December 3, 2008

Elizabeth Kennedy and her brotherPatrick are no strangers to the greatoutdoors. The pair has been campingsince they were 3 years old and nowuse the activity to take the edge offtheir busy schedules.

“It’s just a lot of work, especiallynow that finals are around andmidterms,” said Kennedy, 20, a crimi-nal justice major from Weslaco. “It’sjust a place to get away, you can just

pitch your tent and sit by the fire atnight and sit with nature.”

Kennedy said her brother, now citycommissioner of Weslaco though stilla college student, created the OutdoorExpedition Club in 2006 so that stu-dents at The University of Texas-PanAmerican could de-stress with camp-ing trips throughout the semester.

Now two years old and more well-known, the organization has about 30members and club president ElizabethKennedy is planning a post-gradua-tion social at South Padre Island Dec.

13 at Beach Access 5.The club usually holds trips once a

month, but due to a change in presi-dents during the summer, Kennedyhad to rebuild the club with new mem-bers and funds.

This semester the club had twotrips but Kennedy said next semesterthey plan on going somewhere once amonth.

This semester’s trips includedGoliad State Park near Beeville, andLake Corpus Christi outside of

By Ana VillaurrutiaTHE PAN AMERICAN

SPORTS PG. 14NEWS PG. 3

The University of Texas-PanAmerican’s Troxel Hall dormitory hasbeen in a flip-flop for the past year.The dorm has opened and closed itsdoors before, and at the end of thesemester will close once again for acompletely different reason; a short-age in residents.

With the capacity to hold 190 resi-

dents, Troxel Hall currently housesonly 45 students, a small enough num-ber to have students move out and intoBronc Village, Heritage or Unity Hall.

Grant Leonard, a second-yearhousing coordinator, said it isn’t fis-cally efficient as far as utilities go tokeep a building open at 25 percentcapacity.

“It isn’t cost effective to keep thedormitory open when we have otherspace available in other buildings,” he

explained.In the spring semester, the dorm

was closed for furniture, painting andcarpeting renovations. However, theproposal for the renovations fellthrough because the university couldnot fund enough money, according toGrant Leonard.

“We want to make the transition assmooth as possible,” he explainedabout the moving situation. “I thinkwe understand this isn’t the easiest

transition.” Though the hall is closing for resi-

dents, it will remain open for severalorganizations like Students with aPurpose and GEAR-UP.

The hall is scheduled to close at theend of the semester; however, resi-dents are being allowed to move out attheir own pace to any of the threeother housing complexes.

Heritage Hall has already reachedfull capacity so students moving out

of Troxel will more than likely moveto Unity Hall or Bronc Village. UnityHall houses 396 residents and current-ly has 350 occupants.

“We’re trying to accommodatetheir needs with the current situationwe have,” Leonard stressed.

Despite the housing office’s effortsto make the move easier, Troxel resi-dents like Juan Mujica, a freshmanhealth major, said they feel it’s a has-

SINCE 1943 December 3, 2008Volume 65, No. 14

By J.R. OrtegaTHE PAN AMERICAN

INDEX FEATURES PG. 2 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PG. 11

Low occupancy to close Troxel Hall dormitory

An important developmentoccurred on Monday in the years-long fight over the border wall in theValley. At a news conference inChicago President-Elect BarackObama announced the members ofhis national security team.

The person who bears localimportance is his nominee forSecretary of Homeland Security,Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, whowill play a crucial role in determin-ing how the border wall will pro-ceed.

In his remarks about Napolitano,Obama called for a more secure bor-

der and said her experience as a gov-ernor will aid her in the new role.

One local Congressman believesthat her appointment will allow newhope in the fight against the wall.Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo), whosedistrict stretches across part of thewestern half of the Valley, voted“no” on the legislation that enabledthe structure to be built.

“The fact that she (Napolitano)understands the border… that’s a bigplus,” Cuellar said.

While Napolitano’s nominationmay be a positive for the Valley’sfight against the wall, Cuellar cau-tioned that ultimately the presidentmakes the decision on border policy.

� CAMPUS

CRUNCH TIME - Jose Ramos, a sophomore pre-med major, studies Tuesday evening for his anatomy and physiolo-gy final exam Wednesday at The University of Texas-Pan American Library.

In an effort to help save money, timeand help the environment, the StudentGovernment Association at TheUniversity of Texas-Pan American willoffer students, faculty and staff a freeservice called RIDESHARE – a freeridesharing/carpool service viaAlterNetRides.

In a commuter school such asUTPA, many students want to allevi-ate traffic congestion and open upsome more parking spaces.

The idea to bring this service to theuniversity began in the summer whengas prices were at an all-time high.Student Union director EdnaZambrano suggested it to SGA afterseeing other universities do the same

By Brian SilvaTHE PAN AMERICAN

SEE TROXEL || PAGE 5

� SEEN AND CAPTURED

� STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION

By Adriana AcostaTHE PAN AMERICAN

SEE BORDER WALL || PAGE 5

Border Wall maychange with Obama

Roxy Solis/THE PAN AMERICAN

SEE OUTDOOR || PAGE 5

UTPA students enjoy outdoors� ORGANIZATIONS

SEE CARPOOL || PAGE 5

� VALLEY

Student carpool systemto help save gas, time

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

Fax: (956) 316-7122

The Pan American is the official studentnewspaper of The University of Texas-PanAmerican. Views presented are those of thewriters and do not necessarily reflect thoseof the paper or university.

The Pan American accepts letters of300 words or less from students, staff andfaculty regarding recent newspapercontent, campus concerns or currentevents. The Pan American reserves theright to edit submissions for grammar andlength. The Pan American cannot publishanonymous letters or submissionscontaining hate speech or gratuitouspersonal attacks. Please send all storyideas to [email protected].

Individuals with disabilitieswishing to acquire this publication in analternative format or needing assistanceto attend any event listed can contact ThePan American for more details.

Kristen CabreraAbby FloresSara HernandezOnydia GarzaBen Briones

Issac BarrientesMarco CarbajalAndie FigueroaPedro Perez IV

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

ADVISER

Dr. Greg Selber --- [email protected]

Anita Reyes --- [email protected] MANAGER

Samantha Quintana --- [email protected]

Vol 65, No. 14

EDITOR IN CHIEF

J.R. Ortega / [email protected]

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Abigail Muniz / [email protected]

MANAGING EDITOR

Brian Silva / [email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Ana Villaurrutia / [email protected]

A&E EDITOR

Laura Garcia / [email protected]

ASSISTANT A&E EDITOR

Isaac Garcia / [email protected]

SPORTS EDITORS

Ramiro Paez / [email protected] Garza / [email protected]

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Roxy Solis / [email protected]

DESIGN EDITOR

Roy Bazan / [email protected]

COPY EDITOR

Adriana Acosta / [email protected]

STAFF

Dec. 3, 2008

**Delivery**Thursday at noon

THE PAN AMERICAN

University continues expansion into new milleniumAs the last seconds of 1999 faded

away, many were curious about whatthe new millennium would bring. Ithas been a long but accomplishedjourney for The University of Texas-Pan American but it was by no meansthrough.

FINDING A NICHEFrom 1994 to 2000 the university

had gained its first two doctoral pro-grams in Business Administrationwith an emphasis in InternationalBusiness and Educational Leadership,with the help of University of Texas atAustin.

Though the university owed muchto UT Austin, former UTPA presidentMiguel Nevarez said finding the uni-versity’s own “niche” was moreimportant.

“UT Austin was helping us imple-ment those programs,” Nevarez said.“What we were trying to do withinthose years was basically be on ourown where we could take control ofthose programs.”

Nevarez was the longest-servingHispanic university president in thenation; in the last four years of hisreign he emphasized development ingraduate programs as a way to accom-modate a low-income area.

“A lot of our students in SouthTexas are what we call home-based,”he explained. “In other words, it’smore expensive to go to Austin to goto school and pay for tuition andboard.”

By 2004, there were 45 master’sdegrees and a new cooperative phar-macy Ph.D. with UT Austin.

With the development of moremaster’s students came a new look forthe university.

The College of Education and mathdepartment would gain newer facili-ties in 2000, and Nevarez noted thatthe upgrade went hand in hand withdeveloping UTPA’s graduate pro-grams.

“It was really nice, it was newbuildings and new equipments, it wasa feeling that it was about time that westarted getting these programs,” hesaid.

The College of Science andEngineering was also gaining support.In 2001 Gov. Rick Perry alerted theTexas Legislature about the state’sobligation to enter the digital age inthe computer and science fields.

Shortly after, the College ofScience and Engineering started plan-ning the now 7-year-old HispanicEngineering Science and TechnologyWeek.

The week-long event, according to

CoSE Dean Edwin LeMaster, initiallybegan as a side note to a conferencecalled Hispanic Engineer NationalAchievement Awards Conference inSouth Padre Island, hosted in 2001 byUTPA.

LeMaster said he remembered thatfirst HESTEC in 2001 as the collegeorchestrated a movement of CEOsfrom among others Shell and Boeingfrom the island to the campus.

“We had all these people come tothis annual conference,” LeMasterrecounted. “So we said what we’ll dois the day beforethe conference atSouth Padre Islandstarts, we’ll havethem come over toour campus andwe’ll invite peopleto our campus andhave all these com-pany presidentstalk to our studentsand even to the community.”

Over the years HESTEC has incor-porated different activities includingLatinas Day, Career Day andCommunity Day and now expectsmore than 80,000 attendees each year.

Enrollment numbers on campuswere also facing a boom at the turn ofthe millennium. After they yo-yoed inthe ‘90s they increased steadily there-after.

