march 24, 2011

CHECK THE WEBFeast your eyes on these || See more photos of the Never Say Never Festival on our website.

Beisból mexicanoSultanes visitan a los Broncos || Cierran pre-temporada el jueves pasado en el estadio de beisból de Edinburg. PÁGINA 6

Banking Banik

Professor gains recognition from funding society PAGE 3

Professor gains

Nelsen: Moving to a leaner university

On April 4, Scripps Institution of Oceanography based at the University of California-San Diego will use a glider, SPRAY, that will cover between 380 and 430 miles of water and travel half a mile per day in the Gulf of Mexico; its task is to retrieve various measurements such as the water temperature, pressure and chlorophyll.

UTPA’s Coastal Lab Studies at South Padre Island will allow a team of two researchers to use its facilities to deploy SPRAY and further the expedition. � e involvement with the expedition is slight but important, says Donald Hockaday, researcher and educator coordinator of the Coastal Lab Studies. Equipment from the CSL will also be used.

“We’re hosting the lab for them,” said Hockaday, who’s been at the CSL since 1980. “We’re making sure all the arrangements run smoothly. � ey called us asking if they could come down and use our facilities. I said it was � ne. We’d accept their package and give them the space they needed.”

One of the two members of

the expedition is Daniel Rudnick, an oceanography professor at Scripps Institution. Rudnick said they chose UTPA to assist because of its close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico since part of the expedition is to retrieve data from Mexican waters.

“It’s the closest we could get and still launch from the United States,” Rudnick explained. “We are going to try to map out basic temperatures, characteristics and currents in this part of the world. � is project originally started out as a response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Rudnick’s partner, Jose Ochoa, is another principal investigator in the research expedition. He is a professor in the Centro de Investigación Cientí� ca y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Baja California, or Center of Scienti� c Investigation and Superior Education in Ensenada, Baja California. CICESE and Scripps share a relationship in oceanography interests and this expedition is another one of their collaborations. Ochoa received a Ph.D. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1983.

“He contacted me back in July of last year when the oil spill was happening and it has taken a while for

By Kristen CabreraThe Pan American

WWW.PANAMERICANONLINE.COMVolume 67, No. 22 March 24, 2011

Alma E. Hernandez/THE PAN AMERICAN

UTPA’s future could include workforce layo� s, but zero salary cuts.

SPRAY to glide into SPI Coastal Lab

By Pamela MoralesThe Pan American

Tuesday, President Robert Nelsen announced via email memo the possibility of layo� s in the University’s future, and the establishment of a hiring freeze.

“We will probably see layo� s in the future,” said Nelsen, the future meaning next year.

Currently the administration is going through budget presentations from the colleges and nothing is de� ned yet. Nelsen pressed that administration still needs to look at the big picture before

making any moves. Once the budget meetings are � nished and the Presidential Cabinet has discussed and determined the future of the university, they will hold town hall meetings to inform the UTPA community of their resolution.

But the fact is, no new position lines will be opened, and most existing ones are now frozen.

“We are moving to a leaner University,” the president said. “I think that this [hiring freeze] will help put us in a better situation for next year so we don’t have to make major cuts”

� e hiring halt comes with some

exceptions though, and Havidán Rodríguez, provost and vice president for academic a� airs, must approve all o� ers. Such exceptions are when considering sta� positions already in the ‘� nalist’ phase, faculty searches currently in progress, and sta� positions related to the safety of UTPA.

Also with a possibility of survival includes positions that are separately funded through specific grants and/or contracts, and essential staff positions that are justified and recommended by a divisional VP and approved by the president.

Despite the probability of layo� s, the cabinet has decided not to implement salary and furlough cuts like the ones proposed by the Texas House of Representatives.

“We’ve had no discussions whatsoever involving salary cuts,” Nelsen wrote. “No one has proposed salary cuts at all… we have not had those discussions here on this campus.”

� e reorganization taking place the University - such as the move of Athletics to the Division of the President, and away from the Division of Student A� airs, or the name change

of the latter from � e Division of Enrollment and Student Services - is another aspect Nelsen wants to focus on to lessen the cut-back-blow.

He said in the memo that administration is currently planning with the Human Resources department on how to transition some of the University workforce into “critical positions within a division if the need arises.”

