Copy of Judgment Fund Payment Report Jan 1, 2002 to June 27 FY 2012
June 27, 2002
8
Melissa Ciomperlik/The Pan American TEACHING – Dr. Abdul Hannan, assistant professor of physics and geology, lectures to stu- dents in his summer class. The first summer session comes to a close next week, and the second summer session begins July 11. UTPA has enjoyed a significant increase in enrollment in the past several years, and this summer’s numbers have continued the trend. SYSTEM NEWS THURSDAY June 27, 2002 An Inside Look: ■ News ............................................2 ■ A & E ............................................4 ■ Sports ..........................................8 The Student Newspaper of The University of Texas-Pan American Page 3 Campus VOICE Will threats of a terrorist attack change your plans for July 4? Big numbers for summer CAMPUS NEWS ■ Following a 21-day feedback period after his selection by the Board of Regents May 31, Mark Yudof was officially named chancellor June 21. Yudof, who previously served as University of Texas at Austin dean and provost, becomes the ninth chancellor of the UT System, replacing former chancellor R.D. Burck, who announced his resignation from the chancellor’s office last summer. The Board named Yudof as the lone finalist for the position last month, but the Board was required by Texas law to hold a feedback period during which Yudof met with numerous state and system officials. Yudof had been president of the University of Minnesota, and will assume UT System chancellor duties in early August. ■ Finals for Summer I classes will take place July 8. Summer session II begins July 11, and schedule changes for Summer II are permitted through July 12. The last day to drop a Summer II course, withdraw from UTPA, or change a Summer II class to non-credit is July 22. •Summer session II finals will be Aug. 15. •The fall semester is set to begin Monday, Aug. 26 Registering early for the fall semester might be a good idea, due to the fact that summer enrollment is at it’s highest point ever, according to university reports released last week. “The summer [session] one is up by 16 to 17 percent, compared to the previous summer one [session],” said Dr. John Edwards, vice president for Enrollment and Student Affairs. Edwards said the university was able to respond to the increase by opening up more course sections and seat availability for classrooms, and the same is expect- ed for the second summer session. “Right now the figures for Summer two is up to [around] 6,000 students and last year that number was 5,000. We are nearly 1,000 students up for Summer two,” Edwards said. “The university is in a growth mode, and that is very exciting for us.” The population increase should assist the university in its attempt to obtain grants and extra funding when the next fiscal year [in 2003] arrives, and the expecta- tion of a population increase for the fall semester is similar to what UTPA has experienced this summer, Edwards added. “We have been asked by the state to close the gaps. Closing the gaps is what we [UTPA] are hoping to par- ticipate in,” Edwards said. “From the looks of our Changes soon to be made by the U.S. Justice Department may affect international students attending the University of Texas-Pan American in the fall. The biggest of these is the imple- mentation of a new system which offi- cials hope will enhance the process by which information about foreign stu- dents and exchange visitors is retained and reported. In reality, the biggest part of this change is stricter compliance with the rules already on the books. These changes are in response to the terrorist acts of Sept. 11, when two of the hijackers were admitted in to the coun- try on student visas. The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is an Internet-based system that will provide the government, educational institu- tions, and exchange programs an auto- mated means to exchange timely information about foreign students, exchange visitors, and their depend- ents. “That system is going to create more tracking and monitoring for international students,” said Philip Clay, UTPA’s international student adviser. “It’s going to be a lot stricter about what [international students] can do.” New regulations will require schools to collect and report informa- tion on foreign students to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The INS will be keeping tabs on information such as a student’s failure to enroll, a student dropping below a full course load of study, or failure to complete an educational program. “One of the regulations is full-time study,” Clay said. “So if they are tak- ing 12 hours and they drop one class and go down to nine hours, all of their documents are invalid.” The new policies may affect some students studying at UTPA who are enrolled part-time. There are over 500,000 foreign students in the nation. As of Spring 2002, there were 398 international students attending UTPA from over 45 countries, and most are from Mexico. “In the past students were able to study part-time, even though it was against the regulations, along the bor- der on a Laser visa or something simi - lar to that,” said Clay. “But that will come to a stop now. [A student] must be studying full-time.” The INS plans to begin implementa- tion of SEVIS on a voluntary basis with institutions of learning July 1, 2002. UTPA will implement SEVIS in Jan. 2003, when use of the new sys- tem becomes mandatory. “We don’t have the system on cam- Visa restrictions approaching on horizon See you in August By Belinda Reyes The Pan American By Melissa Ciomperlik The Pan American See SEVIS page 3 See ENROLLMENT page 3
description
Â
Transcript of June 27, 2002
Melissa Ciomperlik/The Pan American
TEACHING – Dr. Abdul Hannan, assistant professor of physics and geology, lectures to stu-dents in his summer class. The first summer session comes to a close next week, and thesecond summer session begins July 11. UTPA has enjoyed a significant increase in enrollmentin the past several years, and this summer’s numbers have continued the trend.
SYSTEM NEWS
THURSDAYJune 27, 2002
An Inside Look:
■ News ............................................2■ A & E............................................4■ Sports ..........................................8
T h e S t u d e n t N e w s p a p e r o f T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f T e x a s - P a n A m e r i c a n
Page 3
CCaammppuussVOICE
Will threatsof a terrorist
attackchange your
plans forJuly 4?
Big numbersfor summer
CAMPUS NEWS
■ Following a 21-dayfeedback period afterhis selection by theBoard of Regents May31, Mark Yudof wasofficially namedchancellor June 21.Yudof, who previouslyserved as Universit y ofTexas at Austin deanand provost, becomesthe ninth chancellor ofthe UT System,replacing formerchancellor R.D. Burck,who announced hisresignation from thechancellor ’s office lastsummer. The Boardnamed Yudof as thelone finalist for theposition last month, butthe Board was requiredby Texas law to hold afeedback period duringwhich Yudof met withnumerous state andsystem officials. Yudofhad been president ofthe Universit y ofMinnesota, and willassume UT Systemchancellor duties inearly August.
■ Finals for Summer Iclasses will take placeJuly 8. Summer sessionII begins July 11, andschedule changes forSummer II are permit tedthrough July 12. Thelast day to drop aSummer II course,withdraw from UTPA, orchange a Summer IIclass to non-credit isJuly 22.•Summer session IIfinals will be Aug. 15.•The fall semester isset to begin Monday,Aug. 26
Registering early for the fall semester might be agood idea, due to the fact that summer enrollment is atit’s highest point ever, according to university reportsreleased last week.
“The summer [session] one is up by 16 to 17 percent,compared to the previous summer one [session],” saidDr. John Edwards, vice president for Enrollment andStudent Affairs.
Edwards said the university was able to respond tothe increase by opening up more course sections andseat availability for classrooms, and the same is expect-ed for the second summer session.
“Right now the figures for Summer two is up to[around] 6,000 students and last year that number was5,000. We are nearly 1,000 students up for Summertwo,” Edwards said.
“The university is in a growth mode, and that is veryexciting for us.”
The population increase should assist the universityin its attempt to obtain grants and extra funding whenthe next fiscal year [in 2003] arrives, and the expecta-tion of a population increase for the fall semester issimilar to what UTPA has experienced this summer,Edwards added.
“We have been asked by the state to close the gaps.Closing the gaps is what we [UTPA] are hoping to par-ticipate in,” Edwards said. “From the looks of our
Changes soon to be made by theU.S. Justice Department may affectinternational students attending theUniversity of Texas-Pan American inthe fall.
The biggest of these is the imple-mentation of a new system which offi-cials hope will enhance the process bywhich information about foreign stu-dents and exchange visitors is retainedand reported.
In reality, the biggest part of thischange is stricter compliance with therules already on the books. Thesechanges are in response to the terroristacts of Sept. 11, when two of the
hijackers were admitted in to the coun-try on student visas.
The Student and Exchange VisitorInformation System (SEVIS) is anInternet-based system that will providethe government, educational institu-tions, and exchange programs an auto-mated means to exchange timelyinformation about foreign students,exchange visitors, and their depend-ents.
“That system is going to createmore tracking and monitoring forinternational students,” said PhilipClay, UTPA’s international studentadviser. “It’s going to be a lot stricterabout what [international students] cando.”
New regulations will require
schools to collect and report informa-tion on foreign students to theImmigration and NaturalizationService.
The INS will be keeping tabs oninformation such as a student’s failureto enroll, a student dropping below afull course load of study, or failure tocomplete an educational program.
“One of the regulations is full-timestudy,” Clay said. “So if they are tak-ing 12 hours and they drop one classand go down to nine hours, all of theirdocuments are invalid.”
The new policies may affect somestudents studying at UTPA who areenrolled part-time. There are over500,000 foreign students in the nation.As of Spring 2002, there were 398
international students attending UTPAfrom over 45 countries, and most arefrom Mexico.
“In the past students were able tostudy part-time, even though it wasagainst the regulations, along the bor-der on a Laser visa or something simi-lar to that,” said Clay. “But that willcome to a stop now. [A student] mustbe studying full-time.”
The INS plans to begin implementa-tion of SEVIS on a voluntary basiswith institutions of learning July 1,2002. UTPA will implement SEVIS inJan. 2003, when use of the new sys-tem becomes mandatory.
“We don’t have the system on cam-
Visa restrictions approaching on horizon
See you inAugust
By Belinda ReyesThe Pan American
By Melissa CiomperlikThe Pan American
See SEVIS page 3
See ENROLLMENT page 3
Students are out of school taking abreak from homework, tests, and avisit to the principal’s office. But foryoung hoopsters looking to improvetheir game, a UTPA coach providesan alternative to summer inactivity.
For many years the Bronc basket-ball program has hosted a number ofsummer camps to benefit kids rang-ing from peewee to the high schoollevel.
This year head basketball coachBob Hoffman is directing his thirdcamp at UTPA, and he anticipates avery successful program.
“We’re going to have more [kids]this camp than we’ve ever hadbefore,” Hoffman said. “We’re goingto have over 1,000 kids in camp thissummer, which has never beendone.”
Summer camp is scheduled tobegin tomorrow and run throughJuly 2 at the UTPA campus.
Campers will have an opportunityto learn the fundamentals of basket-ball, including shooting, passing, andpivoting. The camp is for boys ages8-18, while the peewee camps willbe for boys and girls ages 5-8.
While Hoffman and a number of
Bronc players and coaches workhard to teach youngsters better bas-ketball skills, he believes there ismore to camp than just teaching thejoy of dribbling and spinning theball.
“We’re going to try and increasetheir ability to perform at a higherlevel,” Hoffman said. “More impor-tantly, we try to also impart knowl-edge about life skills, characterbuilding and to be successful in allareas of their lives.”
According to Hoffman, the num-ber of kids attending his camps hasrisen over the years due to its popu-larity and his ability to get kids’attention.
“I’ve run camps for almost 22years now, and we’ve had lots ofkids come where we’ve been,”Hoffman said. “It’s not a play-aroundcamp. We try to have a lot of disci-pline and use notebooks where theywrite things down that we’re talkingabout. Parents and the kids feel likeit’s something of value and not justplay time.”
With discipline a part ofHoffman’s repertoire, campers willget a taste of what it’s like to get upearly and stay on their feet the wholeday.
WELCOME TO THE NBA:The Houston Rocketsselected 7-foot-5 cen-ter Yao Ming with thenumber one pick of the2002 NBA draft. TheChina BasketballAssociation clearedMing to play earlyWednesday morningafter days of negotia-tions with the Rocketsendorsing him to leavehis China team,Shanghai Sharks, forthe NBA draft. The CBApromised that Yao willbe able to play the full-season and playoffsstarting next season.Ming did not attend thedraft due to his train-ing with his nationalChina team that willcompete in a tourna-ment againstYugoslavia, Italy andAustralia. A possibleconflict will be whenMing is competing inthe Asian Games whenthe Rockets begintraining camp in inOctober.