From 2000 to 2007 UTPA saw anincrease of 4,655 students. In Fall2007, about 17,435 students wereenrolled.

However, it also meant overcrowd-ing of the university’s parking lots andclassrooms. 2001 electrical engineer-ing graduate Liliana Acosta said sheremembered her core classes beingparticularly large and parking beingscarce, but somehow the universitydid not create overflow lots.

“In ’96 it was full, but it wasn’t asfull like my core classes,” said Acostawho now works for Lockheed Martinin Ft. Worth. “When I started to grad-uate, we used to park in the fitness(kinesiology building) area but thenwe had to park on the dirt lot.”

As an electrical engineer she alsoremembered the demographics chang-ing within her major.

“I think in my class I was one ofthe few women there, but when I start-ed to graduate I started to see a lotmore girls,” Acosta said.

Nevarez said he was pleased withthe amount of prestige the universityhad already received by 2003.

“I remember when this place wascalled ‘Tamale Tech,’ you don’t hearthat anymore, so prestige has grownand it will continue to grow,” Nevarezsaid reflecting on past criticism of theuniversity.

By August 2003, Nevarez felt hisrun as president was complete becausethe university was changing fasterthan he was.

“Universities have differentneeds… sometimes if the presidentdoesn’t grow with the university… allof a sudden you become outdated,”Nevarez said.

TRANSITION OF POWEROver the course of the next 10

months, the UT System Board ofRegents searched for a new president.

In 2004, BlandinaCardenas wasnamed the firstfemale leader atUTPA.

Cardenas, who’dpreviously servedas dean of theCollege ofEducation andH u m a n

Development at the University ofTexas at San Antonio, said she wasproud of installing technology insideof almost every classroom in her first18 months.

In 2005, the university went wire-less and all over campus UTPA stu-dents, faulty and staff could gainaccess to the campus network.

“When I came here I wanted tomake sure that we were pursuing theuse of technology as a medium forinstruction, because students weregoing to be working in a world that istechnology driven and I wanted themto be competitive,” Cardenas saidabout her goals for the university.

In 2007, UTPA received recogni-tion when the Hispanic Outlook mag-azine named the rehabilitation pro-gram at the university number one ingraduating Hispanics.

Next semester the rehab depart-ment is expecting to start its Ph.D.program in rehabilitation counseling.The new doctoral degree is somethingCardenas felt was a long time comingto the university.

“I am not happy with the pace ofdoctoral program development, I thinkwe should have more,” Cardenas said.“But I am delighted that it looks likewe are going to get our first premierdoctorate in 10 years.”

This past year has not beenuneventful for Cardenas, as first sheaccused of plagiarism in late Octoberand then, following the election ofPresident-Elect Barack Obama,Cardenas was suggested for the posi-tion of U.S. Secretary of Education.

In a public statement Cardenas saidshe would rather keep working atUTPA, adding that she wants to stayas long as she can work to the best ofher ability.

December 3, 2008

By Ana VillaurrutiaTHE PAN AMERICAN

“I have no idea how long the ener-gy will last but I hope not to staybeyond my ability,” said Cardenas,who underwent a cardiac bypass sur-gery Sept. 11, 2007. “Because youhave to have a high level of passion,because that passion has to be asstrong on the day you leave as theday you got here.”

LOOKING BEYONDIn 1999 the Texas Higher

Coordinating Board predicted UTPAenrollment at 16,000 by 2010. As theuniversity closes in on 2009, it hassurpassed the THECB expectations,topping 17,000 this year.

The future of UTPA seems to bebright with the addition of more grad-uate and undergraduate degrees likean environmental science bachelor,and a proposal for a civil engineeringprogram in the works.

Re-construction at the satellitecampus in Starr County is also underway with an emphasis on creatingenvironmentally efficient buildingsto reduce the campus’ carbon foot-

print and follow the trend of goinggreen.

The project also signals anenhanced future beyond the mainEdinburg campus.

“We’re looking at a number of pos-sibilities,” the president noted. “We’relooking at the issue of the price of gasand it really forced us to think aboutways to make the university a lot moreaccessible in a logistical way, so wewill probably see a lot more invest-ment in distance learning.”

“When I came here I wantedto make sure that we werepursuing the use of technolo-gy as a medium for instruc-tion...”Blandina CardenasUTPA president

� The Pan American would like to thank SpecialCollections for providing information and their servicesthroughout the UTPA Generations: The Series.

� DID YOU KNOW?

The 2,000-pound bronzebronc statue was dedi-cated Nov. 2, 2002 tokick off UTPA’s 75thanniversary. Located infront of the Visitor’sCenter, the statue,designed by VerylGoodnight, representsthe school mascot.

THE PAN AMERICANDecember 3, 2008

Dates to Know:Dead DaysThursday and Friday

Midnight BreakfastThursday, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Student Union

Monster Carwash on UniversityDrive is packed every weekend withpeople from almost every age group.At night, when the carwash closes andthe bar opens, students and others goto enjoy live music, food and drinks.

With business thriving, MonsterCarwash is one of the local hot spots,and maybe it can can become compet-itive with the area’s national chains.

Brandon Martin, the manager ofMonster Icehouse, the bar insideMonster Carwash, said he could attestto the large crowds.

“We have a big diverse crowd,” hesaid. “We have lawyers, teachers, stu-dents, we don’t have just one demo-graphic, we have many clientele Ithink that’s what makes this place sogreat.”

The Monster Icehouse features livemusic and cover bands, with originalmusic on Sundays. The atmospherealmost becomes relaxed as the musi-

cians take requests from the crowd.Solicited songs range from numbersby Alice in Chains to those of theCure.

Kathryn Dubal, an 18-year-oldfreshman business major and server atMonster Carwash, said her favoriteaspect is the friendly and familiaratmosphere of the people there.

“It’s not just a bar where we serveyou and that’s it,” she said. “We get toknow you and everything is like a lit-tle community.”

Of course the combination of car-wash, restaurant and bar is an unusualconcept but Monster Carwash pulls itoff. Locally owned and operated byCesar Barvin, this monster idea for abar in the back was the brainchild ofMartin.

After seven years in the bar man-agement business, Martin convincedBarvin to start one. The bar officiallyopened earlier this year as an amal-gam of several bars Martin visitedthroughout the country.

By Kristen CabreraTHE PAN AMERICAN

John Lloyd, research professor ofengineering and director of the RapidResponse Manufacturing Center atThe University of Texas-PanAmerican, was awarded as TopScientist at the 3rd InternationalConference on Heat and MassTransfer and Hydrodynamics inSwirling Flows in late October.

Lloyd attended the weeklong con-ference at the Moscow PowerEngineering Institute in Russia andwas the keynote speaker, giving a lec-ture titled, “Ad-Intro MolecularDynamic Study of Nano-ScaleThermal Energy Transfer Across aMaterial Interface.”

“It was an honor to be given thataward,” he said. “I was given a cer-tificate and a gold pin.”

The MPEI, established in 1930, is

one of the largest university and sci-entific centers in the country, servingfields of power and electrical engi-neering, electronics, and computersscience.

Lloyd was also made an honorarymember of the Department of ThermoPhysics of MPEI Power EngineeringInstitute of the Russian Academy ofSciences. In 2000, Lloyd had earnedan honorary doctorate from theRussian Academy of Sciences.

The RRMC, which was completedat UTPA earlier this year, works withseveral types of systems and tech-nologies used to improve the speed atwhich newly engineered products aremarketed, created and given to cus-tomers.

The Michigan native, who hasbeen with the university since 2000,was chosen to be keynote speaker byseveral friends at the RussianAcademy of Sciences.

“They were interested in a presen-tation I had made back in 2005, at theLeontiev School for Young Scientistsand Engineers which took place inKaluga, Russia,” he explained. “Theywanted to know if I would give apresentation on the current state of theart on that topic.”

The lecture was on how electronsfrom metals transfer thermal energyto a non-metal material. Lloyd said

� COMMUNITY

Blanca Gonzalez remembers fami-ly get-togethers as a child. While theadults in her family ate and chattedinside her home, Gonzalez and four ofher cousins played school in the yard.

“I would always be the teacher,”Gonzalez, a Palmview resident said. “Iwas a geek. I would even make reportcards for my cousins.”

Gonzalez who went to PSJA NorthHigh School would later join morethan 300 education majors from The

University of Texas-Pan American’sCollege of Education annually. In2007 the collegeawarded 349b a c h e l o r ’ sdegrees.

But becominga teacher is onlyhalf the struggle.Students are firstrequired toacquire certifica-tion beforebecoming teachers. But once they areout in the field, new challenges arefaced according to Maria Elena Reyes,

a professor in the department of cur-riculum and instruction.

One of thosec h a l l e n g e sincludes adminis-trators demandingteachers teach pri-marily to preparestudents for thestate examination,the TexasAssessment ofKnowledge and

Skills, which is taken by all Texas stu-dents from grades 3 through 12.

“Many teachers are being pres-

sured to teach to the test,” Reyes said.“When you narrow [the curriculum] toteach only what is on the test, you’reignoring all this other stuff that’s veryvaluable for students to know.”

A 24-year-old senior, Gonzalez iscompleting her last semester as anundergraduate working on required stu-dent teaching, at Ramirez Elementaryin Pharr. She has gotten to experiencefirst-hand the preparation that studentsface when it comes to the TAKS.

“Teachers have to focus on it a lotbecause they have percentages theyhave to meet,” Gonzalez said. “If(teachers) don’t meet them, the whole

school is at risk of not getting grants.”Reyes says that among other obsta-

cles, new teachers face a lack ofpreparation to teach in their contentarea or the subject they’ll teach in.