“We’ll move personnel around as we reorganize the university,” Nelsen said. “Really, it’s a reorganization as we look at where the university is and where we need personnel most importantly.”

SEEN AND CAPTURED - Joseph Pepper, guitarist of the band Cartel, performs March 16 at Never Say Never. Cartel was one of 62 bands who performed at the two-day festival.

SEE SCRIPPS || PAGE 3

I once read that the 1989-1990 generation was the last age group with common sense, but I don’t know where. It must have been in an online publication or in one of the many social media venues out there, and as of right now I’ve spent about 30 minutes trying to � gure out where I saw it. Anyway, I agree.

I agree because I (and my contemporaries) remember the times when this wouldn’t have been a problem, and although I’m sure people struggled to remember where they saw or read things, it was way easier to retrieve the source of information.

Most of us did not have access to a computer at home, let alone a personal computer, when we were little, not because we didn’t need it (we didn’t) but because computers didn’t become that commercialized until we were about six years old. Even then, my parents got a computer when I was seven, and I would spend hours (as in a couple, not almost a work day as we do today) doodling on Paint. But then my older brother and I would argue and get into � ghts because we both wanted to use it at the same time; see, that’s where everything went downhill. We also went from storing about two pictures in a � oppy disc to pretty much having all of life’s important documents in a two-inch USB drive.

� en came cell phones… oh no. Although I understand that the history of mobile phones started way before I was even born, people didn’t start using them and rapidly becoming addicted to them until their teens. We still remember being told that you’d meet at a certain time at a certain place and doing it; there was no “I’ll call you when I’m on my way,”or “Text me when you get there.” � ose were the times when we trusted each other and it was way more important to keep

your word of being there, on time.One of the most nostalgic pieces

of my early childhood memories is de� nitely music cassette tapes. I had a few. Nothing but children’s music, but as most people my age and older than me experienced, I knew every single song, one after the other, as if they all made up a very long song with brief pauses in between. Today, people are not even buying CDs, which gave us the power to skip or shu� e the songs so that we didn’t get bored of the entire album. MP3 players are pretty much a “must have” and you can listen to any of thousands of songs you can store there any time at any place… much better than carrying around a Walkman or a Discman, and tons of tapes or CDs if you wanted to listen to a variety of music.

VCR players were also legit, although it was a hassle to fast forward or rewind and if you did it too many times the tape would eventually get tangled up or tear (as was the case with music cassettes) and that was the end of it.

Music and TV shows were something else. � at depends a lot on your music taste or where you’re from, but there are a good number of classics that bring you right back to the good

old days (for us) when we were free of worry and yes, I’m going to say it, they had music on MTV. � at’s when “Saved by the Bell” and the “Fresh Prince” were in, we were jamming out to “Barbie Girl,” and a little bit before our parents starting worrying because supposedly Pokémon had some kind of relationship with the devil.

Now, I feel kind of old when talking about this and you and I could go on and on recalling the pre-2000s lifestyle; I can already hear older people say, “What does she know?” But those that are roughly my age understand that although we have grown into all these technological and social advances, adopting the new, ever-changing lifestyle, we don’t forget the way things were before. Because we were lucky enough to have been born at a time when this revolution was about to skyrocket; we were young enough to experience the change but old enough to be able to store some of those experiences in our childhood memories.

March 24, 20112Commentary

I remember when...

Anthony Salinas/THE PAN AMERICAN

Sara Hernandez Sports Editor

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THE PAN AMERICAN

Vol. 67, No. 22

Bimal Banik, President Endowed Professor for UTPA’s Department of Chemistry, has been hard at work serving as the principal investigator of his own research study, which considers the e� ects of beta-lactam compounds on di� erent types of cancer. With a long established history in such work dating back to 1990, Banik and his crew are aiming to capitalize on how the beta-lactam’s use as anti-bacterial agents/compounds can be manipulated into developing better anti-cancer drugs.

Banik’s research, which is aided by many collaborators and about 30 UTPA students, has created such a buzz that the professor and his ac-complishments are soon to be fea-tured on the webpage of the National Cancer Institute/National Institute of Health’s Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities.

“� is is very exciting because gen-erally, NCI/NIH, they do not select everybody because thousands of peo-ple are working on cancer (research),” Banik said. “How many people or au-thors can get on the website? Very few. Very few…So the National U.S. Gov-ernment, the most prestigious funding society in the world, NIH NCI, they are selecting our work as website ma-terial. � at’s very prestigious and I am naturally very excited about it.”

