In an age where individual self-esteem isa definite focus, the increasing rate of gradeinflation in higher education is easy tobelieve. More students are graduating fromcollege than ever before, making a collegedegree seem like a necessity. But because ofthe rising numbers, the quality of educationthat students receive may not be of the samequality that the college brochure may bepromising.

The term grade inflation is defined as anupward shift in the grade-point averagewithout a corresponding increase in studentachievement. It also refers to the idea thatthe standards in education may be declining,and that as a result, students often receivegrades in certain courses not necessarilybecause they fully earned them, but partiallybecause the professors have the pressure ofmaintaining a high class average.

Dr. Ken Buckman of the UTPAphilosophy department feels that gradeinflation is a lie to students, telling themthey are meeting a standard which they havenot met.

“I, as do most faculty, abhor gradeinflation. It is unethical, dishonest, andharms students most of all,” Buckman said.“How can a student accurately assess herown capabilities, if the professor does notgive her an accurate reflection of the degreeto which that student is demonstrating hercapacity.”

Buckman says that the problem affectsUTPA students, cheapening the process andfosters a lie.

“If our grades are inflated and cheap, thelevel of competition our students are capableof mustering in the job market will beeclipsed by those students from otheruniversities who are able to meet the rigorsand expectations of a quality universityeducation,” he said. “I tell my students tofind the most challenging, demanding, butfair professors they can. Anything less hurtsthe student, not the professor. The easy “A”and the earned A look the same on atranscript, but the capacity and ability of theperson who has earned an excellent grade ina challenging environment is exponentiallybetter. An excellent education is available toall students at UTPA. A cheap grade onlybuys an illusion.”

What would Buckman say if someonefelt that his philosophy class was an easy“A’?

“It makes me smile,” said Buckman. “Iwould wonder what planet they werecoming from. Most of the students I knowdon't believe philosophy to be an easy ‘A.’

THURSDAYFebruary 20, 2003

An Inside Look:

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

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

Page 4

CCaammppuussVOICEHow couldthe Valley

benefit fromhaving a

spaceport inWillacyCounty?

CAMPUS■ LEADERSHIPCONFERENCESATURDAY Molly Ivins is thekeynote speaker for the2nd Annual StudentLeadership Conferenceset to take placeSaturday, Feb. 22 at theStudent Union Theater. Starting at 8 a.m. withregistration and acontinental breakfast,the conference runsuntil 5:30 p.m. It isintended to provideleadership training forcurrent UTPAmembers of theStudent LeadershipProgram, as well as forhigh school studentswho have displayedtremendous leadershipabilities and wish toenhance their skills. The theme of theconference is titled“Journey To HigherEducation,” and the all-day event includesinteraction betweenvarious student leadersthrough participationin hands-onworkshops. There arealso presentations byguest speakers who areexperts in theirrespective fields. Dr. Salma Ghanem,chair of the departmentof communication, saidthat the featured guestis an interesting newscommentator and agreat speaker.“This is a wonderfulopportunity forsomeone such as MollyIvins to speak, a personof such caliber,” saidGhanem. “This is awonderful event andthere should be manymore like this one.Whether you agree ordisagree with herviews, she would stillbe a speaker worthwatching.” - Ronald Claflin See GRADES page 5

Special to The Pan American

ALL HAIL— Homecoming King Joshua A. Caesar (left) and Queen Adelle Clinton pose in the Fieldhouse lastweek after becoming royalty for the school’s first court in almost a decade.

Grade risemight bequestioned

Bronc-o-Days came and went, butthe memories have stayed with thoseorganizations which participated, andwith the new homecoming court.After doing away with homecomingfestivities in 1996, the university lastweek renewed that tradition bycrowning a court.

This year's new Bronc-o-King andQueen are Joshua A. Caesar from theDelta Upsilon Fraternity, and AdeleClinton from the Kappa Delta ChiSorority. Bronc-o-Prince andPrincess are Omar J. Garza from TauKappa Epsilon Fraternity, and NaimaWilliams from the Lady Broncsbasketball team. Bronc-o-Dutch and

Duchess are Carlos Rios from theStudent Government Association,and Erica Diaz representing the Pre-Law Society.

The new members of the court arenot alone. The king and queen of1996 were also among theparticipants in these years' festivities.The 1996 king and queen, ReneCantu and Iris Sosa, were amongthose who assisted Saturday at theFieldhouse. They were invited by theUnited Student Organization Council(USOC) to be part of Bronc-o-Daysand give away their crowns to thenew winners.

Former king Cantu was veryexcited and very proud of themembers that put it together.

“I understand this is a tradition that

had died out, and now they arecontinuing it,” Cantu said.” “I amexcited to be back and be part of thistradition again after being elected byour student body in 1996.”

Former queen Iris Sosa also saidshe got really excited and happy afterthe president of USOC invited her toattend, because she was going to livethe experience again.

“It has been seven years, and Ihave done my life completely, butwhen the president of theorganization invited me to come overI wanted to cry because I can'tbelieve I am reliving it again,” Sosacommented. “I am very happy theybrought the tradition back because Ithink it is something that you always

Homecoming traditionrenewed after hiatus

By CLARISSA MARTINEZThe Pan American

By ARIANNA VAZQUEZThe Pan American

See HOMECOMING page 4

The Texas A&M-CorpusChristi Islanders put an end tothe University of Texas-PanAmerican men’s basketballteam’s four-game winning streak,58-54, before 2,720 charged upfans at the Fieldhouse Saturdaynight.

The hard-fought loss droppedthe Broncs to 9-18 on the season,8-2 at home, while the Islandersimproved to 10-14 after winningfor only the third time in the lastseven games.

Islander forward CoreyLamkin notched a double-doublewith 18 points and 14 reboundsto lead TAMUCC over UTPA.Bronc junior forward Prince

Thompson scored 17 points in alosing effort for the orange-and-green.

The game was marred byseveral fouls that resulted in theIslanders hitting 10 of 16 freethrows, factoring heavily in thefinal score.

“We got into foul troubleearly,” said Thompson. “We triedto stop them from getting to thefree throw line. We were talkingabout it in practice all week.They’re a good team and theylove to get up to the line.”

Pan Am started off the gameby going on an 8-0 run that wassparked by 6-foot-5 AllenHolcomb who scored six of theeight points. TAMUCCresponded with a 21-9 run thatput the Islanders ahead 21-17with 7:25 to play in the first half.

The Broncs composedthemselves and finished out thefirst half by outscoring theIslanders 16-8 to take a 33-29halftime lead into half time.Thompson led the Bronc surgewith nine points.

In the second half, both teamsbattled back and forth for thelead during the first 10 minutes,but TAMUCC finally took overthe lead for good at 9:11 on alayup by 6-foot guard BrianEvans to put the Islanders ahead44-43.

Evans’ score sparked a 9-0TAMUCC run that gave them a53-43 advantage with 3:27 left toplay in the second half.

However, UTPA didn’t just sitaround and let loss number 18

■ Tennis . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

■ Baseball . . . . . . . . . . .14

■ Sports Clipboard . . . . .13

PAGE 16

SPORTSLady Broncsrock IPFW

UTPA picks up fifth win of season behindstrong 44-point second half output

An energized University ofTexas-Pan American women’sbasketball team scored 44 points inthe second half to win a rematchagainst Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne71-57 before a faithful crowd of300 at the Fieldhouse Tuesdaynight.

The Lady Broncs snapped a five-game losing streak to improve 5-20on the season while IPFW droppedto 9-17 withthe loss.

The 71-point outputwas a season-high for theLady Broncswho lost totheMastodons,64-57, onFeb. 13 at theGates SportsCenter in FortWayne, Ind.

Juniorguard AmandaCarlow sparked the Lady Broncs inthe second half and sophmoreJennifer Arriola scored a career-high 17 points to lead a rejuvenatedPan Am squad over IPFW. TheLadies held a 50-33 reboundingedge.

Senior Alex Gravel scored 15points to increase her career andschool record leading point total to1,172 while posting a double-double for the first time in hercollege career. Senior Naima

Williams contributed 11 to close towithin 13 points of second place onUTPA’s all-time women’sbasketball scoring list that’soccupied by former scoring leader,Becky Dube, with 1,140 points.

"We executed, we ran the ball,we pushed the ball and AmandaCarlow just pushed us and got usdown the floor," said Arriola. "Wehave three more games and we’regoing to push and fight until we getthose three victories like we didtoday."

"Amandacarried theteam on herback,” saidinterim headcoach TracyAnderson."She refused tolet us losetonight and ourkids joined thewagon."

The LadyBroncs jumpedout to a 20-10lead with 9:54to play in the

first half. But that’s when IPFWpicked up the pace and increasedthe pressure on Pan Am, forcingseveral turnovers, especially underthe basket where the Mastodonshad virtually neutralized theorange-and-green offense.

IPFW erased UTPA’s lead in lessthan six minutes to take a 26-22edge with 4:28 to play in the half.Pan Am recovered a little in theclosing minutes to cut thePhoto by Ed Chrnko/The Pan American

SHOOTING: Jennifer Piwonka shoots over two IPFW defenders in Tuesday night’s game at the Fieldhouse.

By ED CHRNKOThe Pan American

TAMUCC rolls over Broncs, ends win streak

We played to wintoday, which is alittle different thanour past couple ofgames where weplayed not to lose

““

- Tracy Anderson, interim head coach

See LADY BRONCS page 14

By ED CHRNKOThe Pan American

See BRONCS page 14

Islander forward Corey Lamkin scores 18as four-game UTPA win streak snapped

pulga

Willacy County

Space Race?

A state-of-the-art media lab equipped formulti-media presentations, graphic design anddigital photography is now available tostudents, faculty and staff.

The lab, which opened Jan. 13, is located onthe third floor of the University Library.According to Paulo Reyes, the media lablibrary systems clerk, the facility contains someof the latest hardware and software available.

The lab provides graphic- and photo-qualityprinters that can print up to 13-by-19-inchpapers. A “dazzle” device and VCR are alsoprovided, which allow the user to convertanalog or VHS video-formatted media to anewer, digital form, including DVD and CD.

The lab is also furnished with zip, DVD, andCD drives. The scanners are high resolutionand the hardrive available can store up to 120gigs.

“The storage capacity is absolutely huge,”Reyes said. “It can store movies and it willnever fill up. The hardware available isamazing and the software is a gem.”

The software includes five programs forediting and creating movies and videos. Webpages can be created at the lab, but cannot belaunched. There is also software available forcropping and altering photos.

However, the lab does not provide allsupplies. Mini DV videocassettes forcamcorders, DVD+R media disks for storingvideo and making DVDs, CD-R for photo anddata storage and 100 or 250 MB Zip Disk forgeneral storage are not supplied.

Neither is photo paper provided. Epsonpaper, especially Premium Glossy orHeavyweight Matte, is recommended whenprinting photographs.

“We do provide regular paper and ink, butunfortunately we are unable to provideeverything,” Reyes said.

The labs are intended to work in conjunctionwith the media information desk, wherestudents, faculty, and staff can check outcamcorders and digital cameras for four-hourperiods. There are three Sony camcorders andsix Sony digital cameras available.

The lab also sponsors an orientation for thesoftware Powerpoint for those who are notfamiliar with the program. The lab is openMonday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

There is always a library systems clerkavailable for assistance. However, the systemsclerk is only present for technical help. The labcomplies with all copyright laws.

“I get some students wanting me to actuallyhelp them do their project,” Reyes said. “I’monly here for technical help on the programsand hardware, not to do their work for them.That is something people need to understand.”

The lab is not strictly for school-relatedprojects. It is also for personal use, but lesssupport is given to personal projects.

“I think everyone should come out here tocheck out these stations,” Reyes said. “It’s arelaxed environment. The things you can do areamazing and it’s fun, too.”

The facility has mainly been used byphotography and graphic design students, but isopen to everyone. Sergio Villarreal, juniorgraphic design major, utilizes the lab three tofour days per week.

“If it had not been for the media lab I wouldhave had to invest in programs and software athome which I do not have the money for orused the Academics Services Labs,” Villarrealsaid. “Those computers are behind, though,especially in graphic design software.”

The lab also helped Jessica Ramirez, junioradvertising/public relations major, by providingsome of the latest technology for herphotojournalism project.

“If the lab wasn’t available I would’ve justtaken pictures on a regular camera and takenthe film to HEB,” Ramirez said. “You learn

more hands-on by using the programs at thelab. If you decide to become a photojournalistit’s an insight on developing pictures withmodern technology.”

Villarreal also felt that the lab betters hiseducation he is receiving, along with savinghim time.

“Not only do I get my homework donequicker, but because the software is the latest, Ilearn how to use industry-standardizedprograms,” Villarreal said. “That will help mycareer in the future.”

Besides learning, Ramirez felt moreaccomplished by using the lab for herphotography project.

“I feel more pride in my project because Itook the time to go and digitally develop thepictures myself,” Ramirez said. “I did mywhole project myself from beginning to endinstead of having someone else develop mypictures at a store.”

The media lab, camcorders, and digitalcameras were all funded by the grant,Telecommunication Infrastructure Fund that thelibrary received in August of 2001. The grant isawarded by the state of Texas to public schoolsand universities to use for technology.

“The money for grants are taken out ofTexans home and cell phone bills,” explainedVirginia Haynie Gause, systems librarian.“They charge about fifty cents and the moneygoes to the grants.”

The library was given $290,391 to be spentin one year on things directly used by librarypatrons. Some of the other items purchasedinclude computers, wireless laptops (which canbe checked out and used anywhere in thelibrary), three network centers, and betterInternet capabilities.

“All the things bought will directly benefitall library users, which are mainly students,”Gause said.

“The library offers better technology nowand UTPA students can do more than justPowerpoint.”

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

http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican51st Year – No. 17

EditorMatt Lynch

mlynch@panam.edu

Layout Designers

Ashley Brooks

Gabriel O. Hernandez

Reporters

Hilda Barrientes

Amelia Garcia

Dulce Gonzalez

Aaron Lozano

Adriana Martinez

Clarissa Martinez

Jennifer Tapia

Celeste Y. Tello

Arianna Vazquez

Photographer

Daniel Aguilar

Circulation

Joe Rodriguez

Advertising

Dagoberto Perez

Advertising Coordinator

Juanita Sanchez

Adviser

Dr. Greg Selber

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

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

Letters policy

February 202 0 0 3

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

echrnko@yahoo.com

A & E EditorAshley Brooks

Magrew2@hotmail.com

News EditorBelinda Reyes

beberay25@aol.com

Graphics EditorGabriel O.Hernandez

gabo296@hotmail.com

NEWS■ Laurie Salazar. . . . . 3■ Campus Groups . . . 5■ ROESC . . . . . . . . . 6

Lab has latest technologiesBy AMELIA GARCIAThe Pan American

Despite figures that appear to argue to thecontrary, a recent scholarly publication indicatesthat the university’s retention rate is still not at arespectable level.

Dr. Jose Llanes, full professor of educationalleadership studies at UTPA, helped to write andpublish an article in the January 2003 issue ofthe Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. Thearticle was titled “Student Attrition, Retention,and Persistence: The Case of the University ofTexas-Pan American.”

Llanes collaborated with Dr. Alfredo Salinas,a recent graduate of the educational leadershipdoctoral program. The study of a cohort groupof entering freshmen from 1992 had significantfindings.

“Out of 1,425 students that were enteringfreshmen in 1992, the cohort, about 947 areclassified as nonpersisters,” Llanes said.

The persisters typically graduate with a BA insix years or less. Nonpersisters are defined asthose who leave the system or do not graduatein less than six years.

This contradicts a recent universityinformation release that places the retention rateat nearly 90 percent. However, Dr. Susan

Griffith, Director of Institutional Research saidthat statistic is misinterpreted. She said that thestatistic given was only a small representationof the entire freshman class at UTPA.

“It [the statistic] is wrong because it’s likesaying how many men are on campus, orwomen, or minorities. It singles out a particulargroup of people instead of the entire picture,”Griffith said.

In actuality, this case of the 88.7 percentshows the increase of students enrolling atUTPA as enrolling freshmen of the Fall 2002semester. In other words, almost 90 percent ofthose students returned for the next semester. Incontrast, Llanes and Salinas’ work shows thegraduation rate of students over a 10-yearperiod of time.

So there is good news in a short-term view,despite the misunderstanding. Whether thefigures eventually represent a higherretention/graduation rate over a longer period oftime remains to be seen. The principalsinvolved are joining forces to get to the bottomof what retention rates mean and how toimprove them.

“Dr. Griffith is interested in working withhim [Salinas] to improve the retention rate,”Llanes said. Griffith is currently working on thesummary of the study.

“The study Dr. Salinas conducted is

fascinating, since he tracked a cohort for 10years,” Griffith states in her summary. “It is rarein institutional research that an entire cohort, nota sample, is targeted; rarer still that they aretracked for a decade.”

The study began in 1992 and finallycompleted last year. Results showed that thestudents had taken five distinctive paths. A totalof 573 (40 percent) of the 1,425 first-time full-time entering freshman, graduated from UTPA;127 (9 percent) had transferred to and graduatedfrom either another 4-year institution; 69 (5percent) were still enrolled, and 656 (46percent) had not received a degree and were notregistered at UTPA in the Fall 2001 semester.

“This study gives us a picture of howsuccessful students are who begin at UTPA,”Griffith said. “Based on these data, the UTPA1992 cohort 10-year graduation rate, wasactually 49 percent.”

It is not easy to predict from the beginning,which students will be persisters and which willbe nonpersisters. According to the article byLlanes and Salinas, academic indicators are notaccurate predictors of who will be a persisters,and often offer confusing data.

“The academic indicators (ACT, TexasAssessment of Skills Program, and so forth) of

Tricky retention rates studiedBy CELESTE TELLO AND CLARISSAMARTINEZThe Pan American

See RETENTION page 4

Following last week’s sweepof St. Mary’s University at theCox Tennis Courts, theUniversity of Texas-PanAmerican men’s and women’stennis teams went in twodifferent directions duringrecent competition.

After beating St. Mary’s 5-2last Wednesday, the LadyBroncs (2-8) went on to dropthree straight contests, falling 4-3 to Texas A&M-Corpus Christion Friday and 4-3 to Southernand 4-2 to Sam Houston Stateon Saturday.