“A good teacher is one who canteach their content area,” Reyes said.“Students need a teacher. The bestthing for student-teachers to do is toprepare themselves well to know thatcontent area as well as possible… toteach to students effectively.”

Gonzalez recognized that herstrong suit was bilingual classes, soshe’s decided she wants to teach a

Education majors prep for profession as school teachersBy Abigail Muniz THE PAN AMERICAN

� ACADEMIC

Professor/director receives Top Scientist awardBy Adriana AcostaTHE PAN AMERICAN

Monster Carwashpopular, booming

� CULTURE

Ben Briones/THE PAN AMERICAN

MONSTER MEAL - City of McAllen construction workers talk and take a lunch break at Monster Carwash locatedon University Drive right near the university.SEE CARWASH || PAGE 6

SEE TEACHER || PAGE 6

SEE EDUCATION || PAGE 6

“I’ve learned that it’s impor-tant to have a very good stu-dent and teacher bondbecause if we give themrespect, they give us respect.”Blanca GonzalezEducation major

ADVERTISEMENTS December 3, 2008

thing. Other universities with the service

include Texas A&M-Kingsville, TheUniversity of Texas-San Antonio,Texas State University, TheUniversity of Texas at Austin and TheUniversity of Texas at El Paso.

Marco Silva, SGA president, saidthe organization brought the free serv-ice so students could be aware there isanother option available for them toget to school. The program will alsobe implemented by the SGA.

“All we are doing is pairing up stu-dents,” he said about the service. “Weare letting students decide and com-municate on their own.”

Though SGA is implementing theservice, students need to meet andform plans with the carpoolers ontheir own terms.

Silva estimates students will saveabout $20 a week on gas if they signup for the service. Actually, it is wel-come news to all that fuel costs havebeen halved in the past two months,but that figure is very volatile.

“We were prepared for gas pricesto change, but we believe studentswill save money,” he said.

To sign up for the serviceAlternetrides.com, with a valid e-mailaddress. They will be able to inputinformation like how often they wouldlike to carpool with someone, and datesand times a student would like to ridetogether. Students have the option toselect a one-time trip or multiple ones.

Students have all ready signed upto for the service, according to Silva.

However some students feel though itmay be a good idea, not knowing theperson you are carpooling with is wor-risome.

Sophomore America Cervantes, asocial work major at UTPA, said shewould only feel secure if she knew theperson she was riding with.

“I don’t know their driving habits,or if their car is in working condition,”she explained. “I don’t think the serv-ice will work, because we have differ-ent activities, class schedules and peo-ple have to work.”

On the other hand, Celina Gonzalez,a junior public relations major, said theprogram is a good idea because it willhelp save gas and the environment. Shealso believes it is a bad idea because oftiming and lack of it.

“I think this would have been betterin the summer when gas was so high.My car used to fill up with $60, andnow it fills with only 20,” she said.

Music major Dante Garcia ofMcAllen said he is surprised this serv-ice did no emerge sooner. But hebelieves this is a good option for stu-dents to have, especially since theeconomy has been fluctuating.

“Right now, students are trying tosave money. This service will be veryresourceful to use,” he said.“Especially for people that have todrive long distances to get home. Ifthe program is well organized, Ibelieve it might work. Once studentsrealize this option exists and theoption and resources are there, theywill take advantage of it.”

NEWS December 3, 2008

CARPOOL continued from Page 1“We must remember that Barack

Obama voted for it (border wall legis-lation),” Cuellar said.

Cuellar, who’s a member of theHouse subcommittee on homelandsecurity, said it’s better to secure theborder without a border wall.

“There’s no reason to have afence,” he said. “We have a naturalboundary: the Rio Grande.”

Although he believes the RioGrande is a physical boundary thatdoesn’t need to be supplemented byanother physical entity, the congress-man added there are other places, likeArizona, that don’t have natural barri-ers.

Even though there is no naturalboundary, “We have to find anotherway… we have to be creative,”Cuellar said. “Let’s secure our borderin a smart, effective way.”

Cuellar stressed that leaders needto be conscious of how they securethe nearly 2,000-mile stretch. Hebelieves that a high-tech fence withmore Border Patrol and U.S. customspersonnel would be a better option.

The wall costs about $7 million permile, while a high-tech fence wouldbe about $1 million for the same dis-tancde, according to Cuellar, who alsosaid that according to HomelandSecurity, both options will provide

equal effectiveness.“It costs less with a tech fence

without a doubt,” Cuellar said. “Wecan also cover more area with a techfence.”

Even though Obama has saidimmigration and securing the borderwill be issues duringh his administra-tion, Cuellar believes that theDemocrat-controlled Congress won’trepeal the legislation establishing theborder wall.

He said, though, there’s still hopefor progress beneficial to the Valley.

“We’d rather build bridges overthe Rio Grande, than build fences onour border with Mexico.”

BORDER WALL continued from Page 1

sle to keep moving back and forth. “The moving isn’t that big of a

deal,” he said. “It’s just like they madeus move once andthen they’re makingus move again.”

According toMujica, some resi-dents had to moveclose to the firstfloor at the begin-ning of the semesterso that studentswere closer togetherin one wing.Residents were told to move closertogether so that residents weren’t scat-tered throughout the building.

Mujica’s friend, Lissette Lozano,

also a freshman, said she has had tomove wings too.

“It’s very frustrating,” the psychol-ogy major said.“I’ve also had tomove twicealready, from like athird floor to a firstfloor. They wantedeveryone to moveout of Troxel andthey didn’t haveany more room inHeritage so theyjust moved us

down.” Both Mujica and Lozano said they

were told about the possibility of mov-ing yet another time at a mandatory

meeting earlier in the semester.“I was really mad; it’s not that easy

to move,” Lozano said. “Moving fromhome to over here (dorms) and thenmoving three stories down…we’re notsupposed to be dealing with this.”

Grant said it is too soon to tellwhen Troxel Hall may re-open.

“We feel there will be a living andlearning environment if they are in afull building so we can better suit theirneeds.”

“We feel there will be a liv-ing and learning environ-ment if they are in a fullbuilding so we can bettersuit their needs.”

Grant LeonardHousing coordinator � DID YOU KNOW?

The first male dormitory isnow the ROTC office and thefirst female dorm was the his-toric Emilia Schunior Hall

TROXEL continued from Page 1

Mathis, in October. The club also goesto Garner State Park in the summer inLeakey for a week.

“It’s not that hard, you don’t haveto be knowledge-able to go campingwith us,” Kennedysaid. “We havepeople in the clubthat will teach you,we’re not shy abouttelling you what todo.”

Trips are usually held on weekendsand activities vary depending wherecampers go and what they want to do.Past activities included kayaking,fishing, swimming, hiking and evenghost hunting at Goliad Park.

Kennedy said trips tend to unifythe group because campers are toldwander alone and most cell-phoneservices tend to cut off in the woods.

“You don’t get Sprint out thereusually,” Kennedy said. “You reallycan’t get away from anybody outthere.”

The organization also encouragesmembers to bring their family. Clubmember Victor Rivas took an opportu-

nity to bring his 11-year-old brothercamping at the Goliad trip. Rivas saidthe trip also taught his younger broth-er important lessons on responsibility

and self-reliance.“He had a blast

you know, an 11-year-old hangingout with the guys,he was gung ho,”the 23-year-oldrehabilitation majorfrom Edinburg said.

“He matured a little bit, when he sawpeople doing their jobs when we weresetting up tents, he picked up somemannerisms about being productiveand responsible.”

Myra Chavana, a 20-year-old psy-chology and sociology major,describes herself as an adventurer,saying she misses the wooded area sheused to live around in Sullivan City.

“I would love to go, I love explor-ing and being around the woods,” shesaid. “I’ve always wanted to but Idon’t have time or people to go with.”

Kennedy hopes to some day plantrips outside of Texas as most priorones have not gone past San Antonio.One voyage in mind is a summer tripto Estes Park in Colorado, but plan-ning and funding are still far off.

Club meetings start again nextsemester at the College of Arts andSciences building on Thursdays fromnoon to 1 p.m.

OUTDOOR continued from Page 1

“I’ve always wanted to but Idon’t have time or people togo with.”

Myra Chavana on campingPsychology major

� VISIT

The Outdoor Expedition Clubat www.myspace.com/outdoor-expeditionclub

NEWS Decmber 3, 2008

CARWASH continued from Page 3“I go to Las Vegas a lot to scout

other bars,” Martin said. “I knowevery bar owner in the Valley, I’vebeen doing this along time, everyaspect of it we’vetaken. I’ve high-lighted the bestbands, the bands Iknow that performthe best every night.There’s not a thingabout it that wehaven’t put a lot oftime and effortinto.”

Even with the design and attitudeof the bar, Monster Icehouse is stillunderestimated as a bar because of the‘Carwash’ reputation, according to

Martin.“That’s the hardest thing,” he

explained. “As much as MonsterCarwash is every-thing that we’reabout, that’s theMonster Icehousein the back. And toa lot of p eople, itcomes off weird tothem.

Because realis-tically who wantsto hear on Fridaynight: ‘Hey, let’s

go to Monster Carwash.’? I mean,why do we want to go to a carwash?Opening up any other bar would beeasy if it was just a bar, maybe even abar and grill, but a carwash and bar? It

took 110 percent to get that going…ittook everything.”

Dubal said he agrees that peopleare quick to misjudge MonsterIcehouse. But thentheir opinions areturned around.