NBA
WORLD CUP
IT’S ON:Brazil advanced to theWorld Cup final aftersqueaking out a winover Turkey 1-0Wednesday. Ronaldoscored the only goal,despite three Turkishdefenders guardinghim. Brazil facesGermany, who will begoing for its fourthcup, while Brazil willbe going for its fif th.Germany blankedSouth Korea 1-0 earlierin the week. The gameis set for 6 a.m.Sunday.
■ Coaching Search . . . . . 6
■ Baseball Stats. . . . . . . . 7
PAGE 8
Mike Gonzalez/The Pan American
Nearly every child dreams oflooking up to an athlete who willhave a positive influence in theirlives. Many Valley kids got theirwish when UTPA kicked off an all-girls summer basketball camp June14.
Involved were Bronc playersfrom the men’s and women’s bas-ketball teams who taught younggirls the fundamentals of basketballas well as life in general. Seniorguard Kevin Mitchell felt he andthe rest of the Bronc players wereable to connect with the youngcampers.
“Just to see that you affectedsomeone’s life, to be able to lead,adds more repetition and more con-fidence to me,” Mitchell said.
The experience allowed UTPAplayers to reach kids who have thedesire to play basketball.Head
men’s basketball coach BobHoffman feels the camp experiencegave UTPA athletes a chance to seewhat it’s like to coach a group ofyoung kids.
“Summer camp does a lot ofthings for us,” Hoffman said. “Ithelps our players teach the game,and anytime you’re teaching thegame and reinforcing the thingswe’ve taught them during the year,it helps them understand why we’reteaching them certain fundamen-tals.”
Senior guard Alex Gravel, who’sbeen part of the Lady Broncs teamfor three years, was excited to bepart of this year’s summer camp.
“It’s always fun to work withkids,” Gravel said. “You try toshow them a good time and it was agood experience.”
The weekend-long camp thatended June 16 featured a number ofclinics geared to help campers learnthe basics of basketball. While the
girls learned how to dribble, shootand pass, campers and instructorsalike enjoyed the intensity of thecamp, according to sophomoreguard Clarrise Arrendondo.
“It got pretty intense by tourna-ment play,” Arredondo said. “[Thegirls] were trying hard to wingames and [camp] was intensivebecause they woke up at 7:30 anddidn’t sleep until 10:30 at night.”
Most kids have the privilege toparticipate in camps while growingup, but sophomore guard EricMontalvo of La Joya didn’t havethe pleasure as a youngster.According to Montalvo, this year’scamp was special for him becauseit gave him a chance to give backto kids who have the desire to learnhow to play basketball.
“I never had a camp when I wasyoung, so I taught them as much asI could,” Montalvo said. “I told [thekids] to have fun and work hardbecause you’ll never have another
chance.”Many UTPA athletes were new to
instructing youngsters on the pointsof basketball, so nerves played arole for a couple of participants,including Arredondo.
“Definitely having to demon-strate in front of the children, I wasa little nervous,” Arredondo said.“But once I got to know them, Iwas at ease.”
According to Montalvo, talkingin front of kids helped improve hispublic speaking ability.
“You become more sociallyinvolved because you talk to differ-ent people,” Montalvo said.
UTPA players did their bestteaching and guiding the kidsthroughout summer camp andaccording to Mitchell, mostcampers took something from theirexperience.
“The kids that wanted to be theregot their money’s worth,” Mitchellsaid.
By Mike GonzalezThe Pan American
Players switch gears, teach kids at camp
Kids learn morethan just hoopsBy Mike GonzalezThe Pan American
See CAMP page 7
NICE SHOT: Eli Garica, a member of the National Youth Sports Program,shows children the fundamentals of basketball in the Fieldhouse Wednesday.
SPORTS
The UTPA department of physics has agoal to prepare Valley high school teachersin the area of sciences and physics so futureUTPA students come to college well pre-pared to excel in those areas.
Dr. Mohammad Bhatti, associate profes-sor and chair of the physics/geology depart-ment, and also Teacher Preparation Programcoordinator, said a goal of the UT System isto aid teachers in the process of helpinglocal students compete in the highly globalenvironment.
We sent out surveys in the Rio GrandeValley, because we wanted to find out howmany teachers were really certified to teachphysics. According to the survey, some ofthe teachers were not trained enough toteach physics concepts to students,” Bhattisaid.
“We realized that teachers need to be pre-pared. We started preparing teachers in1997 when we got the first grant.”
Bhatti and Dr. Abdul Hannan, assistantprofessor and program co-director, startedthe program in 1997 with the grant from theTexas Higher Education Coordinator Board.
Bhatti said that the program receivedabout $110,000 and the first group of teach-ers to go through the program were fromthe PSJA school district.
We targeted PSJA school district first,and we got 16 teachers from there and webought them into UTPA. We asked them to
come for a 17-month extensive training inscience and physics,” Bhatti said. “Theywere pleased to learn new concepts and[ways] to teach their students better.”
The following year Bhatti and Hannaneducated 16 instructors from the McAllenschool district, Bhatti said. The two UTPAprofessors knew their program was workingwhen more students were entering the uni-versity with the intention of becomingphysics majors. Other school districts thatparticipated in the program were Edinburgand Mission.
Since its creation, the program has assist-ed over 120 high school science teachers.
“A large number of students started com-ing into Pan Am, so we documented thatthey were going to chemistry, engineering,biology, and physics. In physics we nowhave about 60 majors and initially therewere none when we first started the pro-gram,” Bhatti said. “This was a big break-through, so we realized and calculated thatthis was a gain for spinoff of this project.”
This summer, the Teacher PreparationProgram is aiding instructors from theDonna School District. Donna teachers metJune 17-20 to complete the remainder of thefirst two-week introductory course as partof their 17-month training. The trainingwill continue for a year. Bhatti said thegroup will meet four times this upcomingfall semester and five times next spring.
Donna High School chemistry/physicsteachers such as Mercedes Gurski andEnrique Mendiola said they feel very fortu-nate to participate in this program so they
can take new concepts and materials regard-ing physics back to their classrooms andstudents.
“I am hoping with this training I cancarry some of my knowledge [from thiscourse] and project it to the students,”Gurski said.
We are fortunate to be able to get thegrant to come here [UTPA] during the sum-mer, because it is preparing us to help thestudents [back in Donna],” Mendiola said.
Another reason Bhatti and Hannan feelthe program is working is because manyteachers who have completed the prep pro-gram are returning to the university toobtain their master’s of science in physics,which has increased the number of physicsgraduate courses available at UTPA.
“These teachers [that were trained] arewilling to come back and get their master’sof physics and physics education,” Bhattisaid. “There are five to six teachers [stu-dents] near completion [with their master’sdegree]. One of the goals of the universityis to prepare teachers and we are fulfillingthis goal and dream.”
When their prep training is complete,teachers are then taken on a field trip toWashington D.C. to visit the SmithsonianSpace and Science Center.
“When they finish [the program] we takethem on field trip, usually to WashingtonD.C. to visit the science centers, like theSmithsonian. It is a three-day trip toWashington D.C. or they can [choose to] goto the Johnson Space Center in Houston,”Bhatti said.
1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539(956) 381-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122
http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican50th Year – No. 28
EditorMatt Lynch
Layout Designers
Gabriel Hernandez
Ashley Brooks
Reporters
Blake Daniels
Mike Gonzalez
Elizabeth Martinez
Belinda Reyes
Photographer
Melissa Ciomperlik
Advertising
Dagoberto Perez
Circulation
Jesus M. Gonzalez
Advertising Coordinator
Juanita Sanchez
Adviser
Dr. Greg Selber
the PAN AMERICAN is theofficial studentnewspaper of TheUniversity ofTexas-PanAmerican. Views presentedare those of thewriters and do notnecessarily reflectthose of theuniversity.
The Pan Americangladly acceptsletters fromstudents, staff andfaculty regardingnewspaper contentor current issues.The Pan Americanreserves the rightto edit submissionsfor grammar andlength. Please limitsubmission lengthto 300 words. ThePan Americancannot publishanonymous letters,or submissionscontaining hatespeech orgratuitouspersonal attacks.Letters are printedat the discretion ofthe editor andmust include thewriter’s name,class/title andphone number.
Letters policy
June 272 0 0 2
Readers with dis-abilities mayrequest an alter-native format ofthis publicationat The PanAmerican busi-ness office. For special assis-tance to attendany event listedin this publica-tion, contact thecoordinator of theevent at least oneweek prior to theadvertised date.
Sports EditorMike Gonzalez
Celebrating 50 years
A & E EditorAshley Brooks
Copy EditorMelissa
Graphics EditorGabriel O.Hernandez
PAGE 2
NEWSPipeline: Training teachersBy Belinda ReyesThe Pan American
For some Valley college students, attending amedical school in their hometown may now beeasier with the grand opening of the RegionalAcademic Health Center’s (RAHC) MedicalEducation Building in Harlingen.
The RAHC’s medical education building willhouse the Lower Rio Grande Valley’s first med-ical school, which will accept third and fourth-year students who will study and conduct theirresidency.
The RAHC is an academic community basedin several cities across the Lower Rio GrandeValley. It includes a medical research facility inEdinburg across the street from the University ofTexas-Pan American, a school of public health inBrownsville, and third and fourth-year medicalstudent education and residency programs inHarlingen.
There will be a dedication ceremony onFriday, June 28 at the RAHC medical educationbuilding across the street from Valley Baptist
Medical Center in Harlingen. Gov. Rick Perry isthe featured speaker for the event.
The University of Texas Health Science Centerat San Antonio (UTHSCSA) sponsors the med-ical education programs of the RAHC, whichwas created to bring educational and clinical careresources of the University of Texas system tothe Lower Rio Grande Valley.
The new Harlingen facility will contain anauditorium, multiple classrooms, a video telecon-ferencing center, a medical library, and officespace for medical faculty.
UTPA biology professor Scott Gunn feels themany components of the RAHC will benefit pre-med students at UTPA and others throughout theValley.
“This is a time not just for UT-Pan Am but thewhole Valley,” said Gunn.
Gunn feels that this addition will bring muchneeded health care professionals to our area.
“This is a big opportunity to bring qualitymedical education and increase the number ofhealth care professionals here in the Valley,”Gunn said.
Gunn anticipates the completion of the med-ical research facility currently being built inEdinburg. He said that construction started inJune and should take about 18 months.
“That [the research building] is really going tohave more of an impact on us directly becausewe hope to get some stronger interactionsbetween our biology and health sciences andhuman services faculty,” Gunn said.
He said he hopes to get students opportunitiesto be involved in the Edinburg branch of theRAHC near UTPA.
“We would like to develop various academicprograms where they can go over to the [RAHC]and get experience,” Gunn said.
Gunn is hopeful that there will be programsdeveloped that will employ students from UTPAto work at the medical research facility.
“Student labor is not that expensive and it isjust as capable,” Gunn said. “Likewise, [stu-dents] need those experiences and those experi-ences will make students much more marketablewhen they start applying to their graduate
New med teaching centers developBy Melissa CiomperlikThe Pan American
See RAHC page 3
Rebuilding has officially started for theBronc baseball program.
With Reggie Tredaway havingannounce his retirement weeks ago,University of Texas-Pan AmericanAthletic Director William Weidner initiat-ed the national search for a new headcoach.