UTPA fell behind earlyagainst TAMU-CC as theIslanders swept the LadyBroncs in the doubles portion ofthe event. Although the LadyBroncs attempted a late rally inthe singles competition, UTPAcould only muster wins at thefirst, fourth and sixth singlespositions. Senior ElisabetMateos earned a point forUTPA at number one singleswith a 6-0, 6-4 win over FeliceSanchez, while sophomore AnaPena notched another point forUTPA at number the numberfour spot by beating JessicaMartinez 6-0, 7-5. Junior JulieFife picked up the last point forthe Lady Broncs at the numbersix spot with a 6-0, 6-3pounding of Kelsey Gist.

The Lady Broncs followedtheir three-point performanceagainst TAMU-CC with another4-3 loss to Southern onSaturday. After once againfalling behind early by losingthe doubles point, UTPA nearlyrecovered from the deficit bypicking up three singles pointsat the first, third and sixthpositions.

Mateos picked up her secondsingles win of the road trip witha 6-4, 4-4 victory over ArionaMarshall at the number one

spot, while freshman LauraBoskovich earned another pointfor the Lady Broncs with a 6-4,6-2 win over Kelly Nabors atthe third position. Junior AlanaBreen picked up the last UTPAscore by gutting out a 6-7, 6-1,(10-7) win over Jennifer Floyd.

The Lady Broncs have fewerfond memories to recall of theirencounter with Sam HoustonState, as UTPA mustered winsat only the fifth and sixthsingles spots en route to a 4-2loss. Fife earned one point forthe Lady Broncs with a 6-0, 3-6, (10-6) victory over JenniferPechal at the fifth spot, andJunior Jessica Brown recordedthe other UTPA point byblanking Shanna Elias 6-0, 6-0at the sixth position.

The Lady Broncs return toaction Feb. 23, when they faceSouthwest Texas State at SanMarcos at noon.

MEN

Following last week’s 7-0drubbing of St. Mary’s lastweek, the Broncs picked uptheir second-straight win with a4-3 victory over TAMU-CC onSaturday.

After falling behind early inthe match by losing two of thethree doubles matches, UTPArebounded with four singlesvictories to earn the come-from-behind win. Junior TomMangelschots picked up thefirst singles win for the Broncsat second singles with acomeback 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 winover Luis Moris.

Although senior Matt Gowerfell 6-0, 6-2 to GoncaloFigueiredo at the third singlesposition, UTPA responded withthree-straight wins at the fourththrough sixth singles spots.Sophomore Jeremy Salvopicked up a win at the fourthspot with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victoryover Shahzeb Niazi at numberfour, and freshman Oliver Steiltied the team competition at 3-3with a 6-4, 6-1 win over DavidPlasencia at the fifth singlesposition. Freshman Nik Portercompleted the comeback winfor the Broncs by recording a 6-4, 6-4 victory over LorenCollins at the sixth spot.

The Broncs open theirSouthland Conference scheduleFeb. 23 when they travel to SanAntonio to face SoutheasternLouisiana at 10 p.m.

February 20, 2003 sports Page 15

Tennis teams taking different pathsBroncs riding two-match win streak, while Lady Broncs

in midst of three-match losing skidBy MATT LYNCHThe Pan American

Photo by Matt Lynch/The Pan American

SERVICE: Kathryn Waslen serves to a St. Mary’s opponent last week.

SWING: Matt Gower hits a warm-up serve against St. Mary’s.Photo by Matt Lynch/The Pan American

Upcoming scheduleMen’s

2/23 Broncs vs. SoutheasternLouisiana at San Antonio - 10 a.m.2/27 Broncs vs. Laredo Col. - 3 p.m.3/7 Broncs at Air Force - 9 a.m.3/8 Broncs vs. Idaho State at ColoradoSprings - 9 a.m.3/17 Broncs vs. Cameron at SanAntonio - 1 p.m.3/20 Broncs vs. Vermont at SanAntonio - 9 a.m.

Women’s

2/23 Lady Broncs at SWT - noon2/27 Lady Broncs vs. Laredo Col. - 1 p.m.3/2 Lady Broncs vs. LA-Monroe - 1 p.m.3/7 Lady Broncs vs. Idaho State - 7 p.m.3/8 Lady Broncs vs. Wyoming - 6 p.m.3/9 Lady Broncs vs. Air Force - 5 p.m.3/10 Lady Broncs vs. Southern Utah -10 a.m.3/17 Lady Broncs vs. Cameron at SanAntonio - 1 p.m.

Only four news anchors in the Valley can saythey know what it is like to be a University ofTexas-Pan American graduate and Laurie Salazaris one of them.

Surprisingly they all work at KRGV-TVChannel 5. Salazar graduated from Pharr-SanJuan-Alamo High School in 1990 and from UTPAin 1996. The early morning news anchor has comea long way since the day she received herbachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. She hasanchored for a few television stations, beforelanding a spot that she always dreamed about.

Salazar’s luck began after graduation when shewas offered a job to report part-time with KGBT-TV Channel 4. She decided at the time that shewanted a steady daytime job, and had hopes ofeventually getting hired at Channel 5.

“At the time, if I was going to work in theValley, I wanted to [wait] and work for the numberone station in the Valley,” Salazar said. “I workedat McAllen Cable Network [Monday throughFriday] with normal hours. In that job, I got thebest of both worlds, by working in [media] andusing my degree.”

After six months, Salazar realized that shemissed the television news business.

“I was ready to take that leap in the news career.I applied for an anchor position in Laredo,

with the CBS affiliate KVTV, channel 13,”Salazar said. “I worked there a year as theweekday morning/ noon anchor.”

Eventually during that year, Laurie waspromoted as an evening anchor. She was alsogiven opportunities to anchor in other parts ofTexas. Television news stations from Lubbock, ElPaso and Tyler initiated job offers. Salazar chose togo with NBC affiliate,

KETK-TV, as a weekend evening anchor inTyler.

The week before Salazar was ready to leave forKETK’s offer, she came back to the Valley to visitand ended up landing a job with News Channel 5,as a morning reporter. She worked in that positionfor a little over a year, but she yearned for ananchor position. Salazar realized that she had toleave the Valley, but chose a job in close proximityto home.

“I wanted an anchor position and to stay nearthe Valley.I appliedin CorpusChristi forfor aneveninganchorpositionfor a NBCchannel,”Salazaradded.

Salazarrealizesthe luckthat she’shad in thetelevisionnewsworld,becauseshealwaysgot hiredfor everynews job position that she wanted. Eventually sheended coming back to Channel 5 as the morningand noon anchor in the beginning of 2001.

“[Channel 5]is such a goodstation to workfor, themanagementtreats you likefamily. That iswhy [reportersand anchors] stayhere so long.”

When Salazarwas in college,she started herstep into thetelevision newsbusinessinterning as anassociateproducer for theCBS-affiliatedKGBT-TV Team

4 News.“[During

college] Iinterned atchannel 4. Iran theteleprompterandansweredphones. LaterI became anAP [associateproducer] onweekends,”Salazar said.“It was time-consuming,but it wasdefinitely agood eye-opener. Itwas worththeexperience.”

At UTPA,Salazar was involved with various organizations.She was a member of the Blazer dance team andone of the editors for the first issue of thePanorama magazine. She held several part-timejobs while attending school and also competed inseveral beauty pageants, winning titles of MissHidalgo County USA and Miss South Texas USA.

“I competed in Miss Texas USA both in 1994and 1997,” Salazar said. “[Competing] has helpedme to be a public speaker.”

Salazar added that competing also helped keepher informed about current events.

“You have to know your stand on communityand world issues,” Salazar said. “It has taught meto be well-rounded, knowledgeable and social. Abeauty queen is not just a pretty face, she has to beprofessional.”

Salazar said she has gained a strong journalisticedge through her experiences as an anchor. It hasbeen a learning experience and taught Salazar toexpand the boundaries of knowledge on everyaspect of life.

“You have to know everything. How schoolboard meetings work, the way courts work, borderissues, health issues, and laws. You need to know

how to research [all subjects]as a reporter andanchor,” Salazar said.

Salazar’s advice to those pursuing a career inbroadcast journalism is to be well-rounded inknowledge and the journalistic trade.

“People driven to the business are personalitydriven and they are not shy people. Some

think it is only about appearance, but it is somuch more,” Salazar said. “It is about lookingprofessional. It is about being a journalist.”

When Salazar is not delivering early morningnews, she keeps herself busy with variousorganizations. She is a board member for CASA(Court Appointed Special Advocate)

for abused and neglected children, a committeemember for Miss Rio Grande Valley USA pageantsystem. She is also a member of the ProvisionalClass Junior League for McAllen.

According to the KRGV web site, Laurie’sjournalistic achievements include being named the2000 Hispanic Women of the Year in the Media bythe American G.I. Forum in Corpus Christi. Shewas selected as the regional media winner thatsame year for advocating the Child ProtectiveServices Adoption Program in Texas.

Salazar’s co-workers feel that she has reachedthe top and will continue to strive to become thebest in the television news world.

Letty Valadez-Garza, who has been with NewsChannel 5 for 20 years, is Salazar’s mentor, andsays that the UTPA ex has proven herself in thebusiness.

“Laurie has taken everything she learned atschool and through her personal activities[pageants] combined a complete package to createthe professional woman that she is today,”Valadez-Garza said. “She is the epitome of beautyand brains.”

News Channel 5 reporter Kristine Galvan saidSalazar is ambitious and hardworking.

“Laurie is a very hard worker, she knows whatshe wants in her career. She is very career-minded.”

Salazar said her goals as a professionaljournalist will not come to a halt any time soon.She plans to try and land a job in Houston, Miami,Dallas, or Washington D.C.

“My goals are to move up to be an eveninganchor [at Channel 5] and to one day work in a top15 market,” Salazar said.

February 20, 2003 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 3

UTPA grad making it big on TV

By BELINDA REYESThe Pan American

Photos special toThe Pan American

TALKING TO THE STARS— Television anchor Laurie Salazar, an ex-Bronc, interviewsEdward James Olmos (left), and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (above). She is shown ather college graduation with her parents (below) in 1996, and with co-anchor Brady Douglason the Fox news set (bottom of page).

February 20, 2003 sports Page 14

Feb. 19UIW 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 1 1 (5-5)UTPA 0 0 0 2 0 2 x - 4 6 0 (5-6)Pitchers: UIW - J Munoz. UTPA - A Guerra Win - A Guerra (2-2) Loss - J Munoz (3-1) Time - 1:30 Attendance - 381

UIW 4 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 5 - 12 13 3 (5-4)UTPA 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 2 1 - 8 15 6 (4-6)Pitchers: UIW - H Delgadillo; J Condel (7); AChevalier (8); G MARTINEZ (10). UTPA - T Sorden; T Parker (2); J Gibson (10). Win - A Chevalier (1-0) Loss - J Gibson (0-1) Time - 3:31 Attendance - Not reportedHR UIW - J Kraweitz

Round Rock Express College Classic

Feb. 16SWT 0 7 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 - 12 6 0 (4-5)UTPA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 - 3 10 2 (4-5)Pitchers: SWT - P Schappert; B Parr (8).UTPA - A Guerra; B Diorio (2); R Anderson (7);R Martinez (7); J Lopez (7). Win - P Schappert (1-1) Loss - A Guerra (1-2)Time - 2:45 Attendance - 518

Feb. 15NEBRASKA 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 3 1 - 9 6 2 (2-0)UTPA 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 2 2 (4-4)Pitchers: NEBRASKA - B Duensing; D Timm(7); M Sillman (9).UTPA - T Sorden; J Gibson (5); J Lopez (8). Win - B Duensing (1-0) Loss - T Sorden (0-1)Time - 2:43 Attendance - 242

Feb. 14UTPA 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 - 5 8 2 (4-3)CAL 0 6 7 5 1 1 x - 20 16 0 (7-1)Pitchers: UTPA - J Duhon; T Parker (3); JSaenz (4).CALIFORNIA - M Brown; B Read (6). Win - M Brown (1-0) Loss - J Duhon (0-1) Time - 2:30 A - Not reportedHR UTPA - B Kennedy; HR CALIFORNA - BHorwitzh 2, C Jackson, J Holder 2

UTPA Baseball Team Leaders

BattingG AB H R HR RBI AVG

J. McCoy 11 27 12 7 0 4 .444Marco Garza 11 48 19 7 1 8 .396Tony Ortiz 11 42 14 7 0 5 .333Matt Sisk 9 30 9 6 1 7 .300Juan Saenz 8 24 7 0 0 4 .292based on 20 at bats or more

PitchingG W-L ERA SV SO IP

Ben Diorio 3 2-0 1.46 0 7 12.1A. Guerra 4 2-2 3.92 0 8 20.2T. Sorden 4 0-1 6.46 0 8 15.1based on 7.0 innings pitched

Upcoming Schedule

2/22 UTPA vs. Ark.-Montecello (DH) - 4 p.m.2/23 UTPA vs. Ark.-Montecello - 1 p.m.2/26 UTPA at Texas Tech - 4 p.m.2/27 UTPA at Texas Tech - 2 p.m.3/1 UTPA vs. TAMUCC (DH) - 4 p.m.

UTPA BASEBALL STATS

Mastodon halftime lead to 29-27.Down 37-35 with 14:06 left in

the second half, Arizona nativeArriola tied up the game at 37-apiece on a layup that changed theentire rhythm of the game.

The Lady Broncs opened up thegame with quick passing, betterpositioning and beating the black-and-blue to the hoop that resultedin a 17-4 Pan Am run that put thehome team ahead 54-42 with 7:04left to play.

The Mastodons made a chargein the last part of the game, butUTPA managed to hold out byoutscoring the Midwesterners 17-15 and eventually win their fifthgame of the season and improveto 5-20.

"Our spacing wasn’t very goodin the first half and so it seemedlike we were getting reallyjammed. When you run the floorit allows you to flatten a team outdefensively because our kids werepushing them and running thefloor," Anderson said."Offensively, we were much moreaggressive and got some easytransition buckets which we

haven’t been able to do all year.""We played to win today which

is a little different than our pastcouple of games where we playednot to lose. That was a hugedifference," said Anderson.

In the first matchup between thetwo teams on Feb. 13, UTPAopened up the game with a 14-0run and increased the lead to 21-4with 12:47 left to play in the firsthalf, but the Mastodons outscoredPan Am 26-13 to close to withinfour points at halftime, 34-30.

UTPA built up a 55-46 leadwith 6:45 remaining in the gamebut the orange-and-green’s gas ranout and the roof caved in as IPFWwent on an 18-2 run to lift themover Pan Am 64-57.

NOTES: The Lady Broncs willclose out the season by playingtheir remaining three games at theField House starting ThursdayFeb. 20 against Lipscomb at 7p.m. Next week, UTPA will faceIncarnate Word on Tuesday Feb.25 at 7 p.m. and will wrap up the2002/03 season against Centenaryon Saturday March 1 at 1 p.m.

LADY BRONCS continued from page 16

steamroll right over them. Pan Am fought back to within a

basket, 53-51, on a Thompsonlayup with 1:33 remaining in thegame.

The Broncs pulled to within twopoints again with 38 seconds leftto play, 56-54, after senior guardKevin Mitchell hit three straightfree throws. But TAMUCC heldoff UTPA in the waning secondsof the game by hitting two of four

free throws to go up 58-54 andput an end to the Broncs’ four-game winning streak.

“It was a physical game. Thereshould of been more fouls called,”said head coach Bob Hoffman.“Our team just fought like crazyat the end. They made some playsat the end to give us a chance.”

The team’s next home game isMonday, Feb. 24 againstCentenary.

Photo by Ed Chrnko/The Pan AmericanELEVATION: UTPA’s Naima Williams elevates over a IPFW defender for a shot.

BRONCS continued from page 16

Men’s Basketball Team Leaders

PointsG Pts Pts/G

K. MITCHELL 27 392 14.5Allen Holcomb 27 281 10.4Eric Montalvo 27 240 8.9 P. Thompson 27 239 8.9T. Sitnikovas 27 225 8.3

ReboundsG Reb Reb/G

A. HOLCOMB 27 198 7.3T. Sitnikovas 27 122 4.5P. Thompson 27 113 4.2

AssistsG No. A/G

JAMES DAVIS 26 99 3.8Kevin Mitchell 27 89 3.3Eric Montalvo 27 50 1.9

Women’s Basketball Team Leaders

PointsG Pts Pts/G

ALEX GRAVEL 22 299 13.6Naima Williams 25 262 10.5J. Piwonka 25 187 7.5Julie Porter 25 161 6.4Amanda Carlow 25 138 5.5

ReboundsG Reb Reb/G

JULIE PORTER 25 147 5.9Naima Williams 25 133 5.3Jennifer Arriola 25 98 3.9

AssistsG No. A/G

J. Piwonka 25 75 3.0Amanda Carlow 25 67 2.7Alex Gravel 22 45 2.0

Upcoming Schedule

2/20 Lady Broncs vs. Lipscomb2/24 Broncs vs. Centenary2/25 Lady Broncs vs. Inc. Word3/1 Broncs at Morris Brown3/1 Lady Broncs vs. Centenary

UTPA BasketballStats

Broncs split twinbillagainst Incarnate Word

The University of Texas-Pan Americanbaseball team finally got some solidpitching Wednesday evening as freshmanAaron Guerra pitched a one-hitter to defeatIncarnate Word 4-0 and snap a five-gamelosing streak before 381 fans gathered atthe Edinburg Baseball Stadium.

The Broncs improved to 5-6 while theCrusaders evened their record at 5-5.

Guerra (2-2) pitched seven strong inningswhile giving up a lone hit, striking out oneand walking only two to drop his ERA to3.92. Pan Am’s offense supplied Guerrawith a pair of runs in the bottom of thefourth and another deuce in the Bronc halfof the sixth which turned out to be morethan the Edinburg standout needed to chalkup his second win of the season.

In the fourth, sophmore Tony Ortizdoubled to left center to drive in freshmanLouie Alamia. Ortiz advanced to third on aground out by sophmore Ricky Andersonand scored on junior Aldo Alonzo’ssacrifice fly.

Edinburg native Alamia opened thebottom half of the sixth with a triple to left

center field and came home on an Ortizsingle. The Fort Worth native advanced tosecond on a on a single to right field byAnderson and reached third on Alonzo’ssacrifice bunt. Freshman T.J. Gilmer pokeda single to right field to score Ortiz andgive Guerra a 4-0 lead.

UTPA dropped the opening game of thetwinbill 12-8 in 10 innings after committingsix errors. Trailing 7-2 after six innings, theBronc offense chipped away at the Crusaderlead by scoring a run in the seventh and apair of runs in the eigth and ninth innings toforce the game into extra innings.

