors.

The cost of tuition for students enrolled for 12semester credit hours last fall was $1,233, thisspring, tuition is $1,329. Griffith elaborated bysaying that UTPA could designate a larger tuitionincrease to help boost the amount of financial aidavailable to students, but that plan will probablydevelop as the university grows.

There are 69 academic indicators and 48 healthindicators reported in UTPA’s accountability plan.Graduation rate, enrollment, affordability, anddiversity of graduates are among some indicatorsthe UT system encloses.

While rising costs do not seem ideal, some itemssuch as course availability and quality, incentivesto increase course loads and ultimately graduationrates, can be improved and made possible in thefuture through higher tuition costs.

UTPA’s accountability plan was finished andreleased March 11. Students can find a copy of theaccountability plan online atwww.utsystem.edu/cha/AcctRpt/2003/homepage.htm.

Tui t ion increase may lead to future benefi tsBy VANESSA CASTILLOThe Pan American

Arianna Vazquez/The Pan American

HOMEBOUND— Former UTPA student Sgt. Jose Olivares gets a welcome homehug from his mother after being deployed in Iraq for one-year. Troops from the 961stQuartermaster Company were welcomed Monday afternoon by family members andthe media at the Reserve Center in McAllen.

For this election, the Democratic Party isconcentrating on gaining back votes fromArizona, Colorado, Nevada and Florida—all states that Bush won in 2000. Andwhile Bush has nearly 30 teams around thecountry helping him recruit Hispanicvoters with ad campaigns, the DemocraticParty is doing all it can to keep the votes ithas, as well as gain more.

In efforts to do so, there is a new groupthat is headed by New Mexico’s Gov. BillRichardson to raise money to getHispanics to the party. Richardson, who isthe country’s first Hispanic governor isalso one of the possible vice presidentcandidates for John Kerry.

Other than campaigns to encourage andrecruit Hispanic voters to vote for Kerry,the Democratic Party has also madevarious Spanish-language advertisementsdiscrediting the Bush-Cheney ticket. Theeffort is part of Democratas Unidos, a $5million project that was designed by theNew Democratic Network.

The Republican Party has a separategroup that studies Hispanic communitiesand attempts to understand what Hispanicvoters are looking for. The DemocraticParty will hold the Hispanic LeadershipSummit in Orlando May 14 through the 16in order to discover how to communicatewith the Hispanic electorate.

Last week, Univision CommunicationsInc., the nation’s leading Spanish-languagemedia company, announced the release ofan interactive CD-ROM that will provideinsight to Hispanic voting behavior. “TheHispanic Vote Tool Kit” will be used toinform politicians and media advisorsabout the Hispanic electorate. The kit issaid to explain voting trends of Hispanicsas well such as the tendency to align morewith a candidate than a political party.

But is it possible to navigate voting

trends of Hispanics? Dr. Jerry Polinard ofthe political science department said thereisn’t.

“The short answer is no—there is nosilver bullet that predicts how any of theLatino populations will vote,” he said.“MA’s [Mexican-Americans] tend to beDemocrats as do Puerto Ricans andCentral Americans. Cubans tend to beGOP.”

To search for a possible answer onLatino voting patterns, Polinard along withDr. Robert Wrinkle, and Dr. David Leal ofthe University of Texas at Austin havebeen working on a paper that discussesLatino voter participation.

The paper discusses mobilization andincludes an on-going survey of about1,000 respondents from 15 Texas counties.The interviewed subjects were askedvarious questions about their voting habitsas well as their participation in pastelections.

“This paper tested whether politicalmobilization efforts were associated withhigher electoral and non-electoral turnoutby Latino registered voters in theNovember, 2002 Texas gubernatorialelections,” the paper states. “We foundlittle effect on Latino voting but someimpact, particularly mobilization throughplaces of worship, on non-electoralparticipation. We also discovered someadditional religious dynamics, specificallythat Catholics were more likely to vote.”

Currently, the race for the now covetedHispanic vote is on, and Sergio Bendixenof the New Democratic Network has foundthat 58 percent of Hispanics were votingDemocrat, 20 percent were votingRepublican, and 20 percent wereundecided. For further information on“The Hispanic Vote Tool Kit,” call 1-(888)VOTE NOW.

PRESIDENT continued from page 1 CELL PHONE continued from page 1

System press release. "We look forwardto interviews with the finalists and toreceiving input from campus andcommunity constituencies as we movetoward the appointment of the nextpresident."

With the nominees being from all overthe United States, candidates from SouthTexas were not included as finalists.

Dr. Rodolfo Arevalo, Provost and VicePresident for Academic Affairs was oneof the well-known nominees on campus,maintaining a position that many of thefinalists also hold.

When Arevalo discovered he wasnominated for the position, he was veryhonored to know that the individuals hehad work with thought he was preparedto take on the role of president, but wasnot surprised to find out that theCommittee did not select him as afinalist.

“It appeared that the UT System waslooking for a President from offcampus,” Arevalo said.

There hasn’t been a reason given whyindividuals who have past experiencewith UTPA were not considered for thefinalists, but Arevalo speculates that thecommittee and leadership have a plan forthe future of the campus. And althoughArevalo was not named a finalist, he stilllooks forward to working with the future

president as a member of theadministration board.

“I would enjoy continuing to workwith the new President as we initiate newinitiatives and continue theimplementation of new degree programsI have helped get approved,” he said.

Campus visits by the finalists will bescheduled soon and will includemeetings with students, staff, faculty,department chairs, deans, alumni, andcommunity members.

"The selection of finalists for the U.T.Pan American presidency has beenundertaken by the board with fullawareness that the appointment of a newpresident for this great institution is one ofthe most important decisions that we willmake,” Miller said. “We have selected thefinalists from among an exemplary groupof candidates, and on behalf of the board Iwould like to thank all the candidates whohave taken part in this lengthy and detailedprocess.”

“The ability to work effectively with allsegments of the campus and able todevelop relationships with all communitiesis essential for the new President,” Arevalosaid. “Experience with working withlegislators, alumni, business leaders and anexcellent ability to work with the SystemsOffice and the Board of Regents is alsoneeded for the future of UTPA.”

Guzman. “It’s not to talk to my friends andsay ‘hey what are you doing,’ that is what Ihave a home phone for.”

People are also beginning to use their cellphones while driving. MSNBC Newsreported that there are 120 million cellphone subscriptions in the United Statesand an estimated 60 percent of cell phoneuse is happening on the road.

With this significant number of peopleusing their cell phones while driving, it canpose a potential risk to surrounding drivers.

According to a study published in theWashington Post in 2002, cell phone useranked as the sixth highest cause ofaccidents. It is agreed by many that drivingand using a cell phone is dangerous and canpotentially be dangerous for other peopleon the road.

The Rio Grande Valley is not exemptfrom this statistic. Martinez witnessed anaccident where the driver was talking on acell phone and hit the car in front of him.

“He was talking on the phone and heactually hit the car in front of me,” he said.“He was leaning to the left and talking onthe phone and he hit the car. I mean it ispretty dangerous. I wouldn’t do it, Iwouldn’t do it at all.”

Similarly, Guzman said that it hashappened to her where she is not payingattention and she feels it could endangerother drivers.

With all the risks involved in driving andusing a cell phone, there is still somedebate on whether imposing laws againstthe use of cell phones is the best route totake, but some disagree.

Guzman is one that has mixed feelingsabout whether or not laws would bebeneficial due to possible emergencies.

“I don’t know because I know sometimesyou are driving and there is just anemergency,” she said. “But also, I do thinkit is a bad idea when you are just on thephone and you are angry and you are notpaying attention to what you are doing thatcan cause an accident so I guess it could goboth ways, but I do actually lean moretoward no cell phone use.”

In contrast Martinez feels that he wouldsupport laws that would prevent peoplefrom jeopardizing the lives of other driversbecause of cell phone use.

Laws against cell phone use whiledriving has not yet passed in Texas;however, there have been rumors of apossible law. According to the NationalConference of State Legislatures, nearly100 bills have been introduced in 38 statesthis year because more and morelawmakers are blaming cell phonedistractions for motor vehicle accidents andfatalities.

We are using the

money to hire more staff

so that smaller classes

will be possible. This way

our students will have a

better learning

environment.

“

“

- Dr. Susan Griffith,Executive Director of the OIRE

Campus offershealth services

With final exam week coming up, many students at UTPAmay be experiencing stress and other health concerns.Temperature changes from air-conditioned buildings to hotsteamy walkways to the parking lot may cause sniffles forstudents.

With their slogan “Where Your Health Matters,” theStudent Health Services or SHS, at the university is a studentfacility on campus. Conveniently located in Emilia SchuniorRamirez Hall, Room 1.113 near Sugar Road, this facilitycaters to any UTPA student or faculty needing health care.

“This is just like a doctor’s office,” stated Rick Gray,director of Health Services.

Students are welcome with no appointment; all they needis a valid form of identification. Student Health Servicesoffers confidential assessments, treatments, medical referrals,and peer education opportunities for all UTPA alumni.

Along with attending the common flu, physical exams,and vaccinations, the SHS offers free HIV and pregnancytesting. All reports and information acquired are strictlyconfidential.

“More than just a health facility, we encourage students tocome and ask questions about any concerns they might behaving regarding an illness,” Gray said.

The Student Health Services includes a full on WomenWellness Clinic, specifically designed for the needs offemales. Services include PAP smears, family planningeducation, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseasesamongst other services.

All medical staff at SHS are licensed and credentialed intheir specialty area. Staffs include family practice physicians,physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and

See STUDENT HEALTH page 6

By MARIA A. MAZARIEGOSThe Pan American

❖ Lock and secure your vehicle,

including your windows.

❖ Beware of who’s around you.

Look out for people loitering.

❖ Use The Club to place over the

steering wheel, to prevent the car

from moving.

❖ Do not leave things lying around

in the vehicle (particularly in the cen-

ter console). Put things away.

Tips for securing a vehicle

Source: UTPAPolice Dept.

CAR CAR THEFTTHEFT ON CAMPUSON CAMPUS

2000 22001 62002 22004 3

Source: 2002-2003 Campus Safety andSecurity Report

ancillary medical staff. Along with the well qualified staff, the StudentHealth Services is the first University of Texas health center accreditedby the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care or AAAHC,and is also an institutional member of the American College HeathAssociation or ACHA.