“We are excited about the applicants sofar that have applied and look forward tointerviewing them and getting to knowthem better,” Weidner said.
UTPA has had unsolicited applicantsfrom several different levels of baseballranging from college to professional.Over 70 applicants from many states haveapplied.
“We are right on time with the hunt fora new coach and we are very excited,”Weidner said.
Weidner stressed that there is no dead-line to conclude the search, but the senseof urgency to make the choice is evident.“We will take as long as needed until theposition is filled,” he said.
In response to rumors of players leav-ing due to the uncertainty regarding thecoaching vacancy, Weidner assured the
public he has spoken to players and theirparents, and none of the players have saidthey are leaving.
Many players voiced their opinions thatassistant coach John Johnson shouldbecome the head coach or at least staywith the program. Weidner stated that ifanother applicant is selected to fill thehead coaching position, the new headcoach has the right to retain Johnson’sservices or select another coach to replacehim as assistant coach.
“The search committee has their handsfull with a tremendous pool of appli-cants,” Weidner said. “It will be fun andinteresting to see what comes of thewhole process.”
With all of the attention given to thesearch for a head coach, two Broncsreceived honors June 10.
Frank James and John Lopez werenamed to the second team All-Independent team.
James was the most consistent startingpitcher for the Broncs in 2002. He com-piled a record of six wins and seven loss-es, pitched two shutouts, and compiled a5.44 earned run average.
James also blanked highly rankedNAIA Houston Baptist April 13.
Because of the departure of James and
other pitchers the Broncs are in dire needof recruiting pitchers to replenish thelosses at that position. Johnson has beengiven the go ahead to do all of therecruiting until a new coach is hired.
The Broncs have already signed twofreshman players: T.J. Gilmer, a centerfielder from Forney, Texas, and BenHarrison, a left-handed pitcher fromColleyville, Texas. Harrison was draftedby the Toronto Blue Jays in the 44thround of the 2002 Major League BaseballAmateur Draft.
The Broncs also signed junior collegetransfer Johnny Gibson,a RHP fromCollin County Community College inDallas.
Johnson stated he has made trips toAustin to see the state high school base-ball tournament, as well as Dallas andTulsa, Okla. to see promising players.
Johnson said the Broncs have 24 or 25letters due this week from recruits. TheBroncs are taking close looks at oneinfielder and 12 pitchers.
National letters of intent have 14 daysto be submitted after players meet basicrequirements like financial aid, academicand school admissions.
There is no official deadline, so playerscan sign throughout the year.
By Blake DanielsThe Pan American
June 27, 2002 sports Page 7
CAMP continued from page 8
It’s recruiting time, giving theBroncs a chance to improve upon adisappointing season.
After a tumultuous year, the Broncbaseball team compiled a record of15-38 for the 2001-2002 season.
The Broncs’ home record was adecent 10-13, but the team had itstrouble on the road, going 3-24. TheBroncs went 2-1 at neutral sites.
The youthful Broncs swing was notwhat they planned, but they increasedtheir win total from a year ago, from12-40.
A bright spot next year for the ailingBroncs will be their youth. Eventhough the Broncs’ bats were weakthis season, the majority of the return-ing players were at the top of theranks in the team batting categories.
Pitcher and outfielder Skip Weast, ajunior paced the batting effort for theBroncs with a .311 batting averagewhile Mission’s John Lopez, a fresh-man outfielder, trailed closely behindwith a .300 avg. Second baseman,Jerome McCoy, a junior led the teamin runs scored with 30, and he stole apersonal best 17 bases in 30 attempts.Freshman Jonathan Mason, an out-fielder, was a perfect six for six instolen bases.
The Broncs had five players tiedwith two home runs each.
Third baseman, Matt Sisk, a sopho-more had 22 runs batted in and junioroutfielder Bruce Kennedy came insecond with 20 RBI.
Sisk also led the team with 50 hits,12 doubles and tied Kennedy in tripleswith two.
On the defensive side, McCoy ledthe team in errors with 18 and a field-ing percentage of .924, while Sisk fol-lowed behind with 13 errors and afielding percentage of .886.
The Bronc pitchers pitched 420innings and allowed 588 hits whilecompiling an astronomical team 7.26earned run average. They surrendered54 home runs and allowed 339 earnedruns.
Three starting pitchers were in theconsistent rotation for the Broncs, sen-ior LHP Frank James, sophomoreRHP Justin Bogy and junior RHPTravis Parker.
James paced the Bronc pitching bythrowing 99 innings with four com-plete games, two shutouts, a 6-7record and a 5.44 earned run average.
Bogy went 4-6 with an 7.17 ERA,four complete games and one save.Parker compiled a 3-9 record with a
Broncs announce player signings,continue quest to fill coaching slot
“It will be very intensive in that theydon’t have a lot of breaks,” Hoffman said.“From early morning to late night we’regoing. We want them to have fun, but wewant them to have fun learning the gameof basketball. We think we have found acombination of all the different skill levelsthat we’re trying to teach.”
Campers get breaks throughout the dayto snack in the UTPA cafeteria, and toenjoy entertainment in the form of videogames and pool tables offered in theStudent Union.
Along with coaches and former Broncplayers, current players from men’s andwomen’s team will also contribute in thesummer camps. According to Hoffman, theplayers will also take something fromteaching participants the fundamentals ofbasketball.
“Summer camp does a lot of things forus,” Hoffman said. “It helps our playersteach the game and any time you’re teach-ing the game and reinforcing the thingswe’ve taught them during the year, it helpsthem to understand why we’re teachingthem certain fundamentals and how hard itis sometimes get people to listen.”
Although summer camps have been atradition at UTPA for many years,Hoffman feels it’s also a necessity todevelop the skills and minds of Valley kidswho are interested in basketball.
“As a regional university in the Valley, Ithink that should be part of our charge tohelp further basketball and to educateyoung people about the game of basket-ball,” Hoffman said.
By Blake DanielsThe Pan American
Broncs endtough season,look ahead tonext season
See RECAP page 6
Dexter MendozaNursingSophomore
Yes. I believe there will be anotherattack, but it won’t stop me from doinganything because it is IndependenceDay.
Peter TorresEducationSenior
No, because it would be too obvious.They could choose any day. My planswon’t change.
Tania GonzalezPre-MedFreshman
No. It doesn’t really affect me becauseI don’t think that here in the Valleywe’ll have that kind of attack.
Will threats of a terroristattack change your plans
for July 4?
Dina CamposPsychologySophomore
No, because I believe God is here toprotect our country and we must allhave faith and believe that all goodthings are possible through him forthose who believe.
VOICECCaammppuuss
Zeke AvilaBiologySenior
I would hate to say there would be anattack but since September 11, anythingis possible. No, to be honest I haven’treally thought about it much. It won’treally affect what I have planned.
June 27, 2002 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 3
enrollment, for the past three or four semes-ters, we are on target to meet our particularenrollment goal. We targeted that it wouldbe 26,000 by the year 2015.”
UTPA’s student population is normallyunder 13,000, both during the fall andspring semesters. Edwards said the UTPAstudent population is to reach over 14,000for Fall 2002. There are several reasonswhy the growth has been taking place atUTPA.
“One reason [for the increase] is Valleypublic schools are doing such a good job ofpreparing more students for college curricu-lum, particularly the Texas ScholarsProgram has worked very well in theValley,” Edwards said.
Aside from the increased number ofentering freshman, other reasons for the
population growth include the enrollment ofmore prepared transfer students from localcommunity colleges, such as South TexasCommunity College, Texas State TechnicalCollege, Coastal Bend Community College,and Laredo Community College. Edwardssaid the main reason for the increase isUTPA’s high level of student retention.
Representatives of Laredo CommunityCollege were on campus this week toobserve UTPA to work on a transfer articu-lation agreement.
According to university reports, UTPAretained 88 percent of entering college stu-dents from previous fall and spring semes-ters due to university retention efforts.
UTPA uses programs such as tutoring andwriting services to entice the students intostaying at the university, Edwards said.
ENROLLMENT continued from page 1
pus yet,” Clay said. “Our software developer is working on it
right now, but we don’t have it yet.”“It is going to make sure that they maintain
their status while in the States and obey allregulations,” Clay said. “In the past therewas not a way to report them to immigration[if they stepped outside the regulations].There was just no good systematic way, butwith the new systems on all university cam-puses, there will be immediate reporting ifthey should break one of the regulations.”
In the past year, several international stu-dents have already decided to take a full-timecourse load with Clay’s advice.
“When I came [to UTPA] we probably had30 students studying part-time like that,”Clay said. “That has always been against theregulations, so when I came I told them theyneeded to get their student visas and startstudying full-time.”
Although there are still 15 internationalstudents studying part-time at UTPA, Clayhopes they will convert to full-time status bythe fall as a result of these changes.
“Hopefully we will have total compliancewith all of our students, Clay said. “That’smy goal.”
The INS will then use the informationgathered by SEVIS to make sure all interna-tional students maintain their status. The INSwill send an officer every six to 12 months tocheck out students who are out of status, saidClay.
Another change brought on by the effort toenhance U.S. security is a change in thelength of time in which international studentscan get student visas.
“Because of new restrictions and the better
background checks, it’s taking longer to getstudent visas,” Clay said. “That is why weare having to put an enforced deadline onbringing in international students.”
There will now be an enforced deadline oftwo months on all international student appli-cations.
“In the past the university set a 60-daydeadline for international students, but theyhaven’t really enforced it for internationalstudents and we were able to get away with itbecause [students] could get visas reallyquickly,” Clay said. “But now with every-thing changing, it’s just impossible to [getthem a visa any sooner than two months.]”
Clay said immigration officials were oncampus and recommended a five-monthdeadline for international students. Clayadded that the time frame wasn’t feasible forthem at that point in time, so a two-monthlimit was implemented.
“The majority of our students come fromMexico and it’s only taking them a month totwo months at the most to get a visa, so that’swhy we chose not to go with the longeramount of time” Clay said. “If anything elsehappens, such as another terrorist attack orsomething like that, then the deadline willprobably have to be moved back, because it’sjust going to get stricter.”
Clay added that some countries take fivemonths to get student visas, while othercountries like Mexico can take three to fourweeks.
“Basically all of those rules have alwaysbeen there, but it’s just a reporting systemnow,” Clay said. “We just never had a way toreport people to INS, and now we can haveimmediate reporting.”
SEVIS continued from page 1
careers.”Gunn said research areas have not been set in
stone, but he has spoken to several people aboutareas that will be addressed at the facility.
“As far as the actual research focus, obviouslydiabetes is a big problem down here,” Gunn said.“They are probably going to focus more on dis-eases that are common to the area.”
According to most experts one in every fivepeople in the Valley will develop Type 2 diabetes.
Gunn is most excited about the RAHCbecause it will allow the Valley to produce itsown physicians.
“The real strength of the RAHC, that I see, isgetting students experiences and bringing themback to the RAHC in Harlingen to finish their
third and fourth years of medical school.” “[Students] have a much stronger tie back to
the Valley that will hopefully bring doctorsback,” Gunn said. “We’ve had great troubledrawing physicians to this area and that is whywe are medically underserved,” he added.
Another reason the area has difficulty in keep-ing physicians is the high malpractice insurancerates, which led to a physician walkout in earlyApril.
Gunn has talked to Leo Vela, the dean of theRegional Academic Health Center, and has start-ed a communication base with him that shouldeventually help UTPA students.
“He has very firmly committed to the idea ofstudents getting opportunities,” Gunn said.