The Broncs sent junior Johnny Gibson tothe mound to start off the tenth, but IWUended up using the UTPA freshman fortarget practice. Justin Krawietz sealed theCrusader victory with a grand slam homerun to put IWU ahead 12-7.

Pan Am tried to rally in its half of thetenth, but only managed to squeeze out arun to drop the first game.

Last weekend, the Broncs dropped threestraight games at the Round Rock ExpressCollege Classic by a combined score of 41-9.

UTPA opened up the tournament on Feb.

UTPA drops first contest but wins nightcap By ED CHRNKOThe Pan American

See BASEBALL page 13

February 20, 2003 Sports Page 13

Tigres capture firstTigres of UNL leap-frogged archrival

Monterrey for first place in the MexicanSoccer League this past weekend afterdefeating the Chivas of Guadalajara,Mexico’s most popular club, 1-0, in thesixth week of the Clausura 2003 tourna-ment. Brazilian forward Kleber Pereirascored the winning goal in the Tigres’ vic-tory to insure first place with 13 points.Meanwhile, cross-town rival Monterreylost to the defending champion DiablosRojos of Toluca, 3-1, to fall into secondplace by goal differential.

Ali retains titleLaila Ali, the youngest daughter of for-

mer heavyweight champion and Louisvillenative Muhammad Ali, stopped 34-year-oldTexas native Mary Ann Almager with 1:55left in the fourth round on a technicalknockout Friday night to defend her IBAsuper middleweight championship at theLouisville Gardens before a capacity crowdof 4,000. The bout was televised as themain event of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fightson Feb. 14. Ali improved her record to 14-0 while notching her 11th career KO. Withthe loss, Almager dropped to 14-6.

Hunters Expo comingThe 13th Annual Texas Hunters Expo

will be held this weekend, February 21-23, at the McAllen Civic Center. Theevent will include bookings for trophyhunts and maufacturers and dealers will beon hand to show off their latest hardware.The Expo will begin on Friday at 5 p.m.and run until 9 p.m. The event will contin-ue from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday andconclude Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

U.S. beats JamaicaIn another tuneup match before the

Football Confederation's Gold Cup, theUnited States Men's National Soccer Teamdefeated Jamaica, 2-1, in front of a sell-outcrowd of 27,000 at the National Stadium inKingston, Jamaica. Carlos Bocanegrascored in the 11th minute and Chris Kleinadded a second tally two minutes later.Jamaica's lone goal came off a 51st minutefree kick after U.S. midfield PabloMastroeni was called for a yellow card.The U.S. used a roster composed of playersexclusively from Major League Soccer,while Jamaica recalled eight players basedin England. The victory over the ReggaeBoyz improved the U.S. all-time recordagainst the Caribbean nation to an unde-feated 8-0-5 and 2-0-4 in games played inJamaica.

Broncs face ReynosaThe UTPA baseball team will face the

Reynosa Broncos on Tuesday, March 4th atthe Edinburg Baseball Stadium at 7:30 p.m.The game was originally scheduled to beplayed in Reynosa, Mexico. Last year,Reynosa defeated the Broncs, 5-3. RafaelCastaneda blasted a two-run homer in theninth inning before a crowd of 1,604 fansat the Edinburg Baseball Stadium.

Ladies take thirdThe Lady Broncs golf team took third

place in the five-team field BroncIntercollegiate Classic after scoring a three-round total of 971 last Tuesday. FreshmanStefanie Maynard scored a 54-hole total of229 and won in a scorecard playoff toemerge as the tournament’s medalist.Lamar took first place after shooting a 951for the tournament. Southwest Texas Statefinished second with a 964.

Broncs capture 12thThe University of Texas-Pan American

men’s golf team finished in 12th place lastTuesday after accumulating a 54-hole totalof 923 at the 15-team Sam HallIntercollegiate golf tournament.Southeastern Louisiana took first placewith a score of 852. The UTPA track teamsset two school records Feb. 15 at theUniversity of Houston/RunSport All-Comers Meet at the Yeoman Field House.Junior Amy Moses finished first in theweight throw with a school record throw of60 feet four inches. The throw was a per-sonal best for Moses. Another schoolrecord was set by junior Isaac Ybarra in thesame category. Ybarra threw for 58 feet 81/2 inches to finish second in the weightthrow.

Student volunteersThe athletic department of UTPA

recently agreed to form a partnership withthe Comfort House of McAllen that willinvolve Pan Am student-athletes. TheComfort House is located at 617 DallasAve. and provides free end-of-life care forterminally ill people. The second annualWalkathon, sponsored by the ComfortHouse, will be held Feb. 22. Registrationfor the charity event will begin at 7:30p.m. at Doc Neuhaus Park at Eigth Streetand Dallas Avenue in McAllen. The walkwill start at 8:30 a.m.

Broncs beat SavannahState

The UTPA men’s basketball team gotback to its winning ways with a 45-39 vic-tory over Savannah State on Wednesdaynight. Kevin Mitchell led UTPA (10-18)with 16 points, and Allen Holcomb added10 points and 12 boards. Michael Mitchellled the Tigers (2-23) with 16 points.

SSPPOORRTTSS CCLLIIPPBBOOAARRDD14 by getting shelled by California 20-5.The Golden Bears pummelled Broncpitching by scoring 18 runs in the first fourinnings of the game. California rightfielder Brian Horowitz hit two home runsand batted in eight runs during theslaughter.

On Feb. 15, 19th-ranked Nebraska didn’ttreat the Broncs much better. TheCornhuskers routed Pan Am 9-1. Nebraskaused the combined efforts of three pitchersto limit the Broncs to just two hits. UTPApitching did its best to equal theCornhuskers’ hurlers by throwing a six-hitter, but three Bronc pitchers combined towalk 10 men and hit five batters.

UTPA wrapped up their participation inthe tournament by dropping the last gameto Southwest Texas State 12-3. Broncpitchers threw a six-hitter for the secondday in a row, but gave up 12 runs. SWTjumped out to a 9-0 lead after four inningsand later added 3 more runs to run up thescore to 12-0 after seven frames.

The Broncs reacted too late by scoringthree runs in the bottom of the ninth tosave themselves from the shutout.

On Feb. 22, Pan Am will host Arkansas-Monticello at the Edinburg BaseballStadium in a doubleheader at 4 p.m. TheBroncs will wrap up the three-game serieson Sunday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m.

BASEBALL continued from page 14

persisters and nonpersisters are similar,” thearticle read.

Although such things as standardized testshave not been accurate indicators so far, Salinaspointed out there are some warning signs ofnonpersistence.

“Those that left showed signs of leaving byearning or enrolling for less credit hours in thesemesters before they stop coming,” he said.“Their GPA was also going down and the lastsemester enrolled, these students did not dowell at all.”

By establishing what he believes is a patternof behavior for nonpersisters, Llanes hopes thatintervention will increase retention rates atUTPA.

“Now that we have an indication ofnonpersisters we can try to intervene so theystay,” he said. “This university needs to have asignificant increase of graduates in order toreach state goals,”

Llanes said that Salinas was able tobenchmark a time period that students are aremost likely to drop out. With this newinformation, Llanes hopes that the university

will be able to provide services such ascounseling in order to encourage the studentsthinking of dropping out to realize the benefitsof a university diploma.

“Some students have a bad first semester,terrible grades or they aren’t familiar with the4.0 grade scale and don’t know how well theyare doing in their classes,” Llanes said. “Theyhave families to manage, jobs to handle ortemporarily need to leave school. If we cancatch them and show them the long termbenefits of college, then they will be able to seehow college will benefit them in the end.”

In the 1992 cohort group the retention ratereflected a 65-percent institutional loss by thetime the students reached their fourth year. Thatpercentage comes from an initial group of 1,425students.

With that high statistic looming over UTPA,the authors of the article will conduct a follow-up qualitative study of the 67 long-termpersisters to provide answers to the hypothesesraised by the study.

The entire article can be read in the Journalof Hispanic Higher Education.

RETENTION continued from page 2

February 20, 2003 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 4

Iliana RodriguezCriminal JusticeSophomore

The Valley will become more popular andit will increase our economy.

Tricia BarreraBroadcast JournalismSenior

It will bring more jobs here and thatwill benefit the Valley’s economy.

Jesse MontoyaCommunicationSophomore

It will make the Valley more importantamong the country since hardly anypeople from the outside know aboutthis area.

How could the Valley benefitfrom having a spaceport in

Willacy County?

Jennifer SikesUndeclaredSophomore

I believe a lot of jobs will be created andthe Valley will become more noticeable tothe people that don’t live here.

VOICECCaammppuuss

Michael CoodyComputer GraphicsSenior

There will be better jobs and researchoppurtunities especially for UTPA. It willalso be a good tourist center.

HOMECOMING continued from page 1

take and all universities should have.”The USOC and 15 other participating

organizations got a great turnout from thestudents, according to USOC CoordinatorAnabelle Torres. Planning for the event startedin December, and do to their work, 1,978 voteswere cast.

“It was the best turnout we could [have] everimagined,” Torres said. “At least 15organizations [had booths] and competed in thegames. It is something we want to keep for nextyear, and the years after because it was a perfectprogram.”

Bronc-o-King Caesar commented that he wassurprised and happy about all of the studentswho came out to support the event and voted forthe candidates.

“It is amazing how many students voted, andI think that with that kind of student support Iam really happy to be king,” Caesar said. “LikeI was telling everybody when I was out thereshaking hands, I would really like to representthe university in a way it should be represented.I want to thank everybody that voted and choseme as the Bronc-o-King.”

Clinton, this year's Bronc-o-Queen, also saidshe was very excited about being nominated byher sorority, and was even more pleased whenshe was voted queen by the students. She hopesto represent the student body, the university, andher sorority, as well as bring more spirit to the

campus.However, there were those who never

imagined being in the top three and felt a bigthrill to be part of the 2003 court. Lady Broncbasketball player Williams did not expect to getfar, and win a position in the court.

“I didn't expect to get this far, but mybasketball team pushed me to do it, so I amreally excited about it,” Williams said.

USOC President Sandra Alcocer stated thatalthough the organization was worried about thepotential reaction, or lack thereof, of the studentbody toward bringing back homecoming,everything was better than expected.

“I think it is great, we got awesome results,”Alcocer said. “The USOC brought back thetradition, and we want to keep [the spirit] aliveevery spring semester.”

As for the organizations that participated, theyalso got the name recognition from the studentbody, as Kayla Dreyer treasurer of the Pre-lawSociety commented. She also said that thehomecoming festivities also help to bring moremembers to those clubs and organizations.

The true essence of Bronc-o-Days is ofcourse, to provide more school spirit andsupport to UTPA's basketball team. As seniorDulce Cantu said, the homecoming event bringsmore spirit and motivation to the players; themore motivation they receive, the more theywin.

Special to The Pan American

ROYAL COURT— (Left to right): Duke Carlos Rios; Prince Omar Garza; 1996 King Rene Cantu; King JoshuaA. Caesar; Queen Adelle Clinton; 1996 Queen Iris Sosa; Princess Naima Williams and Duchess Erica Diaz

The meaning of life, righteousness, and deathare some of the things that humans have tried tounderstand through religion. From the deities ofthe Aztecs to Buddha, religion has always been apart of humanity. It is a powerful entity. Beliefs,morals, ethics, and social norms are alldetermined by it. War, as well as peace, has beencreated because of it.

At the University of Texas-Pan Americanthere are 10 religious organizations that provide avariety of choices for students. Each will beprofiled in The Pan American as part of acontinuing series for the next two months.

Each group has its own beliefs andviewpoints, which it feels are correct. Membersstand behind what they think and can supporttheir ideas. The groups are composed of humanbeings trying to understand life and its creator.

CAMPUS MINISTRY INTERNATIONALCampus Ministry International began its

UTPA chapter in Fall 2002. The group isaffiliated with the United Pentecostal ChurchInternational, but accepts members from alldenominations.

The president of Campus MinistryInternational, Michael de los Santos, a freshmansocial work major, began the organizationbecause he felt the need to give students, faculty,and staff an opportunity to learn about theApostolic Bible.

“I wanted to preach the gospel at Pan Am asthe Apostles did,” de la Santos said. “God isalmighty, powerful, and limitless. Amen. If youpreach like that then you get the same results asthe Apostles did back then.”

The Campus Ministry International secretary,Sara Lopez, a sophomore biology major, joinedCampus Ministry International because shewanted to share God’s word with other studentsas well.

“I wanted to go out there and share God’sword with everyone,” Lopez said. “It’s hardbeing a college student. You have to work, youhave to live on your own, classes are hard, andyou get frustrated and stressed. I wanted to helpstudents understand that there is hope. God canhelp you through anything.”

De los Santos originally wanted to create theorganization at Texas State Technical College inHarlingen, but could not find a faculty sponsor.He then prayed for an answer to his problem.

“God told me, I felt his deep impression, tocome to Pan Am,” de los Santos said. “I did andimmediately the door opened up and everythinggot taken care of. Jorge Lopez from theeducation department is the sponsor. The rest ishistory.”

Before de la Santos turned to religion he sayshe was a drug addict and alcoholic. He said hewas saved on March 13, 2001.

“Now I live for God and want to tell othersabout the wonderful treasure that can be found inthe Lord,” de los Santos said. “I had giveneverything a shot before. I gave drugs a shot. Igave alcohol a shot. It was horrible. Now I havegiven the Lord a shot and there is no goingback.”

Campus Ministry International holds prayermeetings every Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. inthe University Chapel. Bible studies are held onThursdays, noon to 1 p.m. in Sage Room 2.406in the Student Union. The discussions held comefrom questions that members might have.

“We have straight word lessons,” de losSantos said. “I preach what God has put in myheart. Others who have experienced salvationpreach as well.”

Lopez feels that the most important lesson thatCampus Ministry International teaches is to

make God a part of one’s daily life.“Lately we’ve been talking about really

getting ahold of God,” Lopez said. “We need tolive for God. It’s not a once in awhile thing. It’san ongoing thing.”

According to Lopez, Campus MinistryInternational also believes in total immersionbaptismal and that speaking in tongues isevidence of the Holy Ghost’s presence. Thegroup studies salvation according to Acts 2:38.

“It means that we need to repent,” Lopez saidabout Acts 2:38. “We gotta turn away fromsinning. We gotta be truly sorry and want tomake a complete turn around. Of course nobodyis perfect. We are all going to sin again, but Godis merciful. However, we have to try not to and ifwe do then we must repent.”

Throughout the semester Campus MinistryInternational holds revival services which areopen to the public.

“Anyone who has given their hearts to Christand lives to serve God is welcome,” de losSantos said. “They can make public confessionsof their faith.”

The organization has not had any fundraisersyet. It funds its activities through the moneyreceived at services it holds. However, membersare planning fundraisers in the near future.

“We take that money and use it through theyear,” de los Santos said. “The Lord usuallyblesses us with a generous amount.”

During times of hardships, disaster, anduncertainty, de los Santos feels that the answer isGod and that is what Campus MinistryInternational preaches.

“God loves everyone on campus and in theworld,“ de los Santos said. “People are walkingaround with emptiness. He is what the worldneeds. God is here to help, but you have toconfess to him and then he will send help.”

For more information about UnitedPentecostal Church International log on towww.upci.com and for questions about CampusMinistry International e-mail Michael de losSantos atcampusministryinternational@yahoo.com.

REFORMED STUDENTS FOR CHRISTAnother religious organization that got started

in Fall 2002 is Reformed Students for Christ.The group studies the ideology of predestination,John Calvin and Martin Luther.

Moses Flores, president of Reformed Studentsfor Christ, a senior kinesiology major, began theorganization because he felt that there was norepresentation of reformed Christians on campus.

“The ideology of reformation has beenabandoned by many,” Flores said. “We aim toreturn to it and have a new reformation, a smallone of course.”

Bible studies along with question-and-answerseminars are held every Tuesday and Thursdayfrom noon to 1 p.m. in the Social Behavioral andScience building. The location varies, but for themonth of February it will be in room 110. Thetopics discussed depend on the questions broughtup by participants.

“We are a challenging group,” said Flores.“We ask people to really study the scriptures andsee them for what they really say. ”

Alex Gonzalez, junior nursing major, decidedto join Reformed Students for Christ afterpicking up a flier explaining what ReformedChristianity is.

“I was already a Christian before I joined,”Gonzalez said. “When I went to the Bible study Isaw some things I was never taught before orhad ever seen before. It made me think andquestion my beliefs. I asked myself why do Ibelieve that. Is it just tradition or is it reallyGod’s word?”

After learning about Reformed Christianity,Gonzalez decided that Reformed Students forChrist was the best religious organization for himbecause it offered a look into the beginning ofProtestant Christianity.

“There are a lot of (religious) groups oncampus, but none are like this one,” Gonzalezsaid. “No other group touches on theology. Thisgroup gets deep, seminary deep. We even go tothe original manuscripts in Greek and Hebrew. Itreally gives you a better understanding.”

The organization dedicates itself to educatingpeople on the original Protestant teachings,because members feel they are the true word ofGod.

“People have their own set of ideas of whatthey think, but usually they are sorely mistaken,”Flores said. “If they come, they can find outwhat true, classical, and historical Christianityis.”

According to Gonzalez Tulip, ReformedStudents for Christ believe in Calvin’s fivepoints:

• The first point is total depravity, whichteaches that all men are born in sin and arecorrupted. Therefore man cannot desire God.

• Calvin’s second point is unconditionalelection. This teaches that before creation Godchose a group of people that would be saved.Therefore God chose man.

• The third point, Gonzalez explained islimited atonement. This teaches that God sentJesus Christ to save only those who he haschosen to be saved.

• Irresistible grace is the fourth point, whichteaches that because God has chosen anindividual and Jesus Christ died for thatindividual then that person will not be able toresist the work of God.

• The last point, according to Gonzalez, isperseverance of the saints. This point explainsthat once someone is saved they cannot lose theirsalvation because the Holy Spirit dwells in them.

The group has had trouble with others who donot agree with them. Flores said another student

wrote “liars” on a Reformed Students for Christflier that was posted on campus.

“Debates are welcomed,” said Flores, whowas a Christian Studies major at Howard PayneUniversity before transferring to UTPA. “Toomany assume their beliefs are correct withoutquestioning them. Let me show you the historybooks and we’ll go to the Greeks and Hebrews(biblical texts) if we have to.”

According to Flores, Reformation is hugeworldwide, but he feels that due to lack ofknowledge people have moved away from it inthe United States. However, he adds that mostChristian religions can trace their roots toReformed Christianity.

“People are trying to reinvent Christianity,”Flores said. “There is too much use of emotionand pragmatics in preaching. It has beencorrupted.”

