contempo magazine january 2009

contempomag.com page 1

The Lifestyle Variety Magazine for the Upper Valley

ContempoJanuary 2009

A T. REXMINGLESAT UTPA

KEEPING ITHOT WINTERFITNESS

LATIN AMERICANPOLICY

FINANCIAL MATTERSFOR OUR PARENTS

HEART OF THE CITY SPARKS UP FOR NEW YEAR

IS AMERICAN TECH SUPERIOR

FASHION TRENDS with CRYSTAL

McALLEN ENTERTAINMENTDISTRICT SHAPES UP

TRAVEL AMSTERDAM

MLS SCORING LEADERCARLOS RUIZ

BLUE DOG DEMS CATCHOBAMAS ATTENTION

CONTEMPO PIONEERASHLEY DAWN MOSS

YEAR IN PICTURES

contempo magazine

Publication: Contempo MagazineIssue: Dec 2008Bleed: 8.75" x 11.25"Trim: 8.5" x 11"Live Area: 7.75" x 10.25"Advertiser: Deutsch & Deutsch (McAllen)Ad: La Dona RG Diamond PUWA1200GIGA# 57899

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contempo magazine


Contempo is a publication of Contempo Magazine Inc. All opinions represented are of the authors & not necessarily the views of the publisher. The publisher makes no representations regarding advertising content. Contempo Magazine is a trademark of Contempo Magazine Inc. All rights reserved. All content published and constructed by Contempo Magazine is the property of Contempo Magazine Inc. Permission for reprint shall be granted only upon written request and authorized release from Contempo Magazine Inc.

President/Ralph MagañaEditor/Raul Cabrera

Staff Columnist/Michael BilyeuStaff Writer Medical & Technology/Tony Barclay

Architectural Correspondent/Teresa MoralesFashion & Fitness Writer/Crystal Felici

Personal Finance/Melissa MagañaAd Sales/Ralph Magaña

Distribution Manager/Rosa LopezAssc. Editor/Webpage Editor-Tony Magaña

Photography/Ralph Magaña956-467-7880

e-mail: [email protected] site: www.contempomag.com

Suite B, PMB#170, 2403 N. 10th. St. McAllen, Tx 78501Printed in Mexico

A T. REX MINGLES ABOUT UTPABut it will move on soon 8

FITNESS-KEEPING HOT THIS WINTER 12Workout for the Run

EFFECTIVE LATIN AMERICAN POLICY 16Through the eyes of American Hispanic Business

FINANCIAL MATTERS FOR OUR AGING PARENTS 22

THE EAGER NOSTALGIC REMEMBERS 2008 24

CORPORATE CULTURE CHANGE NEED 27To head off turmoil

HEART OF CITY TO SPARK UP NEW YEARS 28

IS AMERICA TECHNOLOGICALLY SUPERIOR? 30

FASHION TRENDS with CRYSTAL FELICI 33

McALLEN ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT SHAPES UP 34

TRAVEL AMSTERDAM for ART & LIVELY CULTURE 37

COMPUTER CORNER what’s up with WINDOWS VISTA 40

CARLOS RUIZ AMONG WORLDS BEST in SOCCER 43

BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS CATCH OBAMA’S ATTENTION 44

CONTEMPO PIONEER ASHLEY DAWN MOSS 47

I W B HONORS EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP 50

CONTEMPO JANUARY CALENDAR 52

YEAR IN PICTURES 54

The Lifestyle Variety Magazine for the Upper Valley

Contempo ContempoMag.comThe Valley’s #1 On-Line Magazine

Wishes Our Readers aJoyful Holiday Season & a HappyNew Year

contempo magazine

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She’s here – she’s big – and she’s perhaps one of the most celebrated stars to ever hit The University of Texas-Pan American campus. But you better hurry because this rare exhibit is moving on after January 4th, 2009 and will require a lot of effort to see in Chicago. She is a Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue – the most complete and best preserved specimen ever discovered. A full-sized cast of her skeleton is the centerpiece of the exhibition “A T. rex Named Sue,” which is breaking attendance records since her September debut at the UTPA Visitors Center. This blockbuster exhibition, which runs through Jan. 4, 2009, is free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturdays 9 a.m.-2 p.m. and Sundays 1-4 p.m. More than 33,000 visitors have viewed the bilingual exhibition, which is full of touchable models, interactive displays and videos. Dinosaur enthusiasts will not only experience the dramatic look of Sue’s upright skeleton but also be able to explore a T. rex’s use of

senses to find food and how she manipulated her jaw muscles, tail and small forelimb to eat, move and stay upright. A separate display of the cast of Sue’s large skull rotates and growls and provides a chance to handle models of her intimidating teeth. Following her 1990 discovery in South Dakota by fossil explorer Sue Hendrickson, whom she was named after, Sue was purchased and preserved by Chicago’s Field Museum, which with the support of the McDonald’s Corporation built two fully articulated replicas for trav-eling exhibitions. Locally, the Rio Grande Valley McDonald’s Own-ers/Operators donated $75,000 toward bringing and promoting the traveling exhibition at UTPA. You can find more information on Sue or how to arrange a tour by going to http://www.utpa.edu/websites/sue/. Don’t be too late to view this world-class exhibition right here in the Rio Grande Valley.

A T. REX NAMED SUEPASSES THROUGH UTPA

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It’s the New Year and over the past few weeks you’ve spent way too much time at the dinner table and not nearly enough time working out. What do you do? Resolve to lose weight, of course. And this year mean it!

With crazy new fitness classes and equipment, it’s easy to get caught up in it all, feel overwhelmed, and ditch the old. But not so fast. Af-ter asking “el pescadito”, Carlos Ruiz, professional soccer player, his advice on getting into shape and shedding a few pounds, I was excited to hear I didn’t have to get a gym membership, I just had to start run-ning.

“It’s no secret” said Carlos. “If you are trying to lose weight there is no better way than to lace up your sneakers and start running.” Not only does running clear your mind of daily stress but if you really de-cide to push yourself you can lose weight in half the time.

While running, try to master the art of running comfortably hard. The trick is learning to breathe and relax. When you are pushing your pace, it’s natural to tense up, which steals energy your heart and legs

need. In workouts, scan your body for tension in your jaw, shoulders, and back and release it. Running on a treadmill in front of a mirror can help you evaluate your own form and identify any spots when you’re tightening up. When breathing gets tough, open your mouth. Your mouth is larger than your nostrils, so it’s more effective at taking in oxygen. Also, keeping your mouth open keeps your face more relaxed and makes it easier to breathe deeply.

Not only will running help you shed the few pounds you might have put on over the holidays, but the health benefits of running are remarkable. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine found in a 20 year study, runners were 50% less likely to die than people who did not run. The joggers also had a significantly lower risk of cardiovascu-lar disease and cancer. Also, running lowers your blood pressure and help your arteries maintain their elasticity. While running, the arteries expand and contract approximately three times as much as they do when you are sitting. This means you are not only working out to improve your physical appearance but also the overall function of your body. In doing this, the risk of heart attack and stroke becomes diminished.