Banik’s has written an article on this research, “Asymmetric synthesis of anticancer beta-lactams via Staudinger reaction: utilization of chiral ketene from carbohydrate,”

that has been recognized with equal acclaim by scientists all over the world. As reported by the Bio Med Library, Banik’s online piece currently ranks number one in the world for most-cited articles. Four of Banik’s papers from UTPA became top-cite winners in 2007 and 2008. His work was also acknowledged by a prestigious research organization in England that selected his cancer research to publish in its “International Innovation” issue.

According to Banik, despite signi� cant research on beta-lactam as antibiotics since 1945, studies to identify anti-cancer uses of it are limited. While, there have been 76,000 publications on antibacterial beta-lactams, there are only 10 on anti-cancer beta lactams; Banik is responsible for being the main author of six of those.

RESEARCH FINDINGSAfter the study of polycyclic

compounds (molecules that contain two or more rings that are joined together), years of Banik’s laboratory research have produced a few methods in beta-lactam chemistry and other open chain compounds. Using cisplatin and adriamycin as controls against nine human cancer cell lines, beta-lactams and other related amines were found to have positive e� ects on ovarian, breast, prostate, leukemia, melanoma, liver, bladder and colon cancer, in terms of the inhibition of cancer cell growth. Selective di� erences of anti-cancer activities have been observed by some of these unique compounds. By conducting a study, where human tumors were

implanted in laboratory mice, some compounds were able to reduce the amount of colon tumors found in the mice by 35 percent, as well as, the mice’s overall tumor volume by 47 percent. Banik’s research is yet to be completed and he is still working on identifying new molecules that will produce a more potent, much less

toxic oral cancer drug. Banik has already accepted

$4.25 million in research grants from organizations like the NCI/NIH, Health Science Center San Antonio and other private foundations. He has also received a $1 million instrumentation grant from UT MD Anderson Cancer Center and about $800,000 from UTPA’s

Instrumentation Committee, to fund his studies. He has many grants pending.

While Banik’s work is far from over, he remains hopeful that despite the economic problems the United States is facing in providing funding for research, his studies will continue as long as he remains consistent in applying to di� erent funding sources.

March 24, 2011 3

Banik gets recognition By Belinda MunozThe Pan American

Funding society highlights UTPA professor’s research

SCRIPPScontinued from Page 1

The UTPA Library has made it just a little easier to raise a child and go to school. After observing and reading about some of the obstacles area parents face, the representatives from the library recently moved and added to the facility’s former juvenile collection, making it into the Little Learners Corner.

After observing some of the stress that parents were experiencing trying to balance parenting and educational goals, the seeds for the section were planted in 2009 when the library provided coloring materials for small children.

“In talking with several of these parents they expressed how di� cult it was for them because

they did not want their small children to disturb others, but had no choice but to bring them along,” said Jane Goodman, head of reference and instructional services.

� e new section includes over 6,500 books as well as tables for coloring, and stu� ed animals to play with.

“Our Little Learners can browse the shelves, read, color, draw, and enjoy themselves, all under the watchful eyes of their parents,” Goodman said.

� e library utilized existing resources and donations so that the new section did not incur new costs.

“Books were already being purchased through regular book funds and would have continued to be purchased,” Goodman said. “Furniture already in the library was placed in service. � e displays, coloring materials, stu� ed animals, and wall decals were donated by library personnel.”

Goodman noted that parent

feedback on the new section has been nothing but positive.

“Parents express their appreciation to library personnel, stating this makes the trip to the library so much more enjoyable for them, as well as their children,” she said.

Even students who are not parents are sometimes found in the new kids’ section, studying or looking at books from their early days.

“I like it,” said freshman marketing major Dolca Baez. “It’s comfortable, it’s away from [other areas of the library]. It’s more quiet and a good place to study.”

� e Little Learners Corner is located on the second � oor in the northeast corner and is open during regular library hours. Students may check out books with a BroncCard but the general public must purchase a Public Patron card and may check out � ve books at a time.