Gonzalez also feels that Protestant Christianityhas gone through a negative change from whenit first begun.

“Today’s stuff is real liberal,” Gonzalez said.“They don’t tell you the whole truth. I’m notsaying they do it on purpose. They probably justdon’t know. They haven’t come to therealization.”

Reformed Students for Christ feels that it canoffer a better understanding of Christianity to itsmembers.

“We will give them a more properunderstanding of what true Christianity is, notonly as a religion, but as a world view,” de losSantos said. “It will develop their beliefs whichshape their moral life.”

For more information about ReformedStudents for Christ e-mail Moses de los Santos atprchdaword@aol.com.

NEXT WEEK: The series continues with alook at two more campus groups.

February 20, 2003 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 5February 20, 2003 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 12

Religious groups finding campus nicheBy AMELIA GARCIAThe Pan American

As nearly as I can tell, my colleagues are exacting in their standards. I certainly have students who arecapable of earning A's and do.”

Buckman said that there are several standards he upholds making grade inflation unlikely: thedensity of the subject matter; the reliance on written and oral communication skills; the demand toarticulate in a precise and concise matter; the forging of analytic and synthetic skills.

“The insistence that one think profoundly about the fundamental questions of human beingpreclude easy A's in most circumstances,” he suggested. “The demands and rigors of logic alone makeour course work challenging. However, the rewards of such intensity are inestimable.”

USA Today reports that according to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in 1966, 22percent of Harvard University undergraduate students earned “A's” and by 1996, that figure rose to 46percent. That same year, 82 percent of Harvard seniors graduated with honors.

In addition, in 1973, 31 percent of all grades at Princeton were “A's” and by 1997 that rose to 43percent. In 1997 only 12 percent of all grades given at Princeton were below the “B” range.

According to the National Survey of Student Engagement, there seems to be is an ‘unspokenagreement’ between students and professor that allows the students to feel as if they do not hassle thefaculty with problems relating to the class then the faculty will not ask to much from them. Buckmansees this statement, and the action it suggests, as undermining the ethics of professors.

“We are expecting our students to be professionals, we send students into the world with a hopeand a promise of a rich future,” he explained. “There is an obligation on both students and professorsto attempt the highest standards to open up the possibility of such a future,” he said.

Junior psychology major Roland Martinez said that he felt that decisions he makes to take classesare mainly dependent on his degree plan, but that if he needed to raise his GPA, this might alter hisdecisions.

“I have taken classes before that I felt would be an ‘easy A’,” Martinez said. “It can go either way,because yes, you can get a good grade, therefore raising your GPA, but at the same time, you mightnot get anything out of the class.”

Classes that are considered easier to gain a higher average include the “soft sciences” such associology, anthropology, psychology, and communications. Natural sciences, like physics andadvanced math courses prove to be the classes that offer tougher “A’s,” especially for a population ofU.S. college students who have ranked near the middle of the pack in international lists comparingperformance in science and math.

Senior Jaime Puente is a teaching assistant in cellular biology and says he has never never heededthe pressure of giving students higher grades.

“Knowing that the class is difficult I would try to be lenient with the work since lab should behelpful to the lecture,” Puente said. “But I started to realize that there were some students who wouldtry to take advantage of the lab so I started to be stricter with the amount of effort the students had toput in.”

Junior premed major Susan Edionwe said that she had heard of classes or professors that would beeasy to ace, but hasn’t encountered one herself.

“I’ve been told that some professors don’t require heavy work, or that the tests aren’t that difficult,”Edionwe said. “But the classes I’ve had that have been easy are simply that because I’ve had reallygood professors that explain well and work with the students.”

GRADES continued from page 1

Campus Faith FIRST IN A CONTINUING SERIES

February 20, 2003 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 6

A crowd of high school students andadministrators watched as a $25,000 check washanded over to The University of Texas-PanAmerican and Region One GEARUP (GainingEarly Awareness and Readiness forUndergraduate Programs) scholarship matchprogram on Feb. 7, 2003.

George Salcines, owner and manager ofMcAllen Sports, has made a difference in thelives of Valley youth for 16 years through theMcAllen Sports three-point shootout.

“The Valley has been real good to me, I amjust a firm believer in giving back,” said Salcines.

Priscilla Garcia, 14, is one of the 16,000students in the GEARUP program who will be

able to take advantage of the $25,000 donationthat will be awarded upon graduation from highschool.

“I think it’s great that the money was donatedbecause now I can go to college and my momdoesn’t have to worry about how she’s going topay for it,” said Garcia.

Garcia has been able to benefit greatly fromGEARUP already.

She often hesitated to ask questions in algebraclass at W. A. Todd ninth grade campus inDonna.

“I’m kind of shy and I get embarrassed when Ihave to ask a question,” commented Garcia.

She soon had another option thanks to thetutoring program implemented by GEARUPwhich serves as an intervention program forstudents with borderline grades in the five major

subjects. Martha Resendez, 20, a UTPA student, now

sits beside Garcia in Algebra class just in case shehas any questions.

“Now I just ask Martha for help," Garcia said.“I get better grades on my tests and quizzes sinceI know how to do the math better.”

Garcia’s grades have significantly improved. According to Ofelia Alvarez, the UTPA

GEARUP facilitator in Donna, Garcia made adrastic improvement from the second six weeksto the third six weeks, jumping from a 70 to a 91in Algebra.

“Supplementary tutoring is one of the manyprograms offered by GEARUP,” said Alvarez.“GEARUP, in collaboration with students,parents, and the campus, is committed toincreasing college enrollment rates.”

Rolando S. Arriola, vice president for StudentAffairs, said the UTPA Foundation would handlethe funds for both programs. University officialshave challenged the U.S. Department ofEducation to raise $275,000, and if this happens,the total will be matched by the UTPAFoundation.

Arriola estimates more than $4 million will beraised at the end of the five-year program for theUTPA foundation.

“Receiving this gift like this will definitelyhelp us and put us on the road to developingmajor scholarships for those graduating out ofhigh school,” Arriola said. “It’s a wonderful thingthat McAllen Sports has done to give back to thecommunity. We encourage other businesses to dothe same because we need a lot of help to meetour goals.”

Sometimes educational services need their ownassistance when trying to reach and provide the bestopportunities possible for students.

That’s why in 1965, the State Legislatureauthorized the creation of Regional EducationServices Centers. In 1967, the centers expanded toinclude the provision of educational services toschool districts and the coordination of regionaleducation planning. In 1969, the Regional EducationServices broadened to include participation in astatewide system of computer services, includingtechnical assistance.

The Region One Education Service Center(ROESC) in Edinburg is one of 20 such agenciesacross the state that was created to provide supportto over 1,000 school districts in Texas.

Encompassing over 9,600 square miles in SouthTexas including Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy, Starr,Webb, Jim Hogg, and Zapata counties, Region Oneprovides services to 39 school districts, includingpublic, private and charter schools. Currently thereare 315,910 students in Region One schools, makingthe ROESC one of the largest service centers in thestate.

With the large number of students to serve andschools to service, Region One is dedicated tosupporting school districts in improving studentperformance, helping districts to operate moreefficiently and economically, as well asimplementing initiatives assigned by the Legislatureor the Commissioner of Education.

According to Annette Garcia, Region Onepublication assistant, ROESC is committed tomaking sure that students in South Texas arereceiving the best opportunity for a qualityeducation. In turn, the hope is that more qualitystudents will end up attending higher educationinstitutions in the Valley.

By offering professional developmentopportunities on topics such as the state-mandatedTAKS test (Texas Assessment of Knowledge &Skills), Reading Academies, Dyslexia Academies,Special Education Programs, or Migrant Educationto educators throughout the area, ROESC is takingthe initiative in providing opportunities to helpstudents reach higher levels of learning.

“The ways in which we carry out these objectivesare evident in our work with state, local, and highereducation agencies, school districts, educators, andstudents,” Garcia said.

The ROESC is also connected to programs suchas GEARUP, which is a program that encouragesstudents to seek higher education as well as offeringcomprehensive services such as mentoring, tutoring,and counseling.

According to the GEARUP web site, The

University of Texas-Pan American GEARUP Project- called “Yes, You Can Go To College,” or “¡Sí SePuede!” - is committed to increasing collegeenrollment rates among youth and offeringsupportive services for participants and theirparents.

The program concentrates on preparing studentsfor higher education by getting them to pursue arigorous program for post-secondary education. TheUTPA GEARUP partnership tries to give more than7,000 students from 17 different high schools theencouragement, awareness, preparation, and skillsrequired to succeed in college.

Region One ESC will also be doing technologyintegration training for over 1,200 teachers from 20districts and 82 campuses this year.

“We are also offering focused technologyintegration training which meets the goals of the NoChild Left Behind, Title II, Part D, EnhancingEducation Through Technology requirement,"Garcia said. “Computers and networks are notmeaningful in the instructional process unless theyare fully integrated into our curriculum. The RegionOne training focuses on infusing technology into thecontent areas.’

ROESC also works with school districts to assistthem in operating efficiently and effectively, as wellas saving money.

“One way in which we carry out this mission is tooffer school districts the opportunity to cometogether in purchasing cooperatives where they canpool their resources and get more for their dollar,”Garcia said. “For example, ROESC has a ChildNutrition Services Cooperative in which there are41 members, including the Cameron County JailSystem for food purchasing. They bid out last yeara total of $30 million in product including food,paper, janitorial products, small kitchen wares andequipment, and uniforms.”

Garcia explained that by participating in a foodpurchasing cooperative, individual school districtshave the buying power to get the attention ofmanufacturers that they may not get acting on theirown. This causes those manufactures to changeformulations and packaging to meet the needs ofSchool Service and standards acceptable to students.

Region One ESC continues to work withinstitutions of higher learning: University of Texas-Pan American, South Texas Community College,and the University of Texas-Brownsville, incontinuing to bring educational opportunities to ourstudents.

“No longer is it considered a K-12 system ofeducation, it is now K-16, which reinforces the ideathat post secondary education is necessary forstudents.” Garcia said. “Students visit these collegecampuses and participate in concurrent enrollmentprograms again, to offer student opportunity foradvancement.”

Education assistanceprovided by Region I By CLARISSA MARTINEZThe Pan American

McAllen Sports donation being put to good useBy ADRIANA MARTINEZThe Pan American

MADD’s in action

The Rio Grande Valley Chapterof Mothers Against Drunk Drivinghas been raising awareness aboutthe dangers of driving whileintoxicated for two years now.

The chapter moved fromMcAllen to Edinburg in July 2002.From the new location, the MADDchapter works in the four-countyarea to put an end to drunkendriving.

The chapter leads efforts inWillacy, Hidalgo, Starr andCameron Counties from one officeand with only two paid employees.

“We have a very small paidstaff,” said Ana Verley, victims’assistance coordinator. “There’stwo of us so it’s hard to be in allthe places at once.”

Despite this, and thanks towilling volunteers, MADD hasbeen working to reach their goal ofending drunken driving.

One of their upcoming attemptsto keep the roads safe will takeplace on Feb. 10-11.

“We are preparing to attendLegislative Day in Austin,” Verleysaid. “We will be meeting with ourlocal legislators.”

Verley said that this year theyhope to establish sobrietycheckpoints and lower the bloodalcohol concentration (BAC) to .05for repeat offenders. The currentlegal limit of intoxication is .08 forboth repeat and first-timeoffenders. MADD is hoping totrigger new legislation.

“We want to change it if you’re arepeat offender, we want to makethe limit lower,” Verley said.

For members of MADD in theRGV Chapter, this goal holdscertain importance because of themost current statistics set from theNational Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration.

According to 2001 statistics,Texas had the highest number oftraffic fatalities related to alcohol.Verley said that two of the Valleycounties had the highest rates inthe state.

“Texas led the nation last year indrunk driving fatalities,” she said.“Hidalgo and Cameron County leadTexas in drunk driving fatalities.”

According to NHTSA, Texas had3,724 total traffic deaths in 2001and 48 percent were alcoholrelated. That is approximately1,789 of the total deaths.

Locally, the chapter has beenmaking efforts with differentorganizations and groups of peopleto prevent drunk driving.

According to Verley, somestudents from UTPA help inMADD’s efforts.

“We have some volunteers thatare college students and some thatare actual victims,” she said.

UTPA nursing students offeredtheir assistance for the RGVChapter held last year, andBacchus and Gamma alsocontributed to the lifesaving effortson New Year’s Eve.

“The nursing students helped uslast year with our fundraiser as partof their volunteer hours,” Verleysaid. “There’s also a fraternity oncampus that we coordinated with todo the cab rides on New Year’s.”

The organization is looking to doat least two or three majorfundraisers this year and willcontinue to have monthly effortslike the Victims Impact Panel(VIP).

VIP is a panel of actual victimsfrom alcohol-related accidents whotalk to groups of about 50 andinform them of the effects onpeople that drunken driving has.

According to Verley, VIP isconsidered a fundraiser and heldtwice a month.

“[VIP] is considered a fundraiserand we have those twice a month,”she said. “We do one in Englishand one in Spanish.”

The organization also doespresentations for schools andstudents from pre-kindergarten tocollege in hopes that the studentswill carry on the knowledge of thedangers of DWI.

That is where John Cabrera, thecommunity programs coordinatorcomes in. He is responsible forsetting up booths at health fairsand talking to groups of students.

Cabrera is available to givepresentations to any groups.

Both Verley and Cabrera can bereached for further information at383-7400. Further statistics can befound at www.NHTSA .org orwww.MADD.org.

By CELESTE TELLOThe Pan American

February 20, 2003 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 11

■ Author reading. . . . 8-9

■ Culture Club . . . . . . . 9

■ Box Office stats. . . . 10ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

PAGE 7

AroundTown

South Texas MusicFestivalThrough Feb. 23Place: Rio Grande ValleyLivestock Showgrounds inMercedesEvent: The 14th AnnualSouth Texas MusicFestival, featuring the JimiHendrix Traveling Museum,will feature a wide range ofmusic on 10 stages. Morethan 250 musical acts and600 entertainers arescheduled to perform.Price: Tickets are $8 at thegate per day, $10 for Feb.22-23, or $20 for the wholefestival. Bring andinstrument and get a $3discount. Phone: (956) 464-7767

Fiesta EdinburgFeb. 22 from noon to 11p.m.Place: Edinburg MunicipalPark, Dolittle Road, southfrom 107Event: Live entertainmentwill include Grupo Controland La Costumbre, apetting zoo, climbing walland food and beveragebooths.Phone: (956) 383-4974

Mariachi/FolklorioConcertMarch 1 at 2 and 7 p.m.,March 2 at 2 p.m.Place: La Joya PerformingArts Center (the redbuilding) 604 Coyote Drivein La Joya.Event: The La JoyaPerforming Arts Center’s2003 Mariachi/FolkloricoSpring Concert will featureMariachi Los Coyotes andGrupo Folklorico Tabasco.Phone: (956) 580-5161

Guest speakerMarch 10 at 2 p.m.Place: Weslaco BiculturalMuseum, 515 S. Kansas inWeslacoEvent: Weslaco native,artist and Director of theDonna Hooks FletcherMuseum Laura Lincoln willspeak about the BenitezTheater family and peoplewho have contributed tothe Mid-Valley’s HispanicheritagePhone: (956) 968-9142

Ripples of paperMoving acrossThe roomTrying to reach theOther mind.

(Above) - In the wake of the DestructionThe innocents were pinnedLayers of sacrificePreviously unplanned.

(Right) - Let’s look at this year in reviewThere never was anything new.The months walked by,The weeks never spoke,And the days were simplyGod’s little joke.

Photos by Matt Lynch

The University of Texas-Pan American ClarkGallery, located in the

Fine Arts Building, featuresUTPA art department chairNancy Moyer’s exhibit “InRetrospect: an Ideational SelfPortrait.”

The exhibit, which features a number of worksTheexhibit runs through March 17 and admission is free.

February 20, 2003 Arts & Entertainment Page 10

February 20, 2003 Arts & Entertainment Page 9February 20, 2003 Arts & Entertainment Page 8

CD: “T.A.T.U.”Movie: “Scary Movie”Book: Harry Potter series

CD: “Kaboom”Movie: “Stigmata”Book: “The Aeneid” by Virgil

CD: “Tidal” by Fiona AppleMovie: “White Oleander”Book: “Death of Ivan Ilych” by Leo Tolstoy

Yvonne VillarealFreshmanBiology

Paulo ReyesUndecided

Rachel PeñaGraduateComputer Science

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

The

The English departmentof The University ofTexas- Pan American willhost the Mexican-American author GarySoto.

The author willappear before studentsand faculty for alecture and reading ofhis works Feb. 20starting at 7:30 p.m.in the university’sStudent UnionTheatre. Accordingto Dr. SteveSchneider, chair ofthe Englishdepartment, thedepartment invitedSoto in honor of theuniversity’s 75thanniversary.

"We wanted a nationallyknown figure because ofthe significance of the 75thanniversary," saidSchneider.

The author was invitedto the university’s campusfor this special event lastfall. Schneider firstbecame interested inSoto’s work when he wrotean article about him forThe Oxford Encyclopedia

of American Literature. Indoing his article Schneidernot only discovered anauthor who wrote in manygenres such as poetry,memoirs, essays, andchildren’s books, but alsofound a man who wroteabout Mexican-American

experiences. This alsoplayed a key role in thedepartment’s decision toinvite him to theuniversity.

"We chose him becausehe writes about Mexican-American experiences,"said Schneider. "Wewanted a figure who wouldappeal to the residents ofthe Rio Grande Valley."

The California nativehas received the LosAngles Times Award andhas been nominated for the

National Book Award.Some of his work includes“The Elements of SanJoaquin” which is abouthis experiences growingup in the San JoaquinValley in SouthernCalifornia and “Baseball inApril” which is a

collection of storiesabout growing up andplaying baseball.

The reading is freeto the public and willfeature a book-signingsession after thelecture given by theauthor. Immediatelyafter, the event willclose with a reception.

Schneidercommented that hewould like to see asmany students

possible attend the readingand lecture. Not only willit be a rich and culturalexperience for thestudents, but will also helpthe students meet anauthor they are familiarwith.

"It is an opportunity forstudents to gain anappreciation for theirculture," said Schneider."Our students will get thechance to meet an authorthat they have beenstudying in their classes."