RAHC continued from page 2
Eladio Jaimez/File Photo
June 27, 2002 sports Page 6
Two Assistants Hired at UTPAEDINBURG-The UTPA volleyball and women’s basketball program hired two
new assistant coaches. Fabiana de Abreu was hired this week to be Dave Thorn’sassistant in the volleyball program. De Abreu replaces Christine Phillps, whorecently resigned. De Abreu was a student assistant last season after completingher playing career at the University of Iowa. Fabiana is a native of Brazil andstarted her college career at the College of Southern Idaho before transferring toIowa.
“ I’m very excited to have someone with Fabiana’s experience to the Universityof Texas-Pan American,” Thorn said. “Fabiana has played and coached at thehighest levels of the game, and has been successful every where she’s been.”
In addition to the De Abreu’s hiring, the women’s basketball program hiredTracy Anderson to assist Carol Russell next season. Anderson coached BethelCollege the past three seasons where she lead the team to a 32-56 record overall.
Anderson will bring 13 years of coaching experience to UTPA and is lookingforward to her next challenge.
“I am very excited to have the opportunity to work with Carol and [UTPA],”Anderson said. “I’m looking forward to helping the women’s basketball programreach new heights. I’m looking forward to the challenge, I think it will be a veryexciting time for Lady Bronc basketball, and that a lot of good things will hap-pen.”
Two Tennis Players Receive HonorsEDINBURG-The women’s tennis team received good news when sophomore
Celine Merlini and junior Elisabet Mateos were honored for their play last season.Merlini was named NCAA Division I Independent Player of the Year and wasnamed to the All-Independent Team. Merlini served a 17-11 at number one singlesand also posted a 12-13 in doubles last season. Merlini’s achievements includewinning three of five matches at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, finishingthird in singles at the University of Texas-San Antonio Fall Invitational, and wasnamed to the Bronc Pride 3.0 Club.
“I’m very excited that our women’s tennis team received some positive recogni-tion for our season this year,” UTPA Head Coach Todd Chapman said. “Celine andElisabet played number two throughout the year, and they were both very consis-tent.”
SPORTS CLIPBOARD BASEBALL
FINAL SEASON STATS
Batting Average Avg/AB
Juan Saenz .379/29
•Adam Farek .317/60
Skip Weast .311/132
John Lopez .300/120
Matt Eichel .288/59
Matt Sisk .284/176
Tony Ortiz .283/113
Jerome McCoy .275/178
Bruce Kennedy .264/163
Marco Garza .241/145
Jonathan Mason .237/59
Sean Flynn .211/114
•Marvin Manns .211/19
Jarrad Maddox .204/54
Matt Hall .200/5
•Carlos Gallardo .192/78
Chris Jones .170/88
•Omar Pena .167/24
David Leos .167/6
•Sergio Pompa .125/16
Home runs
Matt Eichel 2
Bruce Kennedy 2
Tony Ortiz 2
Matt Sisk 2
Skip Weast 2
Jerome McCoy 1
Marco Garza 1
Jonathan Mason 1
Sean Flynn 1
Jarrad Maddox 1
Carlos Gallardo 1
RBI
Matt Sisk 22
Bruce Kennedy 20
Skip Weast 17
Marco Garza 15
Tony Ortiz 14
Matt Eichel 11
Sean Flynn 11
John Lopez 10
Jarrad Maddox 9
Jerome McCoy 9
RBI (Cont.)
Adam Farek 9
Carlos Gallardo 7
Chris Jones 7
Juan Saenz 6
Jonathan Mason 6
David Leos 3
Omar Pena 1
Hits
Matt Sisk 50
Jerome McCoy 49
Bruce Kennedy 43
Skip Weast 41
John Lopez 36
Marco Garza 35
Tony Ortiz 32
Sean Flynn 24
Adam Farek 19
Matt Eichel 17
Carlos Gallardo 15
Chris Jones 15
Jonathan Mason 14
Jarrad Maddox 11
Juan Saenz 11
Marvin Manns 4
Omar Pena 4
Runs
Jerome McCoy 30
Matt Sisk 27
Bruce Kennedy 24
Marco Garza 17
John Lopez 16
Skip Weast 16
Tony Ortiz 14
Adam Farek 10
Carlos Gallardo 10
Sean Flynn 9
Matt Eichel 6
Omar Pena 4
Jarrad Maddox 3
Juan Saenz 2
Marvin Manns 1
Sergio Pompa 1
Stolen Bases SB/ATT
Jerome McCoy 17/30
John Lopez 8/13
Stolen Bases (Cont.) SB/ATT
Jonathan Mason 6/6
Bruce Kennedy 4/5
Marvin Manns 3/3
Matt Sisk 2/3
Tony Ortiz 2/7
Adam Farek 2/2
Pitching Statistics IP/SO
•Frank James (6-7) 99.1/69
Travis Parker (3-9) 77/69
Justin Bogy (4-6) 80.1/33
•Justin Dowd (1-6) 43.2/24
•Ed Marko (0-1) 34.1/19
•Jacob Pierce (1-4) 25.2/17
•Mike Calvert (0-2) 33.1/16
Skip Weast (0-2) 14.1/14
•Mike Killian (0-1) 12.1/9
Pitching Statistics ERA
Frank James 5.44
Jacob Pierce 5.61
Skip Weast 5.65
Travis Parker 5.84
Justin Bogy 7.17
Ed Marko 7.34
Mike Killian 8.03
Justin Dowd 10.31
Mike Calvert 13.77
TEAM NUMBERS
Batting Average .259
Home runs 16
RBI 177
Hits 424
Runs 206
Stolen Bases 49
Errors 339
OPPONENT NUMBERS
Batting Average .332
Home runs 54
RBI 380
Hits 588
Runs 416
Stolen Bases 81
Errors 160
•Player has graduated/left team
By the numbers
5.84 ERA. James and Parker struck out 69opposing foes to lead the team.
The Broncs bullpen was often called uponto relieve the starters. The rotation in thebullpen was energized by senior RHP, JacobPierce and senior RHP, Ed Marko. Piercewent 1-4 with a 5.61 ERA and two saves.
Marko was a solid reliever for the Broncs,but never found the win column or earn asave. He ended up with a 7.34 ERA.
The Broncs were able to play in a fewmemorable games this season by beatingTexas Christian University and Notre DameUniversity at the Round Rock InvitationalTournament in Round Rock, Texas onMarch 9-10.
Both TCU and the Fighting Irish wereranked nationally at the time and werefavorites to win the tournament.
“The TCU win was special because ofour players’ ties to the Fort Worth area,”said assistant coach John Johnson. “Westarted six players from Fort Worth andfreshman outfielder, Tony Ortiz hit a homerun that started things off for us in the win.”
In the Notre Dame win, the last out wasreminiscent of a catch that Reggie Tredawaymade at the College World Series in 1971.
“First baseman Chris Jones followed a
foul ball to the first base stands. As the ballfell, Jones reached over the rail while leav-ing the ground to make the catch for thefinal out to preserve the win over the Irish,”Johnson said.
Along with great wins there are alwayspainful losses. One of the most painful loss-es came against Illinois University onFebruary 24 at home.
After the Broncs split the first two gameswith the Fightin Illini, UTPA took a 9-7 leadgoing into the ninth inning. The lead did notlast long, for the Broncs gave up three runsin the ninth inning to lose 10-9.
The loss came at the beginning of the sea-son and the Broncs showed its effects intheir next series as they lost three straight tothe University of Texas on March 22-24.
“We lost big time to Texas. We didn'teven score a run against them. The loss toIllinois took a lot of emotion and energyfrom our younger players and they wereunable to bounce back from a loss likethat,” Johnson said.
The Broncs had two seven game losingstreaks. One from February 24 to March 8and to end the season from April 4 to May12. The Broncs longest winning streak wasfour games during March 9 to 20.
RECAP continued from page 7
FIRE AWAY: Justin Bogy hurls a pitch during a game this season. The Broncs strug-gled with inconsistent hitting and pitching in 2002, but look for better results in 2003.
■ Spain Pictures . . . . . 5
■ Culture Club . . . . . . . 5ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
PAGE 4
AroundTown
EngelbertHumperdinkJune 27Tickets: Prices rangefrom $20-50 andreserved seating isavailable.Place: La Villa Real,1201 S. Bentsen Road,McAllen, TX 78503Phone: (956) 687-7121
Art that Heals, Inc.Call for ArtworkJune 27-July 3Event: Art That Heals,Inc. is looking for worksof art to be sold andshown at “TheLanguage of Flowers”exhibit to run July 18-August 20 at theEdinburg PublicLibrary. Both 3-dimen-sional and 2-dimen-sional work will beaccepted until July 3.Info: For an entry form,send a SASE to ArtThat Heals, Inc. 1816Pin Oak Road,Edinburg, TX 78539Call: (956) 343-9855
CineSol Latino FilmFestivalJune 27-July 14Event: The ninth annu-al CineSol Latino FilmFestival showcasesLatino film and videoand promotes culturaland educational aware-ness of Latino themesand issues.Place: South PadreIslandInfo: For tickets andtimes, visitwww.cinesol.com/cinesol2002.
In a time when church atten-dance has been steadilydeclining, it is intriguing toknow one man still credits hissuccesses in life solely to hisfaith.
Dr. Mohammed Farooqui isa professor of biology at theUniversity of Texas-PanAmerican and also serves aspresident of the IslamicSociety of South Texas. Hehas been a practicing Muslimhis entire life.
Farooqui was born in 1947in Hyderabad, India, and livedthere until he was 25 yearsold. He graduated from theAndhra Pradesh AgriculturalUniversity with a bachelor’sand master’s in entomology,the study of insects. He cameto the United States in 1973 tocontinue his education andearned a second master’s anda doctorate from theUniversity of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign in 1979.
“It was difficult, at thatpoint, to get admission [inIndia],” Farooqui said. “Therewas no Ph.D. [program] at myuniversity. It [the program]was away from my city and itwas difficult geographically to
move around and stay some-where else and study.”
While at the university, hespecialized in toxicology, thestudy of insecticides and howthey affect insects, the envi-ronment and humans. Todayhe is a nationally recognizedresearcher in the field.
“The reason I picked upentomology was that thesesmall insects destroy all cropsand carry diseases to animalsand humans,” Farooqui said.“They compete with humanbeings for shelter, housing,clothing and food.”
Farooqui joined PanAmerican University in 1984as assistant professor of biolo-gy and has been departmentchair since 1999. During hisemployment at UTPA heestablished a toxicology labo-ratory and helped UTPA meritover $1.2 million worth ofresearch grants.
He is currently the directorof the Minority BiomedicalResearch Support Program andhas been for the last eightyears. This program was creat-ed to ensure opportunities forminority students to engage inbiomedical research.
“This is my last year,”Farooqui said. “I am going tostep down from that in July.”
His successes run muchdeeper than his researchefforts and professional career.
Farooqui has three chil-dren–Salman, Seema andRahman who seem to be fol-lowing in their father’s foot-steps with their pursuit ofmedical careers.
As was the custom in Indiaat the time, he had anarranged marriage. He waswed to his wife Vaseema in1978 and did not see his brideuntil the couple’s weddingday, although he was given theopportunity to.
“In my case, I opted not tosee her because I trusted myparents,” Farooqui said. “I hadtalked to her sister and my
family had met her family.”Farooqui explained that it is
an Islamic custom for the boyand girl to see each otherbefore the wedding, and par-ents are supposed to arrange achaperoned meeting so thecouple can talk.