“People underes-timate it when theycome here,” Dubalsaid. “And then thenext night theybring their friendsand they bring theirfriends and that’show we’ve grown.People have a goodtime and they like it here.”

The causal quality and atmosphereare a big reason why customers keep

coming back and bringing in new peo-ple. Martin understands this andenforces these values of the bar.

“On top of all that its like your athome,” Martinsaid. “ You can goto a bar and it’s abar, you can go to aclub and it’s a club.But to everybodyback there its like ahouse party, its socasual.

You can comewatch the game orNFL ticket or UFCor just see the band

but there’s no age restriction. If youwant come in a tie or shorts its fine.”

Monster Icehouse averages about

200 people on Fridays and 150 onSaturdays night and is growingaccording to Martin. The actual car-wash is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. andevery night there are drink specialsand Happy Hour from 4 p.m. to 10p.m., the longest happy hour in theValley.

TEACHER continued from Page 3scientists are just beginning to under-stand energy transport at the mostfundamental, sub-molecular level.For the past three years, Lloyd hasbeen working with the RussianAcademy of Sciences on a hydrogenstorage study, in a worldwide pro-gram through the U.S. Dept. ofEnergy.

There will be a hydrogen storageconference in Russia in 2009.He hasalso been invited to give a lecture inSiberia next year.

“It’s not just a bar where weserve you and that’s it. Weget to know you and every-thing is like a little commu-nity.”

Kathyrn DubalBusiness major, freshman

class that will allow her to exposechildren to both English and Spanish.

“I’m in a class that has a dual lan-guage program now and every otherday we change languages,” Gonzalezsaid. “I know it’s hard for some ofthem, but it’s important they acquireboth languages.”

Through her experiences with thechildren she interacts with on a dailybasis, Gonzalez has recognized whatthe role of a teacher is, and feels thedynamics and relationship between astudent and a teacher should be mutual.

“I’ve learned that it’s important to

have a very good student and teacherbond because if we give them respect,they give us respect,” she said. “It’simportant to also motivate them sothey feel important… they then do thebest they can.”

JOB GROWTHAccording to the U.S. Department of

Labor, in 2006, teachers held about 4million jobs nationwide. Over the next10 years, the job pool is expected togrow by 12 percent, accounting formore than 479,000 additional positions.

“Teaching is a sacred profession

really, that’s why you have many peo-ple who really want to become teach-ers because they have so much togive,” Reyes said. “It’s important thatwe get the right individuals into theprofession.”

Reyes said the department hasstarted offering pre-block courses inthe elementary program since thesummer, which she said allows stu-dents the chance to learn about theteaching profession and perhaps helpthem decide if teaching is what theywant to do.

“Those courses are very popular and

I think we need to expand the offer-ings,” Reyes noted, adding that shewould like pre-block classes to beimplemented into the secondary level.These classes can be taken before a stu-dent is admitted into the teacher educa-tion program where, if admitted theywill be required to take certain classesin a certain order, referred to as blocks.

“There’s a lot of interest in educa-tion. It’s a very attractive professionfor many reasons. For sure you’llnever lack a job if you have a teachinglicense,” Reyes said.

EDUCATION continued from Page 3

MONSTER CARWASH

The restaurant hosts differ-ent bands each nightThursday through Sunday.Sunday is all originalmusic from the invitedguest bands.

“We have lawyers, teachers,students, we don’t have justone demographic, we havemany clientele I think that’swhat makes this place sogreat.”

Brandon MartinMonster Icehouse, manager

THE PAN AMERICAN December 3, 2008 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 9December 3, 2008

Layout By: Rick Gamez

When the teaser trailer for the film“Twilight” premiered many were skepti-cal whether the film would succeed.There were mixed emotions about thecharacters, with consensus havingEdward as the most annoying of thebunch. Millions of teenage girls andtheir mothers were upset and confused,because to them their Edward was theembodiment of perfection, and insteadthey got the boy who got killed in thefourth Harry Potter movie. However,they were proven wrong.

The film adaptation of StephenieMeyer’s vampire-romance saga scored acool $7 million from early screenings onThursday night. On opening day Friday,Nov. 21, the film went to the bank with$30 million. Overall the film has grossedan outstanding $70.6 million, an impres-sive number for the gothic romancegenre. Already the sequel, “New Moon,”is in the works.

Directed by McAllen High graduateCatherine Hardwicke, the film tells thestory of 17-year-old Isabella “Bella”

Swan, played by the feisty yet beautifulKristen Stewart (“The Messengers”).Bella leaves her home in Phoenix andmoves to live with her father, in a smalltown called Forks, Wash. There, shefinds herself drawn to a mysteriousclassmate, Edward Cullen, played per-fectly and emotionally by RobertPattinson (“Harry Potter and The Gobletof Fire”).

While the movie slides along at anexciting and intimidating pace, Bellafinds out that the mysterious classmatewhom she begins to realize she has gotthe hots for is a 108-year-old vampire,but physically the same age as her, 17.Although Edward discourages theromance at first, they soon fall deeply inlove, and Bella’s life is put in dangerwhile Edward and his family risk theirimmortal lives to save her mortal one.

It was easy at first to dismiss the cast-ing choices for the leads, but once view-ers see the movie their minds will bechanged. Even when delivering the mostcheesiest of lines Stewart makes themseem geniune and real. Her awkwardnessin the beginning of the film transforms tocourageous and adventurous toward the

end, and one can’t help but root for herand Edward. Pattinson, who was cruci-fied by millions upon millions of teenag-er girl bloggers as being too “ugly” andnothing like they pictured Edward to be,surley silenced them with his perform-ance. Sure it’s nothing Oscar worthy, buthis conflicted role of being an immortaland curbing his appetitie for Bella’sblood only makes him more human, andmore misunderstood. Expect great thingsfrom this guy.

The film was mostly shot in Portland,Ore., and Hardwicke opted to do the filmin a handheld-camera style to make itmore realisitc and approachable.Hardwicke, who seems to be the up-and-coming next Sofia Coppola (“Lost inTranslation,” “Marie Antoinette”) of hergeneration of directors, does somewhatcompare to the Oscar-winning screen-writer. Like Coppola, she likes to directfilms that show people, mostly teenagersin angst. They both love to use music toprovide the mood and tone. StephenieMeyer, who was a consultant for thesoundtrack, professed that the filmshould include music by Muse andLinkin Park, because she suggested to the

Fall Entertainment Weekly magazine thatthose were the bands she listened to,while writing her novels.

Like the book, “Twilight” bit an aortavein with teenage girls and women.Some women and teenage girls confessedon ET Tonight that they saw the filmmultiple times, which drove up boxoffice sales. Summit, the studio whichproduced the film, was esctastic with therevenues, and 75 percent of the audienceswere females, whom most of them underthe age of 25. Plenty of adults saw thefilm as well, with 45 percent of all view-ers being 25 years or older.

One could say that “Twilight” is aphenomenon similar to the 1997 epic“Titanic,” the love story, of course thatbecame the highest grossing film of alltime, and winner of a record 11Academy Awards. Whether “Twilight”will replicate that success, of course,remains to be seen, but overall the filmwas not made to win awards (of coursethe MTV Movie Awards are probablygoing to eat this up). It was made tohave a fun, grab-ahold-of-your-seatblockbuster, which is always a plus dur-ing the holidays.

By Russen VelaTHE PAN AMERICAN

‘Twilight’ film finds success among fans

Students react to ‘Twilight’

“I really liked thefilm, especially thebaseball scene,‘cause of all thedrama.”

Lessly Garcia, 18Freshman

Nursing

“It was the vampireversion of ‘HighSchool Musical 3’”

Charlie Brenner, 26Graduate

Theatre

“It’s like HarryPotter; of course thebooks are better. Iliked the introduc-tion with the music.”

Jesse Garza, 18Freshman

Occupational therapy

www.firstshowing.net

www.examiner.com

THE PAN AMERICAN December 3, 2008Page 8 THE PAN AMERICAN December 3, 2008

Layout By: Rick Gamez

When the teaser trailer for the film“Twilight” premiered many were skepti-cal whether the film would succeed.There were mixed emotions about thecharacters, with consensus havingEdward as the most annoying of thebunch. Millions of teenage girls andtheir mothers were upset and confused,because to them their Edward was theembodiment of perfection, and insteadthey got the boy who got killed in thefourth Harry Potter movie. However,they were proven wrong.

The film adaptation of StephenieMeyer’s vampire-romance saga scored acool $7 million from early screenings onThursday night. On opening day Friday,Nov. 21, the film went to the bank with$30 million. Overall the film has grossedan outstanding $70.6 million, an impres-sive number for the gothic romancegenre. Already the sequel, “New Moon,”is in the works.

Directed by McAllen High graduateCatherine Hardwicke, the film tells thestory of 17-year-old Isabella “Bella”

Swan, played by the feisty yet beautifulKristen Stewart (“The Messengers”).Bella leaves her home in Phoenix andmoves to live with her father, in a smalltown called Forks, Wash. There, shefinds herself drawn to a mysteriousclassmate, Edward Cullen, played per-fectly and emotionally by RobertPattinson (“Harry Potter and The Gobletof Fire”).

While the movie slides along at anexciting and intimidating pace, Bellafinds out that the mysterious classmatewhom she begins to realize she has gotthe hots for is a 108-year-old vampire,but physically the same age as her, 17.Although Edward discourages theromance at first, they soon fall deeply inlove, and Bella’s life is put in dangerwhile Edward and his family risk theirimmortal lives to save her mortal one.

