november 8, 2012
DESCRIPTION
Volume 69 Number 10TRANSCRIPT
panamericanonline.com
Volume 69, No. 10 November 8, 2012
Page 2
Page 4-5
Extra Money
2012 General Election Results
A ‘Safe Haven’
New dome in case of weather emergencies
Hindu Festival of Lights celebrated in RGV
Page 3
Page 3
Diwali in the Valley
New incentive plans for full-time students
A Better BunHow to execute the
latest hair craze at UTPA: the Sock Bun
one point away
Page 7
2 November 8, 2012
The Pan American is the official student newspaper of The Univer-sity of Texas-Pan American. Views presented are those of the writ-ers and do not necessarily reflect those of the paper or university.
1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539Phone: (956) 665-2541
Fax: (956) 316-7122
Editor-in-ChiEf: Karen Antonacci nEws Editor: Daniella Diaz sports Editor: Norma GonzalezArts & LifE Editor: Lea Victoria JuarezphotogrAphy Editor: Adrian Castillo dEsign Editor: Erick Gonzalez MuLtiMEdiA Editor: Dimitra Hernandez AdvisEr:Dr. Greg SelberAdMinistrAtivE AssoCiAtE: Anita Reyes AdvErtising MAnAgEr: Mariel CantuwEbMAstEr: Jose Villarreal soCiAL MEdiA Editor: David Alvarado
thE pAn AMEriCAn
Vol. 69, No. 10
Next Delivery:Nov. 15 at noon
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Please send all letters to:thepanamerican
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Francisco Rodriguez / The Pan AmericanLetters to the Editor
A ‘safe haven’
UTPA to get dome in case of weather emergenciesby Daniella Diaz
By the end of next year, as many as 1,000 Valley residents should be able to take refuge at UTPA when the next dangerous hurricane pass-es through.
The University received a $1.8 million grant earlier this year from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build a dome that would act as a “safe room” on campus.
The dome is a “safe room” and not a shelter because the Valley community will only be able to take refuge there for 24 hours in the case of a hurricane, and two hours in the case of a tornado.
This structure would be the first of its kind at any university in Tex-as, according to Richard Costello, director of Environmental Health and Safety at the University.
“(FEMA) realized that a lot of the people in the Valley aren’t go-ing to leave if there’s a weather emergency,” Costello said. “They decided to fund some domes in this area because it will help keep people here safe. Every year there’s a hurricane, we’re inundated with people who think we have a place for shelter.”
The grant from FEMA accounts for 75 percent of the total budget for the project leaving UTPA to pay the remaining $600,000 out of the University budget.
Construction will begin in two to three months and finish by the end of 2013, Costello said. It will be located at the corner of Van Week and Second Street, north of the Education Building.
The dome will hold 800 to 1,000 people depending on the staff’s discretion. Space will be al-located on a first-come basis, with priority given to people who are physically disabled. The dome and its specially designed windows should be able to withstand winds of 200 mph, or a Category Five hurricane.
Loren Solis, a senior studying
chemistry, believes the dome will be a good addition to the Valley but it’s inconvenient for her because she commutes from Donna.
“I’m sure people would take advantage of it because if a hurri-cane were to come, they probably wouldn’t evacuate the Valley and some houses wouldn’t be able to withstand the storms,” the 22 year old said. “I probably wouldn’t take advantage if I were home because I’d have to drive to Edinburg.”
MORE SPACEWhen the weather is fair, the
University will use the dome for classroom space and the perma-nent offices for the Department of Health and Safety officials.
“Number one and foremost, this will a safe house for Valley residents,” Costello said. “How-ever, this is also a mutually ben-eficial agreement. We are in need of classroom space on campus, so when there is not a potential weather disaster, the University can use that space.”
The University currently does not have enough classroom space
to host more than 60 people, but the 19 large rooms in the dome are aimed to help.
“There are a lot of big classes where students get crammed into small rooms,” said Ariana Mata, a 26-year-old communications ma-jor from Mission. “Getting class-room space will fix that problem.”