“Only four schools in Texas have an AAAHC accreditation,” Grayproudly stated.

Currently SHS serves 800 to 1,000 students per month. MoniqueFlores, graduate student at UTPA, takes advantage of this facility, “I thinkthat it is great that students are offered such a service. I really recommendthat every student here at Pan Am come visit this place. They are veryattentive and it’s just like going to the doctor except its free and themedicines are much more affordable.”

The pharmacy a SHS carries both prescription and over-the-countermedications.

Medicine prices are made affordable for students since they are onlycharged for the price of the actual medication, there is no processing feein this fully licensed pharmacy.

“Our job is to keep students healthy enough so they can do well inschool,” stated Gray.

For more information on the types of services available or for anappointment call (956) 381-2511.

April 22, 2004 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 11April 22, 2004 THE PAN AMERICAN

VOLUNTEER continued from page 4

deductible. People wishing to donate to UTPA’s “United to Serve”can make checks payable to UTPA-United to Serve and mail toUTPA, UC#205,1201 W University Drive Edinburg, TX 78541.Donors can call (956) 318-5388 for more information.

It is as simple as Dr. Seuss put it in one of his books said Vielma,“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is goingto get better. It's not."

“I'm being allowed the opportunity to do something other than beselfish. I'm being allowed the opportunity to give up a couple ofnights of spending money at a bar so one individual's family cansleep comfortably at night, knowing that their loved one is in nopain.”

STUDENT HEALTH continued from page 5

this would require the volunteers to dedicatemore hours to the polls.

Price explained that the committeeexpected more student organizations tovolunteer their time to the SGA elections,but their expectation fell short. With fewstudents working longer hours, Price saidthe inevitable happened—polls workerswere recruited that did not have total propertraining, or one person ran a booth.

“I respect the process,” Price said,referring to the decision to have a secondtrial. “But I don’t interpret this as the secondelection insinuating that studentsmaliciously affected the results.”

During the four-day election, there were areported five students who voted twice withone student filling out three different ballotsfrom three different polls. Price said thisoccurred since a student could stop at pollsall over campus without the poll workersknowing that they already voted.

“When students stopped at booths, somepoll workers knew they were students, sodidn’t feel the need to require the photo ID,”Price explained. “This caused someproblems because it was in the rules that thestudents had to show photo identification.Because of that rule, they were obligated tofollow certain protocol.”

Being dean of students has caused Price tohave a rapport with the students, includingthose who participated in the SGA elections,and he believes they have dealt with thesituation in a decent manner.

UTPA has 10 percent of its studentpopulation vote in the first election. For acommuter school this number is higher thannormal rates of students elections, Pricesaid.

“I expect students to come out to vote the

second time around,” Price said. “It’s theend of the semester and with only one pollbooth open over a two-day period, there willbe a smaller number of voters, but I thinkstudents will choose to vote.”

Mike Jones, a senior marketing major, ischallenging Schwarz for the position ofSGA president. He sees the second electionas being unfair since the results of the firstelection win in his favor.

Jones questions whether students will bewilling to vote a second time, since duringhis campaign he has seen an unenthusiasticreaction to the election.

“I’ve had students tell me that they havevoted once and don’t want to have to voteagain,” Jones said. “There’s an attitudeamong students that they don’t want to votefor a second time.”

Though Jones has been campaigning asenthusiastically as he did the first time, hebelieves that the second election could havebeen prevented had Schwarz complainedabout the voting process during the firstelection.

“I think Nathan [Schwarz] could havecome forward earlier,” Jones said. “He knewabout some polls having only one personcovering it but didn’t come forward.”

Jones speculates that Schwarz may haveplanned the complaint because of his defeatin the first election.

Schwarz maintains that the complaint wasbecause the first election broke conduct andrules, and the second is necessary tomaintain a fair and proper student election.

“We can’t allow anyone to get away withthis,” Schwarz said referring to the electionmisconduct. He implied that this election isnecessary to uphold the proper rules andprovide a fair chance.

SGA continued from page 1

ancillary medical staff. Along with the well qualified staff, the StudentHealth Services is the first University of Texas health center accreditedby the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care or AAAHC,and is also an institutional member of the American College HeathAssociation or ACHA.

“Only four schools in Texas have an AAAHC accreditation,” Grayproudly stated.

Currently SHS serves 800 to 1,000 students per month. MoniqueFlores, graduate student at UTPA, takes advantage of this facility, “I thinkthat it is great that students are offered such a service. I really recommendthat every student here at Pan Am come visit this place. They are veryattentive and it’s just like going to the doctor except its free and themedicines are much more affordable.”

The pharmacy a SHS carries both prescription and over-the-countermedications.

Medicine prices are made affordable for students since they are onlycharged for the price of the actual medication, there is no processing feein this fully licensed pharmacy.

“Our job is to keep students healthy enough so they can do well inschool,” stated Gray.

For more information on the types of services available or for anappointment call (956) 381-2511.

April 22, 2004 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 11April 22, 2004 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 6

VOLUNTEER continued from page 4

deductible. People wishing to donate to UTPA’s “United to Serve”can make checks payable to UTPA-United to Serve and mail toUTPA, UC#205,1201 W University Drive Edinburg, TX 78541.Donors can call (956) 318-5388 for more information.

It is as simple as Dr. Seuss put it in one of his books said Vielma,“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is goingto get better. It's not."

“I'm being allowed the opportunity to do something other than beselfish. I'm being allowed the opportunity to give up a couple ofnights of spending money at a bar so one individual's family cansleep comfortably at night, knowing that their loved one is in nopain.”

STUDENT HEALTH continued from page 5

this would require the volunteers to dedicatemore hours to the polls.

Price explained that the committeeexpected more student organizations tovolunteer their time to the SGA elections,but their expectation fell short. With fewstudents working longer hours, Price saidthe inevitable happened—polls workerswere recruited that did not have total propertraining, or one person ran a booth.

“I respect the process,” Price said,referring to the decision to have a secondtrial. “But I don’t interpret this as the secondelection insinuating that studentsmaliciously affected the results.”

During the four-day election, there were areported five students who voted twice withone student filling out three different ballotsfrom three different polls. Price said thisoccurred since a student could stop at pollsall over campus without the poll workersknowing that they already voted.

“When students stopped at booths, somepoll workers knew they were students, sodidn’t feel the need to require the photo ID,”Price explained. “This caused someproblems because it was in the rules that thestudents had to show photo identification.Because of that rule, they were obligated tofollow certain protocol.”

Being dean of students has caused Price tohave a rapport with the students, includingthose who participated in the SGA elections,and he believes they have dealt with thesituation in a decent manner.

UTPA has 10 percent of its studentpopulation vote in the first election. For acommuter school this number is higher thannormal rates of students elections, Pricesaid.

“I expect students to come out to vote the

second time around,” Price said. “It’s theend of the semester and with only one pollbooth open over a two-day period, there willbe a smaller number of voters, but I thinkstudents will choose to vote.”

Mike Jones, a senior marketing major, ischallenging Schwarz for the position ofSGA president. He sees the second electionas being unfair since the results of the firstelection win in his favor.

Jones questions whether students will bewilling to vote a second time, since duringhis campaign he has seen an unenthusiasticreaction to the election.

“I’ve had students tell me that they havevoted once and don’t want to have to voteagain,” Jones said. “There’s an attitudeamong students that they don’t want to votefor a second time.”

Though Jones has been campaigning asenthusiastically as he did the first time, hebelieves that the second election could havebeen prevented had Schwarz complainedabout the voting process during the firstelection.

“I think Nathan [Schwarz] could havecome forward earlier,” Jones said. “He knewabout some polls having only one personcovering it but didn’t come forward.”

Jones speculates that Schwarz may haveplanned the complaint because of his defeatin the first election.

Schwarz maintains that the complaint wasbecause the first election broke conduct andrules, and the second is necessary tomaintain a fair and proper student election.

“We can’t allow anyone to get away withthis,” Schwarz said referring to the electionmisconduct. He implied that this election isnecessary to uphold the proper rules andprovide a fair chance.

SGA continued from page 1

Due to a recent rash of car thefts oncampus, the University Police have beenactive of late, searching for perpetratorsand trying to get prevention informationout to the campus community.

Three pick-up trucks have been stolenfrom various parking lots around theUTPA campus in the last six weeks,according to University Police. All threewere Chevy/GMC vehicles from the late1980s to early 1990s, and were stolen atdifferent times throughout the day.Police suggest that there may be a gangin operation, either using a ‘slim-jim,’which is a long piece of metal used tobreak the lock, or possibly even a sort ofmaster key. There was no sign of forcedentry according to police reports.

To help combat car theft, as well astheft of parking permits and bicycles,Assistant Chief of Police W. Jay Carey said that the

depa r tmen thas increasedpatrols. Headded that thet h r e eincidents isatypical forthe UPTAcampus, butadded, “Weneed a higherdegree of

keeping our eyes open.”

Carey also asked students to keep their own eyes openand to become more aware of what‘s going on aroundthem. He added that students really are the eyes and ears ofthe campus.

According to Carey, “People have to understand, thiscampus is a small community. It’s larger than some Texastowns,” and that theft will happen anywhere. We likeeveryone to feel safe here. Chief [Howard] Miller andmyself strive to keep it that way. It’s a daily process. Ourmission, our vision, our goal.”

Local police departments are also involved in trying totrack down those responsible for the thefts. Carey said thecampus continues to work closely with the Edinburg PoliceDepartment on the matter. Anyone with information, orseeing anything suspicious is urged to call 316-7151 fromany cell phone, dial 911, or head to the nearest blue kiosk,where the phone can be connected to the police department.

April 22, 2004 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 5April 22, 2004 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 12

HISPANICS continued from page 4

By EMMA CLARKThe Pan American

Car theft increase alarms police

More money from students fees and tuition, isn’talways a negative aspect of paying for college.Now, the students will gain more from theuniversity from money given.