It was easy at first to dismiss the cast-ing choices for the leads, but once view-ers see the movie their minds will bechanged. Even when delivering the mostcheesiest of lines Stewart makes themseem geniune and real. Her awkwardnessin the beginning of the film transforms tocourageous and adventurous toward the

end, and one can’t help but root for herand Edward. Pattinson, who was cruci-fied by millions upon millions of teenag-er girl bloggers as being too “ugly” andnothing like they pictured Edward to be,surley silenced them with his perform-ance. Sure it’s nothing Oscar worthy, buthis conflicted role of being an immortaland curbing his appetitie for Bella’sblood only makes him more human, andmore misunderstood. Expect great thingsfrom this guy.

The film was mostly shot in Portland,Ore., and Hardwicke opted to do the filmin a handheld-camera style to make itmore realisitc and approachable.Hardwicke, who seems to be the up-and-coming next Sofia Coppola (“Lost inTranslation,” “Marie Antoinette”) of hergeneration of directors, does somewhatcompare to the Oscar-winning screen-writer. Like Coppola, she likes to directfilms that show people, mostly teenagersin angst. They both love to use music toprovide the mood and tone. StephenieMeyer, who was a consultant for thesoundtrack, professed that the filmshould include music by Muse andLinkin Park, because she suggested to the

Fall Entertainment Weekly magazine thatthose were the bands she listened to,while writing her novels.

Like the book, “Twilight” bit an aortavein with teenage girls and women.Some women and teenage girls confessedon ET Tonight that they saw the filmmultiple times, which drove up boxoffice sales. Summit, the studio whichproduced the film, was esctastic with therevenues, and 75 percent of the audienceswere females, whom most of them underthe age of 25. Plenty of adults saw thefilm as well, with 45 percent of all view-ers being 25 years or older.

One could say that “Twilight” is aphenomenon similar to the 1997 epic“Titanic,” the love story, of course thatbecame the highest grossing film of alltime, and winner of a record 11Academy Awards. Whether “Twilight”will replicate that success, of course,remains to be seen, but overall the filmwas not made to win awards (of coursethe MTV Movie Awards are probablygoing to eat this up). It was made tohave a fun, grab-ahold-of-your-seatblockbuster, which is always a plus dur-ing the holidays.


‘Twilight’ film finds success among fans

Students react to ‘Twilight’

“I really liked thefilm, especially thebaseball scene,‘cause of all thedrama.”

Lessly Garcia, 18Freshman

Nursing

“It was the vampireversion of ‘HighSchool Musical 3’”

Charlie Brenner, 26Graduate

Theatre

“It’s like HarryPotter; of course thebooks are better. Iliked the introduc-tion with the music.”

Jesse Garza, 18Freshman

Occupational therapy

www.firstshowing.net

www.examiner.com

THE PAN AMERICAN

Dates to Know:The December Drive Dec. 20, 7 p.m. Cine El Rey

Eros Music and Art FestivalWednesday, 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.The Quad

� LOCAL BUSINESS

There is but one place in the entireValley where one can whet the appetitefor delicious, high quality coffee, sinfulpastries and grilled to order sandwichesand get lost in the glamour of oldHollywood.

Starstruck Coffee, located at 1653 W.University Drive, officially opened itsdoors for business Nov. 6. Literally onlya few doors down from the university,Starstruck has all the makings of a homeaway from class.

Alberto Garza, a financial adviserfrom Edinburg and owner of Starstruck,says he and his wife were inspired to openthe place because they wanted to augmentthe typical coffee house feel with themore social aspects of a bar setting.

The menu offers up a variety of highquality coffee, cappuccino, espresso,chai tea, hot tea, and pastries.Sandwiches include peanut butter andjelly, hoagies and the hugely popularGladiator, a grilled fajita sandwichsmothered with bell peppers and cheese.

Warm mango and burnt orange wallsare littered with movie memorabilia andphotos of the likes of Sean Connery,Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe in themen’s loo and even a four-foot JohnWayne. A filmstrip façade above the

serving area, two flat-screen televisions,and a large screen projector for pay-per-view events, concerts and movies allpush the entertainment theme.

Decor isn’t the only thing that setsStarstruck apart from the typical coffeehouse, however. Garza says with somehelp from UTPA’s Career Servicesdepartment, they lined up auditions forpotential baristas. Upon passing asinging audition in front of an eight-per-son panel of judges, the best of the bestwere invited back to interview for avail-able positions.

“Our baristas actually sing whenthey’re not serving somebody,” Garzasaid, beaming proudly. “They’ll throwout a song here or there, sometimes ifthings are slow, they might even comeup to your table and serenade you.”

John Michael Renteria, a mechanicalengineering major from Edinburg, is onesuch baritone barista. When it comes tohis singing prowess, Renteria is quitemodest. After being told that his bossonly hires the best of the best crooners,he slowly conceded.

“Well, I haven’t taken any classes butI taught myself to sing, and I lead worshipand play guitar at my church, KingdomFaith in Elsa,” said Renteria.

Renteria applied for the position afterfinding out about the place through hiscousin, and says he says he enjoys the

atmosphere and contact with patrons. “We greet everyone and welcome

interaction,” he said. “When I’m havinga good day and someone is having a badday it only makes it that much betterwhen a person reaches out and tries tobrighten their day.”

Garza also mentioned the rigorousworld-class training baristas wentthrough in order to be able to offer thebest experience possible for themselvesand ultimately, the customers.

“We hired the best barista trainingschool in the United States,” said Garza

proudly. “It was started by Alex Fisenko,who introduced Americans to espresso inthe 1960’s. His wife Oksana and his sonMichael came down and gave our baristasthree days of intensive training.”

Valerie Ortiz, an English major fromMcAllen, says she loves Starstruck’sproximity to campus.

“It‘s really convenient to have aplace so close where you can eat, drinkor study if you have a long break,” Ortizsaid. “It beats driving home and sinceit’s within walking distance, you don’thave to lose your parking spot.”

In addition to the mouth-wateringmenu and numerous TV options,Starstruck Coffee also boasts free Wi-Fiand a karaoke machine with over 5,000songs, welcoming anyone to belt outtheir favorite song, no matter howobscure, at any given time.

Garza says he is also consideringoperating special hours, such as beingopen 24/7 during Dead Days and FinalsWeek, but wants to see support from theUTPA community before making anyfinal decisions. With its cool amenitiesand proximity to campus, surely it isonly a matter of time before studentsand faculty come out in droves.

“Saved by The Bell” had The Max.The kids on “90210” had The Peach Pit.Now, UTPA has their own hangout:Starstruck Coffee.

Coffee shop uniquely entertains customers

RED EYE - Starstruck Coffee, located on the corner of UniversityDrive and Sugar Road, invites students to take a coffee break.

December 3, 2008

Ben Briones/THE PAN AMERICAN

� DIGITAL AGE

It’s funny isn’t it, when you seepeople trying out for such talent tele-vision shows like “American Idol,” orthe popular “America’s Got Talent?”Whenever we see the contestantspreparing for an audition, we, theaudience, can almost paraphrase HeidiKlum’s infamous “Project Runway”words: “One day you’re in, and thenext day your out.”

A question that arises is: What ifthe contestants don’t need to sufferfrom nerves and blow an auditionwhen meeting the famous judges?What if they can just upload theiraudition from their home or apartmentand simply submit it to the famousjudges online?

With iCHOOZ.tv, contestants fromall over the world are given a platformfrom which to reach a global audi-ence, without the barriers of televisionnetworks and record labels. It is thefirst global online talent contest ever.Online flyers, as well as radio shout

outs have been the main source of get-ting the word out to young aspiringsingers.

John H. Mulder, chief operatingofficer for iCHOOZ.tv, explained thatcreating the concept for iCHOOZ.tvwas easy, but there were some diffi-culties in the process.

“The concept started about twoyears ago,” Mulder said. “But thetechnology to allow us to combine aglobal mobile experience with socialmedia didn’t become practical for usuntil this year.”

For those who are still in a daze asto what iCHOOZ.tv actually means orwhat its purpose is, here is the run-down. iCHOOZ.tv literally means thatthe online Web site is empowering thegeneral public to “choose” what theywant to hear, who they want to beentertained by and when. The idea isto leave the choice in the public’s handopposed to what a corporationdecides. The unique spelling ofCHOOZ helps to establish the brand.Finally, the creators decided to use .tvinstead of .com because the

iCHOOZ.tv experience is all aboutbringing the best of reality televisionto the web.

iCHOOZ.tv is entirely based on itsown. The Web site is not partneredwith MySpace or Facebook.

Artists from all over the world canupload content and have it reviewedby expert judges, including 6-timeGrammy Award winners Tim Kelleyand Bob Robinson, who give directfeedback on submissions. Fans in 38countries then vote for their favoritesvia SMS text. Each monthly winnerwill be flown out to Hollywood inApril 2009 to compete for prizeswhich will enable them to take theircareer to the next level. These prizesinclude major label A&R, known asArtists and Repertoire, meetings, stu-dio recording sessions with Grammy-winning producers, premier talent andmanagement representation, majormotion picture appearances, and theshot at a professional music video.

Christina Tongco Garcica, CEO,chimed in on when iCHOOZ.tv start-ed and where it stands right now.

“We officially launched theiCHOOZ.tv BETA in August ‘08 withthe first monthly competition startingin September ‘08,” Garcica said.“Basically, we created iCHOOZ.tv outof our frustration of dealing with ‘theentertainment establishment’ inHollywood. There was a need for abetter way to access the industry byperformers of all types.”