In the past, the University has taken campus residents to the ref-uge in San Antonio for protection from a storm because it is nearest to the Valley. However, now the stu-dents will be able to use the dome for refuge. In total, Bronc Village apartments and Unity, Heritage and Troxel dorms have 800 beds.
Although the University will have control of the dome in in-stances of safe weather, the Red Cross will operate the dome in the case that dangerous weather passes through the Valley.
Costello believes that this shel-ter is something the Valley has needed for a long time.
“I’m happy. This will keep many more people safe,” he said. “This dome will be safe harborage, a safe haven.”
1st Floor
2nd Floor
Classrooms Unusable Space
Offices
Van Week St
Schunior St
2nd
St
4th
St/ N
evar
ez S
t
Dome UTPA Day careHouse
Location:
Upcoming Meetings
Student Affairs Advisory Meeting
to allocate student feesMonday, Nov. 12 at 2:30 p.m.
UC-Cenizo Roomcall (956)665-2260 for more
information
Student Government Association Meeting
Friday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m.Education 1.102
Students may soon be getting paid for taking classes, and award-ed for walking the graduation stage after four years.
Starting in the spring semes-ter, undergraduate students will have a chance to receive up to $500 from the University as part of the new 15 Hour Cash Back incentive program.
As a requirement, students must have taken and passed at least 15 hours this fall, and must sign up for 15 hours next spring when the program starts. Eligible students must also maintain a 2.5 grade-point average.
The cash will go toward a stu-dent’s pending balance, but if they have already paid for their tuition then it will be issued out as a dis-
bursement.“This program is designed to
help those students that aren’t re-ceiving the big grants and schol-arships,” said Jael Garcia, associate director of Student Fi-nancial Services. “It helps the students that are pay-ing on their own, those whose parents are help-ing them or are utilizing student loans.”
Programs like 15 Hour Cash Back are part of an initiative put forth by schools in the Univer-sity of Texas system. The push to get students to graduate on time coincides with projections by the Texas Workforce Com-mission of a growing gap in the educated workforce.
“These initiatives are trying to
change the Valley from being such a low-income area,” Garcia said. “To improve growth in the Valley and the state of Texas, we need for more people to obtain degrees.”
Last year about 9,100 students at UTPA received student loans to help them pay for college, accord-ing to Garcia.
In 2011, 15.6 percent had graduated after being in school for four years, 31.9 percent graduated after five years, and 41.9 percent after six.
Students whose tuition fees and books are paid for complete-ly by scholarships and grants are also not eligible for the cash back program. However, if the scholar-ship or grant only covers a part of tuition and not a full ride, leaving a gap in the costs that they them-selves have to pay, the student is once again eligible.
For example, if someone has part of their bill not covered and they meet the requirements, they are eligible to receive payment. However, they will only receive enough to cover the balance, not the full $500.
Another issue that will com-pletely ruin someone’s eligibility is if they are repeating a course, re-gardless if it totals up to 15 hours.
“The idea behind it is if a stu-dent has to repeat a class, then they aren’t actually progressing toward graduation,” Garcia said.
Although the program will be
processed by the financial aid de-partment, it is not a financial aid program. This means that a stu-dent does not have to be on fi-nancial aid in order to qualify for the cash back. There is no hav-ing to fill out a FAFSA or hav-ing to qualify for financial aid. All students have to do is meet the requirements.
This fall semester, tuition in-creased by 2.4 percent, the total cost of 15 hours for undergradu-ate students rising from $3,055 to $3,128.
“A portion of the recent in-crease in tuition is being used to support the program,” said Elaine Rivera, executive director of Stu-dent Financial Services. “That is the justification the Universi-ty used for the small tuition in-crease, to encourage students to graduate on time.”
Also in conjunction with the plan to get students to move for-ward was UTPAchieve, a finan-cial aid program started this fall. It covers the gap between free aid - meaning grants and scholar-
ships, and tuition fees - including $500 dollars in textbooks.
Much like the 15 Hour Cash Back incentive, UTPAchieve also requires 15 hours of enrollment and a GPA of 2.5. However, it is a financial aid program, requiring students to fill out a FAFSA and have financial need.