“That was ina time of 20 or25 years age,”Farooqui said.“There are stillsome arrangedmarriages butthey are goingaway now.Still, parentsare trusted fortheir selection[of their chil-dren’s part-ners].”
When askedif he wouldselect mates for his three chil-dren, he replied that he wouldgive them the option, but feelshis children should see and getto know the person they willmarry.
“They [his children] canarrange meetings,” he said.“We are telling them to findsomeone they like and then wecan go and meet their par-ents.”
In addition to his three suc-cessful student-children, serv-ing as president of the IslamicSociety of South Texas haskept him busy.
He helped establish the firstmosque, or Muslim house ofworship, in Weslaco in 1993and another in McAllen in1999.
“It is my experience thatpeople, colleagues, studentsand friends knew little aboutIslam,” Farooqui said. “I am apracticing Muslim. I believein it firmly. It is a religion ofpeace and I try to presentIslam to everyone I know whohas questions about it.”
After Sept. 11, he was invit-ed to speak at various commu-nity churches, schools, includ-
ing UTPA, to dispel misinfor-mation regarding his religion.
“I presented the peacefulview of Islam and tried toremove some of the miscon-ceptions myself,” Farooquisaid. “I feel that as a practic-
ing Muslimit is my dutyto let peopleknow whatIslam standsfor.”
He saysthere arenow about200 Muslimfamilies inthe Valley,as opposedto the fewerthan 15 whowere herewhen hearrived in
1984.Although he calls the United
States his home, he has notforgotten his native India.
“I encourage everyone to goand visit India,” Farooquisaid. “It is rich in culture andhas over 5,000 years worth ofculture.”
He has traveled to India fivetimes in the last 30 years tovisit his parents who still livethere.
His colleagues and friendsagree that Farooqui is arespectful and hard-workingindividual.
“Farooqui is a very directand confident individual,” saidDr. Scott Gunn, associate pro-fessor of biology who hasknown Farooqui for over 12years. “He also adheres to thehighest moral and professionalstandards.”
His colleagues also say he isa true leader and is even-hand-ed in his dealings within thedepartment.
“He is a servant, which is anecessary and often over-looked quality for real lead-ers,” said Dr. Terry Allison,
By Melissa CiomperlikThe Pan American
I feel that as apracticing
Muslim it is myduty to let peopleknow what Islamstands for. ”
- Dr. Mohammed FarooquiBiology professor
“
FAROOQUI
Faith leads professor to successBiology professor and president of the Islamic Society of SouthTexas credits his religious beliefs for his current successes
See FAROOQUI page 5
Through balcony-lined streets of Cordoba,visitors catch a glimpse of the Great Mosque.
June 27, 2002 Arts & Entertainment Page 5
CD: “Pain is Love” by Ja RuleWebsite: www.yahoo.comMovie: “American Pie II”
CD: “B2K” by B2KBook: “The Scarlet Letter” byNathaniel HawthorneMovie: “Bourne Identity”
CD: “Ashanti” by AshantiWebsite: www.aol.comMovie: “Dirty Dancing”
Diana SanchezFreshmanUndecided
Cherry BautistaFreshmanNursing
Omar GarciaFreshmanUndecided
CULTURE CLUBWhat students like to read, listen to and surf.
The
Twenty six students and threeprofessors traveled across theAtlantic Ocean on May to spendthree weeks studying and touringin Spain
The International Studies officeoffered students the opportunityto receive undergraduate orgraduate course credit for anInternational Communicationor Photojournalism class
The students began theirexcursion in Madrid and visited several cities includingSevilla Barcelona and SanSebastian
(Left) - AFlamencodancer performsat TablaoFlamenco elArenal in Sevilla.
professor of biology, who hasknown Farooqui since joining thedepartment. “Many so-calledleaders get it backwards.”
Not only is he respected withinhis professional community, butin his religious community aswell.
Dr. Amin Ibrahim, assistantprofessor of chemistry at UTPA,has known Farooqui since 1998through the university and theIslamic Society of South Texas.
“He applies himself very wellin balancing out all matters inhis life to the same extent,”Ibrahim said. “Therefore,whether you see him at his jobplace or in the Masjid [mosque],
he is very consistent. He takeshis religion teaching seriouslyand applies them to his daily lifewhether at work, at home, indealing with others, or in hisprayers.”
Farooqui’s humbleness wasdisplayed in a conversation byhis many mentions of God, asbeing the sole reason for his suc-cess in life.
“Everything that I have in mylife, I feel that it is coming fromGod, because of my service tohim and that I remember himfive times a day in my dailyprayers,” Farooqui said.
“I pray to him any time I havefree time. I ask help from himand completely depend on oneGod.”
While he doesn’t force his reli-gion on anyone, he does talk tostudents and faculty who ask himabout his beliefs.
“When students come to meand are having problems I tellthem the same thing...go to yourparents and be connected to yourGod, whatever you believe in,”Farooqui said.
He tells students who ask hisadvice that they should not gothrough life by themselves.
“This world is such that youhave to have social contacts withyour parents, with your brothersand sisters and people who careabout you,” Farooqui said. “AndGod is the only one who caresabout you more than anyoneelse.”
FAROOQUI continued from page 4
George McLemore / Special to the Pan American
Elizabeth Martinez / The Pan American
ExploringESPAÑA
~ Elizabeth Martinez
Elizabeth M
artinez / The P
an Am
erican
Plaza Mayor forms the center of Salamanca, a popular meeting place.
■ Spain Pictures . . . . . 5
■ Culture Club . . . . . . . 5ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
PAGE 4
AroundTown
EngelbertHumperdinkJune 27Tickets: Prices rangefrom $20-50 andreserved seating isavailable.Place: La Villa Real,1201 S. Bentsen Road,McAllen, TX 78503Phone: (956) 687-7121
Art that Heals, Inc.Call for ArtworkJune 27-July 3Event: Art That Heals,Inc. is looking for worksof art to be sold andshown at “TheLanguage of Flowers”exhibit to run July 18-August 20 at theEdinburg PublicLibrary. Both 3-dimen-sional and 2-dimen-sional work will beaccepted until July 3.Info: For an entry form,send a SASE to ArtThat Heals, Inc. 1816Pin Oak Road,Edinburg, TX 78539Call: (956) 343-9855
CineSol Latino FilmFestivalJune 27-July 14Event: The ninth annu-al CineSol Latino FilmFestival showcasesLatino film and videoand promotes culturaland educational aware-ness of Latino themesand issues.Place: South PadreIslandInfo: For tickets andtimes, visitwww.cinesol.com/cinesol2002.
In a time when church atten-dance has been steadilydeclining, it is intriguing toknow one man still credits hissuccesses in life solely to hisfaith.
Dr. Mohammed Farooqui isa professor of biology at theUniversity of Texas-PanAmerican and also serves aspresident of the IslamicSociety of South Texas. Hehas been a practicing Muslimhis entire life.
Farooqui was born in 1947in Hyderabad, India, and livedthere until he was 25 yearsold. He graduated from theAndhra Pradesh AgriculturalUniversity with a bachelor’sand master’s in entomology,the study of insects. He cameto the United States in 1973 tocontinue his education andearned a second master’s anda doctorate from theUniversity of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign in 1979.
“It was difficult, at thatpoint, to get admission [inIndia],” Farooqui said. “Therewas no Ph.D. [program] at myuniversity. It [the program]was away from my city and itwas difficult geographically to
move around and stay some-where else and study.”
While at the university, hespecialized in toxicology, thestudy of insecticides and howthey affect insects, the envi-ronment and humans. Todayhe is a nationally recognizedresearcher in the field.
“The reason I picked upentomology was that thesesmall insects destroy all cropsand carry diseases to animalsand humans,” Farooqui said.“They compete with humanbeings for shelter, housing,clothing and food.”
Farooqui joined PanAmerican University in 1984as assistant professor of biolo-gy and has been departmentchair since 1999. During hisemployment at UTPA heestablished a toxicology labo-ratory and helped UTPA meritover $1.2 million worth ofresearch grants.
He is currently the directorof the Minority BiomedicalResearch Support Program andhas been for the last eightyears. This program was creat-ed to ensure opportunities forminority students to engage inbiomedical research.
“This is my last year,”Farooqui said. “I am going tostep down from that in July.”
His successes run muchdeeper than his researchefforts and professional career.
Farooqui has three chil-dren–Salman, Seema andRahman who seem to be fol-lowing in their father’s foot-steps with their pursuit ofmedical careers.
As was the custom in Indiaat the time, he had anarranged marriage. He waswed to his wife Vaseema in1978 and did not see his brideuntil the couple’s weddingday, although he was given theopportunity to.
“In my case, I opted not tosee her because I trusted myparents,” Farooqui said. “I hadtalked to her sister and my
family had met her family.”Farooqui explained that it is
an Islamic custom for the boyand girl to see each otherbefore the wedding, and par-ents are supposed to arrange achaperoned meeting so thecouple can talk.
“That was ina time of 20 or25 years age,”Farooqui said.“There are stillsome arrangedmarriages butthey are goingaway now.Still, parentsare trusted fortheir selection[of their chil-dren’s part-ners].”
When askedif he wouldselect mates for his three chil-dren, he replied that he wouldgive them the option, but feelshis children should see and getto know the person they willmarry.
“They [his children] canarrange meetings,” he said.“We are telling them to findsomeone they like and then wecan go and meet their par-ents.”
In addition to his three suc-cessful student-children, serv-ing as president of the IslamicSociety of South Texas haskept him busy.
He helped establish the firstmosque, or Muslim house ofworship, in Weslaco in 1993and another in McAllen in1999.
“It is my experience thatpeople, colleagues, studentsand friends knew little aboutIslam,” Farooqui said. “I am apracticing Muslim. I believein it firmly. It is a religion ofpeace and I try to presentIslam to everyone I know whohas questions about it.”
After Sept. 11, he was invit-ed to speak at various commu-nity churches, schools, includ-
ing UTPA, to dispel misinfor-mation regarding his religion.
“I presented the peacefulview of Islam and tried toremove some of the miscon-ceptions myself,” Farooquisaid. “I feel that as a practic-
ing Muslimit is my dutyto let peopleknow whatIslam standsfor.”
He saysthere arenow about200 Muslimfamilies inthe Valley,as opposedto the fewerthan 15 whowere herewhen hearrived in
1984.Although he calls the United
States his home, he has notforgotten his native India.
“I encourage everyone to goand visit India,” Farooquisaid. “It is rich in culture andhas over 5,000 years worth ofculture.”
He has traveled to India fivetimes in the last 30 years tovisit his parents who still livethere.
His colleagues and friendsagree that Farooqui is arespectful and hard-workingindividual.
“Farooqui is a very directand confident individual,” saidDr. Scott Gunn, associate pro-fessor of biology who hasknown Farooqui for over 12years. “He also adheres to thehighest moral and professionalstandards.”
His colleagues also say he isa true leader and is even-hand-ed in his dealings within thedepartment.
“He is a servant, which is anecessary and often over-looked quality for real lead-ers,” said Dr. Terry Allison,
By Melissa CiomperlikThe Pan American
I feel that as apracticing
Muslim it is myduty to let peopleknow what Islamstands for. ”
- Dr. Mohammed FarooquiBiology professor
“
FAROOQUI
Faith leads professor to successBiology professor and president of the Islamic Society of SouthTexas credits his religious beliefs for his current successes
See FAROOQUI page 5
Through balcony-lined streets of Cordoba,visitors catch a glimpse of the Great Mosque.