By entertainment establishment,Garcica, a Philippines native meansthe barriers of TV networks andrecord labels.

“Anyone in the world can partici-pate,” Garcica said. “It is an opensocial platform with online, and inNovember, full Mobile-Web access tothe iCHOOZ.tv experience. At themoment, however, we only have thesite localized for English-speakingmembers, but we do get a fair share ofFrench, Spanish, Malaysian, Filipinomembers.”

iCHOOZ.tv is for everyone any-where in the world. At the end of theday, the Web site is for both artists andthe general public who want to be

entertained. Right now the age limit is14 or older, but Garcica and Mulderare developing a version for kids/teensto be released in Season 2 (lateSummer 2009).

Cynthia Suarez, a sophomore biol-ogy major offered her opinion aboutthe Web site. “I am really excitedabout it,” the Mercedes native said. “Itis great that whoever wants to auditionfor it, they can just do it in the privacyof their own home, they don’t have tobe embarrassed and meet face to facewith the judges.” Suarez suggestedshe might try out, but prefers to keepher singing talents elsewhere. “Mysinging is only done in the shower,”Suarez said laughing. “In my shower,I am a 10 time Grammy award winnerfor best R&B album, but it would befun to audition online and see where itgoes from there.”

“We will accept all genres ofmusic, but for this first season of com-petitions we’re only hosting Pop,HipHop/Rnb, and Rock,” Mulder said.Garcica laughed and comparediCHOOZ.tv to “American Idol.”


iCHOOZ.tv reaches global audience from home

By Marco CarbajalTHE PAN AMERICAN

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT December 3, 2008

In the age of boy wizards, romanticvampires, and ring-bearing hobbits, itis refreshing to look back and admire aclassic story of a young girl falling intoan unknown world down a rabbit hole.

If the rendition of “Alice inWonderland” showing in the Albert L.Jeffers Theatre this week is not reminis-cent of the 1951 Disney version mostare familiar with, that is because directorFreddy Vela is tellingthe original LewisCarroll story writtenin 1865.

“The story hasbeen told manytimes since Carrollwrote it,” said Vela,a senior theater-TV/film major. “It’sbeen revised andedited and made intoa happy story about a girl and heradventures.”

He noted Carroll’s original inten-tion was to portray the world as anunhappy place where people are outthere to hurt you. In his production,Vela incorporated a drag queen and arapping egg because he said it is some-thing that the audience would face nowin the world.

“Everyone should be represented and

not just the standard white knight or thepot-smoking caterpillar,” he said. “Weneed to have a different feel of what’sout there.”

The author, according to Vela, triedto teach how to handle situations withpeople you might not like or that mightnot be nice to you. “Carroll wantedAlice to represent a real person” hesaid. Cassandra Dean, a 20-year-oldtheatre-TV/film major, is bringingAlice to life and warns that Vela’s takeis darker and crazier.

“It’s a more mod-ern Alice, morepresent-day,” saidthe sophomore.“She’s more modernbecause of the worldshe comes from andthe world she cre-ates. This is Alicefrom the 21st centu-ry.” The audiencewould expect to see

the big blue dress, Dean said, butshould expect to be surprised and see awhole different costume. “It’s not thesame story. It’s not a children’s play,”she said. “It’s more of a wonderland.It’s crazy.”

Marcy Garza, a senior theater designmajor, designed the entire wardrobe forthe show. Over a period of two weeks,she built 11 full costumes with a crew ofabout five students. Her design was

influenced by comedia dell’arte (Italianfor “the comedy of artists”), a form ofimprovisational theater from theRenaissance period. Garza said in theera people wore masks, bright colors,tights, and patterns.

“The costumes have a classical, ren-aissance, and a bit of a ‘60s psychedelicfeel to it,” the 23-year-old said. “Thedirector told me he wanted stripes andcheckers and shapes.”

For the first time in the UniversityTheatre, Vela said, a light show willaccompany a production. The techni-cal director for the theater was once astudent in a special digital lightingclass, and later decided to include it inthe story.

‘Alice’ takes new direction� THEATER

By Victor ItuarteTHE PAN AMERICAN

� T.V.

Blood in the BayouWhen it comes to entertainment,

HBO is no stranger to award- winningseries. Even though no awards have beenwon yet, “True Blood” took a bite out ofits viewers and showed them an adven-ture that involves not only the obvious,vampires, but mind readers, shapeshifters and the ever popular serial killer.

Award-winning writer and directorAlan Ball, who wrote “AmericanBeauty” and was responsible for HBO’sEmmy Award-winning “Six FeetUnder,” takes Sookie Stackhouse, thecharacter in Charlaine Harris’ “TheSouthern Vampire Mysteries” series, onwhich the show is based, and puts her inthe midst of all the drama that comeswith being a mind reader in a smallLouisiana bayou town.

Anna Paquin (“X-Men,” “25th

Hour”) brings her lovable mind-readingpersona as a ray of sunshine in a darksetting. But as the first season revealed,she may be desired by most of the menin Bon Temps, a fictional town, but shewants to be called upon by BillCompton (Stephen Moyer from “88minutes”), the 173-year-old vampirewho lives up the road and first became avampire shortly after the Civil War.

The feud between Sam Merlotte(played by Sam Trammel, a New Yorkstage actor) and Compton is a classic

duel to see who will be the victor for theheart of the mind reader. Things heat upas Compton, whose thoughts cannot beread by Sookie, finally is allowed to callupon Sookie and he ends up taking thebite that everyone wants.

Merlotte holds his ground in the battlethat seems to be draining him as he goesfrom animal to human from time to time;he helps track down a serial killer whohas been murdering women who havehad any type of relationship with vam-pires, but and has been making it looklike Sookie’s brother, Jason Stackhouse(played by Ryan Kwanten of “Flicka”), isthe genius behind the murders.

To go along with the mind reader,shape shifter, vampires and of course theever-loving serial killer, there is a col-lection of supporting roles that not onlyhave fangs but display the characteris-tics of most small towns in America.

There is the small café waitress who isin everyone’s business, a local drug dealerwho sells V, the LSD/Mushroom/Ecstasyall-in-one drug that comes from vampireblood, the small town sheriff who knowseverybody, and the lovable grandmotherwho makes pie for every occasion.

Luckily for Bon Temps, the serialkiller was discovered, but things shouldheat up for next season scheduled to airin summer 2009. Hopefully Comptoncan stay out of the sun until then andSookie can maintain her desire for thatspecial bite by that special someone.

By Pedro Perez IVTHE PAN AMERICAN

“She’s more modernbecause of the world shecomes from and the worldshe creates. This is the 21stcentury.”

Cassandra DeanTheatre-TV/film major

‘Alice inWonderland’

Dec. 4 - 6 @ 8 p.m.& Dec. 7 @ 2 p.m.

Tickets will be $5.

No one under 13 will bepermitted due to adult

references and material.

Ask anybody who makes their liv-ing touring the road and they will prob-ably tell you that it can be stressful. Butin an athletic atmosphere, sticking to-gether is what makes the tough timesnot only manageable, but well worth it.

It’s no different for the Universityof Texas Pan American men’s basket-ball team as they played in two tourna-ments in a week, going from ColoradoSprings to Edinburg to Las Vegas, try-ing to make the best of being an Inde-pendent team.

“Any time you go on the road youtry to keep a family atmosphere,” third-year head coach Tom Schuberth said.“You realize that guys are away fromtheir own bed, so you try to take thatinto consideration. But at the sametime you’re there for a challenge to wina basketball game.”

WOFFORD COLLEGEThe Broncs began their tourney run

in Colorado Springs where they partic-ipated in the Reggie Minton Air ForceClassic Nov. 22 and Nov. 23 at CluneArena. In their first match the Broncslost to Wofford College 75-70, aftershooting 46 percent from the field,while the Terriers upped them by one,at 47 percent.

Junior forward Nathan Hawkinsscored 22 points with eight reboundsand senior forward Emmanuel Jonesfinished his run with 20 points and

two rebounds. After a 33-27 halftime lead in favor

of the Terriers, the Broncs eventuallyclosed the margin to four points witha layup by sophomore guard NickWeiermiller to make the score 63-59.However, Wofford kept its momentumgoing with jump shots and freethrows, getting its second win of theseason, 75-70.

UC-COLORADO SPRINGSTo close out the Air Force Tourna-

ment, the Broncs edged UCCS 87-78 togive UTPA its first win of the season.Weiermiller finished with 19 points andeight assists and Jones racked up 16points and eight rebounds.

With 6:52 left in the game, a coupleof free throws by Jones broke the ninthtie of the game and gave the Broncsenough momentum to run away withthe game. The team shot 44 percent forthe game.

“We had a tough trip coming fromUNLV and going to California andcoming to the altitude in Colorado andplaying Wofford. We just didn’t have asmuch energy as I thought we would,”Schuberth said. “Fortunately we wereable to bounce back and win the secondgame but there was no reason why wecouldn’t have won two games.”

NORTH CAROLINA A&TOn Black Friday, the men traveled

to Sin City for the two-day Las VegasTournament. They opened up againstNCA&T, taking an 8-6 lead on a Jones

jumper, and maintained the lead untilNCA&T’s Nicholas Wilson tied thescore at 17 with seven minutes left inthe half.

Jones, leading the squad in scoringand rebounding this season, finishedwith 27 points and nine rebounds,while Weiermiller recorded 17 pointsand five assists.

NCA&T, who shot 45 percent forthe match, continued its 28-24 halftimelead and increased it to as many as 15points. But the Broncs did not fold asthey battled back to within seven at 58-51 with 1:28 left in regulation.