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contempo magazine

STANDING LUNGES WITH HAND WEIGHTS:

Stand tall with a staggered stance, and hold weights at your sides.Bend your right knee without pushing knee beyond your toe line. Pause before the left knee touches the ground while right knee is at a 90 degree angle.Slowly push back up, squeezing your quads and glutes. Repeat on left side.

Running is also beneficial for slowing down the aging process. Those who run regularly are less likely to experience bone and muscle loss as they age as much as those who do not run regularly or not at all. The bones grow and become stronger by responding to physical demands. Those who lead a rather sedentary lifestyle do not put this type of demand on their bones and as a result the bones may become weaker. When this happens the individual is more likely to be susceptible to osteoporosis as they age. Conversely, those who run on a regular ba-sis are continually taxing their muscles and their bones so the bones are stimulated to remain stronger and do not as easily weaken with age.

If running is an activity you would like to do regularly, strengthening the core and legs are perfect ways to avoid any injuries. A stability ball is one of the few pieces of equipment that helps build stability while engaging the obliques and allows you to make simple exercises more challenging. You’d think strong abdominals would simply act as a muscular back brace, but they actually help maintain better spinal alignment and posture, and thus allow for correct movement and less chance of injury. The lunge is unique in its ability to strengthen both the quadriceps and the hamstrings. In addition to stimulating mus-cle growth, the lunge develops balance and agility. These two simple exercises enhance the body’s ability to run better, smoother, and for longer distances.

By: Crystal Felici

A native of McAllen, Crystal Felici currently works as a feature writer in Los Angeles, California. After studying business at the University of Dallas, she spent two years in Rome, Italy studying design and fashion merchan-dising. She then moved to Florence and worked for a top Italian designer as a stylist, fashion forecaster and consultant. Crystal now enjoys writing monthly fashion/ lifestyle articles and is writing a series of inspirational bi-lingual children’s books in LA.

KNEE TUCKS ON STABILITY BALL:

Point your toes, your shins should be resting on the stability ball.Keep your legs and spine neutralTuck your knees up toward your chest and shoulders so that the ball rolls toward your head. Your hips should tuck up and under.Slowly go back to starting position and repeat.


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contempo magazine

Two weeks ago, a fleet of Russian ships including their most powerful ship– which can carry 20 nuclear armed cruise missiles–will be docking in Ven-ezuela and then carrying out joint exercises with Venezuelan forces in the Caribbean. It is common knowledge that Russia is seeking permanent naval and air bases in Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela which could support nuclear weapon deployment.

At this point the historical policies of the United States towards Latin Amer-ica–the Monroe Doctrine and the Good Neighbor Policy–both seem to have been forgotten. Although Latin America has been a great buyer of American exports, the attitude of the average American toward Latin America is that all it does is supply drugs and unfair cheap labor to the United States. Liberals want to stop trade with Latin America because it undercuts American jobs and supports governments that commit human rights violations while Conserva-tives want to cut off immigration, avoid contact with Latin America’s socialist regimes, and limit our interactions with them to punitive drug enforcement measures.

The American thirst for illicit drugs, which is the primary source of revenue for the criminal cartels of Latin America, has allowed the development of syndicates arguably stronger and a greater danger to our national security than many of the weakened Middle Eastern terrorist organizations. The same problems that plague our attempts at controlling terrorism in the Middle East are hampering our efforts in Latin America. Cries of human rights violations are coming from Mexico and Colombia as their governments try to squash defiant drug kingpins.

Even on the economic front while the United States has been cooling in its attitude to being a trading partner with Latin America, the quickly growing Asian countries have been quick to fill the void. South Korea and China are increasingly buying metals and other raw materials from Chile, Mexico and other Latin American countries. The South Texas border community called the Rio Grande Valley has seen an influx of Asian immigrants who are help-ing their Asian companies grow in the “maquiladora” factories. China and Mexico recently announced a massive joint venture to build low cost cars in Mexico. Anti-American sentiment fueled by the perception of Mexicans of how they are seen by Americans, no doubt, played a role in the recent deci-sion to seek help from the Australian petroleum industry instead of American companies for the troubled nationally owned oil company, Pemex.

Already whispers have starting calling for a new American policy of pro-tectionism. The liberal media made jest of our lame duck, President Bush, emphasizing the need for the maintainability of free trade in the Pacific region which includes Latin America. Mr. Bush is right on target about this priority.

The United States needs to formulate a consistent policy of constructive en-gagement with the countries of Latin America. Joint economic development which benefits all the countries involved rather than protectionism is essen-tial. We must realize that we will never be able to control the illicit drug prob-lem in the United States by actions outside the United States. We can more effectively enforce the laws in our own country than force another country to enforce their laws. A priority must be given to a total overhaul of the approach to illicit drugs in the United States. Money given to foreign governments to control drugs is probably better spent on our own border security.

Massive foreign aid and sending “volunteers” to Latin American countries as proposed by President elect Barack Obama will not work. We will not be able to control how the money is spent. Many will see U.S. government sponsored “volunteers” as occupiers or even spies and they will subjected to kidnapping or outright violence.

Instead, we need to reinforce positive changes which occur in Latin American countries externally without being seen as interfering in their internal work-ings. We must have trade deals that are progressive but not demanding of unrealistic conditions which are doomed from the start. Trade should remain our major diplomatic tool and should always be favored over saber rattling or handouts to corrupt foreign officials.

Many of America’s leading Hispanic companies have lead the way in pro-moting and developing trade with Latin America. A shared culture they have with these countries gives them an advantage. But now they see an American government which is increasingly anti-Latin American in tone and rhetoric from all sides of the political spectrum. President Elect Barack Obama should allow Commerce Secretary designate Bill Richardson to convene a panel of experts from the American Hispanic business community to make sugges-tions on developing a new trade policy with Latin America.

Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years. He is a mem-ber of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

EFFECTIVE LATIN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY THROUGH THE EYES OF AMERICAN HISPANIC BUSINESSBy Tony Magaña

“...while the United States has been cooling it’s attitude

towards being a trading partner with Latin America, the quick to learn, Asian countries

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La Plaza Mall-East2200 S. 10th St. / 688-3760Monday-Saturday 8 am-8pmSunday 11 am-6 pm

La Plaza Mall-West2200 S. 10th St. / 688-3660Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11 am-6 pm

Wall-Mart McAllen1200 E. Jackson / 688-3685Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11 am-6 pm

La Plaza Mall-Nolana4001 N. 23rd St. / 688-3620Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11 am-6 pm

La Plaza Mall-Weslaco1310 N. Texas / 937-9500Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11 am-6 pm

Wall-Mart Edinburg1724 W. University Dr. / 688-3690Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11 am-6 pm

Wall-Mart Mission2410 E. Exp. 83 / 688-3625Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12 am-5 pm

HEB In-Store Mission200 E. Griffin Pkwy / 632-3512Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11 am-6 pm

Wal-Mart Alamo1421 W. Frontage Rd. / 688-3645Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12 am-5 pm