By DULCE GONZALEZThe Pan American

It’s anopportunity for

students to gainan appreciationfor their culture. “

“

- Steven Schneider,English department chair

Mexican-American author Gary Soto will read excerptsfrom his books, lecture and autograph books tonight

February 20, 2003 Arts & Entertainment Page 9February 20, 2003 Arts & Entertainment Page 8

CD: “T.A.T.U.”Movie: “Scary Movie”Book: Harry Potter series

CD: “Kaboom”Movie: “Stigmata”Book: “The Aeneid” by Virgil

CD: “Tidal” by Fiona AppleMovie: “White Oleander”Book: “Death of Ivan Ilych” by Leo Tolstoy

Yvonne VillarealFreshmanBiology

Paulo ReyesUndecided

Rachel PeñaGraduateComputer Science

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

The

The English departmentof The University ofTexas- Pan American willhost the Mexican-American author GarySoto.

The author willappear before studentsand faculty for alecture and reading ofhis works Feb. 20starting at 7:30 p.m.in the university’sStudent UnionTheatre. Accordingto Dr. SteveSchneider, chair ofthe Englishdepartment, thedepartment invitedSoto in honor of theuniversity’s 75thanniversary.

"We wanted a nationallyknown figure because ofthe significance of the 75thanniversary," saidSchneider.

The author was invitedto the university’s campusfor this special event lastfall. Schneider firstbecame interested inSoto’s work when he wrotean article about him forThe Oxford Encyclopedia

of American Literature. Indoing his article Schneidernot only discovered anauthor who wrote in manygenres such as poetry,memoirs, essays, andchildren’s books, but alsofound a man who wroteabout Mexican-American

experiences. This alsoplayed a key role in thedepartment’s decision toinvite him to theuniversity.

"We chose him becausehe writes about Mexican-American experiences,"said Schneider. "Wewanted a figure who wouldappeal to the residents ofthe Rio Grande Valley."

The California nativehas received the LosAngles Times Award andhas been nominated for the

National Book Award.Some of his work includes“The Elements of SanJoaquin” which is abouthis experiences growingup in the San JoaquinValley in SouthernCalifornia and “Baseball inApril” which is a

collection of storiesabout growing up andplaying baseball.

The reading is freeto the public and willfeature a book-signingsession after thelecture given by theauthor. Immediatelyafter, the event willclose with a reception.

Schneidercommented that hewould like to see asmany students

possible attend the readingand lecture. Not only willit be a rich and culturalexperience for thestudents, but will also helpthe students meet anauthor they are familiarwith.

"It is an opportunity forstudents to gain anappreciation for theirculture," said Schneider."Our students will get thechance to meet an authorthat they have beenstudying in their classes."

By DULCE GONZALEZThe Pan American

It’s anopportunity for

students to gainan appreciationfor their culture. “

“

- Steven Schneider,English department chair

Mexican-American author Gary Soto will read excerptsfrom his books, lecture and autograph books tonight

■ Author reading. . . . 8-9

■ Culture Club . . . . . . . 9

■ Box Office stats. . . . 10ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

PAGE 7

AroundTown

South Texas MusicFestivalThrough Feb. 23Place: Rio Grande ValleyLivestock Showgrounds inMercedesEvent: The 14th AnnualSouth Texas MusicFestival, featuring the JimiHendrix Traveling Museum,will feature a wide range ofmusic on 10 stages. Morethan 250 musical acts and600 entertainers arescheduled to perform.Price: Tickets are $8 at thegate per day, $10 for Feb.22-23, or $20 for the wholefestival. Bring andinstrument and get a $3discount. Phone: (956) 464-7767

Fiesta EdinburgFeb. 22 from noon to 11p.m.Place: Edinburg MunicipalPark, Dolittle Road, southfrom 107Event: Live entertainmentwill include Grupo Controland La Costumbre, apetting zoo, climbing walland food and beveragebooths.Phone: (956) 383-4974

Mariachi/FolklorioConcertMarch 1 at 2 and 7 p.m.,March 2 at 2 p.m.Place: La Joya PerformingArts Center (the redbuilding) 604 Coyote Drivein La Joya.Event: The La JoyaPerforming Arts Center’s2003 Mariachi/FolkloricoSpring Concert will featureMariachi Los Coyotes andGrupo Folklorico Tabasco.Phone: (956) 580-5161

Guest speakerMarch 10 at 2 p.m.Place: Weslaco BiculturalMuseum, 515 S. Kansas inWeslacoEvent: Weslaco native,artist and Director of theDonna Hooks FletcherMuseum Laura Lincoln willspeak about the BenitezTheater family and peoplewho have contributed tothe Mid-Valley’s HispanicheritagePhone: (956) 968-9142

Ripples of paperMoving acrossThe roomTrying to reach theOther mind.

(Above) - In the wake of the DestructionThe innocents were pinnedLayers of sacrificePreviously unplanned.

(Right) - Let’s look at this year in reviewThere never was anything new.The months walked by,The weeks never spoke,And the days were simplyGod’s little joke.

Photos by Matt Lynch

The University of Texas-Pan American ClarkGallery, located in the

Fine Arts Building, featuresUTPA art department chairNancy Moyer’s exhibit “InRetrospect: an Ideational SelfPortrait.”

The exhibit, which features a number of worksTheexhibit runs through March 17 and admission is free.

February 20, 2003 Arts & Entertainment Page 10

February 20, 2003 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 6

A crowd of high school students andadministrators watched as a $25,000 check washanded over to The University of Texas-PanAmerican and Region One GEARUP (GainingEarly Awareness and Readiness forUndergraduate Programs) scholarship matchprogram on Feb. 7, 2003.

George Salcines, owner and manager ofMcAllen Sports, has made a difference in thelives of Valley youth for 16 years through theMcAllen Sports three-point shootout.

“The Valley has been real good to me, I amjust a firm believer in giving back,” said Salcines.

Priscilla Garcia, 14, is one of the 16,000students in the GEARUP program who will be

able to take advantage of the $25,000 donationthat will be awarded upon graduation from highschool.

“I think it’s great that the money was donatedbecause now I can go to college and my momdoesn’t have to worry about how she’s going topay for it,” said Garcia.

Garcia has been able to benefit greatly fromGEARUP already.

She often hesitated to ask questions in algebraclass at W. A. Todd ninth grade campus inDonna.

“I’m kind of shy and I get embarrassed when Ihave to ask a question,” commented Garcia.

She soon had another option thanks to thetutoring program implemented by GEARUPwhich serves as an intervention program forstudents with borderline grades in the five major

subjects. Martha Resendez, 20, a UTPA student, now

sits beside Garcia in Algebra class just in case shehas any questions.

“Now I just ask Martha for help," Garcia said.“I get better grades on my tests and quizzes sinceI know how to do the math better.”

Garcia’s grades have significantly improved. According to Ofelia Alvarez, the UTPA

GEARUP facilitator in Donna, Garcia made adrastic improvement from the second six weeksto the third six weeks, jumping from a 70 to a 91in Algebra.

“Supplementary tutoring is one of the manyprograms offered by GEARUP,” said Alvarez.“GEARUP, in collaboration with students,parents, and the campus, is committed toincreasing college enrollment rates.”

Rolando S. Arriola, vice president for StudentAffairs, said the UTPA Foundation would handlethe funds for both programs. University officialshave challenged the U.S. Department ofEducation to raise $275,000, and if this happens,the total will be matched by the UTPAFoundation.

Arriola estimates more than $4 million will beraised at the end of the five-year program for theUTPA foundation.

“Receiving this gift like this will definitelyhelp us and put us on the road to developingmajor scholarships for those graduating out ofhigh school,” Arriola said. “It’s a wonderful thingthat McAllen Sports has done to give back to thecommunity. We encourage other businesses to dothe same because we need a lot of help to meetour goals.”

Sometimes educational services need their ownassistance when trying to reach and provide the bestopportunities possible for students.

That’s why in 1965, the State Legislatureauthorized the creation of Regional EducationServices Centers. In 1967, the centers expanded toinclude the provision of educational services toschool districts and the coordination of regionaleducation planning. In 1969, the Regional EducationServices broadened to include participation in astatewide system of computer services, includingtechnical assistance.

The Region One Education Service Center(ROESC) in Edinburg is one of 20 such agenciesacross the state that was created to provide supportto over 1,000 school districts in Texas.

Encompassing over 9,600 square miles in SouthTexas including Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy, Starr,Webb, Jim Hogg, and Zapata counties, Region Oneprovides services to 39 school districts, includingpublic, private and charter schools. Currently thereare 315,910 students in Region One schools, makingthe ROESC one of the largest service centers in thestate.

With the large number of students to serve andschools to service, Region One is dedicated tosupporting school districts in improving studentperformance, helping districts to operate moreefficiently and economically, as well asimplementing initiatives assigned by the Legislatureor the Commissioner of Education.

According to Annette Garcia, Region Onepublication assistant, ROESC is committed tomaking sure that students in South Texas arereceiving the best opportunity for a qualityeducation. In turn, the hope is that more qualitystudents will end up attending higher educationinstitutions in the Valley.

By offering professional developmentopportunities on topics such as the state-mandatedTAKS test (Texas Assessment of Knowledge &Skills), Reading Academies, Dyslexia Academies,Special Education Programs, or Migrant Educationto educators throughout the area, ROESC is takingthe initiative in providing opportunities to helpstudents reach higher levels of learning.

“The ways in which we carry out these objectivesare evident in our work with state, local, and highereducation agencies, school districts, educators, andstudents,” Garcia said.

The ROESC is also connected to programs suchas GEARUP, which is a program that encouragesstudents to seek higher education as well as offeringcomprehensive services such as mentoring, tutoring,and counseling.

According to the GEARUP web site, The

University of Texas-Pan American GEARUP Project- called “Yes, You Can Go To College,” or “¡Sí SePuede!” - is committed to increasing collegeenrollment rates among youth and offeringsupportive services for participants and theirparents.

The program concentrates on preparing studentsfor higher education by getting them to pursue arigorous program for post-secondary education. TheUTPA GEARUP partnership tries to give more than7,000 students from 17 different high schools theencouragement, awareness, preparation, and skillsrequired to succeed in college.

Region One ESC will also be doing technologyintegration training for over 1,200 teachers from 20districts and 82 campuses this year.

“We are also offering focused technologyintegration training which meets the goals of the NoChild Left Behind, Title II, Part D, EnhancingEducation Through Technology requirement,"Garcia said. “Computers and networks are notmeaningful in the instructional process unless theyare fully integrated into our curriculum. The RegionOne training focuses on infusing technology into thecontent areas.’

ROESC also works with school districts to assistthem in operating efficiently and effectively, as wellas saving money.

“One way in which we carry out this mission is tooffer school districts the opportunity to cometogether in purchasing cooperatives where they canpool their resources and get more for their dollar,”Garcia said. “For example, ROESC has a ChildNutrition Services Cooperative in which there are41 members, including the Cameron County JailSystem for food purchasing. They bid out last yeara total of $30 million in product including food,paper, janitorial products, small kitchen wares andequipment, and uniforms.”

Garcia explained that by participating in a foodpurchasing cooperative, individual school districtshave the buying power to get the attention ofmanufacturers that they may not get acting on theirown. This causes those manufactures to changeformulations and packaging to meet the needs ofSchool Service and standards acceptable to students.

Region One ESC continues to work withinstitutions of higher learning: University of Texas-Pan American, South Texas Community College,and the University of Texas-Brownsville, incontinuing to bring educational opportunities to ourstudents.

“No longer is it considered a K-12 system ofeducation, it is now K-16, which reinforces the ideathat post secondary education is necessary forstudents.” Garcia said. “Students visit these collegecampuses and participate in concurrent enrollmentprograms again, to offer student opportunity foradvancement.”

Education assistanceprovided by Region I By CLARISSA MARTINEZThe Pan American

McAllen Sports donation being put to good useBy ADRIANA MARTINEZThe Pan American

MADD’s in action

The Rio Grande Valley Chapterof Mothers Against Drunk Drivinghas been raising awareness aboutthe dangers of driving whileintoxicated for two years now.

The chapter moved fromMcAllen to Edinburg in July 2002.From the new location, the MADDchapter works in the four-countyarea to put an end to drunkendriving.

The chapter leads efforts inWillacy, Hidalgo, Starr andCameron Counties from one officeand with only two paid employees.

“We have a very small paidstaff,” said Ana Verley, victims’assistance coordinator. “There’stwo of us so it’s hard to be in allthe places at once.”

Despite this, and thanks towilling volunteers, MADD hasbeen working to reach their goal ofending drunken driving.

One of their upcoming attemptsto keep the roads safe will takeplace on Feb. 10-11.

“We are preparing to attendLegislative Day in Austin,” Verleysaid. “We will be meeting with ourlocal legislators.”

Verley said that this year theyhope to establish sobrietycheckpoints and lower the bloodalcohol concentration (BAC) to .05for repeat offenders. The currentlegal limit of intoxication is .08 forboth repeat and first-timeoffenders. MADD is hoping totrigger new legislation.

“We want to change it if you’re arepeat offender, we want to makethe limit lower,” Verley said.

For members of MADD in theRGV Chapter, this goal holdscertain importance because of themost current statistics set from theNational Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration.

According to 2001 statistics,Texas had the highest number oftraffic fatalities related to alcohol.Verley said that two of the Valleycounties had the highest rates inthe state.

“Texas led the nation last year indrunk driving fatalities,” she said.“Hidalgo and Cameron County leadTexas in drunk driving fatalities.”

According to NHTSA, Texas had3,724 total traffic deaths in 2001and 48 percent were alcoholrelated. That is approximately1,789 of the total deaths.

Locally, the chapter has beenmaking efforts with differentorganizations and groups of peopleto prevent drunk driving.

According to Verley, somestudents from UTPA help inMADD’s efforts.

“We have some volunteers thatare college students and some thatare actual victims,” she said.

UTPA nursing students offeredtheir assistance for the RGVChapter held last year, andBacchus and Gamma alsocontributed to the lifesaving effortson New Year’s Eve.

“The nursing students helped uslast year with our fundraiser as partof their volunteer hours,” Verleysaid. “There’s also a fraternity oncampus that we coordinated with todo the cab rides on New Year’s.”

The organization is looking to doat least two or three majorfundraisers this year and willcontinue to have monthly effortslike the Victims Impact Panel(VIP).

VIP is a panel of actual victimsfrom alcohol-related accidents whotalk to groups of about 50 andinform them of the effects onpeople that drunken driving has.

According to Verley, VIP isconsidered a fundraiser and heldtwice a month.

“[VIP] is considered a fundraiserand we have those twice a month,”she said. “We do one in Englishand one in Spanish.”

The organization also doespresentations for schools andstudents from pre-kindergarten tocollege in hopes that the studentswill carry on the knowledge of thedangers of DWI.

That is where John Cabrera, thecommunity programs coordinatorcomes in. He is responsible forsetting up booths at health fairsand talking to groups of students.

Cabrera is available to givepresentations to any groups.

Both Verley and Cabrera can bereached for further information at383-7400. Further statistics can befound at www.NHTSA .org orwww.MADD.org.

By CELESTE TELLOThe Pan American

February 20, 2003 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 11

The meaning of life, righteousness, and deathare some of the things that humans have tried tounderstand through religion. From the deities ofthe Aztecs to Buddha, religion has always been apart of humanity. It is a powerful entity. Beliefs,morals, ethics, and social norms are alldetermined by it. War, as well as peace, has beencreated because of it.

At the University of Texas-Pan Americanthere are 10 religious organizations that provide avariety of choices for students. Each will beprofiled in The Pan American as part of acontinuing series for the next two months.

Each group has its own beliefs andviewpoints, which it feels are correct. Membersstand behind what they think and can supporttheir ideas. The groups are composed of humanbeings trying to understand life and its creator.

CAMPUS MINISTRY INTERNATIONALCampus Ministry International began its

UTPA chapter in Fall 2002. The group isaffiliated with the United Pentecostal ChurchInternational, but accepts members from alldenominations.

The president of Campus MinistryInternational, Michael de los Santos, a freshmansocial work major, began the organizationbecause he felt the need to give students, faculty,and staff an opportunity to learn about theApostolic Bible.

“I wanted to preach the gospel at Pan Am asthe Apostles did,” de la Santos said. “God isalmighty, powerful, and limitless. Amen. If youpreach like that then you get the same results asthe Apostles did back then.”

The Campus Ministry International secretary,Sara Lopez, a sophomore biology major, joinedCampus Ministry International because shewanted to share God’s word with other studentsas well.

“I wanted to go out there and share God’sword with everyone,” Lopez said. “It’s hardbeing a college student. You have to work, youhave to live on your own, classes are hard, andyou get frustrated and stressed. I wanted to helpstudents understand that there is hope. God canhelp you through anything.”

De los Santos originally wanted to create theorganization at Texas State Technical College inHarlingen, but could not find a faculty sponsor.He then prayed for an answer to his problem.

“God told me, I felt his deep impression, tocome to Pan Am,” de los Santos said. “I did andimmediately the door opened up and everythinggot taken care of. Jorge Lopez from theeducation department is the sponsor. The rest ishistory.”

Before de la Santos turned to religion he sayshe was a drug addict and alcoholic. He said hewas saved on March 13, 2001.

“Now I live for God and want to tell othersabout the wonderful treasure that can be found inthe Lord,” de los Santos said. “I had giveneverything a shot before. I gave drugs a shot. Igave alcohol a shot. It was horrible. Now I havegiven the Lord a shot and there is no goingback.”

Campus Ministry International holds prayermeetings every Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. inthe University Chapel. Bible studies are held onThursdays, noon to 1 p.m. in Sage Room 2.406in the Student Union. The discussions held comefrom questions that members might have.

“We have straight word lessons,” de losSantos said. “I preach what God has put in myheart. Others who have experienced salvationpreach as well.”

Lopez feels that the most important lesson thatCampus Ministry International teaches is to

make God a part of one’s daily life.“Lately we’ve been talking about really

getting ahold of God,” Lopez said. “We need tolive for God. It’s not a once in awhile thing. It’san ongoing thing.”

According to Lopez, Campus MinistryInternational also believes in total immersionbaptismal and that speaking in tongues isevidence of the Holy Ghost’s presence. Thegroup studies salvation according to Acts 2:38.

“It means that we need to repent,” Lopez saidabout Acts 2:38. “We gotta turn away fromsinning. We gotta be truly sorry and want tomake a complete turn around. Of course nobodyis perfect. We are all going to sin again, but Godis merciful. However, we have to try not to and ifwe do then we must repent.”

Throughout the semester Campus MinistryInternational holds revival services which areopen to the public.

“Anyone who has given their hearts to Christand lives to serve God is welcome,” de losSantos said. “They can make public confessionsof their faith.”