“He contacted me back in July of last year when the oil spill was happening and it has taken a while for all this to come together,” Rudnick said of Ochoa. “CICESE has a program going on right now to measure the southwest Gulf of Mexico to see any residual e� ects from the oil spill and this is just a small contribution to that. We did send a proposal to UTPA then to Don Hockaday and it’s in Spanish. � e proposal is for a Mexican agency and Dr. Ochoa contacted me and wanted to take advantage of the technology we have.”

� e deployment of the glider will

be April 4. It runs on a battery that is estimated to last for four months. Once the � rst glider is done,

a second one will be d e p l o y e d , with the r e s e a r c h e x p e d i t i o n ending by the end of the year.

Rudnick advises the g e n e r a l p o p u l a t i o n not attend the deployment due to a tight schedule with

preparations but any individual wishing to track and view data collected by the project will be readily available at www.sccoos.org.

Alma E. Hernandez/THE PAN AMERICAN

HIGH SOCIETY - UTPA professor Bimal Banik Wednesday inside the Science Building.

Library invites Little Learners By Karen AntonacciThe Pan American

Daniel RudnickScripps professor

“We are going to try to map

out basic temperatures,

characteristics and

currents in this part of the

world. ”

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THE PAN AMERICANTHE PAN AMERICAN 24 de marzo del 2011 24 de marzo del 2011 Página 7Página 6

Después de los 8 juegos de pre-temporada, los Sultanes de Monterrey visitaron a los Broncos de Reynosa el jueves 17 de

marzo en el estadio de beisbol de Edinburg para cerrar con broche de oro y comenzar la temporada 2011.

Desde las 16:00 horas las taquillas abrieron y fanáticos del beisbol y seguidores de los dos equipos y de todas las edades comenzaron a llegar a pesar de los mas de estar a 30 grados centígrados y con

el sol a todo lo que daba.

“Es la primera vez que venimos a jugar a Estados Unidos”, dijo Heber Gómez, jugador de los Sultanes. “Llegamos en la mañana y todo el día nos la hemos pasado practicando, esperamos que sea

un buen partido”.

A diferencia de los Broncos de Reynosa, que jugaban en casa, Gómez comento que no tienen planes de volver a jugar en Edinburg este año pero defi nitivamente fue un juego que los residentes de Valle del Rio

Grande no olvidaran.

“Es uno de los mejores juegos a los que he ido, tenia ganas de que los Broncos ya vinieran a Edinburg”, comento Beto González,

seguidor de los Broncos. “Vienen cada año antes de la inauguración y procuro ir cada que hay oportunidad”.

Al fi nal del juego los Sultanes de Monterrey tuvieron casa llena y sin out; por ser pre-temporada no se fueron a extra innings empatando 6

a 6 a los Broncos de Reynosa.

Llévame al Juego de Pelota!

A diferencia de los Broncos de Reynosa, que jugaban en casa, Gómez A diferencia de los Broncos de Reynosa, que jugaban en casa, Gómez comento que no tienen planes de volver a jugar en Edinburg este año pero defi nitivamente fue un juego que los residentes de Valle del Rio

“Es uno de los mejores juegos a los que he ido, tenia ganas de que los Broncos ya vinieran a Edinburg”, comento Beto González,

seguidor de los Broncos. “Vienen cada año antes de la inauguración y

Al fi nal del juego los Sultanes de Monterrey tuvieron casa llena y sin out; por ser pre-temporada no se fueron a extra innings empatando 6

Pelota! Historia por: Denisse SalinasFotos por: Norma GonzalezDiseño por: Erick Gonzalez

March 24, 20118

ART AND ACTIVISM

As a teenager California in the 1960s and 1970s, Yreina D. Cervantez found her voice as an artist as the streets of Los Angeles were � lled with the voices of activists and protesters from around the world.

“My work is really about the reclamation of identity and transformation,” she said. “… reclaiming one’s history and understanding one’s history and therefore understanding your identity, transforming and transcending.”

Now a professor of Chicana and Chicano art at California State University, Northridge, Cervantez’s collection of painting, drawings, prints and mural work re� ect 30 years of community art and activism. Raised in California, she entered young adulthood during the Chicano Rights Movement, the Civil Rights Movement and the resistance to the Vietnam War.

“I was very young and I [came] into my political conscience at that historical movement, and so it really formed a lot of my experiences,” she said. “� rough my education I was able to go to the university and be exposed to a lot of di� erent ideas.”