Need based students are deter-mined by the cost of attendance minus the estimated family con-tribution, which is determined when filling out a FAFSA. Some of what is looked at in determin-ing family contribution is the
number of children in the family going to col-lege, age of parents and assets the family holds. It’s not just based on the income level of the family and student.
In total there are 15,247 students at-tending UTPA that
receive some kind of need-based aid, or 72 percent of the student population.
If a student qualifies for both the 15 Hour Cash Back and UT-PAchieve, then he/she will only be awarded the UTPAchieve as it covers the full gap, be it $500 or $1,000.
MORE HELP ON WAYDuring the summer session
there are plans to introduce an-other program designed to get students to graduate on time, called Summer Boost. The Sum-mer Boost is also a financial aid program, so like UTPAchieve, it will require that a FAFSA be filled out and a student have financial need.
Under Summer Boost, if a stu-dent has passed 24 hours worth of credit in the fall and spring semes-ter, they qualify to receive $500 for the enrollment of one summer class, and $1,000 for two. This is meant to help them gain the final credits that would transition them into the next classification.
UTPAchieve and 15 Hour Cash Back are only for the fall and spring semesters. Hopes are that these opportunities will get students to push for graduation, and get them out into the work-ing world without spending extra unnecessary time in school.
“It was last year when the idea for the program came about,” Garcia said. “Un-less funding becomes an issue, the plan so far is for it to be a continuous program.”
incentive program TO give money back to students
3November 8, 2012
By Charles Vale The Pan American
IN
WINNER
Barack Obama (D) Mitt Romney (R)
Dale Brueggemann (R)
Paul Sadler (D)
Rubén Hinojosa (D)
Ted Cruz (R)
LOSER
President:
U.S. Representative, District 15:
State Representative, District 41:
U.S. Senator:
Miriam Martinez (R)Bobby Guerra (D)
50.4%
60.9%
303
89,143
4,456,599 56.6%
61.7% 20,941
48.1%
36.8%
40.5%
38.3%
206
53,892
3,183,314
12,976
2012 General Election Results
electoralvotes
electoralvotes
popularvotes
popularvotes
popularvotes
popularvotes
popularvotes
popularvotes
SOURCE: UTPA FACTBOOK SOURCE: FIN. AID. DEPT
THE PAN AMERICANTHE PAN AMERICAN November 8, 2012 Page 5Page 4
Festival of Lights celebrates Indian cultureBy Xander Graff-Spektor The Pan-American
Every year, over 250 families in the Valley of the Hindu faith, along with those who live in India, light up their houses and come together to celebrate Diwali [di-VAH-lee].
“All friends go to their neighbors’ houses and people meet and celebrate,” said Panditji Kalyana Kumar, high priest of the Shiv Shakti Tem-ple. (Panditji is Hin-di for priest). “We are all one family so we give gifts -- It’s about friendship.”
A wick burns in the night at the South Ed-inburg temple, the soft glow of an oil lamp emanates, pushing the darkness aside. An-other Diya (oil-lamp) is lit, then two more,
three more, all placed in a row. The blackness is overcome, expelling negative forces that may have lurked before.
Also known as Deepavali, Diwali is a five-day holiday that usually comes around
the fall season be-tween October and November. It typi-cally marks the begin-ning of the end of the yearly Hindu calendar. The original definition in Sanskrit, ‘dipavali,’ means a row of lights.
For most, it is known as the celebration of light (Good) winning over the dark (Evil).
The Indian Associa-tion of the Rio Grande Valley (IARGV) will host its annual Diwali festival Saturday from
5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Edinburg Confer-ence Center at Renais-sance on 118 Paseo Del Prado, Edinburg. It is open to the public and tickets start at $20 and $10 for students; they will be available at Namaste Grocers, Universal Market and Taste of India.
The festival will of-fer authentic Indian cuisine, live music, local talent, a perfor-mance by the School of Rhythm Houston group and a chance for the public to learn more about Indian culture and the Hindu religion. The Universi-ty’s Indian Culture As-sociation will take part
in the IARGV’s 2012 Diwali celebration Nov. 10. The members will perform a popular Indian dance.