The organization has not had any fundraisersyet. It funds its activities through the moneyreceived at services it holds. However, membersare planning fundraisers in the near future.

“We take that money and use it through theyear,” de los Santos said. “The Lord usuallyblesses us with a generous amount.”

During times of hardships, disaster, anduncertainty, de los Santos feels that the answer isGod and that is what Campus MinistryInternational preaches.

“God loves everyone on campus and in theworld,“ de los Santos said. “People are walkingaround with emptiness. He is what the worldneeds. God is here to help, but you have toconfess to him and then he will send help.”

For more information about UnitedPentecostal Church International log on towww.upci.com and for questions about CampusMinistry International e-mail Michael de losSantos atcampusministryinternational@yahoo.com.

REFORMED STUDENTS FOR CHRISTAnother religious organization that got started

in Fall 2002 is Reformed Students for Christ.The group studies the ideology of predestination,John Calvin and Martin Luther.

Moses Flores, president of Reformed Studentsfor Christ, a senior kinesiology major, began theorganization because he felt that there was norepresentation of reformed Christians on campus.

“The ideology of reformation has beenabandoned by many,” Flores said. “We aim toreturn to it and have a new reformation, a smallone of course.”

Bible studies along with question-and-answerseminars are held every Tuesday and Thursdayfrom noon to 1 p.m. in the Social Behavioral andScience building. The location varies, but for themonth of February it will be in room 110. Thetopics discussed depend on the questions broughtup by participants.

“We are a challenging group,” said Flores.“We ask people to really study the scriptures andsee them for what they really say. ”

Alex Gonzalez, junior nursing major, decidedto join Reformed Students for Christ afterpicking up a flier explaining what ReformedChristianity is.

“I was already a Christian before I joined,”Gonzalez said. “When I went to the Bible study Isaw some things I was never taught before orhad ever seen before. It made me think andquestion my beliefs. I asked myself why do Ibelieve that. Is it just tradition or is it reallyGod’s word?”

After learning about Reformed Christianity,Gonzalez decided that Reformed Students forChrist was the best religious organization for himbecause it offered a look into the beginning ofProtestant Christianity.

“There are a lot of (religious) groups oncampus, but none are like this one,” Gonzalezsaid. “No other group touches on theology. Thisgroup gets deep, seminary deep. We even go tothe original manuscripts in Greek and Hebrew. Itreally gives you a better understanding.”

The organization dedicates itself to educatingpeople on the original Protestant teachings,because members feel they are the true word ofGod.

“People have their own set of ideas of whatthey think, but usually they are sorely mistaken,”Flores said. “If they come, they can find outwhat true, classical, and historical Christianityis.”

According to Gonzalez Tulip, ReformedStudents for Christ believe in Calvin’s fivepoints:

• The first point is total depravity, whichteaches that all men are born in sin and arecorrupted. Therefore man cannot desire God.

• Calvin’s second point is unconditionalelection. This teaches that before creation Godchose a group of people that would be saved.Therefore God chose man.

• The third point, Gonzalez explained islimited atonement. This teaches that God sentJesus Christ to save only those who he haschosen to be saved.

• Irresistible grace is the fourth point, whichteaches that because God has chosen anindividual and Jesus Christ died for thatindividual then that person will not be able toresist the work of God.

• The last point, according to Gonzalez, isperseverance of the saints. This point explainsthat once someone is saved they cannot lose theirsalvation because the Holy Spirit dwells in them.

The group has had trouble with others who donot agree with them. Flores said another student

wrote “liars” on a Reformed Students for Christflier that was posted on campus.

“Debates are welcomed,” said Flores, whowas a Christian Studies major at Howard PayneUniversity before transferring to UTPA. “Toomany assume their beliefs are correct withoutquestioning them. Let me show you the historybooks and we’ll go to the Greeks and Hebrews(biblical texts) if we have to.”

According to Flores, Reformation is hugeworldwide, but he feels that due to lack ofknowledge people have moved away from it inthe United States. However, he adds that mostChristian religions can trace their roots toReformed Christianity.

“People are trying to reinvent Christianity,”Flores said. “There is too much use of emotionand pragmatics in preaching. It has beencorrupted.”

Gonzalez also feels that Protestant Christianityhas gone through a negative change from whenit first begun.

“Today’s stuff is real liberal,” Gonzalez said.“They don’t tell you the whole truth. I’m notsaying they do it on purpose. They probably justdon’t know. They haven’t come to therealization.”

Reformed Students for Christ feels that it canoffer a better understanding of Christianity to itsmembers.

“We will give them a more properunderstanding of what true Christianity is, notonly as a religion, but as a world view,” de losSantos said. “It will develop their beliefs whichshape their moral life.”

For more information about ReformedStudents for Christ e-mail Moses de los Santos atprchdaword@aol.com.

NEXT WEEK: The series continues with alook at two more campus groups.

February 20, 2003 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 5February 20, 2003 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 12

Religious groups finding campus nicheBy AMELIA GARCIAThe Pan American

As nearly as I can tell, my colleagues are exacting in their standards. I certainly have students who arecapable of earning A's and do.”

Buckman said that there are several standards he upholds making grade inflation unlikely: thedensity of the subject matter; the reliance on written and oral communication skills; the demand toarticulate in a precise and concise matter; the forging of analytic and synthetic skills.

“The insistence that one think profoundly about the fundamental questions of human beingpreclude easy A's in most circumstances,” he suggested. “The demands and rigors of logic alone makeour course work challenging. However, the rewards of such intensity are inestimable.”

USA Today reports that according to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in 1966, 22percent of Harvard University undergraduate students earned “A's” and by 1996, that figure rose to 46percent. That same year, 82 percent of Harvard seniors graduated with honors.

In addition, in 1973, 31 percent of all grades at Princeton were “A's” and by 1997 that rose to 43percent. In 1997 only 12 percent of all grades given at Princeton were below the “B” range.

According to the National Survey of Student Engagement, there seems to be is an ‘unspokenagreement’ between students and professor that allows the students to feel as if they do not hassle thefaculty with problems relating to the class then the faculty will not ask to much from them. Buckmansees this statement, and the action it suggests, as undermining the ethics of professors.

“We are expecting our students to be professionals, we send students into the world with a hopeand a promise of a rich future,” he explained. “There is an obligation on both students and professorsto attempt the highest standards to open up the possibility of such a future,” he said.

Junior psychology major Roland Martinez said that he felt that decisions he makes to take classesare mainly dependent on his degree plan, but that if he needed to raise his GPA, this might alter hisdecisions.

“I have taken classes before that I felt would be an ‘easy A’,” Martinez said. “It can go either way,because yes, you can get a good grade, therefore raising your GPA, but at the same time, you mightnot get anything out of the class.”

Classes that are considered easier to gain a higher average include the “soft sciences” such associology, anthropology, psychology, and communications. Natural sciences, like physics andadvanced math courses prove to be the classes that offer tougher “A’s,” especially for a population ofU.S. college students who have ranked near the middle of the pack in international lists comparingperformance in science and math.

Senior Jaime Puente is a teaching assistant in cellular biology and says he has never never heededthe pressure of giving students higher grades.

“Knowing that the class is difficult I would try to be lenient with the work since lab should behelpful to the lecture,” Puente said. “But I started to realize that there were some students who wouldtry to take advantage of the lab so I started to be stricter with the amount of effort the students had toput in.”

Junior premed major Susan Edionwe said that she had heard of classes or professors that would beeasy to ace, but hasn’t encountered one herself.

“I’ve been told that some professors don’t require heavy work, or that the tests aren’t that difficult,”Edionwe said. “But the classes I’ve had that have been easy are simply that because I’ve had reallygood professors that explain well and work with the students.”

GRADES continued from page 1

Campus Faith FIRST IN A CONTINUING SERIES

February 20, 2003 Sports Page 13

Tigres capture firstTigres of UNL leap-frogged archrival

Monterrey for first place in the MexicanSoccer League this past weekend afterdefeating the Chivas of Guadalajara,Mexico’s most popular club, 1-0, in thesixth week of the Clausura 2003 tourna-ment. Brazilian forward Kleber Pereirascored the winning goal in the Tigres’ vic-tory to insure first place with 13 points.Meanwhile, cross-town rival Monterreylost to the defending champion DiablosRojos of Toluca, 3-1, to fall into secondplace by goal differential.

Ali retains titleLaila Ali, the youngest daughter of for-

mer heavyweight champion and Louisvillenative Muhammad Ali, stopped 34-year-oldTexas native Mary Ann Almager with 1:55left in the fourth round on a technicalknockout Friday night to defend her IBAsuper middleweight championship at theLouisville Gardens before a capacity crowdof 4,000. The bout was televised as themain event of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fightson Feb. 14. Ali improved her record to 14-0 while notching her 11th career KO. Withthe loss, Almager dropped to 14-6.

Hunters Expo comingThe 13th Annual Texas Hunters Expo

will be held this weekend, February 21-23, at the McAllen Civic Center. Theevent will include bookings for trophyhunts and maufacturers and dealers will beon hand to show off their latest hardware.The Expo will begin on Friday at 5 p.m.and run until 9 p.m. The event will contin-ue from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday andconclude Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

U.S. beats JamaicaIn another tuneup match before the

Football Confederation's Gold Cup, theUnited States Men's National Soccer Teamdefeated Jamaica, 2-1, in front of a sell-outcrowd of 27,000 at the National Stadium inKingston, Jamaica. Carlos Bocanegrascored in the 11th minute and Chris Kleinadded a second tally two minutes later.Jamaica's lone goal came off a 51st minutefree kick after U.S. midfield PabloMastroeni was called for a yellow card.The U.S. used a roster composed of playersexclusively from Major League Soccer,while Jamaica recalled eight players basedin England. The victory over the ReggaeBoyz improved the U.S. all-time recordagainst the Caribbean nation to an unde-feated 8-0-5 and 2-0-4 in games played inJamaica.

Broncs face ReynosaThe UTPA baseball team will face the

Reynosa Broncos on Tuesday, March 4th atthe Edinburg Baseball Stadium at 7:30 p.m.The game was originally scheduled to beplayed in Reynosa, Mexico. Last year,Reynosa defeated the Broncs, 5-3. RafaelCastaneda blasted a two-run homer in theninth inning before a crowd of 1,604 fansat the Edinburg Baseball Stadium.

Ladies take thirdThe Lady Broncs golf team took third

place in the five-team field BroncIntercollegiate Classic after scoring a three-round total of 971 last Tuesday. FreshmanStefanie Maynard scored a 54-hole total of229 and won in a scorecard playoff toemerge as the tournament’s medalist.Lamar took first place after shooting a 951for the tournament. Southwest Texas Statefinished second with a 964.

Broncs capture 12thThe University of Texas-Pan American

men’s golf team finished in 12th place lastTuesday after accumulating a 54-hole totalof 923 at the 15-team Sam HallIntercollegiate golf tournament.Southeastern Louisiana took first placewith a score of 852. The UTPA track teamsset two school records Feb. 15 at theUniversity of Houston/RunSport All-Comers Meet at the Yeoman Field House.Junior Amy Moses finished first in theweight throw with a school record throw of60 feet four inches. The throw was a per-sonal best for Moses. Another schoolrecord was set by junior Isaac Ybarra in thesame category. Ybarra threw for 58 feet 81/2 inches to finish second in the weightthrow.

Student volunteersThe athletic department of UTPA

recently agreed to form a partnership withthe Comfort House of McAllen that willinvolve Pan Am student-athletes. TheComfort House is located at 617 DallasAve. and provides free end-of-life care forterminally ill people. The second annualWalkathon, sponsored by the ComfortHouse, will be held Feb. 22. Registrationfor the charity event will begin at 7:30p.m. at Doc Neuhaus Park at Eigth Streetand Dallas Avenue in McAllen. The walkwill start at 8:30 a.m.

Broncs beat SavannahState

The UTPA men’s basketball team gotback to its winning ways with a 45-39 vic-tory over Savannah State on Wednesdaynight. Kevin Mitchell led UTPA (10-18)with 16 points, and Allen Holcomb added10 points and 12 boards. Michael Mitchellled the Tigers (2-23) with 16 points.

SSPPOORRTTSS CCLLIIPPBBOOAARRDD14 by getting shelled by California 20-5.The Golden Bears pummelled Broncpitching by scoring 18 runs in the first fourinnings of the game. California rightfielder Brian Horowitz hit two home runsand batted in eight runs during theslaughter.

On Feb. 15, 19th-ranked Nebraska didn’ttreat the Broncs much better. TheCornhuskers routed Pan Am 9-1. Nebraskaused the combined efforts of three pitchersto limit the Broncs to just two hits. UTPApitching did its best to equal theCornhuskers’ hurlers by throwing a six-hitter, but three Bronc pitchers combined towalk 10 men and hit five batters.

UTPA wrapped up their participation inthe tournament by dropping the last gameto Southwest Texas State 12-3. Broncpitchers threw a six-hitter for the secondday in a row, but gave up 12 runs. SWTjumped out to a 9-0 lead after four inningsand later added 3 more runs to run up thescore to 12-0 after seven frames.

The Broncs reacted too late by scoringthree runs in the bottom of the ninth tosave themselves from the shutout.

On Feb. 22, Pan Am will host Arkansas-Monticello at the Edinburg BaseballStadium in a doubleheader at 4 p.m. TheBroncs will wrap up the three-game serieson Sunday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m.

BASEBALL continued from page 14

persisters and nonpersisters are similar,” thearticle read.

Although such things as standardized testshave not been accurate indicators so far, Salinaspointed out there are some warning signs ofnonpersistence.

“Those that left showed signs of leaving byearning or enrolling for less credit hours in thesemesters before they stop coming,” he said.“Their GPA was also going down and the lastsemester enrolled, these students did not dowell at all.”

By establishing what he believes is a patternof behavior for nonpersisters, Llanes hopes thatintervention will increase retention rates atUTPA.

“Now that we have an indication ofnonpersisters we can try to intervene so theystay,” he said. “This university needs to have asignificant increase of graduates in order toreach state goals,”

Llanes said that Salinas was able tobenchmark a time period that students are aremost likely to drop out. With this newinformation, Llanes hopes that the university

will be able to provide services such ascounseling in order to encourage the studentsthinking of dropping out to realize the benefitsof a university diploma.

“Some students have a bad first semester,terrible grades or they aren’t familiar with the4.0 grade scale and don’t know how well theyare doing in their classes,” Llanes said. “Theyhave families to manage, jobs to handle ortemporarily need to leave school. If we cancatch them and show them the long termbenefits of college, then they will be able to seehow college will benefit them in the end.”

In the 1992 cohort group the retention ratereflected a 65-percent institutional loss by thetime the students reached their fourth year. Thatpercentage comes from an initial group of 1,425students.

With that high statistic looming over UTPA,the authors of the article will conduct a follow-up qualitative study of the 67 long-termpersisters to provide answers to the hypothesesraised by the study.

The entire article can be read in the Journalof Hispanic Higher Education.

RETENTION continued from page 2

February 20, 2003 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 4

Iliana RodriguezCriminal JusticeSophomore

The Valley will become more popular andit will increase our economy.

Tricia BarreraBroadcast JournalismSenior

It will bring more jobs here and thatwill benefit the Valley’s economy.

Jesse MontoyaCommunicationSophomore

It will make the Valley more importantamong the country since hardly anypeople from the outside know aboutthis area.

How could the Valley benefitfrom having a spaceport in

Willacy County?

Jennifer SikesUndeclaredSophomore

I believe a lot of jobs will be created andthe Valley will become more noticeable tothe people that don’t live here.

VOICECCaammppuuss

Michael CoodyComputer GraphicsSenior

There will be better jobs and researchoppurtunities especially for UTPA. It willalso be a good tourist center.

HOMECOMING continued from page 1

take and all universities should have.”The USOC and 15 other participating

organizations got a great turnout from thestudents, according to USOC CoordinatorAnabelle Torres. Planning for the event startedin December, and do to their work, 1,978 voteswere cast.

“It was the best turnout we could [have] everimagined,” Torres said. “At least 15organizations [had booths] and competed in thegames. It is something we want to keep for nextyear, and the years after because it was a perfectprogram.”

Bronc-o-King Caesar commented that he wassurprised and happy about all of the studentswho came out to support the event and voted forthe candidates.

“It is amazing how many students voted, andI think that with that kind of student support Iam really happy to be king,” Caesar said. “LikeI was telling everybody when I was out thereshaking hands, I would really like to representthe university in a way it should be represented.I want to thank everybody that voted and choseme as the Bronc-o-King.”

Clinton, this year's Bronc-o-Queen, also saidshe was very excited about being nominated byher sorority, and was even more pleased whenshe was voted queen by the students. She hopesto represent the student body, the university, andher sorority, as well as bring more spirit to the

campus.However, there were those who never

imagined being in the top three and felt a bigthrill to be part of the 2003 court. Lady Broncbasketball player Williams did not expect to getfar, and win a position in the court.

“I didn't expect to get this far, but mybasketball team pushed me to do it, so I amreally excited about it,” Williams said.

USOC President Sandra Alcocer stated thatalthough the organization was worried about thepotential reaction, or lack thereof, of the studentbody toward bringing back homecoming,everything was better than expected.

“I think it is great, we got awesome results,”Alcocer said. “The USOC brought back thetradition, and we want to keep [the spirit] aliveevery spring semester.”

As for the organizations that participated, theyalso got the name recognition from the studentbody, as Kayla Dreyer treasurer of the Pre-lawSociety commented. She also said that thehomecoming festivities also help to bring moremembers to those clubs and organizations.

The true essence of Bronc-o-Days is ofcourse, to provide more school spirit andsupport to UTPA's basketball team. As seniorDulce Cantu said, the homecoming event bringsmore spirit and motivation to the players; themore motivation they receive, the more theywin.

Special to The Pan American

ROYAL COURT— (Left to right): Duke Carlos Rios; Prince Omar Garza; 1996 King Rene Cantu; King JoshuaA. Caesar; Queen Adelle Clinton; 1996 Queen Iris Sosa; Princess Naima Williams and Duchess Erica Diaz

Only four news anchors in the Valley can saythey know what it is like to be a University ofTexas-Pan American graduate and Laurie Salazaris one of them.

Surprisingly they all work at KRGV-TVChannel 5. Salazar graduated from Pharr-SanJuan-Alamo High School in 1990 and from UTPAin 1996. The early morning news anchor has comea long way since the day she received herbachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. She hasanchored for a few television stations, beforelanding a spot that she always dreamed about.