While still an undergrad at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Cervantez traveled to Nicaragua to show her support for refugees a� ected by the country’s civil war in the 1980s painted a mural to there with other students and supporters. After graduating, she became active in community art as a teacher and

noted mural painter with the grassroots non-pro� ts Self Help Graphics and the Social and Public Art Resources Center, which provide free art classes in East LA and promote mural preservation.

“Most of my life has been dedicated to issues that are related to community and to creating positive change in communities,” Cervantez said, mentioning a program in which she taught art to young women and mothers involved in gangs. “� at was rewarding because there were women who didn’t necessarily have access to opportunities but who were very intelligent, very creative. Sometimes it’s just the access to education or opportunity that really creates circumstances.”

While Cervantez said that her style and artistic approach have changed over three decades, her work is connected by the common thread of Chicana and Native American spirituality, feminism and the blending of the personal and political. She cites the incorporation of alto historia as an important part of her self-portraiture, a concept coined by Valley writer Gloria Zanzaldua

as the practice of Chicana artists including elements that represent their communities into their self-portraits.

“� e Chicana and Chicano Movement didn’t happen in a vacuum, and neither does Chicana and Chicano art,” she said. “It was all a process of being inspired by the Chicano Movement, my education and my experiences that formed my consciousness, and also working in the community with the Latino community and Central America community as well.”

Her work “Mujer de Mucha Enagua, Pa’ Ti Xicana” showcases Cervantez’s use of symbolism, feminism, and indigenous in� uences. � e title translates to “woman with a lot of petty coat,” a saying in Mexico that inspired to create the screen-print depicting a Mexican revolutionary woman Zapatista, Mexican poet Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz and cotemporary poet Rosario Castellano.

“I thought that was really beautiful because … we don’t really have anything that comparable to, excuse me for being blunt, but you have things like, ‘He’s got a lot of balls,’” she explained. “Una mujer

By Nadia Tamez-RobledoThe Pan American

Muralist guest speaker highlights cultural understanding

The troubled and typically awkward middle school years continue to fi nd a hero in Gregg Heffl y, who enters the seventh grade this Friday in “Diary of Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.”

The highly anticipated fourth album “Angles” from The Strokes fi nally hit stores Tuesday. The band calls the album a mixture of 1970s rock and music from the future. Julian Casablanca, the band’s front man, largely removed himself from the recording process to allow more creative input from other members.

Taco Bell, the go-to restaurant for broke college students and stoners, saw drama this week when their decision to raise burrito prices by 50 cents drove one San Antonio man to shoot an employee and have a shoot off with police over the price spike.

“The Real World” continues to confuse, delight, bewilder and simply exist on MTV. The landmark show was given the green light for two more seasons, bringing its total to an astonishing 28 seasons.

Celebrating its sixth year, the Festival of International Books and Arts (FESTIBA) is set to begin next week, with the theme of “Reading Along the Rio Grande,” and the purpose of promoting the interest and appreciation for reading and literacy. � e festival celebrates an appreciation of arts and humanities and brings outstanding scholars, authors and educators to the University for the bene� t students and the community.

Holding the goal of promoting education and literacy high, FESTIBA will present the Librarians and Educators Day March 28 where, according to www.coah.utpa.edu/festiba, representatives

from the most distinguished educational institutions and organizations in the nation will convey their knowledge on the assimilation of innovative literacy concepts into the school classroom.

“300 educators and librarians will be visiting our university and attending hands-on workshops and expert keynote speakers who will address the importance of literacy,” said Dahlia Guerra, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities.

FESTIBA´s Librarians and Educators Day will start with a congressional roundtable including Congressmen Ruben Hinojosa and Blake Farenthold; UTPA President Robert Nelsen; Judy Cheatham, vice president of Reading is Fundamental; Jennifer Peters from the Texas State Library and Archives; and Rita Haecher,

state president of the Texas State Teachers Association.

Sponsored by the South Texas Literacy Coalition, Mathew Gollub, award-winning children´s author and storyteller who presents in English, Spanish and Japanese, will feature as keynote speaker.

Created in 2006, FESTIBA was instituted to seek an increase in interest and appreciation for reading and literacy, to help improve the success of education, to provide an educational opportunity, and to celebrate and appreciate the arts and humanities while broadening cultural awareness in the Rio Grande Valley.