In the end, fouls committed by UTPAproved costly as they fell short 67-60.

WESTERN ILLINOISIn its finale, all it took was a simple

layup by Quenton Kirby to tie thegame at 56 with 3:30 left to play, as theLeathernecks went on to defeat theBroncs, 62-60.

Jones recorded a double-double (22points, 15 rebounds) and Hawkins fin-ished with 13 points and five rebounds.

The Broncs controlled most of thesecond half and even held a 10-pointlead, its largest of the game, with 9:48left to play. But WIU clawed its wayback with two minutes left, disrupt-ing UTPA’s offense and grabbing themomentum.

In its third 2008 tournament, start-ing Friday, the Broncs will try to getgoing at the Drake Tournament, againsthost Drake University (5-2) in the firstround at 7 p.m.

The Rio Grande Valley Vipers of theNBA Development League will hostthe first University of Texas-Pan Amer-ican College Night at Dodge Arena to-morrow at 7 p.m., when they face theDakota Wizards.

The night is aimed toward UTPAorganizations, students, staff andfriends and family, so that all can sup-port the Valley’s professional basket-ball team, currently in its secondseason and off to a 2-0 start.

Ginna Mares, group sales managerand game operations coordinator forthe Vipers, said the idea was suggested,to have an event to get the universityand the community involved.

“One of our main focuses this yearwas to be all about the community,” shesaid. “We want to be a household name.We want to collaborate with everything

in the community. What better way thanto join forces with UTPA and bring thecommunity together.”

The event falls during Dead Days atthe university, a timefor students to fend offthe books and relax be-fore finals get startednext week.

“It will be a time toget their minds off ofthe hustle and bustle oflatenight studying,”Mares said. “We don’twant to take awayfrom that, but we’rejust hoping for a greatturnout.”

For UTPA junior Stephanie Solis, anight of fun and relaxation is what shehas hoped for near the end of a long se-mester filled with long lectures, examsand term papers.

“Anything that serves as a stress re-

liever is a good idea,” said Solis, a gen-eral studies major from La Villa. “Fi-nals are a very hectic week foreveryone. Being a sports fan, I would

go to such an event.”Students are en-

couraged to arriveearly and enjoy tailgat-ing events before thegame. Lone Star Na-tional Bank, the mainsponsor of the event,will have games andcontests for students toenjoy before tipoff.One activity will be thetri-cycle event wheretwo students will each

get in a mini bike and will go throughan obstacle course. Other events in-clude 3-point contests and a food con-test on who can make a better burger.

Students will also be able to enjoymusic performed by local band

24Seven which plays a variety ofmusic, from rock to jazz.

Along with supporting D-Leaguehoops, the UTPA community is encour-aged to show its Bronc pride as well.

“We want students to wear their or-ganization shirts with logo on themand bring signs, banners, and noisemakers to represent the organization,”Mares explained.

University organizations attendingthe event will be judged on their spirit,creativity and the size of their group,with the opportunity to participate inon-court competitions during the gameand halftime.

Mares said Valley involvement isimportant for the Vipers and that onepart of her job is to reach out to thecommunity and make sure the univer-sity is a part of the program. She addedit is important for the community toknow that a local team is here for theirentertainment.

Gabriel Quintanilla, a marketing in-tern at the UTPA Wellness and Recre-ational Sports Complex, said whenprofessional groups like the Vipers es-tablish relationships with the univer-sity, it shows they want to be involvedand create awareness.

“It comes down to marketing,” saidthe Edinburg native. “It is a way tosell tickets, but it also gives an oppor-tunity for the university to get theirname out there.”

Quintanilla, who interned for theRio Grande Valley Killer Bees for aseason, said it is like a domino effectwhereby the Valley people graduallycome to know that both the universityand the Vipers are involved with thecommunity.

Admission to the event will be $10for all UTPA students, organizations,staff and family. Fang, the mascot, andthe Snake Charmers dance team willmake an appearance at the event.

� MEN’S BASKETBALL

Broncs slow out of gate to start season, drop to 1-5

Onydia Garza/THE PAN AMERICANKEY CONTRIBUTOR - Junior guard Nick Weiermiller was one ofthe essential players during the team’s tournament road swing. Hescored a season-high 19 points against Colorado Springs Nov. 23.

THE PAN AMERICAN December 3, 2008

Dates to Know:Men’s Basketballvs. Drake UniversityFriday, 7 p.m.Des Moines, IA

Women’s BasketballAir Force ClassicFriday, 7:30 p.m.US Air Force Academy, CO

� LOCAL SPORTS

By Pedro Perez IVTHE PAN AMERICAN

Vipers, UTPA ready to take first step toward connection

UTPA College NightDec. 4, 7 p.m.Dodge Arena

RGV Vipers Dakota Wizards

VS.

By Adriana AcostaTHE PAN AMERICAN

The Wellness and RecreationalSports Center’s biannual climbing-wallcompetition took place Nov. 22 and 23.

Twenty University of Texas-PanAmerican students and WRSC mem-bers were divided into four differentcategories – child, single beginner,single intermediateand individualadvanced. Threecouples participatedin the team categoryand two advancedclimbers were partof the boulderingcompetition.

The task was toget to the top of the 33-foot wall asfast as possible following routes withvarying difficulty depending on thecategory of participant.

Bouldering consists on climbingacross the wall instead of up anddown it.

“It’s like a chessboard; you have tolook at it, focus on it, and figure itout,” said Charlie Casares, coordina-tor of campus activities. “The boulder-ing is a lot more finesse.”

In the child category, which includ-ed kids from 9 to 13 years old, AaronRegalado took the gold and UTPA stu-dents Monica Bomban and EmmanuelMartinez were the beginner and inter-

mediate winnersrespectively.

Izak Ramirezconquered twoevents and pairedup with Star Smithto win the teamcompetition.

Casares com-mented that events

like this are intended to inspire theUTPA community to get involvedwith the WRSC.

“We would love to have peoplecome out here and look at the wall,touch it, climb it, play with it.” hesaid. “Show them what we’ve got.”

The University of Texas-PanAmerican’s volleyball team wrappedup the season with two wins and twolosses en route to a third-place finishat the 2008 National IndependentTournament in Orem, Utah.

The Lady Broncs recorded eightwins in 18 games, compared to lastyear’s 15-18 record.

“It was a very difficult season in alot of areas,” head coach AngelaHubbard said. “We thought it was goingto be a better season and it just wasn’t.”

Hubbard explained that the arrange-ment of games this season was not veryfavorable and was a lot more demand-ing than last year’s slate, leading to con-trasting results between Hubbard’s firsttwo seasons as head coach.

“We are definitely better this yearindividually,” she said. “We played amuch tougher schedule, so our recordwasn’t able to really show how muchwe improved.”

Cassandra Trevino, a sophomorefrom Edinburg, mentioned that althoughthe season was hard, the team benefited

with a new understanding of the game.“It gave me a lot of experience and

knowledge of the game,” she said. “Ihad to face different, new situations.”

Seniors Deanna Schneyer, ChelseaBlakely, and Kellie Phillips closed theseason averaging .318, .203 and .153points per game while sophomoresDanielle Reed and Marci Logan con-tributed with an average of .210 and.154 points per game respectively.

Although the season was not assuccessful as expected, Hubbardstressed that the Lady Broncsremained devoted to the program.

“The girls did work hard, there was alot of improvement made,” she said.“When you’re losing, it’s hard to see thatand it’s hard to come back from that, butthey tried their best to keep the spiritshigh and they kept working hard.”

The Lady Broncs ended the seasonwith a good impression at the NationalIndependent Tournament, losing theirfirst two games (against Cal State-Bakersfield and Utah ValleyUniversity by counts of 3-0) but clos-ing with two wins.

UTPA defeated Providence College

3-1 and went into five sets for the firsttime in the season against NJIT 3-2,holding on for the victory.

“We have no regrets,” Trevino said.“We gave it all out in the court.”

The Lady Broncs closed the 2008season learning from difficulty andstrengthening the commitment of play-ing to their full potential next year.

“There’s a lot of room for improve-ment,” Trevino said. “We tried hardand we will continue working togeth-er next season.”

Despite the setbacks, returningplayers and the coaching staff are nowlooking to reinforce the team toachieve a hopeful 2009 season.

“I’ve already signed three peopleand I’m looking to bringing about sixmore,” Hubbard said. “Hopefullywe’ll be able to get the rest of the per-sonnel we need to be successful.”

The first official recruit announcedis Ijanae Holman, from Niceville, Fla.Holman was recognized with an All-Star tournament MVP, All-Conferenceat the Jean King tournament, and FirstTeam All-Area during her last year atNiceville High School.

Broncs get competitive for Steak World Series exhibition

� VOLLEYBALL � WELLNESS CENTER

SPORTS December 3, 2008

� BASEBALL

By Sara HernandezTHE PAN AMERICAN

The yells of the umpire and pop ofa leather-stitched ball hitting thecatcher’s mitt filled Edinburg BaseballStadium, as The University of Texas-Pan American baseball team playedthe final game of its three-gameintrasquad Steak World Series.Perhaps the only thing missing on thecool morning of Nov. 22 was the tradi-tional peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

The Broncs were divided intoGreen and White units and foundthemselves competing for a heftysteak dinner from Willie B’s Barbecuein Edinburg. The twist was that thelosing squad has to serve their victori-ous counterparts, and with a littlemore than just steaks on the line, nei-ther team wanted to come in second.