Wal-Mart In-Store Palmhurst215 E. Mile 3 Rd. / 688-3675Monday-Saturday 9 am-8pmSunday 12 am-5 pm

Hidalgo Branch1023 S. Bridge / 688-3665Lobby Monday-Saturday 9 am-6 pmSaturday 9 am-5 pmSunday 12 am-5 pmDrive Thru Monday-Friday 7:30 am-6 pmSat. 8 am-5 pm Sunday 12 pm-5 pm

El Banquito301 S. 10th St. / 688-3610Lobby Monday-Saturday 8:30 am-6 pmSaturday 9 am-5 pmSunday 12 pm-5 pmDrive Thru Monday-Friday 7:30 am-5 pm

Trenton Branch7124 N. 23rd / 630-9310Lobby Monday-Friday 8:30 am-6 pmSaturday 9 am-5 pmSunday 12 am-5 pmDrive Thru Monday-Friday 7:30 am-6 pmSat. 8 am-5 pm Sunday 12 pm-5 pm

San Juan Juniors108 E. FM 495 / 630-9320Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11 am-5 pm

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107 Branch Edinburg2201 W. University Dr.Lobby Monday-Friday 9 am-6 pmSaturday 9 am-6 pmSunday 12 pm-5 pmDrive Thru Monday-Friday 7:30 am-5 pmSat. 8 am-5 pm Sunday 12 pm-5 pm

HEB In-Store Pecan3601 Pecan McAllenMonday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12 pm-5 pm

Wal-Mart McColl/McAllen4101 N. McColl Rd.Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11 am-6 pm

HEB In-Store Shary/Mission2409 E. Exp. 83Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12 pm-6 pm

Palms Crossing/McAllen2900 W. Exp. 83 / McA. Conven. Ctr.Lobby Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11 am-5 pmDrive Thru Monday-Saturday 7:30 am-8 pmSunday 11 am-5 pm

Wall-Mart Mission2410 E. Exp. 83 / 688-3625Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12 am-5 pm

HEB In-Store Palmview2410 E. Exp. 83Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12 pm-5 pm

La Plaza Mall-East2200 S. 10th St.688-3760 Monday-Saturday 8 am-8 pmSunday 11am - 6 pm

La Plaza Mall-West2200 S. 10th St.688-3660Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11am - 6 pm

Wal-Mart McAllen1200 E. Jackson688-3685Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11am - 6 pm

Wal-Mart Nolana4001 N. 23rd St.688-3620Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11am - 6 pm

Wal-Mart Weslaco1310 N. Texas937-9500Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11am - 6 pm

Wal-Mart Edinburg1724 W. University Dr. Sto. B688-3680Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11am - 6 pm

Wal-Mart Mission2410 E. Expressway 83688-3625Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12pm - 5 pm

HEB In-Store Mission200 E. Griffi n Pkwy632-3512Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11am - 6 pm

Wal-Mart In-Store Palmhurst215 E. Mile 3 Rd.688-3675Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12pm - 5 pm

Hidalgo Branch1023 S. Bridge688-3665Lobby Monday-Friday 9 am-6 pmSaturday 9am-5pm Sunday 12pm - 5 pmDrive Thru Monday-Friday 7:30am-6pmSaturday 8am-5pm Sunday 12pm-5pm

El Banquito301 S. 10th St.688-3610Lobby Monday-Friday 8:30am-6 pmSaturday 9am-5pm Sunday 12pm - 5 pmDrive Thru Monday-Friday 7:30am-6pmSaturday 8am-5pm Sunday 12pm-5pm

Trenton Branch7124 N. 23rd630-9310Lobby Monday-Friday 8:30am-6 pmSaturday 9am-5pm Sunday 12pm - 5 pmDrive Thru Monday-Friday 7:30am-6pmSaturday 8am-5pm Sunday 12pm-5pm

San Juan Juniors108 E. FM 495630-9320Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12pm - 5 pm

I Road Branch Pharr1007 North I Rd.688-3655Lobby Monday-Friday 8:30am-6 pmSaturday 9am-5pm Sunday 12pm - 5 pmDrive Thru Monday-Friday 7:30am-6pmSaturday 8am-5pm Sunday 12pm-5pm

HEB In-Store Weslaco1004 N. Texas968-5551Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12pm - 5 pm

107 Branch2201 W. University DriveEdinburg, TX 78539Lobby Monday-Friday 9am-6 pmSaturday 9am-5pm Sunday 12pm - 5 pmDrive Thru Monday-Friday 7:30am-6pmSaturday 8am-5pm Sunday 12pm-5pm

HEB In-Store Pecan3601 PecanMcAllen, TX 78501Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12pm - 5 pm

Wal-Mart McColl4101 N. McColl Rd.McAllen, TX 78539Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 11pm - 6pm

HEB In-Store Shary2409 E. Expressway 83Mission, TX 78572Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12pm - 5 pm

Palms Crossing2900 W. Expressway 83McAllen, TXLobby Monday-Saturday 9am-8 pmSunday 11am - 5 pmDrive Thru Monday-Saturday 7:30am-8pmSunday 11am-5pm

HEB In-Store Palmview2410 E. Expressway 83Mission, TXMonday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12pm - 5pm

Wal-Mart Alamo1421 West Frontage Rd.688-3645Monday-Saturday 9 am-8 pmSunday 12pm - 5 pm

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contempo magazine

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Discover the healing art of mandalas; An ancient art form that brings balance and harmony into your home and workplace.Begin to feel less stressed and have increased ability to concentrate.

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contempo magazine

Caring for older parents requires time and energy that can impact a family’s lifestyle and emotional resources. Having a plan available to manage the financial resources can alleviate some of the stress. Communication is an essential first step. “Talk to your parents as early as possible about their plans to secure a retirement-income stream, manage their assets and meet possible long-term health care needs,” suggests LaTonya Boston, Financial Planning Specialist with Life Event Services at Wachovia Securities in Richmond, Va. This may not always be easy to do; older adults can be reticent about their personal finances. For example, they may be open to discussing components of their estate plan that relate to emergency situations — such as their living will and powers of attorney for medical care and finance — but not realize that discussing their day-to-day strategies for non-emergency situations is just as critical. Managing Retirement Funds “A person entering retirement must make many decisions — some of them having a significant impact on a surviving spouse,” says Boston. As your par-ents discuss their life expectancies and plans for managing resources, the fol-lowing considerations may arise, which are best discussed with a Financial Advisor: 1.Whether to take a larger pension in lieu of survivorship features that will reduce monthly benefits 2. When to draw Social Security benefits, since timing affects not only the individual benefit, but the spousal and survivor benefits as well 3. Drawing income from various types of assets for tax efficiency In addition, “The effects of inflation need to be considered when building a retirement income strategy,” says Boston. Historically, when people entered retirement, their usual strategy was to make their portfolio more conservative by reducing their exposure to equi-ties and increasing fixed-income investments. But with today’s longer life expectancies and extended retirement periods, maintaining equity exposure in a portfolio may be essential to help fight the effects of inflation. Encourage your parents to discuss their asset allocation with their advisor to help make sure it will meet their future lifestyle needs. Reviewing their cur-rent allocation regularly is important, especially if there have been any major life changes. Consolidating or rebalancing assets may be appropriate.Meeting Long-Term Care (LTC) Needs About 60 percent of people over 65 in the U.S. will need long-term care ser-vices at some point. Learning about the cost of long-term care and planning for it can help solidify your parents’ retirement plans. “Preplanning conversations with your parents about LTC options help clar-ify expectations about what support you can provide,” says Boston. If your parents cannot afford an LTC policy, consider the value in helping to purchase a policy for them. Most LTC policies have provisions for home-care services, so this might allow you to continue a career while serving as a caregiver to your parents. Recognizing that long-term care is expensive, some states have partnered with private LTC insurance companies to help its residents protect their assets from the high cost of long-term care. These policies are known as “partnership policies,” and they automatically offer coverage that keeps pace with inflation