Stronger academic programs and more financialaid for students were supposed to be the results ofdecisions made by the TexasCoordinating Board of Regents toincrease tuition this spring. The Boardacted on Nov. 18 to approve proposalsfrom Texas college campuses for highercosts.

After the legislature alloweduniversities to set their own tuition rates,rising expenses led Governor Rick Perryto direct an executive order to all Texasuniversities. This order asked regents tobegin setting accountability standards fortax money schools receive.

A deadline of Dec. 17 was given toTexas colleges for emergentaccountability system proposals, butUTPA is ahead of the game.

“We knew we were going to have to account forthe extra money in tuition fees we asked for,” saidDr. Susan Griffith, executive director for theOffice of Institutional Research and Effectiveness.“This increase and accountability plan has been inthe works since last year, we have ours ready.”

If you recall, students and faculty were asked tovote on the tuition increase, last fall, but did youwonder where that extra money went?

Tuition was augmented from $32 to $38 persemester credit hour. This designated six-dollarcharge kept UTPA tuition below the statutory capthat was set prior to tuition deregulation.Mandatory increases were enforced in librarytechnology fees and a new fee for students whorepeat a course for a third time was also

implemented. Inaddition to theswell in tuition,UTPA wanted toencourage studentsto take largercourse loads andbased its flat feeson 14 semestercredit hours insteadof 12.

N u m e r o u scomplaints camefrom parents andstudents who wereangry over the

increase that followed the state’s decision to letpublic universities set their own rates. Somelegislators questioned whether students weregetting enough information about financial aid asderegulated tuition rates climbed at some schools.However, Griffith explained that thisdissatisfaction does not pertain to UTPA.

“The truth is, we didn’t increase tuition by thatmuch, not as much as other schools like UT[Austin],” she said. “We are using the money tohire more staff so that smaller classes will bepossible. This way our students will have a betterlearning environment.”

Currently, the Communication Department ishaving potential faculty members visit the campusas part of the interviewing process. Thedepartment is planning to increase the staff byadding more advertising and public relationsprofessors.

The cost of tuition for students enrolled for 12semester credit hours last fall was $1,233, thisspring, tuition is $1,329. Griffith elaborated bysaying that UTPA could designate a larger tuitionincrease to help boost the amount of financial aidavailable to students, but that plan will probablydevelop as the university grows.

There are 69 academic indicators and 48 healthindicators reported in UTPA’s accountability plan.Graduation rate, enrollment, affordability, anddiversity of graduates are among some indicatorsthe UT system encloses.

While rising costs do not seem ideal, some itemssuch as course availability and quality, incentivesto increase course loads and ultimately graduationrates, can be improved and made possible in thefuture through higher tuition costs.

UTPA’s accountability plan was finished andreleased March 11. Students can find a copy of theaccountability plan online atwww.utsystem.edu/cha/AcctRpt/2003/homepage.htm.

Tui t ion increase may lead to future benefi tsBy VANESSA CASTILLOThe Pan American

Arianna Vazquez/The Pan American

HOMEBOUND— Former UTPA student Sgt. Jose Olivares gets a welcome homehug from his mother after being deployed in Iraq for one-year. Troops from the 961stQuartermaster Company were welcomed Monday afternoon by family members andthe media at the Reserve Center in McAllen.

For this election, the Democratic Party isconcentrating on gaining back votes fromArizona, Colorado, Nevada and Florida—all states that Bush won in 2000. Andwhile Bush has nearly 30 teams around thecountry helping him recruit Hispanicvoters with ad campaigns, the DemocraticParty is doing all it can to keep the votes ithas, as well as gain more.

In efforts to do so, there is a new groupthat is headed by New Mexico’s Gov. BillRichardson to raise money to getHispanics to the party. Richardson, who isthe country’s first Hispanic governor isalso one of the possible vice presidentcandidates for John Kerry.

Other than campaigns to encourage andrecruit Hispanic voters to vote for Kerry,the Democratic Party has also madevarious Spanish-language advertisementsdiscrediting the Bush-Cheney ticket. Theeffort is part of Democratas Unidos, a $5million project that was designed by theNew Democratic Network.

The Republican Party has a separategroup that studies Hispanic communitiesand attempts to understand what Hispanicvoters are looking for. The DemocraticParty will hold the Hispanic LeadershipSummit in Orlando May 14 through the 16in order to discover how to communicatewith the Hispanic electorate.

Last week, Univision CommunicationsInc., the nation’s leading Spanish-languagemedia company, announced the release ofan interactive CD-ROM that will provideinsight to Hispanic voting behavior. “TheHispanic Vote Tool Kit” will be used toinform politicians and media advisorsabout the Hispanic electorate. The kit issaid to explain voting trends of Hispanicsas well such as the tendency to align morewith a candidate than a political party.

But is it possible to navigate voting

trends of Hispanics? Dr. Jerry Polinard ofthe political science department said thereisn’t.

“The short answer is no—there is nosilver bullet that predicts how any of theLatino populations will vote,” he said.“MA’s [Mexican-Americans] tend to beDemocrats as do Puerto Ricans andCentral Americans. Cubans tend to beGOP.”

To search for a possible answer onLatino voting patterns, Polinard along withDr. Robert Wrinkle, and Dr. David Leal ofthe University of Texas at Austin havebeen working on a paper that discussesLatino voter participation.

The paper discusses mobilization andincludes an on-going survey of about1,000 respondents from 15 Texas counties.The interviewed subjects were askedvarious questions about their voting habitsas well as their participation in pastelections.

“This paper tested whether politicalmobilization efforts were associated withhigher electoral and non-electoral turnoutby Latino registered voters in theNovember, 2002 Texas gubernatorialelections,” the paper states. “We foundlittle effect on Latino voting but someimpact, particularly mobilization throughplaces of worship, on non-electoralparticipation. We also discovered someadditional religious dynamics, specificallythat Catholics were more likely to vote.”

Currently, the race for the now covetedHispanic vote is on, and Sergio Bendixenof the New Democratic Network has foundthat 58 percent of Hispanics were votingDemocrat, 20 percent were votingRepublican, and 20 percent wereundecided. For further information on“The Hispanic Vote Tool Kit,” call 1-(888)VOTE NOW.

PRESIDENT continued from page 1 CELL PHONE continued from page 1

System press release. "We look forwardto interviews with the finalists and toreceiving input from campus andcommunity constituencies as we movetoward the appointment of the nextpresident."

With the nominees being from all overthe United States, candidates from SouthTexas were not included as finalists.

Dr. Rodolfo Arevalo, Provost and VicePresident for Academic Affairs was oneof the well-known nominees on campus,maintaining a position that many of thefinalists also hold.

When Arevalo discovered he wasnominated for the position, he was veryhonored to know that the individuals hehad work with thought he was preparedto take on the role of president, but wasnot surprised to find out that theCommittee did not select him as afinalist.

“It appeared that the UT System waslooking for a President from offcampus,” Arevalo said.

There hasn’t been a reason given whyindividuals who have past experiencewith UTPA were not considered for thefinalists, but Arevalo speculates that thecommittee and leadership have a plan forthe future of the campus. And althoughArevalo was not named a finalist, he stilllooks forward to working with the future

president as a member of theadministration board.

“I would enjoy continuing to workwith the new President as we initiate newinitiatives and continue theimplementation of new degree programsI have helped get approved,” he said.

Campus visits by the finalists will bescheduled soon and will includemeetings with students, staff, faculty,department chairs, deans, alumni, andcommunity members.

"The selection of finalists for the U.T.Pan American presidency has beenundertaken by the board with fullawareness that the appointment of a newpresident for this great institution is one ofthe most important decisions that we willmake,” Miller said. “We have selected thefinalists from among an exemplary groupof candidates, and on behalf of the board Iwould like to thank all the candidates whohave taken part in this lengthy and detailedprocess.”

“The ability to work effectively with allsegments of the campus and able todevelop relationships with all communitiesis essential for the new President,” Arevalosaid. “Experience with working withlegislators, alumni, business leaders and anexcellent ability to work with the SystemsOffice and the Board of Regents is alsoneeded for the future of UTPA.”

Guzman. “It’s not to talk to my friends andsay ‘hey what are you doing,’ that is what Ihave a home phone for.”

People are also beginning to use their cellphones while driving. MSNBC Newsreported that there are 120 million cellphone subscriptions in the United Statesand an estimated 60 percent of cell phoneuse is happening on the road.

With this significant number of peopleusing their cell phones while driving, it canpose a potential risk to surrounding drivers.

According to a study published in theWashington Post in 2002, cell phone useranked as the sixth highest cause ofaccidents. It is agreed by many that drivingand using a cell phone is dangerous and canpotentially be dangerous for other peopleon the road.

The Rio Grande Valley is not exemptfrom this statistic. Martinez witnessed anaccident where the driver was talking on acell phone and hit the car in front of him.

“He was talking on the phone and heactually hit the car in front of me,” he said.“He was leaning to the left and talking onthe phone and he hit the car. I mean it ispretty dangerous. I wouldn’t do it, Iwouldn’t do it at all.”

Similarly, Guzman said that it hashappened to her where she is not payingattention and she feels it could endangerother drivers.

With all the risks involved in driving andusing a cell phone, there is still somedebate on whether imposing laws againstthe use of cell phones is the best route totake, but some disagree.

Guzman is one that has mixed feelingsabout whether or not laws would bebeneficial due to possible emergencies.

“I don’t know because I know sometimesyou are driving and there is just anemergency,” she said. “But also, I do thinkit is a bad idea when you are just on thephone and you are angry and you are notpaying attention to what you are doing thatcan cause an accident so I guess it could goboth ways, but I do actually lean moretoward no cell phone use.”

In contrast Martinez feels that he wouldsupport laws that would prevent peoplefrom jeopardizing the lives of other driversbecause of cell phone use.

Laws against cell phone use whiledriving has not yet passed in Texas;however, there have been rumors of apossible law. According to the NationalConference of State Legislatures, nearly100 bills have been introduced in 38 statesthis year because more and morelawmakers are blaming cell phonedistractions for motor vehicle accidents andfatalities.

We are using the

money to hire more staff

so that smaller classes

will be possible. This way

our students will have a

better learning

environment.