Salazar’s luck began after graduation when shewas offered a job to report part-time with KGBT-TV Channel 4. She decided at the time that shewanted a steady daytime job, and had hopes ofeventually getting hired at Channel 5.

“At the time, if I was going to work in theValley, I wanted to [wait] and work for the numberone station in the Valley,” Salazar said. “I workedat McAllen Cable Network [Monday throughFriday] with normal hours. In that job, I got thebest of both worlds, by working in [media] andusing my degree.”

After six months, Salazar realized that shemissed the television news business.

“I was ready to take that leap in the news career.I applied for an anchor position in Laredo,

with the CBS affiliate KVTV, channel 13,”Salazar said. “I worked there a year as theweekday morning/ noon anchor.”

Eventually during that year, Laurie waspromoted as an evening anchor. She was alsogiven opportunities to anchor in other parts ofTexas. Television news stations from Lubbock, ElPaso and Tyler initiated job offers. Salazar chose togo with NBC affiliate,

KETK-TV, as a weekend evening anchor inTyler.

The week before Salazar was ready to leave forKETK’s offer, she came back to the Valley to visitand ended up landing a job with News Channel 5,as a morning reporter. She worked in that positionfor a little over a year, but she yearned for ananchor position. Salazar realized that she had toleave the Valley, but chose a job in close proximityto home.

“I wanted an anchor position and to stay nearthe Valley.I appliedin CorpusChristi forfor aneveninganchorpositionfor a NBCchannel,”Salazaradded.

Salazarrealizesthe luckthat she’shad in thetelevisionnewsworld,becauseshealwaysgot hiredfor everynews job position that she wanted. Eventually sheended coming back to Channel 5 as the morningand noon anchor in the beginning of 2001.

“[Channel 5]is such a goodstation to workfor, themanagementtreats you likefamily. That iswhy [reportersand anchors] stayhere so long.”

When Salazarwas in college,she started herstep into thetelevision newsbusinessinterning as anassociateproducer for theCBS-affiliatedKGBT-TV Team

4 News.“[During

college] Iinterned atchannel 4. Iran theteleprompterandansweredphones. LaterI became anAP [associateproducer] onweekends,”Salazar said.“It was time-consuming,but it wasdefinitely agood eye-opener. Itwas worththeexperience.”

At UTPA,Salazar was involved with various organizations.She was a member of the Blazer dance team andone of the editors for the first issue of thePanorama magazine. She held several part-timejobs while attending school and also competed inseveral beauty pageants, winning titles of MissHidalgo County USA and Miss South Texas USA.

“I competed in Miss Texas USA both in 1994and 1997,” Salazar said. “[Competing] has helpedme to be a public speaker.”

Salazar added that competing also helped keepher informed about current events.

“You have to know your stand on communityand world issues,” Salazar said. “It has taught meto be well-rounded, knowledgeable and social. Abeauty queen is not just a pretty face, she has to beprofessional.”

Salazar said she has gained a strong journalisticedge through her experiences as an anchor. It hasbeen a learning experience and taught Salazar toexpand the boundaries of knowledge on everyaspect of life.

“You have to know everything. How schoolboard meetings work, the way courts work, borderissues, health issues, and laws. You need to know

how to research [all subjects]as a reporter andanchor,” Salazar said.

Salazar’s advice to those pursuing a career inbroadcast journalism is to be well-rounded inknowledge and the journalistic trade.

“People driven to the business are personalitydriven and they are not shy people. Some

think it is only about appearance, but it is somuch more,” Salazar said. “It is about lookingprofessional. It is about being a journalist.”

When Salazar is not delivering early morningnews, she keeps herself busy with variousorganizations. She is a board member for CASA(Court Appointed Special Advocate)

for abused and neglected children, a committeemember for Miss Rio Grande Valley USA pageantsystem. She is also a member of the ProvisionalClass Junior League for McAllen.

According to the KRGV web site, Laurie’sjournalistic achievements include being named the2000 Hispanic Women of the Year in the Media bythe American G.I. Forum in Corpus Christi. Shewas selected as the regional media winner thatsame year for advocating the Child ProtectiveServices Adoption Program in Texas.

Salazar’s co-workers feel that she has reachedthe top and will continue to strive to become thebest in the television news world.

Letty Valadez-Garza, who has been with NewsChannel 5 for 20 years, is Salazar’s mentor, andsays that the UTPA ex has proven herself in thebusiness.

“Laurie has taken everything she learned atschool and through her personal activities[pageants] combined a complete package to createthe professional woman that she is today,”Valadez-Garza said. “She is the epitome of beautyand brains.”

News Channel 5 reporter Kristine Galvan saidSalazar is ambitious and hardworking.

“Laurie is a very hard worker, she knows whatshe wants in her career. She is very career-minded.”

Salazar said her goals as a professionaljournalist will not come to a halt any time soon.She plans to try and land a job in Houston, Miami,Dallas, or Washington D.C.

“My goals are to move up to be an eveninganchor [at Channel 5] and to one day work in a top15 market,” Salazar said.

February 20, 2003 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 3

UTPA grad making it big on TV

By BELINDA REYESThe Pan American

Photos special toThe Pan American

TALKING TO THE STARS— Television anchor Laurie Salazar, an ex-Bronc, interviewsEdward James Olmos (left), and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (above). She is shown ather college graduation with her parents (below) in 1996, and with co-anchor Brady Douglason the Fox news set (bottom of page).

February 20, 2003 sports Page 14

Feb. 19UIW 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 1 1 (5-5)UTPA 0 0 0 2 0 2 x - 4 6 0 (5-6)Pitchers: UIW - J Munoz. UTPA - A Guerra Win - A Guerra (2-2) Loss - J Munoz (3-1) Time - 1:30 Attendance - 381

UIW 4 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 5 - 12 13 3 (5-4)UTPA 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 2 1 - 8 15 6 (4-6)Pitchers: UIW - H Delgadillo; J Condel (7); AChevalier (8); G MARTINEZ (10). UTPA - T Sorden; T Parker (2); J Gibson (10). Win - A Chevalier (1-0) Loss - J Gibson (0-1) Time - 3:31 Attendance - Not reportedHR UIW - J Kraweitz

Round Rock Express College Classic

Feb. 16SWT 0 7 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 - 12 6 0 (4-5)UTPA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 - 3 10 2 (4-5)Pitchers: SWT - P Schappert; B Parr (8).UTPA - A Guerra; B Diorio (2); R Anderson (7);R Martinez (7); J Lopez (7). Win - P Schappert (1-1) Loss - A Guerra (1-2)Time - 2:45 Attendance - 518

Feb. 15NEBRASKA 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 3 1 - 9 6 2 (2-0)UTPA 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 2 2 (4-4)Pitchers: NEBRASKA - B Duensing; D Timm(7); M Sillman (9).UTPA - T Sorden; J Gibson (5); J Lopez (8). Win - B Duensing (1-0) Loss - T Sorden (0-1)Time - 2:43 Attendance - 242

Feb. 14UTPA 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 - 5 8 2 (4-3)CAL 0 6 7 5 1 1 x - 20 16 0 (7-1)Pitchers: UTPA - J Duhon; T Parker (3); JSaenz (4).CALIFORNIA - M Brown; B Read (6). Win - M Brown (1-0) Loss - J Duhon (0-1) Time - 2:30 A - Not reportedHR UTPA - B Kennedy; HR CALIFORNA - BHorwitzh 2, C Jackson, J Holder 2

UTPA Baseball Team Leaders

BattingG AB H R HR RBI AVG

J. McCoy 11 27 12 7 0 4 .444Marco Garza 11 48 19 7 1 8 .396Tony Ortiz 11 42 14 7 0 5 .333Matt Sisk 9 30 9 6 1 7 .300Juan Saenz 8 24 7 0 0 4 .292based on 20 at bats or more

PitchingG W-L ERA SV SO IP

Ben Diorio 3 2-0 1.46 0 7 12.1A. Guerra 4 2-2 3.92 0 8 20.2T. Sorden 4 0-1 6.46 0 8 15.1based on 7.0 innings pitched

Upcoming Schedule

2/22 UTPA vs. Ark.-Montecello (DH) - 4 p.m.2/23 UTPA vs. Ark.-Montecello - 1 p.m.2/26 UTPA at Texas Tech - 4 p.m.2/27 UTPA at Texas Tech - 2 p.m.3/1 UTPA vs. TAMUCC (DH) - 4 p.m.

UTPA BASEBALL STATS

Mastodon halftime lead to 29-27.Down 37-35 with 14:06 left in

the second half, Arizona nativeArriola tied up the game at 37-apiece on a layup that changed theentire rhythm of the game.

The Lady Broncs opened up thegame with quick passing, betterpositioning and beating the black-and-blue to the hoop that resultedin a 17-4 Pan Am run that put thehome team ahead 54-42 with 7:04left to play.

The Mastodons made a chargein the last part of the game, butUTPA managed to hold out byoutscoring the Midwesterners 17-15 and eventually win their fifthgame of the season and improveto 5-20.

"Our spacing wasn’t very goodin the first half and so it seemedlike we were getting reallyjammed. When you run the floorit allows you to flatten a team outdefensively because our kids werepushing them and running thefloor," Anderson said."Offensively, we were much moreaggressive and got some easytransition buckets which we

haven’t been able to do all year.""We played to win today which

is a little different than our pastcouple of games where we playednot to lose. That was a hugedifference," said Anderson.

In the first matchup between thetwo teams on Feb. 13, UTPAopened up the game with a 14-0run and increased the lead to 21-4with 12:47 left to play in the firsthalf, but the Mastodons outscoredPan Am 26-13 to close to withinfour points at halftime, 34-30.

UTPA built up a 55-46 leadwith 6:45 remaining in the gamebut the orange-and-green’s gas ranout and the roof caved in as IPFWwent on an 18-2 run to lift themover Pan Am 64-57.

NOTES: The Lady Broncs willclose out the season by playingtheir remaining three games at theField House starting ThursdayFeb. 20 against Lipscomb at 7p.m. Next week, UTPA will faceIncarnate Word on Tuesday Feb.25 at 7 p.m. and will wrap up the2002/03 season against Centenaryon Saturday March 1 at 1 p.m.

LADY BRONCS continued from page 16

steamroll right over them. Pan Am fought back to within a

basket, 53-51, on a Thompsonlayup with 1:33 remaining in thegame.

The Broncs pulled to within twopoints again with 38 seconds leftto play, 56-54, after senior guardKevin Mitchell hit three straightfree throws. But TAMUCC heldoff UTPA in the waning secondsof the game by hitting two of four

free throws to go up 58-54 andput an end to the Broncs’ four-game winning streak.

“It was a physical game. Thereshould of been more fouls called,”said head coach Bob Hoffman.“Our team just fought like crazyat the end. They made some playsat the end to give us a chance.”

The team’s next home game isMonday, Feb. 24 againstCentenary.

Photo by Ed Chrnko/The Pan AmericanELEVATION: UTPA’s Naima Williams elevates over a IPFW defender for a shot.

BRONCS continued from page 16

Men’s Basketball Team Leaders

PointsG Pts Pts/G

K. MITCHELL 27 392 14.5Allen Holcomb 27 281 10.4Eric Montalvo 27 240 8.9 P. Thompson 27 239 8.9T. Sitnikovas 27 225 8.3

ReboundsG Reb Reb/G

A. HOLCOMB 27 198 7.3T. Sitnikovas 27 122 4.5P. Thompson 27 113 4.2

AssistsG No. A/G

JAMES DAVIS 26 99 3.8Kevin Mitchell 27 89 3.3Eric Montalvo 27 50 1.9

Women’s Basketball Team Leaders

PointsG Pts Pts/G

ALEX GRAVEL 22 299 13.6Naima Williams 25 262 10.5J. Piwonka 25 187 7.5Julie Porter 25 161 6.4Amanda Carlow 25 138 5.5

ReboundsG Reb Reb/G

JULIE PORTER 25 147 5.9Naima Williams 25 133 5.3Jennifer Arriola 25 98 3.9

AssistsG No. A/G

J. Piwonka 25 75 3.0Amanda Carlow 25 67 2.7Alex Gravel 22 45 2.0

Upcoming Schedule

2/20 Lady Broncs vs. Lipscomb2/24 Broncs vs. Centenary2/25 Lady Broncs vs. Inc. Word3/1 Broncs at Morris Brown3/1 Lady Broncs vs. Centenary

UTPA BasketballStats

Broncs split twinbillagainst Incarnate Word

The University of Texas-Pan Americanbaseball team finally got some solidpitching Wednesday evening as freshmanAaron Guerra pitched a one-hitter to defeatIncarnate Word 4-0 and snap a five-gamelosing streak before 381 fans gathered atthe Edinburg Baseball Stadium.

The Broncs improved to 5-6 while theCrusaders evened their record at 5-5.

Guerra (2-2) pitched seven strong inningswhile giving up a lone hit, striking out oneand walking only two to drop his ERA to3.92. Pan Am’s offense supplied Guerrawith a pair of runs in the bottom of thefourth and another deuce in the Bronc halfof the sixth which turned out to be morethan the Edinburg standout needed to chalkup his second win of the season.

In the fourth, sophmore Tony Ortizdoubled to left center to drive in freshmanLouie Alamia. Ortiz advanced to third on aground out by sophmore Ricky Andersonand scored on junior Aldo Alonzo’ssacrifice fly.

Edinburg native Alamia opened thebottom half of the sixth with a triple to left

center field and came home on an Ortizsingle. The Fort Worth native advanced tosecond on a on a single to right field byAnderson and reached third on Alonzo’ssacrifice bunt. Freshman T.J. Gilmer pokeda single to right field to score Ortiz andgive Guerra a 4-0 lead.

UTPA dropped the opening game of thetwinbill 12-8 in 10 innings after committingsix errors. Trailing 7-2 after six innings, theBronc offense chipped away at the Crusaderlead by scoring a run in the seventh and apair of runs in the eigth and ninth innings toforce the game into extra innings.

The Broncs sent junior Johnny Gibson tothe mound to start off the tenth, but IWUended up using the UTPA freshman fortarget practice. Justin Krawietz sealed theCrusader victory with a grand slam homerun to put IWU ahead 12-7.

Pan Am tried to rally in its half of thetenth, but only managed to squeeze out arun to drop the first game.

Last weekend, the Broncs dropped threestraight games at the Round Rock ExpressCollege Classic by a combined score of 41-9.

UTPA opened up the tournament on Feb.

UTPA drops first contest but wins nightcap By ED CHRNKOThe Pan American

See BASEBALL page 13

A state-of-the-art media lab equipped formulti-media presentations, graphic design anddigital photography is now available tostudents, faculty and staff.

The lab, which opened Jan. 13, is located onthe third floor of the University Library.According to Paulo Reyes, the media lablibrary systems clerk, the facility contains someof the latest hardware and software available.

The lab provides graphic- and photo-qualityprinters that can print up to 13-by-19-inchpapers. A “dazzle” device and VCR are alsoprovided, which allow the user to convertanalog or VHS video-formatted media to anewer, digital form, including DVD and CD.

The lab is also furnished with zip, DVD, andCD drives. The scanners are high resolutionand the hardrive available can store up to 120gigs.

“The storage capacity is absolutely huge,”Reyes said. “It can store movies and it willnever fill up. The hardware available isamazing and the software is a gem.”

The software includes five programs forediting and creating movies and videos. Webpages can be created at the lab, but cannot belaunched. There is also software available forcropping and altering photos.

However, the lab does not provide allsupplies. Mini DV videocassettes forcamcorders, DVD+R media disks for storingvideo and making DVDs, CD-R for photo anddata storage and 100 or 250 MB Zip Disk forgeneral storage are not supplied.

Neither is photo paper provided. Epsonpaper, especially Premium Glossy orHeavyweight Matte, is recommended whenprinting photographs.

“We do provide regular paper and ink, butunfortunately we are unable to provideeverything,” Reyes said.

The labs are intended to work in conjunctionwith the media information desk, wherestudents, faculty, and staff can check outcamcorders and digital cameras for four-hourperiods. There are three Sony camcorders andsix Sony digital cameras available.

The lab also sponsors an orientation for thesoftware Powerpoint for those who are notfamiliar with the program. The lab is openMonday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

There is always a library systems clerkavailable for assistance. However, the systemsclerk is only present for technical help. The labcomplies with all copyright laws.

“I get some students wanting me to actuallyhelp them do their project,” Reyes said. “I’monly here for technical help on the programsand hardware, not to do their work for them.That is something people need to understand.”

The lab is not strictly for school-relatedprojects. It is also for personal use, but lesssupport is given to personal projects.

“I think everyone should come out here tocheck out these stations,” Reyes said. “It’s arelaxed environment. The things you can do areamazing and it’s fun, too.”

The facility has mainly been used byphotography and graphic design students, but isopen to everyone. Sergio Villarreal, juniorgraphic design major, utilizes the lab three tofour days per week.

“If it had not been for the media lab I wouldhave had to invest in programs and software athome which I do not have the money for orused the Academics Services Labs,” Villarrealsaid. “Those computers are behind, though,especially in graphic design software.”

The lab also helped Jessica Ramirez, junioradvertising/public relations major, by providingsome of the latest technology for herphotojournalism project.

“If the lab wasn’t available I would’ve justtaken pictures on a regular camera and takenthe film to HEB,” Ramirez said. “You learn

more hands-on by using the programs at thelab. If you decide to become a photojournalistit’s an insight on developing pictures withmodern technology.”

Villarreal also felt that the lab betters hiseducation he is receiving, along with savinghim time.

“Not only do I get my homework donequicker, but because the software is the latest, Ilearn how to use industry-standardizedprograms,” Villarreal said. “That will help mycareer in the future.”

Besides learning, Ramirez felt moreaccomplished by using the lab for herphotography project.

“I feel more pride in my project because Itook the time to go and digitally develop thepictures myself,” Ramirez said. “I did mywhole project myself from beginning to endinstead of having someone else develop mypictures at a store.”

The media lab, camcorders, and digitalcameras were all funded by the grant,Telecommunication Infrastructure Fund that thelibrary received in August of 2001. The grant isawarded by the state of Texas to public schoolsand universities to use for technology.

“The money for grants are taken out ofTexans home and cell phone bills,” explainedVirginia Haynie Gause, systems librarian.“They charge about fifty cents and the moneygoes to the grants.”

The library was given $290,391 to be spentin one year on things directly used by librarypatrons. Some of the other items purchasedinclude computers, wireless laptops (which canbe checked out and used anywhere in thelibrary), three network centers, and betterInternet capabilities.

“All the things bought will directly benefitall library users, which are mainly students,”Gause said.