and protects assets. The partnership initiative seeks to improve the quality of LTC policies and the affordability of the insurance, and to increase public un-derstanding of the risks and costs associated with long-term care. Additional information on LTC options is available at www.longtermcare.gov. If your parents are ineligible for LTC policies because of pre-existing medical issues, an alternative plan must be developed to meet future medical needs. The following strategies can help ensure that you don’t have to cover all unplanned costs out of pocket:Research Medicare eligibility and coverage at www.medicare.gov. Knowing the extent of the benefits can help you take full advantage of them. Buy additional coverage,such as supplemental prescription drug insurance, to meet any gaps in insur-ance policies.Monitor legislative initiativesto stay abreast of changes that may lead to additional health coverage options. Because your parents’ resources and expectations may affect your own plan-ning, it is important to talk to your parents about their situation before a need or a crisis arises. This way you can be prepared to help or consider alterna-tives. If the conversation seems awkward, you may consider discussing your own long-term plans with your parents as a way to ask about theirs. This can help you ease into the conversation and develop an appropriate strategy. Wachovia Securities is not a tax or legal advisor.Insurance products are offered through nonbank insurance agency affiliates of Wachovia and are underwritten by unaffiliated insurance companies. Wacho-via Securities, LLC, and Wachovia Securities Financial Network, LLC, are separate nonbank affiliates of Wachovia Corporation. Together, we can discuss:Building an income strategy for retirement Developing assets for an emergency fund Identifying LTC insurance options

This article was written by Wachovia Securities and provided to you by Melissa Magana, Financial Advisor.1107-69931Wachovia Securities is the trade name used by two separate, registered broker-dealers and nonbank affiliates of Wachovia Corporation providing certain retail securities bro-kerage services: Wachovia Securities, LLC Member, NYSE/SIPC, and Wachovia Secu-rities Financial Network, LLC (WSFN), Member FINRA/SIPCThe accuracy and completeness of this article are not guaranteed. The opinions ex-pressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Wachovia Securities or its affiliates. The material is distributed solely for information purposes and is not a solicitation or an offer to buy any security or instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. Provided by courtesy of Melissa Magana, a Financial Advisor with Wachovia Securities in McAllen, TX. For more information, please call Melissa Magana at 956-687-7211. Wachovia Securities, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC, is a separate nonbank affiliate of Wachovia Corporation. ©2008 Wachovia Securities, LLC. Investments in se-curities and insurance products: NOT FDIC-INSURED/NOT BANK-GUARANTEED/MAY LOSE VALUE McAllen, Texas 78504Melissa Magaña 956.687.7211 TelFinancial Advisor 956.345.3530 CelWachovia Securities, LLC. 956.618.4302 Fax4900 North 10th Street 800.356.9202 Toll FreeNorth Towne Center - Building D1 [email protected]

Financial Matters for Our Aging Parents

Provided By: Melissa Magaña, Financial AdvisorWachovia Securities, LLC, Member NYSE/SIPC


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Securities and Insurance Products: NOT INSURED BY FDIC OR ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY • MAY LOSE VALUE • NOT A DEPOSIT OF OR GUARANTEED BY A BANK OR ANY BANK AFFILIATEWachovia Securities, LLC, Member NYSE / SIPC, is a registered broker dealer and a separate nonbank affi liate of Wachovia Corporation. ©2008 Wachovia Securities, LLC 89868 0508-88524 6/08

* Wachovia Securities does not render tax or legal advice.

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This week we learned that 1 in 10 Americans is now in if not close to home foreclosure and that almost 2 million Americans have lost their jobs. President Elect Barack Obama has told the nation that things are going to get worse before they get better. This week in Chicago about 200 workers have forcibly occupied the building from which they suffered a lay off from the Republic Doors and Windows Corporation after having been told no paychecks or severance will be paid because Bank of America is holding the money. The American ideology has always accepted a large discrepancy in wealth and reward for workers versus management but not without turmoil nor limit. Henry Ford and Bill Gates are cultural heroes for founding new technology and institu-tions which created new jobs and wealth for the nation. For most of our history we have accepted the tenet first put forth by Adam Smith in his book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, that people acting in their own interests within the confines of society can have an effect for the public good. The relationship between worker and management in the United States has not always been peaceful. Previously in our history during tough economic times when there was a perceived indifference or excess of the management class sig-nificant violence has occurred. Out of these difficult times, the American labor movement was born which recognized that American workers had basic rights to negotiate for fair treatment and payment from their employers. Americans today are angry at corporate America. They are seeing billions of dollars going to white collar Wall Street and executives receiving millions in gold-en parachutes. Despite a few discussions by politicians of potential arrest and prosecution of white collar crime by executives nothing has really happened. Al-most everyone in America realizes that American automakers are kaput but many do not want to see the American auto worker suffer for the failures of the corporate executives. The Chicago sit-in may well be just be the pre-eruption smoke from a volcano of American worker sentiment getting ready to erupt in the next few months. Almost no recognized economist can say when the current economic crisis will start to improve or even stabilize and we are beginning to hear many of them talk about the fact that the Great Depression lasted 10 years. At the same time that employees of Republican Door and Windows can not get their paychecks, the CEO of Merrill Lynch, John Thain, which was bought up by Bank of America is demanding a 10 million dollar bonus this year in addition to his $800,000 salary. This is a prime example of what is the greatest threat to our economic system, the outright criminal and selfish greed that now pervades America’s upper level corporate executives. More than 30 years ago America’s great business schools which produced the current generation of American CEOs promised to teach business ethnics and cor-porate responsibility to their students. Business used to be about productivity, margin, and efficiency not about stock options and bonuses. Our current economic crisis is absolutely attributable to selfish decisions made by American CEOs in the major industries of finance, energy, and manufacturing. There are many who are calling for a change in our corporate system and make no mistake some change must be made as the current system is unacceptable. Some are calling for severe government oversight or even significant government ownership in strategically important entities. Conservatives rightly oppose these measures as being in conflict with the concept of private enterprise but they cannot accept the status quo. Conservatives should advocate changes in the corporate and personal income tax structure to reward or punish CEO behavior. In return for a significant poten-tial high reward for leadership, America’s executives must also accept reasonable risk and responsibility. In addition to tax penalties, there needs to be increased prosecution, legislation, and enforcement of white collar criminal behavior of ex-ecutives acting in their own interests against their corporation’s interest. Strict accountability standards for American CEOs is the only way we will be able to maintain the American form of capitalism and avoid the coming worker unrest.