The actual holiday begins Nov. 13 around the world. The date changes each year with the lunar Hindu calendar, as opposed to the Christian-Gre-gorian calendar based on the sun.
“We set up lights...wear new clothes and light fireworks,” said Raveena Chandra, a 18-year-old freshman pre-med biology ma-jor. “Everyone goes to the temple to pray--it’s soothing.”
Most often the holiday is represent-ed with diya, placed in rows around the home to fend off neg-ative forces.
“It is like our New Years. Everyone cleans their houses and has new clothes. It is something that India does as a coun-try,” said 19-year-old Sunena Chandra, the president of the ICA at UTPA .
The IARGV is a non-profit cultural organization that pro-motes awareness and the understanding of the Indian culture. Through activities, they also help oth-er Indians cope and
transition into their surrounding environ-ment in the Valley.
Diwali in the Valley
Diwali is the prime festival of India and represents love, loy-alty and peace, said IARGV President Hari Nambootiri.
“We’re not in In-dia, and everyone celebrates according to their region. We invite everybody to enjoy the food, en-joy the culture and education,” Nam-bootiri said. “It’s a fun environment.”
The streets of In-dia, with a population of more than 1.2 bil-lion people, will re-main lit throughout the festival’s duration as fireworks pop, peo-ple feast on sweets and pray for good fortune, wealth and a happy new year.
“In India, they will set up lights outside, but in the U.S. we just light up the whole house inside. Since the holiday can con-flict with our sched-ules, we celebrate when we can,” Ravee-na Chandra explained.
According to the U.S. census, there were 69.8 percent more Indians in the country in 2010 com-pared to 2000. Be-
cause the U.S. does not celebrate Diwali, most Indians and Hin-dus can find it rather difficult to cope. Some will adjust and make the changes needed to commemorate their holidays.
“Holidays are usu-ally held to fit into our schedules, so we usu-ally hold a celebration on the weekend,” Sun-ena Chandra said.
Kimberly Basedo, a Hindu-Christian, will also be taking part in the festivities this weekend. Since her grandmother is Hindu and her par-ents are Christian, she adopts both.
“My grandmother is from India and cel-ebrates, so this year I have decided to take part and get to know my culture,” the 19-year-old said. “I am proud to be Indian and I will continue to embrace it.”
According to Panditji Kumar, the cel-ebration varies depending on region, but on the first day most celebrate Dhan teras, meaning wealth. This is when most of India’s residents go to the market to purchase gold, and cel-ebrate money and wealth. Baths will be taken and new clothes will be worn each day to begin the holiday.
The second day is known as Haniman Puja, also Narak Chatur-dashi, which is when most of the pray-ing takes place. It mainly celebrates the defeat of the evil Narakasura by Lord Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu.
“Krishna gives freedom to the peo-ple. We celebrate with fireworks be-cause of this freedom (to give blessings to our gods),” Kumar explained.
The third day is the most impor-tant day of Diwali to some, because even more diya (oil-lamps) are lit and people draw beautiful rangoli, or folk art, in front of their homes. Lakshmi Puja, the goddess of wealth, and Ga-nesh, the god of new beginnings, are worshipped and prayed to this day. They pray for good health and wealth for the coming new year.
The fourth day marks the begin-ning of the new year and commemo-rates the story of the evil of egoism as experienced by Demon-King Bali. Bali, considered to be a good demon, once ruled the physical world, but the gods feared that he would take over all three worlds: Earth, Sky, and patala, the netherworld. Another incarnation of Vishnu was born, Vamana the dwarf, who placed one foot on the earth and another on the sky. Bali then gets his head stepped on by Vamana, sending Bali to patala. Gifts are given to family and friends to remember this day.
The fifth and final day, known as Bhai Dooj or Yamadwitheya, is most-ly considered to be a day where sisters and brothers remember Lord Yama’s visit to his sister Yamuna. Brothers give gifts to their sister and eat breakfast with them.