“It’s a lot of fun because everyoneon our team is competitive; we bothwant to win,” pitcher Mike Langfordsaid. “No matter who wins, at the endof the game we’re still teammates andwe still joke around with each other. Itkind of gives us more of a competitiveedge to play against your own team.”

The Green took the first game in adominating performance, winning 9-2and taking the early lead in the series.The White responded with an equallydominating performance, taking retri-bution by defeating the Green 10-2and tying the series at one apiece.

With the first two games being wonin commanding fashion, it was onlyappropriate that the last game was asclose as anyone could have predicted.The teams were tied 1-1, until the bot-tom of the third inning, when third

baseman Ryan Vest hit an RBI triple,followed by first baseman BillyDonaho, who drove in Vest on a singleto give the Green a 3-1 lead.

The White responded in the fourthinning with three runs of their own,one of which came off an infield error,to tie the game up at 3-3. After scoringone run in the top of the fifth inning,the White went on a scoring binge inthe sixth when center fielder BonhamHough hit a double that brought in tworunners to give the White a 6-3 lead,which was eventually extended to 8-3

with two more scores. The bottom of the seventh brought

the Green within three when MarkMartinez, pitcher for the White,walked two batters with the basesloaded and put the score at 8-5. Thenin the eighth inning, the Green squadlit up the scoreboard, producing fourruns to go up 9-8, sealing the deal anda steak dinner.

New head coach Manny Mantranahas been doing the Steak World Seriesfor his teams for the past 12 years, anddoing so at his new stop gives him a

chance to see how his players per-form; he can now make adjustmentsaccordingly. The team looks toimprove on last season’s 21-35 recordunder former coach Willie Gawlik,and Mantrana, who has a friendlydemeanor and modest confidenceabout him, said that he is optimisticabout their 2009 campaign.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day. I havegot to be patient; my coaching staff hasto be patient,” Mantrana said. “Are wegoing to be better than last year?Absolutely. I came here to win. I didn’t

just come out here to have a winningseason. My goal and my vision for theprogram is to one day play in Omahafor a national championship.”

Even though the Steak WorldSeries is played in good nature, theplayers’ focus is on winning, and thesquad wants to take that attitude overto the spring, when the season kicksoff Feb. 20 against Texas Tech. Fornow, the Green team can bask intheir win — at least until next year,when the White team will look toeven the score.

Onydia Garza/THE PAN AMERICANA NEW ERA - New head coach Manny Mantrana (center) brings his rich winning tradition to the Bronc baseball program for the 2009 season.With that tradition, he brought over the Steak World Series, his version of the Green and White game, in hopes to better prepare the Broncs.

By Kevin StichTHE PAN AMERICAN

Positive ending for a tough seasonBy Sara HernandezTHE PAN AMERICAN

WRSC hosts biannualrock-climbing competition

“It’s like a chessboard; youhave to look at it, focus on it,and figure it out.”

Charlie CasaresCoordinator of campusactivities

� WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

THE PAN AMERICAN December 3, 2008

Onydia Garza/THE PAN AMERICAN

FRESHMAN SENSATION - Newcomer BrittanyDemery has become an efficient player at the guardposition for the Lady Broncs in her first season.Against Texas Lutheran, Demery led UTPA to a 97-66 victory, scoring 20 points.

Sports Commentary

Computersare takingover the BCSBy Pedro Perez IVTHE PAN AMERICAN

Last weekend the Big XII conferencechampionship game was finally decided.Despite losing to Texas 45-35 earlier in theseason, Oklahoma, by way of performanceat the end of the season, as calculated byMVP computers the Bowl ChampionshipSeries drafted in the first round of the draft,now gets to play for the conference title inKansas City on Saturday.

There’s an explanation to a surprisingresult, which came about after a rare three-way tie in the Big XII South. This is how itunraveled.

Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech allfinished at 7-1. The rule states that in theevent that more than two teams are in a tie,the final BCS standings acts as the tie-breaker. At the end of Rivalry Week in col-lege football, Oklahoma finished second inthe BCS standings, ahead of UT so theSooners advance to play Missouri.

Here is where the plot gets thick.The ‘Horns beat OU in October. Sure, if

Oklahoma were to play Texas right now,maybe it would be a different story seeinghow OU has defeated its last four oppo-nents, which included No. 2 Texas Techand No. 12 OSU, by a combined score of254-118, and Texas’ only notable wins inthe last two weeks has been against Kansasand state rival A&M.

But, and this but is one of the biggestbuts, that has probably never been used.Texas beat OU at the beginning of the sea-son so why shouldn’t they get to play in theconference championship?

Now no one can deny that Tech beatTexas, but it was in the final minute.Nonetheless a win is a win which is exact-ly why All-American computer shouldn’tbe the final decision-maker for any type ofchampionship, no matter what sport.

This mess called the BCS is not over byany means, it’s just getting started for theteams that are eligible for the crystal foot-ball in January.

So if OU losses to Missouri onSaturday, what happens to Texas? It’s obvi-ous that either Florida or Alabama is goingto win the SEC title and is going to go tothe title game, but what then happens to theloser of that game?

The good news is this week the mysterywill finally be solved, the bad news is thatonly two teams will remain for the BCStitle game and the rest will have to settle forwhatever bowl game is left.

It’s ironic that Austin is the home baseto Dell, one of the world’s most successfulcomputer companies, because it was acomputer that kept the home team out, fornow, of the national title game.

University of Texas-Pan Americanwomen’s basketball head coachDeAnn Craft didn’t hide her emo-

tions at the end of her team’s consecutive homevictories Nov. 20 and Nov. 26. In fact, thesixth-year coach’s grin from ear to ear said itall about her satisfaction with the Lady Broncperformance.

“It’s a huge win for us to be able to beat AirForce, a Mountain West school,” Craft said ofUTPA’s 53-41 win over the Lady Falcons.“That’s a superior conference. This is a state-ment game for our program and the fact thatwe played so well in the first half, it’s almosttoo much too soon.”

Indeed in the first half against Air Force theday before Thanksgiving, the Lady Broncslooked nearly unstoppable. The womenjumped out to a 15-0 lead, an advantage theynever relinquished, on senior guard TeshayWinfrey’s basket from behind the arc at the11:40 mark.

Winfrey’s solid guard play has molded theLady Broncs into a consistent offensive threatso far in the 2008 campaign. Her athleticismand leadership have moved her into the star-ring role alongside adependable supporting cast.

Winfrey churned out adouble-double performanceagainst Air Force, tallying17 points and snatching 14rebounds in 38 minutes ofaction. She added fourassists and three steals ver-sus the Lady Falcons, whodidn’t score until the 9:55mark when Raimee Beckconnected on a 3-pointer.But the basket quickly fadedas UTPA had built a 35-12lead by halftime.

The Lady Bronc defensesmothered Air Force’soffense throughout the first half, forcing thevisitors into several possessions with desper-ation shots with the shot-clock windingdown. During timeouts, Air Force head coachArdie McInelly was livid about her team’sperformance. Her piercing expressions of,“What are you doing!” and “Box out!” couldbe heard throughout the Field House and did-n’t have to be made any clearer to her team.

UTPA collected 19 first-half rebounds,including seven on the offensive side, andseized seven steals.

But in the second half, the tables turned. The Lady Falcons soared to an 18-5 run to

open the second period that cut the 23-pointdeficit to 10 points. The Lady Broncs foundthemselves in a similar situation their oppo-nent had experienced in the opening half, bat-tling the shot clock to get a decent look. Butthe significant first-half lead held up, as keybaskets down the stretch saved the day.

“Coach talked to us in the locker room andtold us if we just come out good then we haveno worries for the second half,” Winfrey said.“So we came out and everyone did their rolesfor the team.”

Iceland native Maria Ben Erlingsdottirmatched Winfrey in total points with 17 on 5-of-11 shooting, including 4 of 8 from behindthe arc.

Freshman newcomer Brittany Demery, whoscored eight points in the win versus Air Force,was coming off a 20-point game against TexasLutheran Nov. 20; in that game she grabbedeight rebounds as the team won easily, 97-66.

It was more of the same story against TexasLutheran. UTPA’s defense clamped down onthe opponent’s offense, holding the LadyBulldogs to 25 points on 22.2 percent shootingin the first half.

It was apparent on the court that the LadyBroncs were quicker to the ball, more aggres-sive and outhustled the visitors on almost

every possession. By the 12-minute mark of the secondhalf, two Texas Lutheranplayers had already fouledout, one of which wasMcAllen High ex RebeccaValdez. The Lady Bulldogshad four players foul out bythe final buzzer, as UTPAowned the boards with aseason-high in rebounds.

“Sixty-four rebounds tome showed a pursuit to thebasketball,” Craft said. “Tome (it) showed that theyunderstand if you control thebackboard, you can control agame. I can’t say enough

about Brittany Demery. I thought she wasabsolutely a beast on the board. She plays withsuch a level of maturity for being a new playerin our program.”

NOTES: After the two home wins, thewomen moved to 4-2 for the season with a 57-52 win over Rider Monday, as freshmanEpiphany Smith nailed a late three-pointer toclose it out. Winfrey paced the charge againwith 13 points as the Lady Broncs led by 14 atone point before holding on for the victory.They compete in the Air Force Classic inColorado Springs starting Friday, beginningthe tourney against Miami, Ohio.

By Ramiro PaezTHE PAN AMERICAN

“It’s a huge win for us to beable to beat Air Force, aMountain West school.That’s a superior conference.This is a statement game forour program and the fact thatwe played so well in the firsthalf, it’s almost too much toosoon.”

DeAnn CraftWomen’s basketball headcoach

December 3, 2008

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