By Tony Magaña

Corporate Culture ChangeNeeded to Head-OffLabor Turmoilby Tony Magaña

“...America’s great business schools which produced the current generation of Ameri-can CEOs promised to teach business eth-nics and corporate responsibility to their students. Business used to be about pro-ductivity, margin, and efficiency not about stock options and bonuses.”

contempo magazine

It’s about time! The residents of the Upper Valley will have a real new years eve treat this year thanks to the Heart of the City Devel-opment Corporation and Sir Kingston, who will jointly host the first ever, New Year’s Eve Bash in the Heart of the City District located around S. 17th Street in Downtown. Hopefully, the event will become an anual affair and will muster up the same success that the city has acheived with 4th of July festivities over the years.

At a launch party held at House. Wine. in the district along Business 83, Elida Hernandez, announced the plans for the first annual, city wide event. “We have the greatest expectation that this will be a joy-ful night to remember for all Upper Valley residents who attend. We are planning a lot of fun & entertainment that people of all ages will enjoy.”

The bash and festivities begin at 7pm on December 31st and ends at 2am January 1, 2009. The Ball-Dropping event is free and open to the public and will take place at twelve o’clock, midnight. Attendees can expect to see several downtown streets closed making way for the live outdoor music throughout the night. All currently open venues in the Heart of the City District will have their doors open as well, including Shine, Boiler Room, Flesh, The Patio on Guerra, Dive Downtown, The Piano Bar, Vicio, Rhythm & Brews, Cine El Rey, Club M, Ele-ment, and House. Wine.

For sponsorship opportunities, booth availabilities, or more informa-tion contact Joe Rodriguez at the Heart of the City at 956-687-4357.

It’s AboutTime atMidnight !


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What does it mean to be technically superior as a country? Does it mean that a country makes the most discoveries? Has the most machines or factories? Does it mean its citizens use the most technology in their everyday lives? Most Americans and the world have assumed that the last remaining super-power, the United States of America, has been technologically superior to the rest of the world.

The decades long decline of the American car industry would seem to directly contradict that we are a technologically superior country. Have we ever been, for the principle matter, the most technologically superior country? During World War II, almost every weapon we made before and during most of the war was technologically inferior to those of Germany, Japan, and even Rus-sia. It was only our large manufacturing capability that really allowed us to overwhelm our enemies rather than our technological prowess.

Anyone who has traveled the world over the past 30 years can tell you that many less developed countries were quicker than the United States to de-velop cellular telephones and satellite television reception. In fact, the less sophisticated cable television networks in the world are actually in the United States.

Precision machining and manufacturing by highly skilled technicians in the electronics industry, for example, flourishes in Asia because they have pro-longed training programs to make skilled economically competitive workers for such industries. In the United States, manufacturing has moved as much as possible to automation rather than highly skilled technical workers because we do not produce them like other countries.

Very few countries in the world guarantee a minimum wage to unskilled workers like the United States. When you combine that guarantee with a na-tional high school drop out rate approaching 40% it means we produce a highly paid but unskilled workforce that cannot compete with highly trained machinists and electronics technicians in other countries. Our industries thus become based upon automation and unskilled labor jobs. And ultimately it could be argued, that it is a greater threat, that the skilled imported legal labor coming from Asia is more threatening than illegal immigration coming from south of the border. In any event we are not making ends meet when it comes to providing a competitive educational environment in the skilled sector. If we are in the end, bringing them in with superior training from other countries at the expense of an over populated, unemployed & untrained workforce, then where are we going?

As the rest of the world sees its standard of living and education improve this discrepancy of the United States with the rest of world will only become worse. Within our life times, the middle class in India and China may well become larger and more affluent per capita then the middle class of the United States.

The crisis of the American automobile industry is just the latest episode since electronics, textiles, and other products are produced more abroad than at home. We are a society of the extremes, college graduates and high school dropouts, but without a real economic means to produce a real middle class. Those who dream that there can be a middle class of unskilled workers con-sisting of a high school education or less have to accept the reality that this is

creating a caste in our society below that of Europe and Asia.

American automobile manufacturers convinced the public that they made larger cars that were safer because they had superior safety technology over the foreign made imports. This is the major reason why they have been able to keep any market share at all, since even subsequent developments in safety by foreign imports showed them to be either equal or superior to their American made equivalents.

We must create a society where the average American worker can economi-cally produce greater results vs. competing workers in other countries. Rather than making them work longer hours for less pay with less education, we need to find ways to establish a workforce with better education, better skills, and better technology that makes them more productive.

We need radical changes in our education system to adequately prepare the vast majority of the population to be able to obtain economically viable em-ployment. The sense of entitlement felt by many of the American population and current disregard for hard work espoused by those who view American life as being in a lottery is inconsistent with our future survival as a major economic power.

Those in America’s executive board rooms have this same problem with a false sense of entitlement. The corporate culture in the United States is all about individual wealth and power and not about establishing an organization for the public good through profit motivation earned by their shareholders. Look at the difference in the way the Japanese see Toyota or the Germans see Daimler-Benz. The difference is profound.

Many are saying we need another New Deal with government funded infra-structure jobs to pull us out of this economic crisis. What they fail to see is that the skills of our average uneducated worker have really not changed much from the 1930s and that, although it will offer some immediate relief, infrastructure generated jobs will not address the dynamic needs of an un-employed, unskilled workforce. It is time for America to admit that it is not a technologically advanced country any longer and that we must correct our inadequacies in education and the corporate culture. Protectionism against an ever advancing globalization of economic efficiency will not serve America in the long run. However we can, with our competitive spirit and capacity for change, regain that position.

A number of Valley schools have made very commendable and dramatic achievements in graduation ratios and in college preparation programs in recent years that should be mentioned. One example being the Hidalgo In-dependent School District awarded the National Recognition and Academic Excellence for Hidalgo Early College High School at Hidalgo ISD. The Gold Medal Award granted by U.S. News and World Report magazine placed Hi-dalgo 11th over the more than 18,000 public schools in America.

Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Is AmericaTechnologicallySuperior?By Tony Magaña

contempo magazine

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Downtown McAllen has survived many years with the constant support of daytime shopping activity. For some time now shoppers, area employees and visitors have enjoyed breakfast eateries but now they will soon have a number of new lunch and dinner choic-es in the Heart of the City Entertainment District in downtown along the 17th Street corridor between Business 83 and Expressway 83. People, businesses, support organizations, both private and public entities have joined together to transform the McAllen Downtown area into a renewed entertainment district that has already begun to experience rapid growth with evening venues. Ironically, this new life comes in part from the re-use of older buildings and for the need to establish a reasonably controllable area in the city for non-food eve-ning establishments. Capitalizing on what these older buildings have to offer–weather it be a crafty remnant of a construction detail or the historic memories of vibrant activity in years past–these older buildings have been polished and embellished, injecting new life into what once were dilapidated old structures. The transformation of each location enhances the syn-ergy of the whole district. However, it’s not just about a business investment commitment, but rather a love for these old structures, what they represent and a love for creating new exciting, quaint environments that cannot be attained in a standard strip mall layout. Many of these period structures have characteristics and qualities that clearly project the a sense of local history and a curious ambiance for nightly entertainment venues.