“

“

- Dr. Susan Griffith,Executive Director of the OIRE

Campus offershealth services

With final exam week coming up, many students at UTPAmay be experiencing stress and other health concerns.Temperature changes from air-conditioned buildings to hotsteamy walkways to the parking lot may cause sniffles forstudents.

With their slogan “Where Your Health Matters,” theStudent Health Services or SHS, at the university is a studentfacility on campus. Conveniently located in Emilia SchuniorRamirez Hall, Room 1.113 near Sugar Road, this facilitycaters to any UTPA student or faculty needing health care.

“This is just like a doctor’s office,” stated Rick Gray,director of Health Services.

Students are welcome with no appointment; all they needis a valid form of identification. Student Health Servicesoffers confidential assessments, treatments, medical referrals,and peer education opportunities for all UTPA alumni.

Along with attending the common flu, physical exams,and vaccinations, the SHS offers free HIV and pregnancytesting. All reports and information acquired are strictlyconfidential.

“More than just a health facility, we encourage students tocome and ask questions about any concerns they might behaving regarding an illness,” Gray said.

The Student Health Services includes a full on WomenWellness Clinic, specifically designed for the needs offemales. Services include PAP smears, family planningeducation, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseasesamongst other services.

All medical staff at SHS are licensed and credentialed intheir specialty area. Staffs include family practice physicians,physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and

See STUDENT HEALTH page 6

By MARIA A. MAZARIEGOSThe Pan American

❖ Lock and secure your vehicle,

including your windows.

❖ Beware of who’s around you.

Look out for people loitering.

❖ Use The Club to place over the

steering wheel, to prevent the car

from moving.

❖ Do not leave things lying around

in the vehicle (particularly in the cen-

ter console). Put things away.

Tips for securing a vehicle

Source: UTPAPolice Dept.

CAR CAR THEFTTHEFT ON CAMPUSON CAMPUS

2000 22001 62002 22004 3

Source: 2002-2003 Campus Safety andSecurity Report

In 1996, Democrat Bill Clintongained 72 percent of the Hispanicvote. In 2000, it looked as thoughthe Democrats lost a few pointswith the Hispanic community asAl Gore only earned 62 percent ofHispanic votes while RepublicanGeorge W. Bush received 35percent, the highest showing everfor a Republican. As thepresidential election draws near,both parties are making strongattempts to win the Hispanic votefor the 2004 election.

Since being named the largestminority in the U.S., 35.3 millionin 2000, and one of the fastestgrowing segments of theelectoral, both parties areattempting to ensure the Hispanicvote, one that could easily makeor break an election.

The National Council of LaRaza has said that Hispanic-voters numbered less than 5million in 1996, nearly 6 millionin 2000, and anticipate 8 millionvoters this year. With thesestatistics, the Republicans have

been working diligently over thepast few months to sway Hispanicvoters, commonly loyalDemocrats, to vote for theRepublican Party. And likewise,the Democratic Party is doing itsbest to keep its voters.

“We’re seeing an unprecedentedamount of attention to courtLatino votes,” said Rosalind Goldof the National Association ofLatino Elected and AppointedOfficials Educational Fund to theMansfield News Journal. “Bothparties are realizing that Latinosdon’t march in lockstep and areup for grabs.”

The Republican Party has beenmaking its strong showing bydemonstrating that the partyshares many of the equal valuesthat Hispanics do such as familyand religion.

Julio Zermeño, a junior atUTPA, said he would be votingfor Bush this November becauseof the conservative values that theRepublican Party has.

“I’m a little more conservativethan I am liberal,” he said. “Iagree with a lot of the things theparty stands for.”

Bush along with his family andsupporters have been makingappearances on Spanish televisionnetworks asking for the support ofHispanics come election time.Another one of Bush’s advantagesthe party uses is his ability tospeak Spanish. And in hopes tostrengthen ties with Hispanics,the President has been followinghis weekly radio speeches withSpanish translators.

Zermeño calls the strategy agood move. “It’s a very popular,smart choice he made, and youcan see where it’s headed—to justget votes, and that’s fine. Politicsis politics, you have to do whatyou have to do.”

In a memo to the DemocraticParty, vice president to the NewDemocratic Network MariaCardona explained theRepublican’s goals.

“The Republicans are notaiming to get the majority of theHispanic vote, they don’t needit—they only need five or sixmore percentage points to win,”she said. “And they are beingincredibly aggressive aboutmaking it happen.”

At 11 p.m. the event began, and the sounds of peopletalking filled the Student Union. The halls of the first floorwere lined with tables draped with banners, each onedesignating a different organization.

This semester’s Volunteer Recruitment Fair hadorganizations ranging from the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aideto UTPA’s own Office of Services for Students withDisabilities. The purpose was to try and get help from anyperson wiling to lend a hand.

Representatives from each organization took informationsuch as name, telephone number, and e-mail, to facilitate thevolunteer process. The success of the annual fair is markednot by those attending, but by the numbers willing to sign upto help, and end up coming through down the road.

Sandra Morales from the Office of Services for Personswith Disabilities addressed this tension. “Last fall, 30students signed up to volunteer,” she said. “We need morepeople to volunteer because we have a lot of students withdisabilities.”

Most of the people currently employed by the Office are ondirect wage, but some are on the work-study program.

“If we could get enough students to volunteer, we could usethe money that would otherwise be used to pay employeewages to buy new and updated equipment,” Morales said,adding that most of the equipment they use is out dated.

Dawne Hill, coordinator of campus activities, took part inthe event, distributing flyers enabling students to enter into araffle at fair’s end. Hill and the Office of Student Activitiesdonated a Samsung DVD player, along with two DVDs, “KillBill” and “Old School.”

“Last semester students came to the fair mainly for thegiveaway prizes, but then got interested in actuallyvolunteering,” Hill said. “Overall, this is a successful eventand every time we have it, we have a great turnout.”

Also in attendance was Dean of Students Jerry Price, whohopped from table to table, asking each organization how itwas doing.

“The circumstances that would have provided maximumattendance were not perfect, with final exams coming up, butorganizations find themselves pretty occupied,” Price said.“This fair allows students to express their support to thedifferent groups while also allowing the students toexperience themselves what the community has to offer.”

April 22, 2004 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 4

Students raise funds for medical aid

Medicine for a toothache seemssimple enough to obtain doesn’tit? How about spending moneyfor a night out with friends? Timeand time again material itemssuch as these are unequivocallytaken for granted. But recently agroup of students at UTPA havegotten a glimpse at how people inthe third-world country of ElSalvador cope with terminalillness, without the luxury ofmedicine, and realized that caringabout the well-being of others isas important as caring about theirown.

Former Student GovernmentAssociation President FranciscoVielma was asked by theUniversity of Texas System Boardof Regents to organize aphilanthropic event that wouldencompass the entire student bodyand surrounding communities.While his father, a journalist, wasdocumenting a hospice in SanSalvador, El Salvador, he sent hiswife pictures and lettersdescribing the conditions. He wasrecently quoted saying, “I think ofa hospital as a place where peopleget well. What I found there wasa place where people are being

helped to die,” he said. “It isgetting harder to put into wordswhat we see. It doesn’t seempossible, but every day we seethings that are more tragic thanthe day before.”

In the event of his father’s visitto the hospital, Vielma wastouched and wanted toincorporate Hospital DivinaProvidencia to the Board ofRegent’s request.

“My father shared a story withme about a group of patients whogathered in a corner of thisfacility and were praying to God.They weren't praying to Godasking for a new car, for a datewith a beautiful person, or for hishelp passing a math exam. Theywere praying to God asking himfor someone to comfort theirfamily when they passed away,for God's help in making itthrough the last painful days oftheir lives, for his help to bestrong. We never realize that thenearest helping hand is at the endof our own arm,” said Vielma.

Throughout National VolunteerWeek, Vielma has organized agroup of students that handed outpackets of information about thehospital in an effort to raise fundsfor medical staff, medicine, medicalsupplies, and hospital equipment.Hospital Divina Providencia was

established in 1969, to assist peoplewho were dying of cancer, leukemia,and other malignancies who weretoo poor to afford care andsometimes died on the streets of SanSalvador. It is the only hospital ofits kind in Central America andthrough the United NeighborsCouncil, a project of Comfort HouseCharities, Inc., Vielma has broughtthis issue to the attention of manywho may have not realized thathelping others can make adifference. Sister Therese Corkery,a member of the Divina ProvidenciaTask Force, expressed herappreciation for the student’s hardwork.

“I think it is wonderful thatstudents are becoming aware ofpeople that are less fortunate thanwe are here in the United States,”she said. “I’m glad that they havestopped to look around and see thatsometimes others need help too.”

Closing the week of volunteerismand fund-raising, the students andfaculty will subsidize an on campustelethon on Sat. April 24 at theVisitor’s Center. Members of TauKappa Epsilon and other student andfaculty volunteers will be answeringphones from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

UTPA is comprised ofapproximately 15,000 students; ifeveryone pledged a dollar, it wouldmake a world of difference to peoplewho have almost nothing.

All contributions are tax

By JOSE CAMEROThe Pan American

See HISPANICS page 12

By VANESSA CASTILLOThe Pan American

Organizationsseek volunteers

Candidates vie for Hispanic votesBy EDWINA P. GARZAThe Pan American

See VOLUNTEER page 6


VOLUNTEER— Stephanie Chavez (left) and Laura Duranview volunteer opportunities Tuesday afternoon at theStudent Union commons area.

Date Opponent Score

Nov. 1 Green and White GREEN, 2-1

Jan. 31 Texas State-San Marcos L 7-8

Feb. 1 Texas State-San Marcos L 2-6

Feb. 3 Texas Kingsville W 6-3, 3-2

Feb. 6 Lamar vs. Kansas 3-2


Feb. 7 Kansas W 8-6

Feb. 7 Lamar vs. Sam Houston 7-4

Feb. 8 Sam Houston vs. Kansas 8-8

Feb. 8 Lamar W 2-1

Feb. 15 Lamar (DH) L 1-16, W 8-6

Feb. 16 Lamar L 4-6

Feb. 18 Texas A&M-Kingsville W 15-5




Feb. 27 Washington State W 3-2







March 12 Texas-San Antonio W 6-4


March 14 Texas-San Antonio ppd.