June 27, 2002 Arts & Entertainment Page 5
CD: “Pain is Love” by Ja RuleWebsite: www.yahoo.comMovie: “American Pie II”
CD: “B2K” by B2KBook: “The Scarlet Letter” byNathaniel HawthorneMovie: “Bourne Identity”
CD: “Ashanti” by AshantiWebsite: www.aol.comMovie: “Dirty Dancing”
Diana SanchezFreshmanUndecided
Cherry BautistaFreshmanNursing
Omar GarciaFreshmanUndecided
CULTURE CLUBWhat students like to read, listen to and surf.
The
Twenty six students and threeprofessors traveled across theAtlantic Ocean on May to spendthree weeks studying and touringin Spain
The International Studies officeoffered students the opportunityto receive undergraduate orgraduate course credit for anInternational Communicationor Photojournalism class
The students began theirexcursion in Madrid and visited several cities includingSevilla Barcelona and SanSebastian
(Left) - AFlamencodancer performsat TablaoFlamenco elArenal in Sevilla.
professor of biology, who hasknown Farooqui since joining thedepartment. “Many so-calledleaders get it backwards.”
Not only is he respected withinhis professional community, butin his religious community aswell.
Dr. Amin Ibrahim, assistantprofessor of chemistry at UTPA,has known Farooqui since 1998through the university and theIslamic Society of South Texas.
“He applies himself very wellin balancing out all matters inhis life to the same extent,”Ibrahim said. “Therefore,whether you see him at his jobplace or in the Masjid [mosque],
he is very consistent. He takeshis religion teaching seriouslyand applies them to his daily lifewhether at work, at home, indealing with others, or in hisprayers.”
Farooqui’s humbleness wasdisplayed in a conversation byhis many mentions of God, asbeing the sole reason for his suc-cess in life.
“Everything that I have in mylife, I feel that it is coming fromGod, because of my service tohim and that I remember himfive times a day in my dailyprayers,” Farooqui said.
“I pray to him any time I havefree time. I ask help from himand completely depend on oneGod.”
While he doesn’t force his reli-gion on anyone, he does talk tostudents and faculty who ask himabout his beliefs.
“When students come to meand are having problems I tellthem the same thing...go to yourparents and be connected to yourGod, whatever you believe in,”Farooqui said.
He tells students who ask hisadvice that they should not gothrough life by themselves.
“This world is such that youhave to have social contacts withyour parents, with your brothersand sisters and people who careabout you,” Farooqui said. “AndGod is the only one who caresabout you more than anyoneelse.”
FAROOQUI continued from page 4
George McLemore / Special to the Pan American
Elizabeth Martinez / The Pan American
ExploringESPAÑA
~ Elizabeth Martinez
Elizabeth M
artinez / The P
an Am
erican
Plaza Mayor forms the center of Salamanca, a popular meeting place.
Dexter MendozaNursingSophomore
Yes. I believe there will be anotherattack, but it won’t stop me from doinganything because it is IndependenceDay.
Peter TorresEducationSenior
No, because it would be too obvious.They could choose any day. My planswon’t change.
Tania GonzalezPre-MedFreshman
No. It doesn’t really affect me becauseI don’t think that here in the Valleywe’ll have that kind of attack.
Will threats of a terroristattack change your plans
for July 4?
Dina CamposPsychologySophomore
No, because I believe God is here toprotect our country and we must allhave faith and believe that all goodthings are possible through him forthose who believe.
VOICECCaammppuuss
Zeke AvilaBiologySenior
I would hate to say there would be anattack but since September 11, anythingis possible. No, to be honest I haven’treally thought about it much. It won’treally affect what I have planned.
June 27, 2002 THE PAN AMERICAN Page 3
enrollment, for the past three or four semes-ters, we are on target to meet our particularenrollment goal. We targeted that it wouldbe 26,000 by the year 2015.”
UTPA’s student population is normallyunder 13,000, both during the fall andspring semesters. Edwards said the UTPAstudent population is to reach over 14,000for Fall 2002. There are several reasonswhy the growth has been taking place atUTPA.
“One reason [for the increase] is Valleypublic schools are doing such a good job ofpreparing more students for college curricu-lum, particularly the Texas ScholarsProgram has worked very well in theValley,” Edwards said.
Aside from the increased number ofentering freshman, other reasons for the
population growth include the enrollment ofmore prepared transfer students from localcommunity colleges, such as South TexasCommunity College, Texas State TechnicalCollege, Coastal Bend Community College,and Laredo Community College. Edwardssaid the main reason for the increase isUTPA’s high level of student retention.
Representatives of Laredo CommunityCollege were on campus this week toobserve UTPA to work on a transfer articu-lation agreement.
According to university reports, UTPAretained 88 percent of entering college stu-dents from previous fall and spring semes-ters due to university retention efforts.
UTPA uses programs such as tutoring andwriting services to entice the students intostaying at the university, Edwards said.
ENROLLMENT continued from page 1
pus yet,” Clay said. “Our software developer is working on it
right now, but we don’t have it yet.”“It is going to make sure that they maintain
their status while in the States and obey allregulations,” Clay said. “In the past therewas not a way to report them to immigration[if they stepped outside the regulations].There was just no good systematic way, butwith the new systems on all university cam-puses, there will be immediate reporting ifthey should break one of the regulations.”
In the past year, several international stu-dents have already decided to take a full-timecourse load with Clay’s advice.
“When I came [to UTPA] we probably had30 students studying part-time like that,”Clay said. “That has always been against theregulations, so when I came I told them theyneeded to get their student visas and startstudying full-time.”
Although there are still 15 internationalstudents studying part-time at UTPA, Clayhopes they will convert to full-time status bythe fall as a result of these changes.
“Hopefully we will have total compliancewith all of our students, Clay said. “That’smy goal.”
The INS will then use the informationgathered by SEVIS to make sure all interna-tional students maintain their status. The INSwill send an officer every six to 12 months tocheck out students who are out of status, saidClay.
Another change brought on by the effort toenhance U.S. security is a change in thelength of time in which international studentscan get student visas.
“Because of new restrictions and the better
background checks, it’s taking longer to getstudent visas,” Clay said. “That is why weare having to put an enforced deadline onbringing in international students.”
There will now be an enforced deadline oftwo months on all international student appli-cations.
“In the past the university set a 60-daydeadline for international students, but theyhaven’t really enforced it for internationalstudents and we were able to get away with itbecause [students] could get visas reallyquickly,” Clay said. “But now with every-thing changing, it’s just impossible to [getthem a visa any sooner than two months.]”
Clay said immigration officials were oncampus and recommended a five-monthdeadline for international students. Clayadded that the time frame wasn’t feasible forthem at that point in time, so a two-monthlimit was implemented.
“The majority of our students come fromMexico and it’s only taking them a month totwo months at the most to get a visa, so that’swhy we chose not to go with the longeramount of time” Clay said. “If anything elsehappens, such as another terrorist attack orsomething like that, then the deadline willprobably have to be moved back, because it’sjust going to get stricter.”
Clay added that some countries take fivemonths to get student visas, while othercountries like Mexico can take three to fourweeks.
“Basically all of those rules have alwaysbeen there, but it’s just a reporting systemnow,” Clay said. “We just never had a way toreport people to INS, and now we can haveimmediate reporting.”
SEVIS continued from page 1
careers.”Gunn said research areas have not been set in
stone, but he has spoken to several people aboutareas that will be addressed at the facility.
“As far as the actual research focus, obviouslydiabetes is a big problem down here,” Gunn said.“They are probably going to focus more on dis-eases that are common to the area.”
According to most experts one in every fivepeople in the Valley will develop Type 2 diabetes.
Gunn is most excited about the RAHCbecause it will allow the Valley to produce itsown physicians.
“The real strength of the RAHC, that I see, isgetting students experiences and bringing themback to the RAHC in Harlingen to finish their
third and fourth years of medical school.” “[Students] have a much stronger tie back to
the Valley that will hopefully bring doctorsback,” Gunn said. “We’ve had great troubledrawing physicians to this area and that is whywe are medically underserved,” he added.
Another reason the area has difficulty in keep-ing physicians is the high malpractice insurancerates, which led to a physician walkout in earlyApril.
Gunn has talked to Leo Vela, the dean of theRegional Academic Health Center, and has start-ed a communication base with him that shouldeventually help UTPA students.
“He has very firmly committed to the idea ofstudents getting opportunities,” Gunn said.
RAHC continued from page 2
Eladio Jaimez/File Photo
June 27, 2002 sports Page 6
Two Assistants Hired at UTPAEDINBURG-The UTPA volleyball and women’s basketball program hired two
new assistant coaches. Fabiana de Abreu was hired this week to be Dave Thorn’sassistant in the volleyball program. De Abreu replaces Christine Phillps, whorecently resigned. De Abreu was a student assistant last season after completingher playing career at the University of Iowa. Fabiana is a native of Brazil andstarted her college career at the College of Southern Idaho before transferring toIowa.
“ I’m very excited to have someone with Fabiana’s experience to the Universityof Texas-Pan American,” Thorn said. “Fabiana has played and coached at thehighest levels of the game, and has been successful every where she’s been.”
In addition to the De Abreu’s hiring, the women’s basketball program hiredTracy Anderson to assist Carol Russell next season. Anderson coached BethelCollege the past three seasons where she lead the team to a 32-56 record overall.
Anderson will bring 13 years of coaching experience to UTPA and is lookingforward to her next challenge.
“I am very excited to have the opportunity to work with Carol and [UTPA],”Anderson said. “I’m looking forward to helping the women’s basketball programreach new heights. I’m looking forward to the challenge, I think it will be a veryexciting time for Lady Bronc basketball, and that a lot of good things will hap-pen.”
Two Tennis Players Receive HonorsEDINBURG-The women’s tennis team received good news when sophomore
Celine Merlini and junior Elisabet Mateos were honored for their play last season.Merlini was named NCAA Division I Independent Player of the Year and wasnamed to the All-Independent Team. Merlini served a 17-11 at number one singlesand also posted a 12-13 in doubles last season. Merlini’s achievements includewinning three of five matches at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, finishingthird in singles at the University of Texas-San Antonio Fall Invitational, and wasnamed to the Bronc Pride 3.0 Club.
“I’m very excited that our women’s tennis team received some positive recogni-tion for our season this year,” UTPA Head Coach Todd Chapman said. “Celine andElisabet played number two throughout the year, and they were both very consis-tent.”
SPORTS CLIPBOARD BASEBALL
FINAL SEASON STATS
Batting Average Avg/AB
Juan Saenz .379/29
•Adam Farek .317/60
Skip Weast .311/132
John Lopez .300/120
Matt Eichel .288/59
Matt Sisk .284/176
Tony Ortiz .283/113
Jerome McCoy .275/178
Bruce Kennedy .264/163
Marco Garza .241/145
Jonathan Mason .237/59
Sean Flynn .211/114
•Marvin Manns .211/19
Jarrad Maddox .204/54
Matt Hall .200/5
•Carlos Gallardo .192/78
Chris Jones .170/88
•Omar Pena .167/24
David Leos .167/6
•Sergio Pompa .125/16
Home runs
Matt Eichel 2
Bruce Kennedy 2
Tony Ortiz 2
Matt Sisk 2
Skip Weast 2
Jerome McCoy 1
Marco Garza 1
Jonathan Mason 1
Sean Flynn 1
Jarrad Maddox 1
Carlos Gallardo 1
RBI
Matt Sisk 22
Bruce Kennedy 20
Skip Weast 17
Marco Garza 15
Tony Ortiz 14
Matt Eichel 11
Sean Flynn 11
John Lopez 10
Jarrad Maddox 9
Jerome McCoy 9
RBI (Cont.)