“The library offers better technology nowand UTPA students can do more than justPowerpoint.”

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

http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican51st Year – No. 17

EditorMatt Lynch

mlynch@panam.edu

Layout Designers

Ashley Brooks

Gabriel O. Hernandez

Reporters

Hilda Barrientes

Amelia Garcia

Dulce Gonzalez

Aaron Lozano

Adriana Martinez

Clarissa Martinez

Jennifer Tapia

Celeste Y. Tello

Arianna Vazquez

Photographer

Daniel Aguilar

Circulation

Joe Rodriguez

Advertising

Dagoberto Perez

Advertising Coordinator

Juanita Sanchez

Adviser

Dr. Greg Selber

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

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

Letters policy

February 202 0 0 3

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

echrnko@yahoo.com

A & E EditorAshley Brooks

Magrew2@hotmail.com

News EditorBelinda Reyes

beberay25@aol.com

Graphics EditorGabriel O.Hernandez

gabo296@hotmail.com

NEWS■ Laurie Salazar. . . . . 3■ Campus Groups . . . 5■ ROESC . . . . . . . . . 6

Lab has latest technologiesBy AMELIA GARCIAThe Pan American

Despite figures that appear to argue to thecontrary, a recent scholarly publication indicatesthat the university’s retention rate is still not at arespectable level.

Dr. Jose Llanes, full professor of educationalleadership studies at UTPA, helped to write andpublish an article in the January 2003 issue ofthe Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. Thearticle was titled “Student Attrition, Retention,and Persistence: The Case of the University ofTexas-Pan American.”

Llanes collaborated with Dr. Alfredo Salinas,a recent graduate of the educational leadershipdoctoral program. The study of a cohort groupof entering freshmen from 1992 had significantfindings.

“Out of 1,425 students that were enteringfreshmen in 1992, the cohort, about 947 areclassified as nonpersisters,” Llanes said.

The persisters typically graduate with a BA insix years or less. Nonpersisters are defined asthose who leave the system or do not graduatein less than six years.

This contradicts a recent universityinformation release that places the retention rateat nearly 90 percent. However, Dr. Susan

Griffith, Director of Institutional Research saidthat statistic is misinterpreted. She said that thestatistic given was only a small representationof the entire freshman class at UTPA.

“It [the statistic] is wrong because it’s likesaying how many men are on campus, orwomen, or minorities. It singles out a particulargroup of people instead of the entire picture,”Griffith said.

In actuality, this case of the 88.7 percentshows the increase of students enrolling atUTPA as enrolling freshmen of the Fall 2002semester. In other words, almost 90 percent ofthose students returned for the next semester. Incontrast, Llanes and Salinas’ work shows thegraduation rate of students over a 10-yearperiod of time.

So there is good news in a short-term view,despite the misunderstanding. Whether thefigures eventually represent a higherretention/graduation rate over a longer period oftime remains to be seen. The principalsinvolved are joining forces to get to the bottomof what retention rates mean and how toimprove them.

“Dr. Griffith is interested in working withhim [Salinas] to improve the retention rate,”Llanes said. Griffith is currently working on thesummary of the study.

“The study Dr. Salinas conducted is

fascinating, since he tracked a cohort for 10years,” Griffith states in her summary. “It is rarein institutional research that an entire cohort, nota sample, is targeted; rarer still that they aretracked for a decade.”

The study began in 1992 and finallycompleted last year. Results showed that thestudents had taken five distinctive paths. A totalof 573 (40 percent) of the 1,425 first-time full-time entering freshman, graduated from UTPA;127 (9 percent) had transferred to and graduatedfrom either another 4-year institution; 69 (5percent) were still enrolled, and 656 (46percent) had not received a degree and were notregistered at UTPA in the Fall 2001 semester.

“This study gives us a picture of howsuccessful students are who begin at UTPA,”Griffith said. “Based on these data, the UTPA1992 cohort 10-year graduation rate, wasactually 49 percent.”

It is not easy to predict from the beginning,which students will be persisters and which willbe nonpersisters. According to the article byLlanes and Salinas, academic indicators are notaccurate predictors of who will be a persisters,and often offer confusing data.

“The academic indicators (ACT, TexasAssessment of Skills Program, and so forth) of

Tricky retention rates studiedBy CELESTE TELLO AND CLARISSAMARTINEZThe Pan American

See RETENTION page 4

Following last week’s sweepof St. Mary’s University at theCox Tennis Courts, theUniversity of Texas-PanAmerican men’s and women’stennis teams went in twodifferent directions duringrecent competition.

After beating St. Mary’s 5-2last Wednesday, the LadyBroncs (2-8) went on to dropthree straight contests, falling 4-3 to Texas A&M-Corpus Christion Friday and 4-3 to Southernand 4-2 to Sam Houston Stateon Saturday.

UTPA fell behind earlyagainst TAMU-CC as theIslanders swept the LadyBroncs in the doubles portion ofthe event. Although the LadyBroncs attempted a late rally inthe singles competition, UTPAcould only muster wins at thefirst, fourth and sixth singlespositions. Senior ElisabetMateos earned a point forUTPA at number one singleswith a 6-0, 6-4 win over FeliceSanchez, while sophomore AnaPena notched another point forUTPA at number the numberfour spot by beating JessicaMartinez 6-0, 7-5. Junior JulieFife picked up the last point forthe Lady Broncs at the numbersix spot with a 6-0, 6-3pounding of Kelsey Gist.

The Lady Broncs followedtheir three-point performanceagainst TAMU-CC with another4-3 loss to Southern onSaturday. After once againfalling behind early by losingthe doubles point, UTPA nearlyrecovered from the deficit bypicking up three singles pointsat the first, third and sixthpositions.

Mateos picked up her secondsingles win of the road trip witha 6-4, 4-4 victory over ArionaMarshall at the number one

spot, while freshman LauraBoskovich earned another pointfor the Lady Broncs with a 6-4,6-2 win over Kelly Nabors atthe third position. Junior AlanaBreen picked up the last UTPAscore by gutting out a 6-7, 6-1,(10-7) win over Jennifer Floyd.

The Lady Broncs have fewerfond memories to recall of theirencounter with Sam HoustonState, as UTPA mustered winsat only the fifth and sixthsingles spots en route to a 4-2loss. Fife earned one point forthe Lady Broncs with a 6-0, 3-6, (10-6) victory over JenniferPechal at the fifth spot, andJunior Jessica Brown recordedthe other UTPA point byblanking Shanna Elias 6-0, 6-0at the sixth position.

The Lady Broncs return toaction Feb. 23, when they faceSouthwest Texas State at SanMarcos at noon.

MEN

Following last week’s 7-0drubbing of St. Mary’s lastweek, the Broncs picked uptheir second-straight win with a4-3 victory over TAMU-CC onSaturday.

After falling behind early inthe match by losing two of thethree doubles matches, UTPArebounded with four singlesvictories to earn the come-from-behind win. Junior TomMangelschots picked up thefirst singles win for the Broncsat second singles with acomeback 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 winover Luis Moris.

Although senior Matt Gowerfell 6-0, 6-2 to GoncaloFigueiredo at the third singlesposition, UTPA responded withthree-straight wins at the fourththrough sixth singles spots.Sophomore Jeremy Salvopicked up a win at the fourthspot with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victoryover Shahzeb Niazi at numberfour, and freshman Oliver Steiltied the team competition at 3-3with a 6-4, 6-1 win over DavidPlasencia at the fifth singlesposition. Freshman Nik Portercompleted the comeback winfor the Broncs by recording a 6-4, 6-4 victory over LorenCollins at the sixth spot.

The Broncs open theirSouthland Conference scheduleFeb. 23 when they travel to SanAntonio to face SoutheasternLouisiana at 10 p.m.

February 20, 2003 sports Page 15

Tennis teams taking different pathsBroncs riding two-match win streak, while Lady Broncs

in midst of three-match losing skidBy MATT LYNCHThe Pan American

Photo by Matt Lynch/The Pan American

SERVICE: Kathryn Waslen serves to a St. Mary’s opponent last week.

SWING: Matt Gower hits a warm-up serve against St. Mary’s.Photo by Matt Lynch/The Pan American

Upcoming scheduleMen’s

2/23 Broncs vs. SoutheasternLouisiana at San Antonio - 10 a.m.2/27 Broncs vs. Laredo Col. - 3 p.m.3/7 Broncs at Air Force - 9 a.m.3/8 Broncs vs. Idaho State at ColoradoSprings - 9 a.m.3/17 Broncs vs. Cameron at SanAntonio - 1 p.m.3/20 Broncs vs. Vermont at SanAntonio - 9 a.m.

Women’s

2/23 Lady Broncs at SWT - noon2/27 Lady Broncs vs. Laredo Col. - 1 p.m.3/2 Lady Broncs vs. LA-Monroe - 1 p.m.3/7 Lady Broncs vs. Idaho State - 7 p.m.3/8 Lady Broncs vs. Wyoming - 6 p.m.3/9 Lady Broncs vs. Air Force - 5 p.m.3/10 Lady Broncs vs. Southern Utah -10 a.m.3/17 Lady Broncs vs. Cameron at SanAntonio - 1 p.m.

In an age where individual self-esteem isa definite focus, the increasing rate of gradeinflation in higher education is easy tobelieve. More students are graduating fromcollege than ever before, making a collegedegree seem like a necessity. But because ofthe rising numbers, the quality of educationthat students receive may not be of the samequality that the college brochure may bepromising.

The term grade inflation is defined as anupward shift in the grade-point averagewithout a corresponding increase in studentachievement. It also refers to the idea thatthe standards in education may be declining,and that as a result, students often receivegrades in certain courses not necessarilybecause they fully earned them, but partiallybecause the professors have the pressure ofmaintaining a high class average.

Dr. Ken Buckman of the UTPAphilosophy department feels that gradeinflation is a lie to students, telling themthey are meeting a standard which they havenot met.

“I, as do most faculty, abhor gradeinflation. It is unethical, dishonest, andharms students most of all,” Buckman said.“How can a student accurately assess herown capabilities, if the professor does notgive her an accurate reflection of the degreeto which that student is demonstrating hercapacity.”

Buckman says that the problem affectsUTPA students, cheapening the process andfosters a lie.

“If our grades are inflated and cheap, thelevel of competition our students are capableof mustering in the job market will beeclipsed by those students from otheruniversities who are able to meet the rigorsand expectations of a quality universityeducation,” he said. “I tell my students tofind the most challenging, demanding, butfair professors they can. Anything less hurtsthe student, not the professor. The easy “A”and the earned A look the same on atranscript, but the capacity and ability of theperson who has earned an excellent grade ina challenging environment is exponentiallybetter. An excellent education is available toall students at UTPA. A cheap grade onlybuys an illusion.”

What would Buckman say if someonefelt that his philosophy class was an easy“A’?

“It makes me smile,” said Buckman. “Iwould wonder what planet they werecoming from. Most of the students I knowdon't believe philosophy to be an easy ‘A.’

THURSDAYFebruary 20, 2003

An Inside Look:

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

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

Page 4

CCaammppuussVOICEHow couldthe Valley

benefit fromhaving a

spaceport inWillacyCounty?

CAMPUS■ LEADERSHIPCONFERENCESATURDAY Molly Ivins is thekeynote speaker for the2nd Annual StudentLeadership Conferenceset to take placeSaturday, Feb. 22 at theStudent Union Theater. Starting at 8 a.m. withregistration and acontinental breakfast,the conference runsuntil 5:30 p.m. It isintended to provideleadership training forcurrent UTPAmembers of theStudent LeadershipProgram, as well as forhigh school studentswho have displayedtremendous leadershipabilities and wish toenhance their skills. The theme of theconference is titled“Journey To HigherEducation,” and the all-day event includesinteraction betweenvarious student leadersthrough participationin hands-onworkshops. There arealso presentations byguest speakers who areexperts in theirrespective fields. Dr. Salma Ghanem,chair of the departmentof communication, saidthat the featured guestis an interesting newscommentator and agreat speaker.“This is a wonderfulopportunity forsomeone such as MollyIvins to speak, a personof such caliber,” saidGhanem. “This is awonderful event andthere should be manymore like this one.Whether you agree ordisagree with herviews, she would stillbe a speaker worthwatching.” - Ronald Claflin See GRADES page 5

Special to The Pan American

ALL HAIL— Homecoming King Joshua A. Caesar (left) and Queen Adelle Clinton pose in the Fieldhouse lastweek after becoming royalty for the school’s first court in almost a decade.

Grade risemight bequestioned

Bronc-o-Days came and went, butthe memories have stayed with thoseorganizations which participated, andwith the new homecoming court.After doing away with homecomingfestivities in 1996, the university lastweek renewed that tradition bycrowning a court.

This year's new Bronc-o-King andQueen are Joshua A. Caesar from theDelta Upsilon Fraternity, and AdeleClinton from the Kappa Delta ChiSorority. Bronc-o-Prince andPrincess are Omar J. Garza from TauKappa Epsilon Fraternity, and NaimaWilliams from the Lady Broncsbasketball team. Bronc-o-Dutch and

Duchess are Carlos Rios from theStudent Government Association,and Erica Diaz representing the Pre-Law Society.

The new members of the court arenot alone. The king and queen of1996 were also among theparticipants in these years' festivities.The 1996 king and queen, ReneCantu and Iris Sosa, were amongthose who assisted Saturday at theFieldhouse. They were invited by theUnited Student Organization Council(USOC) to be part of Bronc-o-Daysand give away their crowns to thenew winners.

Former king Cantu was veryexcited and very proud of themembers that put it together.

“I understand this is a tradition that

had died out, and now they arecontinuing it,” Cantu said.” “I amexcited to be back and be part of thistradition again after being elected byour student body in 1996.”

Former queen Iris Sosa also saidshe got really excited and happy afterthe president of USOC invited her toattend, because she was going to livethe experience again.

“It has been seven years, and Ihave done my life completely, butwhen the president of theorganization invited me to come overI wanted to cry because I can'tbelieve I am reliving it again,” Sosacommented. “I am very happy theybrought the tradition back because Ithink it is something that you always

Homecoming traditionrenewed after hiatus

By CLARISSA MARTINEZThe Pan American

By ARIANNA VAZQUEZThe Pan American

See HOMECOMING page 4

The Texas A&M-CorpusChristi Islanders put an end tothe University of Texas-PanAmerican men’s basketballteam’s four-game winning streak,58-54, before 2,720 charged upfans at the Fieldhouse Saturdaynight.

The hard-fought loss droppedthe Broncs to 9-18 on the season,8-2 at home, while the Islandersimproved to 10-14 after winningfor only the third time in the lastseven games.

Islander forward CoreyLamkin notched a double-doublewith 18 points and 14 reboundsto lead TAMUCC over UTPA.Bronc junior forward Prince

Thompson scored 17 points in alosing effort for the orange-and-green.

The game was marred byseveral fouls that resulted in theIslanders hitting 10 of 16 freethrows, factoring heavily in thefinal score.

“We got into foul troubleearly,” said Thompson. “We triedto stop them from getting to thefree throw line. We were talkingabout it in practice all week.They’re a good team and theylove to get up to the line.”

Pan Am started off the gameby going on an 8-0 run that wassparked by 6-foot-5 AllenHolcomb who scored six of theeight points. TAMUCCresponded with a 21-9 run thatput the Islanders ahead 21-17with 7:25 to play in the first half.

The Broncs composedthemselves and finished out thefirst half by outscoring theIslanders 16-8 to take a 33-29halftime lead into half time.Thompson led the Bronc surgewith nine points.

In the second half, both teamsbattled back and forth for thelead during the first 10 minutes,but TAMUCC finally took overthe lead for good at 9:11 on alayup by 6-foot guard BrianEvans to put the Islanders ahead44-43.

Evans’ score sparked a 9-0TAMUCC run that gave them a53-43 advantage with 3:27 left toplay in the second half.

However, UTPA didn’t just sitaround and let loss number 18

■ Tennis . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

■ Baseball . . . . . . . . . . .14

■ Sports Clipboard . . . . .13

PAGE 16

SPORTSLady Broncsrock IPFW

UTPA picks up fifth win of season behindstrong 44-point second half output

An energized University ofTexas-Pan American women’sbasketball team scored 44 points inthe second half to win a rematchagainst Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne71-57 before a faithful crowd of300 at the Fieldhouse Tuesdaynight.

The Lady Broncs snapped a five-game losing streak to improve 5-20on the season while IPFW droppedto 9-17 withthe loss.

The 71-point outputwas a season-high for theLady Broncswho lost totheMastodons,64-57, onFeb. 13 at theGates SportsCenter in FortWayne, Ind.

Juniorguard AmandaCarlow sparked the Lady Broncs inthe second half and sophmoreJennifer Arriola scored a career-high 17 points to lead a rejuvenatedPan Am squad over IPFW. TheLadies held a 50-33 reboundingedge.

Senior Alex Gravel scored 15points to increase her career andschool record leading point total to1,172 while posting a double-double for the first time in hercollege career. Senior Naima

Williams contributed 11 to close towithin 13 points of second place onUTPA’s all-time women’sbasketball scoring list that’soccupied by former scoring leader,Becky Dube, with 1,140 points.

"We executed, we ran the ball,we pushed the ball and AmandaCarlow just pushed us and got usdown the floor," said Arriola. "Wehave three more games and we’regoing to push and fight until we getthose three victories like we didtoday."

"Amandacarried theteam on herback,” saidinterim headcoach TracyAnderson."She refused tolet us losetonight and ourkids joined thewagon."

The LadyBroncs jumpedout to a 20-10lead with 9:54to play in the

first half. But that’s when IPFWpicked up the pace and increasedthe pressure on Pan Am, forcingseveral turnovers, especially underthe basket where the Mastodonshad virtually neutralized theorange-and-green offense.

IPFW erased UTPA’s lead in lessthan six minutes to take a 26-22edge with 4:28 to play in the half.Pan Am recovered a little in theclosing minutes to cut thePhoto by Ed Chrnko/The Pan American

SHOOTING: Jennifer Piwonka shoots over two IPFW defenders in Tuesday night’s game at the Fieldhouse.

By ED CHRNKOThe Pan American

TAMUCC rolls over Broncs, ends win streak

We played to wintoday, which is alittle different thanour past couple ofgames where weplayed not to lose

““

- Tracy Anderson, interim head coach

See LADY BRONCS page 14

By ED CHRNKOThe Pan American

See BRONCS page 14

Islander forward Corey Lamkin scores 18as four-game UTPA win streak snapped

pulga

Willacy County

Space Race?