March 16 Texas-Arlington W 7-5

March 17 Texas-Arlington L 5-13



March 21 Oral Roberts W 4-1






March 30 Texas L 1-10



April 9 TAMUCC (DH) L6-7, W11-3

April 13 Texas-San Antonio W5-1, L1-2

April 14 Texas-San Antonio 2

April 16 Arizona 9

April 17 Arizona 9

April 18 Arizona 3

April 23 Dallas Baptist (DH) 4

April 24 Dallas Baptist 1








May 16 Oklahoma 1

Date Tournament Result

Feb. 9-10 Rice Intercollegiate 14 of 14

March Bearkat Invitational 14 of 16

14-15

March Lindsay Collegiate 15 of 15

29-30 Classic

April 5-6 Hal Sutton 3 of 10

Intercollegiate

April 23-24Andrea Brotto Cavalier

Classic

May 7-9 National Minority

Golf Championships

Local / RegionalCoverage

Team W - D - L GF:GA PTSx-Chiapas 11 - 3 - 1 30:16 36U.N.A.M. 9 - 5 - 1 30:13 32Guadalajara 9 - 2 - 4 22:17 29Toluca 7 - 4 - 4 23:19 25Pachuca 6 - 6 - 3 25:22 24Atlas 5 - 6 - 4 22:20 21América 5 - 5 - 5 25:23 20Necaxa 5 - 5 - 5 19:18 20Querétaro 4 - 8 - 3 21:22 20Irapuato 5 - 5 - 5 16:24 20Puebla 5 - 4 - 6 23:21 19Morelia 5 - 4 - 6 20:23 19Santos 5 - 3 - 7 22:21 18Tigres 5 - 3 - 7 29:30 18Monterrey 2 - 9 - 4 20:21 15Cruz Azul 4 - 3 - 8 23:27 15 Atlante 3 - 6 - 6 19:23 15Veracruz 3 - 5 - 7 18:25 14Club San Luis 3 - 4 - 8 15:27 13U.A.G. 3 - 2 - 10 25:35 11x-Claimed playoff berth

Week 15 results April 17-19: Toluca 2,Monterrey 0; Guadalajara 3, U.A.G. 1;Morelia 2, San Luis 1; Necaxa 1,Veracruz 0; Pachuca 2, Santos 0;U.N.A.M. 0, Irapuato 0; Querétaro 1,Atlas 0; Puebla 3, Cruz Azul 2; Chiapas2, Atlante 1; Tigres 2, América 1.

Week 16 schedule April 24-25: Veracruzvs. Puebla; Cruz Azul vs. U.N.A.M.;Monterrey vs. Guadalajara; San Luis vs.Querétaro; Atlas vs. Tigres; U.A.G. vs.Necaxa; América vs. Toluca; Irapuato vs.Chiapas; Atlante vs. Pachuca; Santos vs.Morelia.

Week 17 May 1-2: Toluca vs. Atlas; CruzAzul vs. Irapuato; Morelia vs. Atlante;Tigres vs. San Luis; Guadalajara vs.América; Necaxa vs. Monterrey;U.N.A.M. vs. Veracruz; Pachuca vs.Chiapas; Querétaro vs. Santos; Pueblavs. U.A.G.

Week 18 May 8-9: Veracruz vs. CruzAzul; Chiapas vs. Morelia; Monterrey vs.Puebla; San Luis vs. Toluca; Atlas vs.Guadalajara; América vs. Necaxa;Pachuca vs. Irapuato; Atlante vs.Querétaro; Santos vs. Tigres; U.A.G. vs.U.N.A.M.

Week 19 May 15-16: Toluca vs. Santos;Cruz Azul vs. U.A.G.; Tigres vs. Atlante;Morelia vs. Pachuca; Guadalajara vs.San Luis; Necaxa vs. Atlas; U.N.A.M. vs.Monterrey; Querétaro vs. Chiapas;Puebla vs. América; Irapuato vs.Veracruz.

Liguilla (Playoffs):May 19-23 Recalificación (Wildcard)May 26-30 QuarterfinalsJune 2-6 SemifinalsJune 9-13 FinalNote: Liguilla played in two legs; winner based

on aggregate score of both matches.

Date Dorados vs. Time/ResultsApril 3 Laredo W 37-6April 10 at Oklahoma City L 17-55April 24 Oklahoma City 7:30May 1 at Laredo 7:30May 8 Wichita 7:30May 15 at C. Valley 9:30May 22 Laredo 7:30May 28 at Tulsa 7:30June 12 Tulsa 7:30June 18 at Boss-Shreve. 7:30June 26 at Birmingham 6:30July 3 Wichita 7:30

July 10 Oklahoma City 7:30July 17 at Tulsa 7:30July 24 Arkansas 7:30July 31 at Wichita 7

Date Roadrunners vs.May 6 at PensacolaMay 7 at PensacolaMay 8 at PensacolaMay 9 at PensacolaMay 10 at Fort WorthMay 11 at Fort WorthMay 12 at Fort WorthMay 14 PensacolaMay 15 PensacolaMay 16 PensacolaMay 17 Fort WorthMay 18 Fort WorthMay 19 Fort WorthMay 20 Fort WorthMay 21 at ShreveportMay 22 at ShreveportMay 23 at ShreveportMay 24 at JacksonMay 25 at JacksonMay 26 at JacksonMay 28 AmarilloMay 29 AmarilloMay 30 AmarilloMay 31 at Coastal BendJune 1 at Coastal BendJune 2 at Coastal BendJune 3 San AngeloJune 4 San AngeloJune 5 San AngeloJune 6 San AngeloJune 8 ShreveportJune 9 ShreveportJune 10 ShreveportJune 11 at San AngeloJune 12 at San AngeloJune 13 at San AngeloJune 14 at San AngeloJune 15 at AmarilloJune 16 at AmarilloJune 17 at AmarilloJune 18 Coastal BendJune 19 Coastal BendJune 20 Coastal BendJune 21 Coastal BendJune 23 JacksonJune 24 JacksonJune 25 JacksonJune 26 JacksonJune 28 at PensacolaJune 29 at PensacolaJune 30 at PensacolaJuly 1 at PensacolaJuly 2 at Fort WorthJuly 3 at Fort WorthJuly 4 at Fort WorthJuly 5 at Fort WorthJuly 6 PensacolaJuly 7 PensacolaJuly 8 PensacolaJuly 9 Fort WorthJuly 10 Fort WorthJuly 11 Fort WorthJuly 13 ShreveportJuly 14 ShreveportJuly 15 ShreveportJuly 16 JacksonJuly 17 JacksonJuly 18 JacksonJuly 20 ALL-STAR GAMEJuly 22-25 AmarilloJuly 26-27 Coastal BendJuly 28 at Coastal BendJuly 29 at Coastal BendJuly 30 San AngeloJuly 31 San AngeloAug. 1 San AngeloAug. 3-5 ShreveportAug. 6-9 San AngeloAug. 10-13 at AmarilloAug. 15 Coastal BendAug. 16 at Coastal BendAug. 18-21 Jackson

UTPA HOME GAMES IN BOLDAll games p.m. unless noted.

FOR THE RECORD

Broncs Baseball

Mexican Soccer

Men’s Golf

James gets rookie of year award

Lebron James,19, became the youngest player in the his-tory of the NBA to win the NBA Rookie of the Year AwardTuesday.

The 6-foot-8 James received 66 percent of the first placenominations from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters.

“It brings a smile a smile to my face,” James said.

Brown named NBA coach of year

Memphis Grizzlies Head Coach Hubie Brown, 70, wonthe NBA Coach of the Year Award Wednesday after leadingthe Grizzlies to a 50-32 season record and their first playoffappearance in team history.

The award is Brown’s first in 26 years. He began coach-ing in 1978 when he led the Atlanta Hawks in 1978.

Israel soccer ban lifted

Israel has the chance to play its first home game in morethan two years.

The recent lull in terrorism prompted UEFA, the sport’sEuropean governing body, to allow games only in the Tel-Aviv area with guaranteed security.

Israel’s first game is set for May 8 when the women’snational team hosts Estonia.

Pan American Golf Classic

The 15th annual Pan American Golf Classic will be heldApril 23 at the Tierra Santa Golf Course in Weslaco.

The golf classic will be to benefit scholarships that willhelp deserving students at UTPA.

Golfers can participate in three different flight levels for$6,000 in cash prizes in the two-man, low-ball tournament.

The highlight of the event will be a hole-in-one opportuni-ty for an automobile.

For more information, call 381-2500.


SSPPOORRTTSSCCLLIIPPBBOOAARRDD

af2: RGV Dorados

Roadrunners Baseball

April 22, 2004 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 3

NEWS■ Volunteer Fair. . . . . . . . . . 4■ Theft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5■ Accountability. . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Continuing lawsuit plagues Edinburg ecomony

A local construction company is trying to resolve issuesat hand after not completing what was agreed under theircontract.

The Edinburg Economic Development Corporation(EEDC) and Shea Development, a limited liabilitycompany, have recently been in disputes over contract dealsand negotiations since August 2001. Now, SheaDevelopment owner Hector Casas has made an offer toEEDC, which EEDC could agree to, but only under certainrestrictions.

The EEDC is a corporation that focuses on bringingexpansion to the Edinburg economy by attracting newbusinesses and industries. Services provided are siteselection assistance, and real estate database of propertiesand buildings.

However, on Aug. 28, 2001, the agreement between thetwo corporations was made. Shea Development agreed tobuild a 16,000-square-foot conference center, andrestaurant next to the Los Lagos Golf Course in Edinburg.The conference center would employ 15 personnel, and therestaurant, 30. The two projects would cost $4.5 million,according to the Plaintiff Petition.

In return, the EEDC would provide infrastructureimprovements, such as problems with sanitary sewers,paving, and drainage. The EEDC would have theinfrastructure improvements completed within six months.As the Plaintiff Petition stated, they were completed byApril 2002, costing $299,960.

Contrarily, Shea Developments failed to complete thetwo buildings. An extension was asked for on July 29,2002, agreeing that the conference center and restaurantwould be completed in six months after October 2002.After the EEDC agreed, they gave Shea until August 28,2003 to complete them, the document pointed out. If Shea

failed to have the two buildings completed by that finaldeadline, a reimbursement of $300,000 would have to bepaid to the EEDC.