� e FESTIBA website notes that “with the lowest achievement and attainment rates, as well as the highest

dropout rate of any minority group, Hispanics are the only group in the U.S. whose literacy scores have decreased in the past decade. By bringing together outstanding scholars, authors, and educators in their disciplines to UTPA and the surrounding community to contribute their expertise, encourage intellectual inquiry and exchange, and improve the capacity to teach and understand humanities, FESTIBA strives to enhance literacy in South Texas.”

By means of the theme “Reading Along the Rio Grande,” FESTIBA not only seeks to reduce the de� cient literacy rates of Hispanics at the regional and national level, but also to bene� t South Texas, an area that is predominantly Hispanic.

For more information on FESTIBA, contact Jessica Salinas at 665-3361

By Yngrid FuentesThe Pan American

FESTIBA event addresses literacy importance

“Mujer De Mucha Enagua”, Pa’ Ti Xicana, serigraph, 22’’ x 30,” 1999

Courtesy of Yreina D. Cervantez

FESTIBA SCHEDULE

MONDAY, MARCH 28 Librarians and Educators Day, Congressional Roundtable

TUESDAY, MARCH 29 “Reading Rockstars” and FESTIBA Hotspots

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30 Korean Film Festival, Border Heroes

THURSDAY, MARCH 31 GEAR UP Days at UTPA featuring UTPA Gear Up

FRIDAY, APRIL 1Mariachi Workshop and Vocal Competition

SATURDAY, APRIL 2 FESTIBA Community Festival

de mucha enagua, a woman with a lot of petty coat is comparable to the idea of a person with a lot of strength, a person that is empowered, and I thought that that was a beautiful metaphor, and that piece is dealing with history…”

Cervantez will be on campus to discuss her work as part of FESTIBA in a March 28 lecture in the library. Her “Selected Works in Paper” exhibition will be on display through April 30.

“[It’s] an opportunity to have discourse on Chicana and Chicano art and aesthetic because we don’t really have that opportunity many times…,” she said. “Until things really change signi� cantly for communities of color, particularly Latino and especially immigrant communities, there are always issues to address in the work.”

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24 de marzo del 201110

Ciné Club en medio de dos mundos

Preocupados por la promoción de la cultura y las artes en el Valle del Rio Grande, ex alumnos de la Universidad de Texas-Pan Americana deciden formar un colectivo dedicado a la creación de diversos proyectos que ayuden a educar y recrear.

Es así como el año pasado nace Nepantla Arts Collective, obteniendo su nombre de la palabra náhuatl que sig-ni� ca ‘en medio de dos mundos’ y hace referencia a la zona en la que nos encon-tramos ubicados. De� nitivamente nos encontramos en Nepantla, limitados por dos mundo completamente distintos que a la vez crean una riqueza más amplia a pesar de las barreras. De acuerdo a Ro-berto Collado, fun-dador del colectivo, el nombre carga un acervo cultural histórico que repre-senta la identidad de querer trascender e in� uir a la comuni-dad para que se tra-scienda a sí misma y trascienda las bar-reras culturales, pues hablar de cultura es hablar de límites.

El colectivo fue formado por Roberto Collado, Leonardo Collado, Jorge de la Vega y Dulce Navar, quienes son jóvenes artistas provenientes de ambos lados del Río Bravo y buscan a través de su arte, re� ejar diferentes métodos de expresión individual y colectiva de esta región.

El proyecto más fuerte de Nepantla Arts Collective actualmente es la creación de un Ciné Club sin � n de lucro que se estará llevando a cabo todos los martes a las 19:30 horas a partir del

próximo 5 de abril en las instalaciones de Cine El Rey, contando con un tema diferente cada mes.

La premier será la película “El In� erno” de Luis Estrada ya que el tema del mes será el cine mexicano contemporáneo, contando con una variedad de estilos de éste nuevo cine.

Jorge de la Vega compartió que el Ciné Club surge de la demanda de con-ocer realmente el cine de arte, y no lo que somos forzados a ver. “Vimos la impor-tancia de crear un espacio que permita a la comunidad apreciar el cine de arte y tener discusiones abiertas sobre el cine y la temática”, dijo De la Vega. “El Ciné Club está hecho para personas que están interesadas en conocer, aprender y tener

discusiones sobre el arte del cine, que de acuerdo a la famosa frase de Jean-Luc Godard, cineasta francés vanguardista de los años 60´s, ‘la fotografía es verdad, y el cine es verdad veinticuatro veces por segundo’, da a entender que el cine es el arte supremo ya que es una combi-nación de todos los medios artísticos”.