Alida Hernandez, Heart of the City President tells us, “We were charged to spearhead the development of three districts–The McAl-len Arts District, the Entertainment and the Retail District and I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished in such a short period of time. I have always believed that to try and fail is better than not having tried at all and now look at what we have done which really started out only as a vision. It is and will be a success as the Heart of McAllen returns to create the pulse of the City.” She also spoke of the December 31st. New Years event that will take place in the entertainment district, downtown. “We invite our friends from the McAllen area and Mexico to join us for the New Year Celebration, McAllen Style! We will be doing our very own version of the Manhattan ball drop. Del Castillo will be performing at El Rey Theater and there will be a lot of interaction with establishments in the district.” Sponsors for the event are: The City of McAllen, The Heart of the City and Univision.

Teresa Morales, our Architectural Editor is a graduate, Magna Cum Laude, University of Texas at Austin. She is an active member of the American Institute of Architects, practices architecture in McAllen and is the City Architect for the City of McAllen, Texas and is an avid photographer.

DT EntertainmentDistrict is

Shaping Up! by Teresa Morales


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First settled in the late 12th Century as a small fishing village, today Amsterdam is one of the leading financial and cultural centers of Europe. Mostly know for its famous canal waterway system, tulips and windmills, Amsterdam, by European stan-dards, evolved much later than other cities on the continent. It, however, quickly rose to prominance with agressive sea trade in the 15th Century that made Amsterdam the capital of the diamond market and world finance.

In the 16th Century, long before the American Tea Party in Boston, the Dutch rebelled against the Spanish Monarchy because of excessive taxation and the religious persecution of Protestants by the Spanish Inquisition. During this period it became known as a city of religious tolerance where many fled to during upheaval to other parts of Europe. Later, it became a center for the European free press with the influx of flemish printers.

During Amsterdam’s Golden Age in the 17th Century, it be-came one of the world’s richest cities by establishing its leading place in worldwide trade with now historic companies like the Dutch West Indies Trading Co. that obtained possession of lat-ter Dutch Colonies.

Today, Amsterdam is a sophisticated and tolerant city that has

Amsterdam,A Paradise of Art and Lively Cultureby Ralph Magaña

contempo magazine

canals for streets and still serves as a hub for the movement of people and trade in Western Europe and as an intellectual and cultural center.

If traveling to Amsterdam by rail from London or Paris you will arrive at Amster-dam Centraal Station that convieniently houses the City Metro hub station that can quickly take you into town. Or if you pre-fer to walk it, it will take about 45 minutes through mild bicycle traffic and passed the famous Heineken Brewery.

Home to several of Europes’ greatest museums, Amsterdam is an art lover’s paradise. The most important museums of Amsterdam are located on the Museum-plein (Museum Square). This square is the largest square of Amsterdam and lies adja-cent to the southern side of the city’s cen-ter. It was created in the last quarter of the 19th century on the grounds of the former World Exposition.

On the north side of the square is the Ri-jksmuseum, to the west is the Van Gogh Museum which houses many of his most famous works and collections. The south-ern border of the Museum Square is the Van Baerlestraat, which is a major thor-oughfare in this part of Amsterdam. The Concertgebouw is situated across this street from the square.

This city that relies more on bicycles (al-most 1/2 a million) than on cars for local transportation is an architectural mix de-veloped over centuries from popular Euro-pean patterns. At around 1815, architects broke with the baroque style and started building in different neo-styles. Most gothic style buildings are dated from that era and are therefore said to be built in a neo-gothic style. At the end of the nine-teenth century the Jugendstil or Art Nou-veau style became popular.

Overall, Amsterdam is an American tour-ist friendly destination that is a great start-ing point for a continental tour of Europe.

by Ralph Magaña


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Enticing traditional dishes, layered with ingredients of the land & inspired by native Antillean and hearty Creole recipes, Quisqueya brings the Caribbean to the Valley with mild, tropical spices and culinary specialties using seafood, various meats and vegetables. Discover true ethnic dishes like Mangu, Sanco-cho, Locrio and La Bandera or a pastelito from our fresh bakery.

contempo magazine

Windows Vista or hold off for Mojave?

WINDOWS VISTA NEW FEATURESSo you have Windows Vista and got this great Gad-get Bar on the side of your screen. This is a great new tool for keeping your calendar, contacts, note pad and even the Weather Channel up front and noticed! If you have a XM Radio subscription you can now have your XM Radio channels right up on the screen for free. There are actually hundreds of gadgets that you can even scroll through more screens for unlimited gadgets. E-Bay & favorite sport sites and search bars can be added easily.

RSS NEWS FEED CAPABILITYAnother great feature of Vista is the RSS news feeds compatibility. You can add your favorite web page that offers RSS news feeds by clicking on the orange radio wave that appears at the website and add the news feeder to the Vista Gadget Bar. If then, you see an interesting headline, click on it and see the news brief before diving in. If you want to add weather to the bar I recommend the desktop weather from the Weather Channel. Any other might do but why not use the original where the others feed from. There is even a Christmas Day count down that you can load up on Gadget Bar! Don’t hold your breath waiting on Mojave! LOL.

AIR CARD CELL MODEMSAlternatives to Hard Wire Land Line ConnectionsOk, so you live in a location that still does not have DSL service or has a weak Roadrunner service con-nection. Well if your cell phone works from where you are then consider one of many Air Card Cell Mo-

dems from your cellular provider. There is no reason to restrict their use to just lap tops and work just as well on your desk top computer eliminating the need to support two line connection bills! And thanks to Linksys you can now plug your Air Card into one of their wireless routers and share the internet line with other household computers whether on wireless or hard wired networks. (Always be prepared to pro-vide security on any router setup.)

ATIVA 52 IN 1 CARD READEROn a previous Computer Corner article you will re-member that I recommended the Ativa 12 in 1 if you were looking at card readers. Well, now Ativa has a 52 in 1 reader available that is upgraded with 3 USB ports. This convenience makes it possible to have ac-cess to additional ports at the front of your desk top instead of having to always reach around to the back in search of a free port with limited vision. Even newer computer models don’t have enough frontal ports for all your special gadgets and camera photo uploads so this is a great improvement all the way around.