Still, Sheafailed toa c c o m p l i s hwhat waspromised. TheEEDC thenfiled a suitagainst Shea,claiming of abreach, orviolation, ofcontract. Sheat h e nresponded tothe lawsuitwith an offerto the EEDC,which theEEDC willonly accept under certain restrictions. EEDC attorneyCynthia Gutierrez said an agreement has not beenestablished yet.

“The settlement discussions are confidential, there is noagreement yet. We are still under mediation,” Gutierrezsaid.

Ramiro Garza Jr., EEDC executive director, said theEEDC is working on bringing more retail and industries toEdinburg.

“We have four different industrial parks in the city andwe continue to attract different industries [that] come to thecity or work with industries that have a need to expand,”said Garza. “We also want to make that informationavailable for companies that could provide products that arehardly provided to fulfill the demand here in our city.”

A retail study done by Buxton Company of Fort Worth

analyzed that there is retail demand in Edinburg. Accordingto Garza, the strong support for business and meticulousplanning is the cause for so many businesses to become

receptive to coming to Edinburg.“As the population increases, there is a

number of products and services needed tosupport the increasing population, encouragingnew growth in the city,” Garza explained.

According to an article in The Monitor,locations that are likely to have high retailpotential are: 10th Street and State Highway107; Canton Road and U.S. Highway 281; State107 and Raul Longoria; and U.S. 281 and Farm-to-Market Road 2812. The Edinburg-McAllen-Mission area was also recently ranked fourthamong metropolitan statistical areas with thelargest over-the-year percentage of employmentincreases, according to the Bureau of LaborStatistics.

The new headquarters for the Rio GrandeBorder Patrol Sector will be built along TrentonRoad and U.S. Highway 281. The headquarters

will bring 200 more jobs to the city. Other businesses, suchas Merkafon, a leading teleservice company, and UTPAhave also contributed to the decrease in unemployment inEdinburg. Merkafon alone has brought about 300 jobs toEdinburg. Also, about 15 new subdivisions are alsocurrently being proliferated.

Garza is confident about the future of the economy inEdinburg, considering how it is growing rapidly both inbusiness and population.

“[Edinburg is] thriving. We know the different sectorsthat possibly fit our city, so the idea is to be able to go afterthose that match our demographics. We have thenumbers [and] all indicators reflect positive growth.We are working to make sure that this continues, and beable to adapt to any changes of the economy that mightcome in the future,” Garza concluded.

By JULIAN CAVAZOS The Pan American

Students will be able to see where their service feeshave gone next week with the release of theuniversity’s official magazine/yearbook.

This year’s issue of The Panorama will be availableMay 1. The free publication, themed “Everything youNever Expected,” will be larger and longer than the lastedition.

“I think we’ve created a book that we’re very proudof and the university will be proud of,” said Dr.Kimberly Selber, advertising professor and first-yearadviser for The Panorama. “Expect radical changes thisyear in the format and design. It’s like a yearbookwithout all the mug shots.”

She also said that the publication’s staff focused bothon the aesthetics and content.

“The cover’s different,” said Gabby Barajas,communication graduate student and creative editor forThe Panorama. “It’s more simplistic, but has a moreelegant look.”

Barajas said the magazine will be laid out differentlyand will include coverage of each college on campus.

“We wanted to focus on each college and not just onebecause it’s important to recognize each college,” she

said. “We hope to meet the students’ expectations.”“I didn’t want to be wasteful with the students’

money,” Selber said, referring to the 10,000 orderedcopies of this year’s publication. Student service feesfunded The Panorama’s production.

Many copies were left over from last year’s issue,Selber said. She attributed the excess issues to lastyear’s release date, which was after finals. However,this year’s Panorama will be available while studentsare still attending school during finals week.

The Panorama’s staff was split into teams and eachteam was assigned a college. Also, students from theuniversity’s art department contributed to themagazine/yearbook, fostering more of a university-wide production of the publication.

In addition to making this year’s issue more of auniversity-wide edition, rather than a communicationdepartment publication, Selber hoped to feature theachievements of students and faculty throughout theuniversity.

“We’re working toward a bigger concept,” Selbersaid. “I know this sounds like a cliché, but UTPA is ahidden gem. A lot of people have stereotypes, but thenthey’re surprised at UTPA. We do have Ph.D.s, we dohave great computer facilities, and we wanted tohighlight all these positive things.”

Other university students throughout the state also

publish magazines that feature their schools’ successes.For example, students at the University of Texas atAustin produce Orange, which is also free to students.

The Panorama will be available across campus and atthe Edinburg Chamber of Commerce. It will also beavailable at this semester’s commencementceremonies.

Freshman Jenice Garza, a physician’s assistantmajor, was excited to hear about the upcoming issue ofThe Panorama.

“I find that interesting, considering this is my firstyear and I want to be able to remember what happenedor what I missed,” Garza said.

The Panorama staff began developing the publicationlast September.

“I’ve seen the students go from looking for guidanceto taking the lead and guiding others,” Selber said.“The credit goes to the students who wrote it, producedit and designed it.”

And although the publication will not be availableuntil next week, Selber is planning for next year’sedition of The Panorama. She wants to start recruitingstaff already to fill the paid and non-paid positionsavailable.

“We’ll have different approaches next year,” Selbersaid. “I really want to build bridges across campus.”

Changes coming with release of student magazineBy CLAUDIA L. FARIASThe Pan American

◆ Shea Development agreed to constructa conference center and restaurant costing $4.5 million◆ In return, the Edinburg EconomicDevelopment Corporation agreed to pro-vide improvements in sanitary paving,and drainage.◆ Shea Development failed to constructthe two buildings, and could have to pay$300,000.

Edinburg Economic DevelopmentCorporation (EEDC) Lawsuit


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

http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican53rd Year – No. 27

Layout Designers

Dägoberto Pérez

Ginmarie Mabry

Reporters

Angela Canales

Vanessa Castillo

Julian Cavazos

Edwina Garza

Dulce Gonzalez

Matt Hall

Christina Harris

Aaron Lozano

Vanessa Lucio

Amy Medellin

Photographers

Franco Caballero

Delisa Guadarrama

Copy Editor

Joe Anna Moreno

Student Pub. Secretary

Jo Anne Murphy

Adviser

Dr. Greg Selber

The PANAMERICAN isthe official 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 orgratuitous personalattacks. Letters areprinted at thediscretion of theeditor and mustinclude the writer’sname, class/titleand phone number.

Letters policy

April 22 2 0 0 4

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 EditorEd Chrnko

[email protected]

A & E EditorOmaira [email protected]

News EditorClarissa Martinez

[email protected]

Graphics EditorDaniel Aguilar

[email protected]

EditorArianna Vazquez

[email protected]

OPINION l e t t e r s ■ e d i t o r i a l s ■ c a r t o o n sPAGE 2

Stray pets, lazy owners becomes epidemicIt’s not

unusual to findthe occasionala b a n d o n e dn o n - w o r k i n ga p p l i a n c e ,worn tires,even bags fullof trash whiledriving downrural roads inthe Rio GrandeValley. Aperson would

think twice before dumping anyone ofthese items out in the open, consideringit’s illegal, but in a world wherediscarding anything that is no longer ofuse or inoperable, this is the norm insteadof the exception. When dumping includesunwanted pets, it’s time to draw the line.

This practice of abandoning animals inremote areas is rampant, even thoughthere are laws to protect innocent andhelpless animals. But it continues tohappen. The law in the state of Texasmakes it a Class A misdemeanor foranyone failing to provide necessary food,care or shelter for an animal in a person’scustody, or abandoning an animal in theperson’s custody. Violation is punishableby incarceration in the county jail for upto one year and a fine not to exceed$4,000. But offenses continue to goundetected.

It prompted Elizabeth Johnson to starther own animal rescue shelter, OasisAnimal Sanctuary, in her parent’s homelocated in rural Mission. Johnson,originally from New York, moved toMission three years ago. She doesn’tunderstand how people can abandon theirpets in the middle of nowhere.

Neither can John Vidaurri, executive

director for The Upper Valley HumaneSociety in Edinburg. The Center hasquietly sheltered and advocated for theseneglected animals, serving 13communities in Hidalgo County. Theirmission is to shelter stray animals, thosewho are unwanted, or abused.

The Center can house up to 600animals, mostly cats and dogs. It handlesa little over 100 pets per day. Last yearmore than 42,000 animals came and wentthrough its doors. The three-year averagebetween 2000-2003 was at 40,250. Thenumbers are increasing.

One problem is education. Few petowners take the time to study the breedthey’re considering for adoption. Oftentimes it can be a high-maintenance animaland they fail to look into the time andamount of work it will take to care fortheir pet. Owning a pet takes a lot ofcommitment. That commitment includesresponsibility for the offspring of thesepets. Only a handful knows aboutneutering or spaying their pet, fewer stillcan afford it. In this border region, wherethe poverty level is high, pet owners areunwilling to pay for medical care for theirpets much less for such extravagances asneutering or spaying.

To compound matters, the Center hasbeen without a veterinarian sinceNovember 2003. There are few, onlyabout 40 veterinarians to service fourcounties. Most vets are overworked andunderpaid. Meanwhile, only adoptablecats, and dogs are being neutered, orspayed at the Center by a volunteerveterinarian for a reduced fee.

While there is quite of bit of success inplacing a number of pets for adoption, notall animals are adoptable. Non-adoptablepets are euthanized. The numbers keeprolling in. It costs $1.1 million yearly to

run the Center. The majority of themoney, $640,000 to be exact, comes fromcontracts with the surrounding cities. Therest, almost 50 percent, comes fromfundraisers and grant writing.

Johnson funds her own shelter with herown monies and through donations. She,too, is in dire need of a veterinarian forrescued animals. She normally can getthem spayed or neutered for $50 inCorpus Christi when she travels there ather own expense. Other times people arewilling to donate $100 for each animal, inthe event that she has to get it done herein the Valley.