De acuerdo a Collado, el Ciné Club es un espacio que se abrirá para que la audiencia pu-

eda disfrutar desde un tono relajado pero también desde una perspectiva académica � lmes que no son accesibles en todas las salas de cines y muchos que incluso jamás son proyectados más que en festivales. Col-lado comentó que el Ciné Club representa para Nepantala Arts Collective, un acto de suma valentía y de compromiso con la comunidad, ya que a lo largo de los años en el Valle de Texas han existido diversos

intentos fallidos por promover el cine, y ninguno ha sido como el propuesto por su colectivo.

“Lo que busca nuestro Ciné Club es que la audiencia disfrute en una sala de cine con la sensación de estar compartiendo con un grupo películas con un gran contenido político, social, � losó� co, emocional y artístico, que desafortunadamente no han tenido su� ciente espacio en cines comerciales”, dijo Collado.

EL INFIERNO

Luis Estrada conocido por películas como La ley de Herodes, presenta el � lme El In� erno, una producción mexicana que presenta la cruda realidad que se vive en México, con el mensaje “nada que celebrar”, re� riendose al Bicentenario de la Independencia, recalcando de manera humorística el evidente cambio que necesita el país.

“El Benny” es deportado de Estados Unidos, y al regresar a su país se encuentra con la ola de violencia irracional, corrupción y la crisis económica. Es asi como “El Benny” se involucra con el narco para tratar de ayudar a su familia a salir adelante, se encuentra con una nueva vida llena de dinero, mujeres y violencia, y todo tipo de excesos, pero al � nal descubrirá que la vida fácil tiene sus consecuencias.

Es una pelicula que busca la conciencia social, al formularnos la pregunta de ¿Debemos celebrar en grande los 200 años de Independencia de Mexico cuando nuestro país es regido por intereses personales de unos cuantos, la violencia y la corrupcion?

Por Karen VelázquezTHE PAN AMERICAN

Nepantla Arts Collective, ofrecerá lo mejor del cine de arte de manera gratuita en Cine El Rey.

Twitter como fuente

a la vez crean una riqueza más amplia a interesadas en conocer, aprender y tener

Roberto ColladoFundador de Cine Club

“Lo que busca nuestro

Ciné Club es que la

audiencia disfrute películas

con un gran contenido

político, social, fi losófi co,

emocional y artístico, que

desafortunadamente no han

tenido sufi ciente espacio en

cines comerciales”

DONDE: Cine El Rey311 S. 17th St., McAllen

FECHA:Empezando el 5 de abril, cada primer martes del mes

COSTO:Gratis a todo el público

Con poco más de 411 mil seguidores, la página Tu Sabías que en Twitter se ha convertido en una fuente de información para muchas personas de todas las edades publicando eventos, fechas, frases famosas, enfermedades y hasta fobias.

La página que tiene aproximadamente 5,967 tweets se ha dado a conocer por proveer información sobre cultura general a la

gente de habla hispana que usan Twitter. Tu Sabías que publica más o menos

80 tweets y 100 o más personas nuevas lo siguen.

Algo que la página publica que constantemente llama la atención son las fobias que existen en el mundo y que todos nos relacionamos con ellas

Aquí te dejamos las fobias mas raras que Tu Sabías que ha publicado, ¿cuál es la tuya?

No te olvides de seguirnos en Twitter @ThePanAmerican

Ciné Club presenta: “El Infi erno” de Luis Estrada

UTPA track and field competed at the 2011 Cactus Cup in Kings-ville last weekend.

For the full story of this event go to:

PanamericanOnline.cOm

March 24, 2011 11

Frisbee, fun and faith

On Monday afternoon, junior Mario Zamora got out of work at the Learning Assistance Center and pre-pared to return to his apartment after a day of class and work. He saw a group of people in the grass area next to the Social and Behavioral Sciences Build-ing preparing to play.