I received a lot of comments and questions on last month’s story about the HTC Blackstone Cell I rec-ommended. Thanks for all your attention on the sub-ject. To better acquaint the readers I suggest you visit their site at www.htc.com/www/products.aspx for updated details on all product lines.Computer DoctorMichael [email protected]

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As Captain for the National Guatemalan team, he holds the highest scoring record in the history of the sport in his native country, Guatemala. Overall, professional soccer players are among the most physically fit atheletes in the world and Carlos is one of the top ranked players in Major League Soccer. We gratefully appreciate the fitness work-out advice that he shared with our fitness correspondent, “Don’t stop me Now”, Crystal Felici. Look for more advice in Crystal’s upcoming ex-clusive interviews with Carlos.

by Ralph Magaña

“El Pescadito”, Carlos Ruiz, (our source for this months workout segment), is a professional athlete for major leagues. He has played with FC Dallas (as captain), LA Galaxy (all time leading scorer and MVP), and for FC Toron-to. In his 7 year MLS career, Ruiz has scored 82 goals in 37 regular season matches, and 15 post-season goals, holding the record for the most post-season goals in Major League Soccer history. He has been awarded by the MLS “Best Goal of the Decade” and “Golden Boot” 3 years in a row for being the all time leading scorer.

Carlos Ruiz isWorld ClassSoccer

contempo magazine

Although many young people today think of the Democratic party as a bastion of progressive values, the recent victory of Barack Obama, many would argue could not have happened without the support and influence of the fastest growing segment of the Democratic party called the “Blue-Dog Democrats.” Since the 1920s there has always been a wing of the Democratic party that was socially and fiscally conservative. At various times in history it has had names such as the Yellow Dogs and Boll Weevils. The current version was born in 1994 when conservative democrats agreed to support fiscal conservatism, gun rights, and usually pro-life stances but to only become vocal as a party member on fiscally conservative issues. Currently there are 48 official members of the Blue Dog coalition in the House of Represen-tatives.

Obama’s strong stance on national defense, budget accountability, protection of gun rights, vocalization on religion, and rightward lean-ing ideas on family values are no doubt produced out of respect for the growing political power of the Blue Dogs. The Blue Dogs are challenging Republican strongholds in the South, Southeast, and Western United States. It can be argued that having Blue Dogs in the Democratic party actually is responsible for pushing Republicans to the right of centrist policies favored by American voters.

Blue Dogs are not without their critics within the progressive advo-cacy. Liberal leaning Salon.com in July of 2008 suggested that it was time to push the Blue Dogs out of Congress because they were too helpful to the Republicans. It was not the Republicans but the Blue Dogs who put the stop to the big three Detroit manufacturers receiv-ing a bailout when Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler executives jetted into Washington, D.C. on private jets begging for money.

Opinion polls show the public in general is very skeptical and un-happy with the amount of money being given away in the bailouts and this is producing a major foundation for the future growth of the Blue Dogs power. Already Obama is clearly beginning to side with them in delaying a rapid exit from Iraq, promoting more troops in Afghani-stan, and in demanding accountability from the big three automakers before they receive any assistance. Obama reneged on his promise to push for changes in counter terrorism procedures such as wiretaps on the advice of the Blue Dogs. Obama has ignored the recent con-troversy about gay marriage in California because he does not want to waste political capital or anger the Blue Dogs whose support he desperately needs to pass his ambitious jobs and stimulus plans. Many

on the left today are unhappy that many of his economic advisers were not more “to the left.”

For conservatives, the presence of the Blue Dogs gives them an option to vote for either party but for Republicans they find that someone has stolen their thunder. Obama knows that somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of the voting public considers themselves to be conser-vative. The biggest challenge for the Republican party in the future will be how to differentiate themselves from the Blue Dogs. We can expect to see more and more Blue Dogs running in elections chal-lenging not only Republicans but also more progressive Democrats as well. For the moment, Obama has a political halo bestowed upon him by the bloggers and voices of the left but already a few rumblings have started, yet, he seems to be taking the advice of Zell Miller’s best selling 2003 book, A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat, to heart.

Blue Dog Democrats are also actively developing a new constituency: Hispanics. They now count not only the Chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, Joe Baca, (CA-43) but also are rapidly spreading to New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas in state and local elections challenging both Republicans and progressive Democrats. Pro-life, pro-military, gun rights, securing of the borders, protection of American jobs, fight-ing illegal drugs, and emphasis on Christian values are now being touted by those such as Jon Garrido, a Phoenix city councilman, who maintains special websites for Blue Dog Democrats recruiting of His-panics. Many border Hispanic Democratic Congressmen who are not officially listed as members of the Blue Dog Coalition almost always vote in tandem with the Blue Dog Democrats with the exception of immigration.

First Yellow Dogs,then Boll Weevils,and now the “Blue Dog” DemocratesCatch Center Stage andObama’s Attention.by Tony Magaña


The story of American politics is that coalitions and alignments are never stagnant but always in motion. The political story for the elec-tions coming in 2010 may not be whether Republicans make a come-back but rather how much stronger will the Blue Dogs become? The continued courting of America’s Hispanic voters into the Blue Dog coalition will likely be successful into 2010. Throughout the United States we will see Blue Dog Democratic candidates challenging liber-als. Who will Obama endorse?

Today Barack Obama announced that he is going to have cut major government programs and that all Americans will be asked to make sacrifices. This was not the influence of Barney Frank or Nancy Pelosi but the echo of the Blue Dogs. Obama knows that it was not the grassroots of the Democratic Party which elected him, not the left wing bloggers of the Daily KOS, but instead independent voters like Hispanics, college educated white voters, and middle class workers, who are not incoincidentally also the group so moved to the Blue Dogs. As he spends billions of taxpayer dollars to try to save the economy, Obama knows these Blue Dogs will make or break his path to re-election in 2012. He is already cutting links to liberals rapidly in his economic appointments and budget director appointments.

Republicans need to understand that they will not be facing a left lean-ing liberal in the next election. They may have to come up with a strategy to fight an incumbent Blue Dog President.

Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years. He is a mem-ber of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

JESSECONTRERAS

JUDGE

I want to thank every-one for their vote and support during the election!It is your confidence that I will honor to carry out the respon-sibilities of the 449thDistrict Court.

449th DistrictCourt

contempo magazine

Ashley Dawn Moss, is a proud graduate of Sharyland High School where she ex-celled in cross country running and theater. While in school she spent time developing modeling skills at Missy’s Modeling in McAllen where the tingle of fame first struck on a fashion runway, giving her the taste for stardom. After graduation she was awarded a full athletic scholarship to attend Lamar University in Beaumont where she studied communications and broadcasting, hoping to land a media position one day.

While attending Lamar, Ashley had the opportunity to audition for the International Model and Talent Organization. She was accepted and asked to par-ticipate in the On Camera and Modeling competition where major New York firms review up and comers. Thereafter, she immediately signed on with a major modeling agency. From there it was a quick trip back to Texas, pack up and see if anything pans out in the Big Apple. Leaving the valley & Texas was the hard-est decision she had to make. Ashley understood that it would be hard for a young girl her age to move so far from home & family. But there was a chance for work that encouraged her to go for it.