November 8, 2012
Om symbol
Diya (oil-lamp)
- Hari NambootiriPresident, Indian Association of the RGV
We set up lights...wear new clothes and light fireworks. Everyone goes to the temple to pray--it’s soothing.- Raveena ChandraFreshman pre-med major
Traditional dress decoration
Shiva deity statue (above), elephant de-ity Ganesh (top right), six-armed statue of Goddess Durga Maa (right), tradition-al Indian attire artwork (bottom right).
Design by Karen Villarreal Photos by Adrian Castillo
We’re not in India, and everyone celebrates according to their region. We invite everybody to enjoy the food, enjoy the culture and education.
THE PAN AMERICANTHE PAN AMERICAN November 8, 2012 Page 5Page 4
Festival of Lights celebrates Indian cultureBy Xander Graff-Spektor The Pan-American
Every year, over 250 families in the Valley of the Hindu faith, along with those who live in India, light up their houses and come together to celebrate Diwali [di-VAH-lee].
“All friends go to their neighbors’ houses and people meet and celebrate,” said Panditji Kalyana Kumar, high priest of the Shiv Shakti Tem-ple. (Panditji is Hin-di for priest). “We are all one family so we give gifts -- It’s about friendship.”
A wick burns in the night at the South Ed-inburg temple, the soft glow of an oil lamp emanates, pushing the darkness aside. An-other Diya (oil-lamp) is lit, then two more,
three more, all placed in a row. The blackness is overcome, expelling negative forces that may have lurked before.
Also known as Deepavali, Diwali is a five-day holiday that usually comes around
the fall season be-tween October and November. It typi-cally marks the begin-ning of the end of the yearly Hindu calendar. The original definition in Sanskrit, ‘dipavali,’ means a row of lights.
For most, it is known as the celebration of light (Good) winning over the dark (Evil).
The Indian Associa-tion of the Rio Grande Valley (IARGV) will host its annual Diwali festival Saturday from
5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Edinburg Confer-ence Center at Renais-sance on 118 Paseo Del Prado, Edinburg. It is open to the public and tickets start at $20 and $10 for students; they will be available at Namaste Grocers, Universal Market and Taste of India.
The festival will of-fer authentic Indian cuisine, live music, local talent, a perfor-mance by the School of Rhythm Houston group and a chance for the public to learn more about Indian culture and the Hindu religion. The Universi-ty’s Indian Culture As-sociation will take part
in the IARGV’s 2012 Diwali celebration Nov. 10. The members will perform a popular Indian dance.
The actual holiday begins Nov. 13 around the world. The date changes each year with the lunar Hindu calendar, as opposed to the Christian-Gre-gorian calendar based on the sun.
“We set up lights...wear new clothes and light fireworks,” said Raveena Chandra, a 18-year-old freshman pre-med biology ma-jor. “Everyone goes to the temple to pray--it’s soothing.”
Most often the holiday is represent-ed with diya, placed in rows around the home to fend off neg-ative forces.
“It is like our New Years. Everyone cleans their houses and has new clothes. It is something that India does as a coun-try,” said 19-year-old Sunena Chandra, the president of the ICA at UTPA .
The IARGV is a non-profit cultural organization that pro-motes awareness and the understanding of the Indian culture. Through activities, they also help oth-er Indians cope and
transition into their surrounding environ-ment in the Valley.
Diwali in the Valley
Diwali is the prime festival of India and represents love, loy-alty and peace, said IARGV President Hari Nambootiri.
“We’re not in In-dia, and everyone celebrates according to their region. We invite everybody to enjoy the food, en-joy the culture and education,” Nam-bootiri said. “It’s a fun environment.”
The streets of In-dia, with a population of more than 1.2 bil-lion people, will re-main lit throughout the festival’s duration as fireworks pop, peo-ple feast on sweets and pray for good fortune, wealth and a happy new year.
“In India, they will set up lights outside, but in the U.S. we just light up the whole house inside. Since the holiday can con-flict with our sched-ules, we celebrate when we can,” Ravee-na Chandra explained.
According to the U.S. census, there were 69.8 percent more Indians in the country in 2010 com-pared to 2000. Be-
cause the U.S. does not celebrate Diwali, most Indians and Hin-dus can find it rather difficult to cope. Some will adjust and make the changes needed to commemorate their holidays.