For Vidaurri, a solution where pets canbe neutered or spayed at an affordablerate and no pets are euthanized, wouldmean a no-kill facility but that wouldrequire an animal hospital instead of aclinic. It would mean it could providelong-term treatment for animals that arediseased and need 2-3 months to heal. Afull-care facility is a long-range vision forVidaurri. Bigger cities have them. Here,it all comes down to economics.

Consider this factor the next time yousee a stray cat or dog out in the country,or better yet in your neighborhood. Twouncontrolled breeding cats, plus all theirkittens and all their kittens’ kittens, ifnone are ever neutered or spayed, can addup to two litters per year with 2.8surviving kittens per litter each with a 10-year breeding life. In 10 years, thenumber of cats could reach up past 80million. For one male dog and one femaledog, the first year can average fouroffspring, two of them females. In sevenyears, there would be 4,372 offspring.

There is still a long way to go gettingthe public educated and making themresponsible pet owners. Stop the abuse.Do your part, be a responsible pet owner.

DIANA GARZA

Advertising cheapening women’s power“All the

w o m e nindependent,throw yourhands up atme,” wassung byD e s t i n y ’ sChild in thes o u n d t r a c kof the hitm o v i e

“Charlie’s Angels.” Since thenindependence in women has been themantra, as well as a marketing stunt.

It is a time when celebrating awoman’s success and status isimportant, and jewelry companieshave learned it well.

Right-hand rings have been in themarket since the fall of 2003, andstores from Tiffany’s to Wal-Marthave been at the core of the fad.

The ring symbolizes beingindependent and happy, and the rule tofollow is that women should buy it forthemselves as a way of applaudingtheir success in life. The rings areusually worn on the fourth finger of

the right hand. Celebrities such as aMinnie Driver, Eve, and the cast fromthe HBO show “Sex and the City”have worn them. It was the perfectscam to capture already diamondloving women so that they will buymore diamonds without feeling guiltyof buying them for themselves. Right-hand rings have even gotten as pricyas engagement rings, and theirpopularity and demand have growndue to the help of singers and actressesthat endorse the product.

The ad campaigns for the rings haveillustrated the importance and thesymbol of owning a right-hand ring tothe dot. They explain how they areexplicitly for independent, powerful,and accomplished women. The ads arealso seen in famous women magazinessuch as Vogue, Elle, andCosmopolitan, capturing different agegroups with the same idea. It is a welldeveloped and conceived publicitystunt.

Women were given the upper handon things and given a place in society,even though it is all an illusion: theyare simply the target market for

jewelers. Women have been given thechance to feel good about not havinganyone to buy them jewelry becausethe rings have also proven to be astatus symbol of being single.

It was a perfect cover, to switchroles and make women feel powerover men. The rings are thick likemen’s rings, they have an x number ofdiamonds versus engagement rings,which are typically solitaires, and theyare worn in the opposite hand wheresociety has placed wedding bands, theuniversal symbol of being attached“forever.”

The right-hand ring is simply anadvertising strategy that has madebillions of dollars for jewelrycompanies, and the sad thing is,women are listening and believingwhat they are being told. The adcampaign launched by the DiamondTrading Company read: “Women ofthe World, Raise Your Right Hand.”Do it, but raise it with or without aring because advertisers should not bethe ones to give the approval of whatconstitutes the universal symbol ofwomen’s independence.

ARIANNA VAZQUEZ


The friendly soccer match playedlast week between Mexican Leaguerivals Pumas of UNAM and Tigres of

UANL drewover 13,000fans toM c A l l e nV e t e r a n sM e m o r i a lStadium andmade Valleysports history.

H o w e v e r ,the organiza-tion of theevent itselfwas not what

you may call the most efficient or thesafest on behalf of the City ofMcAllen.

The McAllen Police Departmentin conjunction with the McAllen ISDPolice claimed that they were ready

and it would be treated as other bigevents that have taken place at thatparticular stadium, such as highschool football games.

Great. Glad to hear it.Except there’s one little flaw in the

police department’s arrogant assess-ment.

If you are experienced in big-timeevents whether they are held in a5,500-seat arena or a 14,000-seat sta-dium, you can’t compare high schoolfootball to a professional sportingevent, much less a professional soc-cer match. The comment alone showsthat you have no idea what you aredoing.

Because there were no incidentsreported, it doesn’t mean it wentsmoothly. It just means the city gotoff lucky.

As far as traffic control was con-cerned, it was not the greatest. I wait-

ed 20 minutes to advance half a blockalong Bicentennial in order to turn onTamarack, only to wait another 15m i n u t e sb e f o r emaking itto my des-i g n a t e dp a r k i n garea. Idon’t mindwaiting intraffic if it’sj u s t i f i e d ,but in thiscase, therewas no rea-son for it.

In citieswhere pro-f e s s i o n a ls p o r t i n gevents are held on a regular basis and

officials do have experience in thesematters, you would see a police offi-cer directing traffic. I didn’t see a

meter maid out there, much less aMcAllen police officer doing muchof anything at this particular inter-section except a motorcycle copriding around in circles as I, alongwith several other vehicles, waitedin line.

To be fair, the police did an effi-cient job of directing traffic after

the match.Once inside the stadium, the police

presence was quite noticeable, how-ever, they were too busy pullingguard duty around an emptyteam bus instead of controllingthe crowd that could’ve easilygotten out of hand and trampledseveral people that stood aroundthe locker rooms.

I got caught in this humanwave. Actually, I literally waspulled in and, luckily, was spitout at the other end. And I amexperienced in these types ofevents.

However, children and olderspectators that could’ve or did

get caught up in this autograph-seeking mob only a few feet awayfrom McAllen’s finest may not beused to this and could’ve actually

gotten hurt.On the promotional side of the

event, it could’ve been better sinceonly one gate was open to sell theremaining tickets available as well asto admit people into the stadium.

The event’s lack of advertisingalso was not what it could’ve been,although in the end it wasn’t neces-


A huge crowd swarmed around the locker room area of thePumas and Tigres during their friendly match April 14 in McAllen.

Pro events not like high school sports

Pan Am track and fieldhas Twilight on horizon

A couple of weeks ago, a sudden increase in lightningstrikes cancelled the Texas A&M Invitational after the secondheat of the men’s 800-meter dash.

Texas-Pan American Head Coach Ricky Vaughn thoughtthat meet went really well considering the sudden intrusion ofthe inclement weather.

“The ones that got to compete did very well,” Vaughn said.“Isaac [Ybarra] got second overall, Rashaad [Ben] ran goodin the hurdles, and Amy Moses competed well.”

The UTPA trio has already secured a spot at the NCAARegionals

David Treviño finished with a time of 4:01.16 and placedfifth overall in the 1500-meter run.

“David Treviño has run very consistent and solid in the dis-tance area,” Vaughn said.

The Broncs had the weekend off, but the team looks for-ward to having a good showing at the Rice Twilight in

Houston this week-end.

“I think we willdo well,” Vaughnsaid. “We have twoor three more indi-viduals that I thinkhave a good shotqualifying forregionals and hope-fully we can get thatdone.”

“We usually havepeople that step it upat the end of the sea-son,” Ybarra said.

“Amber Kelly

has had a great season,” Vaughn said. “She has come in as afreshman and has had a lot of success. Amy has had a solidseason, I still really think she has a lot more left in her.”

Vaughn expects good things out of Kelly in the future.“I’m happy with what I’ve done, but I think I could be

doing better,” Kelly said. Although the season has gone “fast” according to Vaughn,

he admits that “its gone well.”He credits Ben and Ybarra to have stepped it up this season.“They knew what they needed to do, what they wanted to

focus on and both have had good seasons,” Vaughn said.“And I really think they have a chance of making it to theNCAA’s.”


disks and will not compete.Salvo believes that his teammates

will step up and perform fine in theabsence of Mangelschots.

“It is hard to replace a player likeTom,” Salvo said. “Armando haswelcomed the challenge. We justhave to step up at all of the otherpositions.”

Women’s Tennis

The women’s tennis team do nothave a conference tournament toprepare for, instead they finishedtheir season on a winning note afterdefeating Indiana-Purdue-FortWayne, 6-1, on the final day ofNCAA Division I IndependentChampionships.

Gyulai was happy to see the girls

end their season on a positive note.“Definitely I am very happy with

they way they played and ended theseason,” Gyulai said. “It was a greatexperience for the newcomers.”

Pharr native and mid-season walkon Jessica Chávez destroyed JessicaVervynckt of IFPW at No. 6 singles,6-0, 6-1.

Chávez believes this win willcarry over to next season and giveher confidence to come back andbuild upon this win for next year.

“I believe that winning and losinghas a lot to do with what onebelieves he or she can do,” Chávezsaid. “I feel I gained a lot ofexperience being part of the tennisteam and it was a greatopportunity.”

He also has made T-shirts for thelast couple of seasons, paying themout of his own pocket, and distrib-utes them to other fans.

Although he never played base-ball and, at times, gets ice, gum, andeven grapefruits thrown at him, “TheWhistler” keeps coming back.Martínez has even taken a leave ofabsence and reshuffled his work

schedule to attend Bronc baseballgames.

He has now gathered about 15regulars to his crew.

“When we go on the road some ofthe fans can be 10 times worse thanJerry,” said sophomore LouieAlamia. “He is just a really awesomeguy to have out in the stands on ourside.”

Track continued from page 16

Whistler continued from page 16


The UTPA track and field team will participate in theRice Twilight in Houston this weekend.

Date Opponent ScoreMarch 6 Border Olympics NoneMarch 13 Angela Proctor Invit. NoneMarch 19-20 Whataburger/UTSA None

RelaysMarch 27 Bayou Classic 5 of 8April 1-3 Texas Relays NoneApril 10 Texas A&M None

InvitationalApril 18-19 Southwestern Bell

ClassicApril 24 Rice TwilightMay 1 Tom Tellez InvitationalMay 15 Texas A&M All-Comers

MeetMay 27-29 NCAA Regional

ChampionshipsJune 9-12 NCAA Outdoor

Championships

Men’s Track & FieldIndoor Season

ED CHRNKOTIRO DEESQUINA

H A P P YF INALS !

With the ending ofa semester, theUniversity of TexasBoard of Regentsare alreadypreparing for theupcoming year afternaming the sevenfinalists for thepresidency of theUniversity of Texas-Pan American.