To make ends meet she worked as a hostess, then after months of struggling, Ashley booked her first modeling job of many to come. She landed spreads in

New York & L.A.Stand Aside forContempo Pioneer

Ashley DawnMossby Ralph Magaña


Cosmopolitan, Marie Clare, and J14 Magazine. She worked with Tom Ford in promoting his new fragrance, Youth Dew created by Estee Lauder. Ashley also appeared on The View numerous times as an Eva Longoria look-a-like as well as on E! News, Extra, and CW11. She walked the runway for many talented designers during New York's Fashion Week and later became the face of a well known clothing company called Fire, (www.firela.com) and served as a host for B. Micheal fashion events. Currently, you can see Ashley nationwide in a Verizon Wireless advertising campaign.

After gaining confidence in her modeling career, Ashley de-cided to start auditioning for films. With some luck and talent aligned, she was cast in her first feature film, New York Lately, as Becky Bultmann and cast in other major features such as Spiderman 3, and Shine On. Loreal positioned her in their national commercial promoting Hip High Intensity Makeup. Up to this point things were really rolling for Ashley Moss (no relation to Kate) but she wanted to explore new horizons and exploit her unique Valley roots. After three and a half successful years in New York, she moved to Los Angeles, CA in February 2008. There, she signed with a management company and a commercial agent to explore more film oppor-tunities. When Ashley isn't going out for an audition, she is working in the offices of Fire Jeans as their fit and showroom model. She lives in LA and enjoys the west coast lifestyle a

lot but she is always missing the valley. She believes none of this would have been possible without her family’s support and of all those who know her best as a true “Valley Girl”. “It is always an honor, no matter where I go to tell people about my roots in Mission,” she says.

Since her late teens, Ashley has participated in numerous charities & fund raising events in the valley and elsewhere. Here, she supports Monica’s Angels, a volunteer organization and volunteers time to help the elderly in local nursing homes. When home she also enjoys spend-ing precious time with her parents, Ray and Gloria Moss of Mission, Texas.

“...after months of struggling, Ashley books spreads in Cos-mopolitan, Marie Clare and J14 Magazine, is selected by Estee Lauder to launch a new fragrance, Youth Dew then she hits the runway for New York’s Fashion Week.”

contempo magazine

Wishes Our Readers aJoyful Holiday Season & a HappyNew Year


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contempo magazine

Three distinguished Upper Valley women – Janet Wallace, Minnie Lanham and Yvonne Anderson were hon-ored with the 2008 Excellence in Leadership Awards by the International Women’s Board of the UTPA Foundation at the IWB Candlelight Reception, held November 20th at the home of Dr. Blandina Cardenas, UTPA President. The Reception was an indoor/outdoor gala event with a large number of family and friends of the honorees and civic lead-ers there to support and celebrate the amazing lives of these fine ladies of the Upper Valley.

Janet Wallace Born in Cleveland, Ohio and after spending a portion of her life in the Philippines and around the world while caring for 4 of her 10 children, Janet Wallace started a successful career modeling in New York for a recognized firm. She settled in the Rio Grande Valley in the 1940’s and first began her valley wide philanthropic work at the Weslaco Junior Service League. She has been honored time and again for her efforts by established organizations like the Junior Service League of McAllen, the RGV International Music Festival, The McAllen Civic Center Advisory Board, the Daughters of the American Revolution and many others for her dedication to worthy causes in medicine, the arts and in education. Above all she has been a model mom who has been an admired member of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church and the community for over 50 years while raising her many kids. Janet stays in shape by swimming every day and maintaining an active life style.

Minnie Lanham Minnie Lanham, born and raised in Mission, Texas at-tended both Pan American University and Trinity University. After working in banking for a time, she later became the first administrator for the Rio Grande Radiation Treatment Cen-ter, later known as the Vannie E. Cook Cancer Treatment Center in McAllen where she served until her retirement in 1989. She also served as a member of the Cancer Treat-ment Center Board and on the Pan American Round Table of McAllen, as well on the board of the International Museum of Arts and Science and is a past Regent of the Catholic Daughters of the Americans. Upon retirement she received a Special Resolution recognition from the City of McAllen for her determined community leadership in Medicine and the Arts.

Yvonne Anderson Yvonne Anderson at age 16, graduated from high school in Dallas, Texas as Valedictorian of her class and received a scholarship to attend Abilene Christian University. although she Later, Yvonne attended and graduated from La Grange College in Georgia, Where she was one of three women to receive a grant for graduate studies from the American Association of University Women. She went on to complete her graduate work at Auburn University in Alabama. She moved to the Valley with her 3 children and husband, Dr. John Anderson when he took a position as Chairman of the Fine Arts Department at then Pan American University, where she began a lasting career in higher education. Yvonne is one of the Valley’s senior patrons of the arts and has serves with distinction on a number of related boards such as the South Texas Symphony Association, and on the IWB of the UTPA Executive Board, 2 years as president. She was selected by the UTPA Alumni Association for their Distinguished Service Award for her years of service dedicated to UTPA students. She is a faithful member of the Harvey Drive Church of Christ where she maintains a clothing room and pantry for disadvan-taged children and families living in the Rio Grande Valley. Alma de la Garza, IWB President characterized the efforts of these three outstanding Valley women best. “Many local, community civic organizations, university students, charities and service organizations have benefited profoundly from their time, effort and contributions. What they have helped to achieve over their years of service will be appreciated always.” Contempo applauds these outstanding Upper Valley women, who set the highest of standards for philanthropic, cultural and community service.

Celebrating Sponsors for Excellence in Leadership Recipients:Wells Fargo Bank, Guerra Brothers, Successors, Ltd., BBVA Compass Bank, Dr. & Mrs. Ken Landrum, International Bank of Commerce, First National Bank, Atlas & Hall LLP, Bogus Ford, Dr. & Mrs. Cayetano Barerra, Alice East, Molly Allen Crow, Mr. Rafael Florez, Wanda L. Boush, Mr. & Mrs. Frank Smith, L & F Distributors, Mr. & Mrs. Robert Lozano, Mr. & Mrs. Bernardo De La Garza, Richard H. Garcia, Mr. & Mrs. Jesse Treviño, Mr. & Mrs. Howard Pebley, Mr. & Mrs. Jim Collins, Mr. & Mrs. Brad Sprague, Mr. & Mrs. Cullen Looney, Val & Bill Peisen, Marian F. Monta, Ph.D., Cynthia H. Brown, Ph.D., Trudie Abbott, Dr. Martha May Tevis, Mr. & Mrs. Robert McAllen, South Texas Gastroenter-ology Associates, Mr. & Mrs. Fred Cappadona, Mr. & Mrs. Enrique Saldaña, Sylvia Cardenas, Mr. & Mrs. Kirk Clark, Reba Showers, Dr. & Mrs. John Edwards, James A. Hawley, Ph.D., Dr. & Mrs. Jack Stanley, Celine M. Cozad.by Ralph Magaña

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’SBOARD of UTPA FOUNDATION

HONORSEXCELLENCE in LEADERSHIP

RECIPIENTSJanet Wallace Minnie Lanham Yvonne Anderson

Yvonne Anderson Janet WallaceMinnie Lanham IWB PresidentAlma de la Garza

IWB PresidentAlma de la Garza

Dr. Blandina CardenasUTPA President


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