“Holidays are usu-ally held to fit into our schedules, so we usu-ally hold a celebration on the weekend,” Sun-ena Chandra said.
Kimberly Basedo, a Hindu-Christian, will also be taking part in the festivities this weekend. Since her grandmother is Hindu and her par-ents are Christian, she adopts both.
“My grandmother is from India and cel-ebrates, so this year I have decided to take part and get to know my culture,” the 19-year-old said. “I am proud to be Indian and I will continue to embrace it.”
According to Panditji Kumar, the cel-ebration varies depending on region, but on the first day most celebrate Dhan teras, meaning wealth. This is when most of India’s residents go to the market to purchase gold, and cel-ebrate money and wealth. Baths will be taken and new clothes will be worn each day to begin the holiday.
The second day is known as Haniman Puja, also Narak Chatur-dashi, which is when most of the pray-ing takes place. It mainly celebrates the defeat of the evil Narakasura by Lord Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu.
“Krishna gives freedom to the peo-ple. We celebrate with fireworks be-cause of this freedom (to give blessings to our gods),” Kumar explained.
The third day is the most impor-tant day of Diwali to some, because even more diya (oil-lamps) are lit and people draw beautiful rangoli, or folk art, in front of their homes. Lakshmi Puja, the goddess of wealth, and Ga-nesh, the god of new beginnings, are worshipped and prayed to this day. They pray for good health and wealth for the coming new year.
The fourth day marks the begin-ning of the new year and commemo-rates the story of the evil of egoism as experienced by Demon-King Bali. Bali, considered to be a good demon, once ruled the physical world, but the gods feared that he would take over all three worlds: Earth, Sky, and patala, the netherworld. Another incarnation of Vishnu was born, Vamana the dwarf, who placed one foot on the earth and another on the sky. Bali then gets his head stepped on by Vamana, sending Bali to patala. Gifts are given to family and friends to remember this day.
The fifth and final day, known as Bhai Dooj or Yamadwitheya, is most-ly considered to be a day where sisters and brothers remember Lord Yama’s visit to his sister Yamuna. Brothers give gifts to their sister and eat breakfast with them.
November 8, 2012
Om symbol
Diya (oil-lamp)
- Hari NambootiriPresident, Indian Association of the RGV
We set up lights...wear new clothes and light fireworks. Everyone goes to the temple to pray--it’s soothing.- Raveena ChandraFreshman pre-med major
Traditional dress decoration
Shiva deity statue (above), elephant de-ity Ganesh (top right), six-armed statue of Goddess Durga Maa (right), tradition-al Indian attire artwork (bottom right).
Design by Karen Villarreal Photos by Adrian Castillo
We’re not in India, and everyone celebrates according to their region. We invite everybody to enjoy the food, enjoy the culture and education.
November 8, 2012 arts & life6
Story and photos by Karen AntonacciThe Pan American
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Dayarmin does everything fast. Her small ox-ford-clad feet scuttle between com-puters as she helps Express Lab vis-itors navigate the murky waters of applying for, paying for and gradu-ating from college.
Dayarmin speaks quick-ly, pulling freely from English, Spanish and Tex-Mex to get her point across. Her words are sup-plemented by her hands, which never stop moving.
“Pos then, porque ya estamos in October, mijo, you need to do the, este, the application al-ready,” comes the answer to a question about the Excellence Scholarship, every word giv-en it’s own personal exclama-tion mark by the 52-year-old’s active hands.
Dayarmin gives the sense that she is uncomfortable be-ing still, perhaps a habit learned from doing many jobs over the years. Dayarmin started at age 13 doing housekeeping and laundry for a nursing home. Then, the McAllen native went to work for The Monitor her se-nior year of high school, oper-ating the switchboard, doing bookkeeping and taking com-plaints from the circulation de-partment. She moved to Ne-braska in 1989 and worked as a short-order cook for her mother-in-law’s nightclub.
“But I didn’t serve them alco-hol! I said if they wanted a beer, then someone else could give it to them,” she said about the gig.