The Board hasannounced thefinalists afterrecommendations ofthe advisorycommittee andnominations for theposition. Thec o m m i t t e e ,consisting ofvarious facultymembers andExecutive Vice Chancellor forAcademic Affairs for the UT System

as the chair, met April 15 to create thefinal list of candidates and announcedthem in a UT System press release on

Monday. Under Texas law, university

governing boards must name finalistsfor a presidency at least 21 daysbefore making an appointment. A

meeting atwhich the UTSystem boardwill make afinal decisionhas not yet beenscheduled.

"The finalistswhom the Boardof Regents hasnamed today ared i s t i n g u i s h e dleaders capableof taking UT-Pan American toa higher level ofprominence int e a c h i n g ,research, andpublic service,"said Board ofR e g e n t s '

Chairman Charles Miller in the UT-

THURSDAYApril 22, 2004

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 Te x a s - P a n A m e r i c a n

‘ C o n n i e &

C a r l a ’

See Page 8 fordetails

HEADLINES

Cell phone use becoming hazard

Presidential finalists revealedBy CLARISSA MARTINEZThe Pan American

See PRESIDENT page 12

You are taking a test and all of asudden your concentration isinterrupted because someone’s cellphone has gone off.

Cell phone usage has boomed inrecent years and people are beginning touse them as an everyday thing.

People have begun to use their cellphones as a means to converse withfriends and for everyday phone calls,rather than for emergency use.

Freshmen electrical engineeringmajor Mario Martinez recognizes thathe uses his phone often and it is notonly for emergency use.

Martinez explains that he uses his cellphone about 15-20 minutes dailydepending on the reason.

“It depends on if I have to call peopleto meet some place to study orsomething like that, or just to callfriends,” he said.

There are students who still only usetheir cell phones for emergencies only.Being a parent and a student has anaffect on some students’ perception ofthe importance of not using cell phones

for things other than emergencies. Students such as Paula Guzman, a

graduate student of interdisciplinarystudies, uses her cell phone strictly for

emergencies.“I use it when I am here at work or at

school to check on my kids,” said

By ANGELA I. CANALESThe Pan American

See CELL PHONES page 12

Lessons stretch beyond college classes. This pastweek student representatives in the Student GovernmentAssociation for the 2004 SGA elections learned markedlife lessons.

When Nathan Schwarz and Nadya Maldanadochallenged the SGA election results, the process beganon exactly how to fix the problems. After aninvestigation indicated that certain election rules werebroken, and election processes were not accounted for, astudent trial was held, with the result ending in a secondelection.

Dean of Students Jerry Price feels the mishaps camefrom overzealous expectations from the studentcommittee.

“With the organization, I felt like in many ways, theyjust overestimated what they would be able to handle,”Price said. “They tried really hard, but didn’t cometogether the right way.”

Though Price feels he should have said something inthe planning process of the elections, he also feels thestudents have learned valuable lessons from thecontroversy.

“The students are better for it in the long run,” Pricereflected. “They learned they have to be careful whenwriting the [election] rules and how to word certainrequirements since they are taken very seriously.”

This was the first year that SGA extended the hoursand days of the elections from 24 hours of open pollsto nearly 60 hours. With the extension of the hours,

DEJA VU:SGA election


I VOTED— Freshman Rachella Mascorro, votesfor the second SGA election on Wednesday morn-ing at the Library.


HELLO— During class break, students communicate electronically via cell phone atthe Student Union Wednesday afternoon. Studies show that cell phone use isbecoming a national hazard. Various car accidents have been credited to its use.

UTPUTPAAPRESIDENTIALPRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACANDIDATESTES

Dr. Blandina Cardenas- Dean of theCollege of Education and HumanDevelopment, UTSA.

Dr. Lynda Y. de la Viña- AssociateDean and Director of the GraduateDivision of Business and Managementand Chair of the Department ofFinance and International Business,JHU.

Dr. Tim Hudson- Provost and VicePresident for Academic Affairs,University of Southern Mississippi.

Dr. Herman Lujan- Provost and VicePresident forAcademic Affairs,LACU.

Dr. Lois Muir-Provost and VicePresident forAcademic Affairs, University ofMontana.

Dr. Richard A. Navarro- senior project officer for UNICEF.

Dr. Fernando M. Treviño- Dean ofthe School of Public Health at theUniversity of North Texas HealthScience Center.

Source: UT System News Release

By CLARISSA MARTINEZThe Pan American

See SGA page 6

Who cares? Jerry Martínez does.Nicknamed “The

Whistler,” Martínez hasbeen a loyal Texas-PanAmerican baseball fan forthe past eight years andhas proved to be muchmore than a common fan.

While filling up his gastank back in 1996,Martínez decided to headover to Judy RamseyStadium because thelights were on.

“It was fun,” Martínezsaid. “So I kept on comingback”

Ever since then, it hasbeen somewhat of an addic-

tion for Martínez, who has becomea permanent figure along the third-base line at the new EdinburgBaseball Stadium.

“The Whistler” haggles the play-ers from the opposite team andsince some of the teams have beencoming down for years to play the

Broncs, he has acquiredtidbits of inside informa-tion, which he uses tohassle them a little more,all in good spirits ofcourse.

Since the 1996 seasonhe has coined such oneliners as: “All it takes isone,” “Get that bullpengoing,” “You’re scared,”and “Runner on first –he’s going.”

Martínez makes uphis one liners on the fly.

He also has made T-shirts for the last couple of

HIDALGO - The Rio GrandeValley Dorados (1-1) af2 team had aweek off to prepare for Saturday’srematch against the Oklahoma CityYard Dawgz (2-0) at the DodgeArena at 7:30 p.m.

The two teams met earlier thisseason with the Yard Dawgz gettingthe best of the Dorados 55-17 whenlast year’s ArenaCup MVP andDawgz quarterback Craig Stricklandput on a clinic.

Strickland hit 18 of 28 passes for256 yards and five touchdowns. Healso ran for two scores.

Head Coach Gary Gussmanbelieves controlling Strickland willbe the key to victory for theDorados.

“The quarterback they have isgood and proven hecan play,” Gussmansaid. “Controllinghim is a part of ourgame plan.”

Rio Grande Citynative andquarterback AbelGonzález tied the af2record for the longesttouchdown pass byconnecting with MikeDuncan on 49-yard strike.

González, who is sharing timewith quarterback Will Burch, is justhappy to be back in the Valley andplaying where he grew up.

“To be able to play in this area isgreat,” González said. “I lovefootball down here. I got thisopportunity and I could not pass itup.”

Dawgz wide receiver Al Hunt wasnamed the Ironman of the Week forhis four-touchdown performance,including one interception on thedefensive side last time the twoteams matched up.

Former Defensive Player of the

Week Karleton Thomas will be theone the team looks to in order tokeep pressure on Strickland. Hebelieves a strong pass rush will helpthe Dorados and limit the Dawgz’offensive outbursts.

“We are just trying to put out abetter performance than last time,”

Thomas said. “If they aregoing to beat us we wantthem to earn it and not justgive it to them.”

The last time these twoteams hooked up, theDawgz shut down theDorados’ offense in thesecond half.

Gussman knows histeam has to be efficient onthe offensive side of the

ball and cannot afford a goose eggin either half to escape with a winSaturday night.

“Offensively we got a chance towatch a lot of film and correct themistakes we made in that game,”Gussman said.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30p.m., however, a tailgate party willbe held in the arena parking lot at 4p.m.

“It looked like the community hada great time, González said. “It isexciting for them to see this type offootball. I am glad for thecommunity that we have this downhere for them.”

■ Football. . . . . . . . . . . . 16

■ Track. . . . . . . . . . . . .15

■ Sports Clipboard . . . . . 13

PAGE 16

SPORTSDorados face OKC in rematch at ArenaBy MATT HALLThe Pan American

By DELISA GUADARRAMAThe Pan American

‘Whistler’ gets big cheersfrom Broncs and crowd


Dorados kicker Eric Houle practices at Dodge Arena Wednesday inpreparation for RGV’s matchup with Oklahoma City Saturday night.

Men’s tennis routed,women win closer

The University of Texas-PanAmerican men’s tennis team was routedby rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 7-0, to end the regular season.

The green and orange are nowpreparing for the Southland ConferenceTournament that will be held in SanAntonio beginning April 30 andconcluding May 2.

Assistant Coach Kati Gyulai believesthe effort was there and no one gave up.

“The effort was there,” Gyulai said.“But we just are not playing the bigpoints and that is the difference.”

At No. 4 singles Oliver Steil showedtoughness and heart after he lost hisopening set 6-4. He came back and wonthe second set 6-1, unfortunately Steillost the tiebreaker 10-5.

He believes obtaining the goal theyset out to at the beginning of the year ispossible, but it will be a fight.

“We can do it and since we are theunderdog people don’t give us respect,”Steil said. “With a good team effort wecan still get far in the tournament.”

Jeremy Salvo lost a nail-biter toGoncalo Figueiredo in three sets 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Salvo and his partner Steil put up avaliant effort in the doubles, but lost 8-4.

Salvo knows the odds are stackedagainst them, but he still thinks Pan Amcan win the tournament.

“We have always had the confidenceto win,” Salvo said. “If we give the sameeffort we should be fine and come out ontop.”

One thing the Broncs have againstthem is the loss of senior TomMangelschots, who has two herniated



Jerry “The Whistler” Martínez has supported theBroncs baseball team since 1996.

See WHISTLER page 15 See TENNIS page 15

Who: Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz atRGV DoradosWhen: Saturday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m.Where: Dodge ArenaRecords: Dorados (1-1); Yard Dawgz(2-0)Last game: Yard Dawgz routedDorados 55-17 on April 10Notable: Former N.Y. Giants line-backer Gary Reasons (1984-91) isthe Oklahoma City head coach; theYard Dawgz are one of three confer-ence teams RGV will face two out ofthree times on home turf this season.RGV will also face OKC on July 10.

at

april 22, 2004

Documents

t t e e

n c o n n i e c

e r i c

t h e s t u d e n t

c h i n g

p e r o f t h e u n

n news

n sports