Adam Farek 9
Carlos Gallardo 7
Chris Jones 7
Juan Saenz 6
Jonathan Mason 6
David Leos 3
Omar Pena 1
Hits
Matt Sisk 50
Jerome McCoy 49
Bruce Kennedy 43
Skip Weast 41
John Lopez 36
Marco Garza 35
Tony Ortiz 32
Sean Flynn 24
Adam Farek 19
Matt Eichel 17
Carlos Gallardo 15
Chris Jones 15
Jonathan Mason 14
Jarrad Maddox 11
Juan Saenz 11
Marvin Manns 4
Omar Pena 4
Runs
Jerome McCoy 30
Matt Sisk 27
Bruce Kennedy 24
Marco Garza 17
John Lopez 16
Skip Weast 16
Tony Ortiz 14
Adam Farek 10
Carlos Gallardo 10
Sean Flynn 9
Matt Eichel 6
Omar Pena 4
Jarrad Maddox 3
Juan Saenz 2
Marvin Manns 1
Sergio Pompa 1
Stolen Bases SB/ATT
Jerome McCoy 17/30
John Lopez 8/13
Stolen Bases (Cont.) SB/ATT
Jonathan Mason 6/6
Bruce Kennedy 4/5
Marvin Manns 3/3
Matt Sisk 2/3
Tony Ortiz 2/7
Adam Farek 2/2
Pitching Statistics IP/SO
•Frank James (6-7) 99.1/69
Travis Parker (3-9) 77/69
Justin Bogy (4-6) 80.1/33
•Justin Dowd (1-6) 43.2/24
•Ed Marko (0-1) 34.1/19
•Jacob Pierce (1-4) 25.2/17
•Mike Calvert (0-2) 33.1/16
Skip Weast (0-2) 14.1/14
•Mike Killian (0-1) 12.1/9
Pitching Statistics ERA
Frank James 5.44
Jacob Pierce 5.61
Skip Weast 5.65
Travis Parker 5.84
Justin Bogy 7.17
Ed Marko 7.34
Mike Killian 8.03
Justin Dowd 10.31
Mike Calvert 13.77
TEAM NUMBERS
Batting Average .259
Home runs 16
RBI 177
Hits 424
Runs 206
Stolen Bases 49
Errors 339
OPPONENT NUMBERS
Batting Average .332
Home runs 54
RBI 380
Hits 588
Runs 416
Stolen Bases 81
Errors 160
•Player has graduated/left team
By the numbers
5.84 ERA. James and Parker struck out 69opposing foes to lead the team.
The Broncs bullpen was often called uponto relieve the starters. The rotation in thebullpen was energized by senior RHP, JacobPierce and senior RHP, Ed Marko. Piercewent 1-4 with a 5.61 ERA and two saves.
Marko was a solid reliever for the Broncs,but never found the win column or earn asave. He ended up with a 7.34 ERA.
The Broncs were able to play in a fewmemorable games this season by beatingTexas Christian University and Notre DameUniversity at the Round Rock InvitationalTournament in Round Rock, Texas onMarch 9-10.
Both TCU and the Fighting Irish wereranked nationally at the time and werefavorites to win the tournament.
“The TCU win was special because ofour players’ ties to the Fort Worth area,”said assistant coach John Johnson. “Westarted six players from Fort Worth andfreshman outfielder, Tony Ortiz hit a homerun that started things off for us in the win.”
In the Notre Dame win, the last out wasreminiscent of a catch that Reggie Tredawaymade at the College World Series in 1971.
“First baseman Chris Jones followed a
foul ball to the first base stands. As the ballfell, Jones reached over the rail while leav-ing the ground to make the catch for thefinal out to preserve the win over the Irish,”Johnson said.
Along with great wins there are alwayspainful losses. One of the most painful loss-es came against Illinois University onFebruary 24 at home.
After the Broncs split the first two gameswith the Fightin Illini, UTPA took a 9-7 leadgoing into the ninth inning. The lead did notlast long, for the Broncs gave up three runsin the ninth inning to lose 10-9.
The loss came at the beginning of the sea-son and the Broncs showed its effects intheir next series as they lost three straight tothe University of Texas on March 22-24.
“We lost big time to Texas. We didn'teven score a run against them. The loss toIllinois took a lot of emotion and energyfrom our younger players and they wereunable to bounce back from a loss likethat,” Johnson said.
The Broncs had two seven game losingstreaks. One from February 24 to March 8and to end the season from April 4 to May12. The Broncs longest winning streak wasfour games during March 9 to 20.
RECAP continued from page 7
FIRE AWAY: Justin Bogy hurls a pitch during a game this season. The Broncs strug-gled with inconsistent hitting and pitching in 2002, but look for better results in 2003.
The UTPA department of physics has agoal to prepare Valley high school teachersin the area of sciences and physics so futureUTPA students come to college well pre-pared to excel in those areas.
Dr. Mohammad Bhatti, associate profes-sor and chair of the physics/geology depart-ment, and also Teacher Preparation Programcoordinator, said a goal of the UT System isto aid teachers in the process of helpinglocal students compete in the highly globalenvironment.
We sent out surveys in the Rio GrandeValley, because we wanted to find out howmany teachers were really certified to teachphysics. According to the survey, some ofthe teachers were not trained enough toteach physics concepts to students,” Bhattisaid.
“We realized that teachers need to be pre-pared. We started preparing teachers in1997 when we got the first grant.”
Bhatti and Dr. Abdul Hannan, assistantprofessor and program co-director, startedthe program in 1997 with the grant from theTexas Higher Education Coordinator Board.
Bhatti said that the program receivedabout $110,000 and the first group of teach-ers to go through the program were fromthe PSJA school district.
We targeted PSJA school district first,and we got 16 teachers from there and webought them into UTPA. We asked them to
come for a 17-month extensive training inscience and physics,” Bhatti said. “Theywere pleased to learn new concepts and[ways] to teach their students better.”
The following year Bhatti and Hannaneducated 16 instructors from the McAllenschool district, Bhatti said. The two UTPAprofessors knew their program was workingwhen more students were entering the uni-versity with the intention of becomingphysics majors. Other school districts thatparticipated in the program were Edinburgand Mission.
Since its creation, the program has assist-ed over 120 high school science teachers.
“A large number of students started com-ing into Pan Am, so we documented thatthey were going to chemistry, engineering,biology, and physics. In physics we nowhave about 60 majors and initially therewere none when we first started the pro-gram,” Bhatti said. “This was a big break-through, so we realized and calculated thatthis was a gain for spinoff of this project.”
This summer, the Teacher PreparationProgram is aiding instructors from theDonna School District. Donna teachers metJune 17-20 to complete the remainder of thefirst two-week introductory course as partof their 17-month training. The trainingwill continue for a year. Bhatti said thegroup will meet four times this upcomingfall semester and five times next spring.
Donna High School chemistry/physicsteachers such as Mercedes Gurski andEnrique Mendiola said they feel very fortu-nate to participate in this program so they
can take new concepts and materials regard-ing physics back to their classrooms andstudents.
“I am hoping with this training I cancarry some of my knowledge [from thiscourse] and project it to the students,”Gurski said.
We are fortunate to be able to get thegrant to come here [UTPA] during the sum-mer, because it is preparing us to help thestudents [back in Donna],” Mendiola said.
Another reason Bhatti and Hannan feelthe program is working is because manyteachers who have completed the prep pro-gram are returning to the university toobtain their master’s of science in physics,which has increased the number of physicsgraduate courses available at UTPA.
“These teachers [that were trained] arewilling to come back and get their master’sof physics and physics education,” Bhattisaid. “There are five to six teachers [stu-dents] near completion [with their master’sdegree]. One of the goals of the universityis to prepare teachers and we are fulfillingthis goal and dream.”
When their prep training is complete,teachers are then taken on a field trip toWashington D.C. to visit the SmithsonianSpace and Science Center.
“When they finish [the program] we takethem on field trip, usually to WashingtonD.C. to visit the science centers, like theSmithsonian. It is a three-day trip toWashington D.C. or they can [choose to] goto the Johnson Space Center in Houston,”Bhatti said.
1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539(956) 381-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122
http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican50th Year – No. 28
EditorMatt Lynch
Layout Designers
Gabriel Hernandez
Ashley Brooks
Reporters
Blake Daniels
Mike Gonzalez
Elizabeth Martinez
Belinda Reyes
Photographer
Melissa Ciomperlik
Advertising
Dagoberto Perez
Circulation
Jesus M. Gonzalez
Advertising Coordinator
Juanita Sanchez
Adviser
Dr. Greg Selber
the PAN AMERICAN is theofficial studentnewspaper of TheUniversity ofTexas-PanAmerican. Views presentedare those of thewriters and do notnecessarily reflectthose of theuniversity.
The Pan Americangladly acceptsletters fromstudents, staff andfaculty regardingnewspaper contentor current issues.The Pan Americanreserves the rightto edit submissionsfor grammar andlength. Please limitsubmission lengthto 300 words. ThePan Americancannot publishanonymous letters,or submissionscontaining hatespeech orgratuitouspersonal attacks.Letters are printedat the discretion ofthe editor andmust include thewriter’s name,class/title andphone number.
Letters policy
June 272 0 0 2
Readers with dis-abilities mayrequest an alter-native format ofthis publicationat The PanAmerican busi-ness office. For special assis-tance to attendany event listedin this publica-tion, contact thecoordinator of theevent at least oneweek prior to theadvertised date.
Sports EditorMike Gonzalez
Celebrating 50 years
A & E EditorAshley Brooks
Copy EditorMelissa
Graphics EditorGabriel O.Hernandez
PAGE 2
NEWSPipeline: Training teachersBy Belinda ReyesThe Pan American
For some Valley college students, attending amedical school in their hometown may now beeasier with the grand opening of the RegionalAcademic Health Center’s (RAHC) MedicalEducation Building in Harlingen.
The RAHC’s medical education building willhouse the Lower Rio Grande Valley’s first med-ical school, which will accept third and fourth-year students who will study and conduct theirresidency.
The RAHC is an academic community basedin several cities across the Lower Rio GrandeValley. It includes a medical research facility inEdinburg across the street from the University ofTexas-Pan American, a school of public health inBrownsville, and third and fourth-year medicalstudent education and residency programs inHarlingen.
There will be a dedication ceremony onFriday, June 28 at the RAHC medical educationbuilding across the street from Valley Baptist
Medical Center in Harlingen. Gov. Rick Perry isthe featured speaker for the event.
The University of Texas Health Science Centerat San Antonio (UTHSCSA) sponsors the med-ical education programs of the RAHC, whichwas created to bring educational and clinical careresources of the University of Texas system tothe Lower Rio Grande Valley.
The new Harlingen facility will contain anauditorium, multiple classrooms, a video telecon-ferencing center, a medical library, and officespace for medical faculty.
UTPA biology professor Scott Gunn feels themany components of the RAHC will benefit pre-med students at UTPA and others throughout theValley.
“This is a time not just for UT-Pan Am but thewhole Valley,” said Gunn.
Gunn feels that this addition will bring muchneeded health care professionals to our area.
“This is a big opportunity to bring qualitymedical education and increase the number ofhealth care professionals here in the Valley,”Gunn said.
Gunn anticipates the completion of the med-ical research facility currently being built inEdinburg. He said that construction started inJune and should take about 18 months.
“That [the research building] is really going tohave more of an impact on us directly becausewe hope to get some stronger interactionsbetween our biology and health sciences andhuman services faculty,” Gunn said.
He said he hopes to get students opportunitiesto be involved in the Edinburg branch of theRAHC near UTPA.