“I got out of work at 6 p.m. and I didn’t have anything to do… a friend of mine (Arnulfo Garza) asked me if I wanted to play, so out of nowhere they told me and I felt like playing,” said the 20-year-old electrical engi-neering student from Reynosa. “I had a good time.”

That was the first time Zamora joined the Baptist Student Ministry to play ultimate Frisbee, an activity that the religious group has made a biweekly habit for almost two semesters now.

The group gathers Mondays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 p.m.

The BSM started its ultimate Frisbee get-togethers at the beginning of last se-mester after Garza, BSM service campus missionary who graduated from UTPA in December 2009, spent the spring in Spain where he was introduced to the sport and decided that it would be a good activity for the BSM to practice.

“Some of the American friends that went with me had a Frisbee and they would play with some of my Spanish

friends,” he said. Ever since, the BSM has attracted

members and other students to gather every Monday and Saturday. Service campus missionary Tom Centrella said that there’s usually an even number of BSM and non-BSM members that par-ticipate.

“Everybody likes to play a sport and I see a lot of BSM students and other students that take part in a lot of activities like that,” said New Jersey native Centrella, who is also part of the Rio Grande Bible Institute in Edinburg. “I think col-lege students are more interested in doing activi-ties outside.”

As explained by Centrella and Garza, the goal of the BSM is to attract UTPA students and help them develop their spiritual lives. The campus missionaries said that be-ing involved in play with fellow schol-ars helps group members get to know them more deeply and to develop a friendship tie.

“To care about other students and to care about their lives,” said Garza, who is from Monterrey and studied com-munication. “There are probably four

or five friends right now that… I didn’t know at all that came to Frisbee and now I can’t picture a time when they weren’t in my life.”

The BSM is a group funded by the Texas Baptists organization that puts together activities such as Bible stud-ies, free lunch, and movie nights for its members to meet new people; its ulti-mate aim is to speak to them about the salvation of Jesus Christ.

“That is the most important thing but also secondary to that is making friends and to help students get through this college life be-cause it’s diffi-cult,” Centrella said. “It’s a place where they can come and get

help with homework, or just their emotional needs and their spiritual needs, too.”

Centrella also mentioned that al-though it is natural and good for sports to get competitive, in this case students are often reminded that the main point of gathering to play is to have fun. For that reason, the group is very lenient when it comes to rules and follows only the most basic of them.

Ultimate Frisbee is an activity simi-

lar to football in which a team scores points by ultimately passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone. Players are not allowed to run with the Frisbee and are only allowed to move one foot while holding it.

Erika Perez, who is part of the BSM and plays Frisbee with the group every Saturday, said that these get-togethers are a great way to exer-cise and meet people, and that after playing regularly, people even start improving in the game.

“You get to know more students that are probably not familiar with the BSM but they want to play and they share that with you,” the graduate student from Pharr said. “The first time that I played I wasn’t good at all… I thought it was just throwing a disc but it involves a lot of running, hand coordination and all of that, so I really enjoy it and I’ve started getting better.”

Zamora, who is part of Alpha Omega, a religious group that offers Bible talk Mondays and Tuesdays, said that he might or might not play with the BSM again depending on how busy he is. But he reiterated that going out to play is a good way to make new friends and introduce people to religious faith.

“To do physical activity is good and to get closer to the Bible is good, so if you can do them both together, well, perfect!” he concluded.

By Sara Hernandez The Pan American

BSM members go out and play ultimate frisbee to close bridge between religious group and UTPA community.

friendly encounter - Nastreen Sultana tosses the disc Monday afternoon at the BSM’s ultimate Frisbee get-together. BSM members invite students to play Mondays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 p.m.

Alma E. Hernandez/The Pan american

MEN’S TENNIS

3/10

#28 Baylor 7, UTPA 0

WOMEN’S TENNIS

3/11

Idaho 6, UTPA 1

3/12Alabama - Birmingham 6, UTPA 1

3/13UTEP 7, UTPA 0

BASEBALL

3/16Lamar 8, UTPA 1Lamar 6, UTPA 0

VisitPanamericanOnline.cOm

for an ultimate Frisbee photo gallery

and schedule of BSM activities.

Jaso

n S

mit

h/Th

e P

an a

me

ric

an

Samantha Villarreal

BrOnc Tracker

THE PAN AMERICAN March 24, 2011

march 24, 2011

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