She also did a six-month stint fixing flats at a gas station and then worked 15 years at a meat processing plant.
“That’s manual labor,” Dayar-min exclaimed. “Not mental. Manual, hard on your hands.”
Upon moving back to the Valley in 2004, she thought she would take a year off work, but her husband heard from a buddy
that UTPA needed someone to help out in the financial aid de-partment. The woman that usu-ally did the job was going on ma-ternity leave.
“They told me they would only need someone for six to eight months. They just needed someone to answer the phone, sort the mail, and pos, just be there,” Dayarmin explained. “So I said ‘Why not?’”
That was nine years ago. Her supervisors liked the way she worked and transferred her to fi-nancial aid verification.
“I had my little case and I
would go all over campus,” she said. “Spend some hours in the Library doing verification and some in the, este, Academic Ser-vices. And then they said, ‘Mira, just stay in the Express Lab and help students,’ and I said, ‘Well OK! Cool!’”
The Express Lab is now a room next to the Registrar’s Of-fice in the Student Services Build-ing. Dayarmin leads her student employees in helping visitors navigate paperwork associat-ed with the college experience, from applying to graduating. When she first got there, howev-er, the Lab was a far cry from its current state. At that time, more and more of the financial aid pro-cess began to shift online. Dayar-min said she remembered times when there was a line of stu-dents out the door taking care of loan promissory notes, apply-ing for TEXAS grants or doing summer notification.
“I saw! I saw all of these things getting automated more and more,” she said, eyes wide. “And I saw and I said, ‘This is good! This will help the students.’ It got to where you could even make pay-ments online tambien, so we be-came kind of a one-stop shop.”
Dayarmin pulls up a spread-sheet on her computer and shows off the Express Lab’s increasing numbers. Since 2004, the number of visits to the Lab has more than quadrupled to 28,294 last year.
“I started going to the gradu-ations in 2009 because that was the first time when I could see my students, the ones I helped as freshmen, get their degree,” she said. Dayarmin always refers to the people that come to the Express Lab for help as her stu-dents. “Now I go every time - fall, spring and summer.”
Dayarmin can tell indebt-ed graduates when their loans are due, expectant sophomores when they’ll get their disburse-ments or confused college ap-plicants the FAFSA necessities. But there’s another quality that makes her the person students go to for help.
It’s midway through the workday. A pre-med senior comes in flustered and makes a beeline for Dayarmin’s desk.
He’s stressed, he says. He’s taking 16 hours and has an un-paid balance to the Universi-ty and his washer at home just broke and he has a little baby boy to take care of and he was supposed to get work study but doesn’t have the time and might have to take out a loan, but his wife has enough debt for the two of them and gas is getting so ex-pensive nowadays.
Dayarmin nods and listens, nods and listens. She looks up his student ID, and finds the prob-lem. The state thinks he is getting
money from a work-study job, but he never went and applied for a job, deciding to take time for his classwork instead.
“A ver mijo, it’s because you accepted the aid. You need to decline so you can get your dis-bursement, see?” They both lean forward and look at the comput-er screen.
“Oh! Thank you, miss. OK, I’ll do that. Yeah, they were tell-ing me something over there,” he gestures in the direction of the Registrar’s Office. “But I remem-bered you really know a lot and I said, ‘Let me go ask her, she will know what to do.’”
Dayarmin said this situation happens multiple times a day. It’s not just the financial aid knowl-edge she needs for this job. She has to be part camp counselor, too.
“Sometimes the staff, when students come and they have all these problems, we are just sitting there and kind of going, ‘OK, but what is it you need?’” Dayarmin illustrated impatience by tapping her hands frantically on her desk. “But you have to be patient and listen to all of that so the student gets comfortable and will tell you what’s really wrong.”
Dayarmin pulls from her other jobs to do this one. She said that she sees the students as the University’s customer base, the foundation of the institu-tion. And if she can get their mind off of paying for college, maybe they can go on to do great things.
“I try to guide them,” she said. “If we can get their finan-cial aid worked out, and they aren’t worried about it, they can concentrate on their classes and hopefully do well.”
Dayarmin may be filling out her own financial aid ap-plications soon; she hopes to enroll this summer and even-tually obtain her first degree from UTPA - a bachelor’s in finance, of course.
“It may be kind of weird for
my students to see me in class with them,” she said. “But hey, you know, maybe it will be to their benefit like if they don’t un-derstand something, I’m going to raise my hand and say, ‘Mira, I’m an old-timer and it went right over me. Dimelo again?’ and then they can hear it repeated too.”
Until she enrolls, though, Dayarmin can be found in her Express Lab, helping students, nine hours a day, five days a week.
“I’ve always said, ‘A job doesn’t define a person. The per-son defines a job.’ I have to serve people, it’s what I was put here to do. I have a grace for it.”
Express Lab employee takes pride in helping students
- Elizabeth Dayarmin
- Elizabeth Dayarmin
Bianca Torre doesn’t know how many points she’s racked up in her past three seasons at UTPA, nor does she real-ly care, but tomorrow night the University’s women’s basket-ball season tips-off and, with
it, a new record will most likely be made.
Eight months ago, as the wom-en’s basketball season was coming close to an end, Bronc basketball fans packed the Field House to see history in the making. Then-junior guard Torre started the game 16 points behind the all-time leading scorer record.
All Torre wanted to accomplish that February night was to beat Utah Valley, who had proceeded to talk smack about the Broncs since they last beat the Broncs 66-51 on the road.
After forcing the game in-to overtime and coming within one point of breaking the 9-year-old record, it seemed the audience would get their wish.
Just as Torre stole the ball from UVU and exploded across the court to complete a routine jump shot, she crashed to the floor. Al-though her teammates secured a win against the Wolverines (71-70 in overtime), Torre was unable to return to the game and had to sit out the rest of the season.
“My hamstring had been bug-ging me and I remember (Coach Downing) called a timeout and I didn’t even go to the huddle, I went to the trainer, and they stretched me out,” Torre explains. “I went back in and, a couple of seconds later, that’s when I got the steal and I was dribbling down and just did a jump shot and it gave out. Something just didn’t feel right.”
Although Torre ended the season three games earlier than
planned, and one point shy, due to a torn anterior cruciate liga-ment, ACL, she has undergone surgery and extensive therapy and is determined to leave it all out on the court her senior sea-son. The Broncs start the season on the road to play UTSA, and should be the game where Torre shatters the record.
The Harlingen native, who has been playing basketball since the second grade, remembers watch-ing her brothers Michael and Al-bert play hoops with his friends across the street and wanted to join in, but they would brush her off.
“I always wanted to play (with them), but they always told me that I was a girl and couldn’t play,” Torre recalls. “So I wanted to prove them wrong.”
The Bronc guard took it up-on herself to seek help. A fam-ily friend, Frank Hernandez, who played basketball in high school and lived across the street from Torre, agreed to coach the 7 year old so she could play with the boys.
Torre would get up early in the morning and wake up Her-nandez so they could practice and after school they’d go back at it, attacking the court.
Once in middle school and high school, Torre participated in other sports, like softball, vol-leyball and track, but basketball was still her passion.
Even though Torre’s moth-
er never played any sports and money was tight at times, she registered Torre at The Boys and Girls Club and both her parents made sure to attend as many games as they could.
“Basketball was always differ-ent. I had a different feel for it,” Torre explains. “It just made me feel complete. I’m alive playing, nothing matters.”
Torre’s skills on the court drew the attention of South Alabama University, but something about living in the Valley always made her want to go to UTPA. After being rudely told by other high school coaches that the Univer-
sity’s basketball program wasn’t up to par, she decided she want-ed to once again prove the naysay-ers wrong.
And that she has. Besides her assault on the record books, the program is on their winningest stretch of three years.
“I just want to be an inspira-tion, help people out. Especial-ly, being from the Valley, they probably think that they can’t do things,” said the 5-foot-5 guard. “Like sports-wise too, because of their height or something. I just want to be an example that, whatever you want to be, you can achieve it.”
7November 8, 2012
one point away
Story and Photo By Norma GonzalezThe Pan American
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