“We would like to develop various academicprograms where they can go over to the [RAHC]and get experience,” Gunn said.
Gunn is hopeful that there will be programsdeveloped that will employ students from UTPAto work at the medical research facility.
“Student labor is not that expensive and it isjust as capable,” Gunn said. “Likewise, [stu-dents] need those experiences and those experi-ences will make students much more marketablewhen they start applying to their graduate
New med teaching centers developBy Melissa CiomperlikThe Pan American
See RAHC page 3
Rebuilding has officially started for theBronc baseball program.
With Reggie Tredaway havingannounce his retirement weeks ago,University of Texas-Pan AmericanAthletic Director William Weidner initiat-ed the national search for a new headcoach.
“We are excited about the applicants sofar that have applied and look forward tointerviewing them and getting to knowthem better,” Weidner said.
UTPA has had unsolicited applicantsfrom several different levels of baseballranging from college to professional.Over 70 applicants from many states haveapplied.
“We are right on time with the hunt fora new coach and we are very excited,”Weidner said.
Weidner stressed that there is no dead-line to conclude the search, but the senseof urgency to make the choice is evident.“We will take as long as needed until theposition is filled,” he said.
In response to rumors of players leav-ing due to the uncertainty regarding thecoaching vacancy, Weidner assured the
public he has spoken to players and theirparents, and none of the players have saidthey are leaving.
Many players voiced their opinions thatassistant coach John Johnson shouldbecome the head coach or at least staywith the program. Weidner stated that ifanother applicant is selected to fill thehead coaching position, the new headcoach has the right to retain Johnson’sservices or select another coach to replacehim as assistant coach.
“The search committee has their handsfull with a tremendous pool of appli-cants,” Weidner said. “It will be fun andinteresting to see what comes of thewhole process.”
With all of the attention given to thesearch for a head coach, two Broncsreceived honors June 10.
Frank James and John Lopez werenamed to the second team All-Independent team.
James was the most consistent startingpitcher for the Broncs in 2002. He com-piled a record of six wins and seven loss-es, pitched two shutouts, and compiled a5.44 earned run average.
James also blanked highly rankedNAIA Houston Baptist April 13.
Because of the departure of James and
other pitchers the Broncs are in dire needof recruiting pitchers to replenish thelosses at that position. Johnson has beengiven the go ahead to do all of therecruiting until a new coach is hired.
The Broncs have already signed twofreshman players: T.J. Gilmer, a centerfielder from Forney, Texas, and BenHarrison, a left-handed pitcher fromColleyville, Texas. Harrison was draftedby the Toronto Blue Jays in the 44thround of the 2002 Major League BaseballAmateur Draft.
The Broncs also signed junior collegetransfer Johnny Gibson,a RHP fromCollin County Community College inDallas.
Johnson stated he has made trips toAustin to see the state high school base-ball tournament, as well as Dallas andTulsa, Okla. to see promising players.
Johnson said the Broncs have 24 or 25letters due this week from recruits. TheBroncs are taking close looks at oneinfielder and 12 pitchers.
National letters of intent have 14 daysto be submitted after players meet basicrequirements like financial aid, academicand school admissions.
There is no official deadline, so playerscan sign throughout the year.
By Blake DanielsThe Pan American
June 27, 2002 sports Page 7
CAMP continued from page 8
It’s recruiting time, giving theBroncs a chance to improve upon adisappointing season.
After a tumultuous year, the Broncbaseball team compiled a record of15-38 for the 2001-2002 season.
The Broncs’ home record was adecent 10-13, but the team had itstrouble on the road, going 3-24. TheBroncs went 2-1 at neutral sites.
The youthful Broncs swing was notwhat they planned, but they increasedtheir win total from a year ago, from12-40.
A bright spot next year for the ailingBroncs will be their youth. Eventhough the Broncs’ bats were weakthis season, the majority of the return-ing players were at the top of theranks in the team batting categories.
Pitcher and outfielder Skip Weast, ajunior paced the batting effort for theBroncs with a .311 batting averagewhile Mission’s John Lopez, a fresh-man outfielder, trailed closely behindwith a .300 avg. Second baseman,Jerome McCoy, a junior led the teamin runs scored with 30, and he stole apersonal best 17 bases in 30 attempts.Freshman Jonathan Mason, an out-fielder, was a perfect six for six instolen bases.
The Broncs had five players tiedwith two home runs each.
Third baseman, Matt Sisk, a sopho-more had 22 runs batted in and junioroutfielder Bruce Kennedy came insecond with 20 RBI.
Sisk also led the team with 50 hits,12 doubles and tied Kennedy in tripleswith two.
On the defensive side, McCoy ledthe team in errors with 18 and a field-ing percentage of .924, while Sisk fol-lowed behind with 13 errors and afielding percentage of .886.
The Bronc pitchers pitched 420innings and allowed 588 hits whilecompiling an astronomical team 7.26earned run average. They surrendered54 home runs and allowed 339 earnedruns.
Three starting pitchers were in theconsistent rotation for the Broncs, sen-ior LHP Frank James, sophomoreRHP Justin Bogy and junior RHPTravis Parker.
James paced the Bronc pitching bythrowing 99 innings with four com-plete games, two shutouts, a 6-7record and a 5.44 earned run average.
Bogy went 4-6 with an 7.17 ERA,four complete games and one save.Parker compiled a 3-9 record with a
Broncs announce player signings,continue quest to fill coaching slot
“It will be very intensive in that theydon’t have a lot of breaks,” Hoffman said.“From early morning to late night we’regoing. We want them to have fun, but wewant them to have fun learning the gameof basketball. We think we have found acombination of all the different skill levelsthat we’re trying to teach.”
Campers get breaks throughout the dayto snack in the UTPA cafeteria, and toenjoy entertainment in the form of videogames and pool tables offered in theStudent Union.
Along with coaches and former Broncplayers, current players from men’s andwomen’s team will also contribute in thesummer camps. According to Hoffman, theplayers will also take something fromteaching participants the fundamentals ofbasketball.
“Summer camp does a lot of things forus,” Hoffman said. “It helps our playersteach the game and any time you’re teach-ing the game and reinforcing the thingswe’ve taught them during the year, it helpsthem to understand why we’re teachingthem certain fundamentals and how hard itis sometimes get people to listen.”
Although summer camps have been atradition at UTPA for many years,Hoffman feels it’s also a necessity todevelop the skills and minds of Valley kidswho are interested in basketball.
“As a regional university in the Valley, Ithink that should be part of our charge tohelp further basketball and to educateyoung people about the game of basket-ball,” Hoffman said.
By Blake DanielsThe Pan American
Broncs endtough season,look ahead tonext season
See RECAP page 6
Melissa Ciomperlik/The Pan American
TEACHING – Dr. Abdul Hannan, assistant professor of physics and geology, lectures to stu-dents in his summer class. The first summer session comes to a close next week, and thesecond summer session begins July 11. UTPA has enjoyed a significant increase in enrollmentin the past several years, and this summer’s numbers have continued the trend.
SYSTEM NEWS
THURSDAYJune 27, 2002
An Inside Look:
■ News ............................................2■ A & E............................................4■ Sports ..........................................8
T h e S t u d e n t N e w s p a p e r o f T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f T e x a s - P a n A m e r i c a n
Page 3
CCaammppuussVOICE
Will threatsof a terrorist
attackchange your
plans forJuly 4?
Big numbersfor summer
CAMPUS NEWS
■ Following a 21-dayfeedback period afterhis selection by theBoard of Regents May31, Mark Yudof wasofficially namedchancellor June 21.Yudof, who previouslyserved as Universit y ofTexas at Austin deanand provost, becomesthe ninth chancellor ofthe UT System,replacing formerchancellor R.D. Burck,who announced hisresignation from thechancellor ’s office lastsummer. The Boardnamed Yudof as thelone finalist for theposition last month, butthe Board was requiredby Texas law to hold afeedback period duringwhich Yudof met withnumerous state andsystem officials. Yudofhad been president ofthe Universit y ofMinnesota, and willassume UT Systemchancellor duties inearly August.
■ Finals for Summer Iclasses will take placeJuly 8. Summer sessionII begins July 11, andschedule changes forSummer II are permit tedthrough July 12. Thelast day to drop aSummer II course,withdraw from UTPA, orchange a Summer IIclass to non-credit isJuly 22.•Summer session IIfinals will be Aug. 15.•The fall semester isset to begin Monday,Aug. 26
Registering early for the fall semester might be agood idea, due to the fact that summer enrollment is atit’s highest point ever, according to university reportsreleased last week.
“The summer [session] one is up by 16 to 17 percent,compared to the previous summer one [session],” saidDr. John Edwards, vice president for Enrollment andStudent Affairs.
Edwards said the university was able to respond tothe increase by opening up more course sections andseat availability for classrooms, and the same is expect-ed for the second summer session.
“Right now the figures for Summer two is up to[around] 6,000 students and last year that number was5,000. We are nearly 1,000 students up for Summertwo,” Edwards said.
“The university is in a growth mode, and that is veryexciting for us.”
The population increase should assist the universityin its attempt to obtain grants and extra funding whenthe next fiscal year [in 2003] arrives, and the expecta-tion of a population increase for the fall semester issimilar to what UTPA has experienced this summer,Edwards added.
“We have been asked by the state to close the gaps.Closing the gaps is what we [UTPA] are hoping to par-ticipate in,” Edwards said. “From the looks of our
Changes soon to be made by theU.S. Justice Department may affectinternational students attending theUniversity of Texas-Pan American inthe fall.
The biggest of these is the imple-mentation of a new system which offi-cials hope will enhance the process bywhich information about foreign stu-dents and exchange visitors is retainedand reported.
In reality, the biggest part of thischange is stricter compliance with therules already on the books. Thesechanges are in response to the terroristacts of Sept. 11, when two of the
hijackers were admitted in to the coun-try on student visas.
The Student and Exchange VisitorInformation System (SEVIS) is anInternet-based system that will providethe government, educational institu-tions, and exchange programs an auto-mated means to exchange timelyinformation about foreign students,exchange visitors, and their depend-ents.
“That system is going to createmore tracking and monitoring forinternational students,” said PhilipClay, UTPA’s international studentadviser. “It’s going to be a lot stricterabout what [international students] cando.”
New regulations will require
schools to collect and report informa-tion on foreign students to theImmigration and NaturalizationService.
The INS will be keeping tabs oninformation such as a student’s failureto enroll, a student dropping below afull course load of study, or failure tocomplete an educational program.
“One of the regulations is full-timestudy,” Clay said. “So if they are tak-ing 12 hours and they drop one classand go down to nine hours, all of theirdocuments are invalid.”
The new policies may affect somestudents studying at UTPA who areenrolled part-time. There are over500,000 foreign students in the nation.As of Spring 2002, there were 398
international students attending UTPAfrom over 45 countries, and most arefrom Mexico.
“In the past students were able tostudy part-time, even though it wasagainst the regulations, along the bor-der on a Laser visa or something simi-lar to that,” said Clay. “But that willcome to a stop now. [A student] mustbe studying full-time.”
The INS plans to begin implementa-tion of SEVIS on a voluntary basiswith institutions of learning July 1,2002. UTPA will implement SEVIS inJan. 2003, when use of the new sys-tem becomes mandatory.
“We don’t have the system on cam-
Visa restrictions approaching on horizon
See you inAugust
By Belinda ReyesThe Pan American
By Melissa CiomperlikThe Pan American
See SEVIS page 3
See ENROLLMENT page 3
Students are out of school taking abreak from homework, tests, and avisit to the principal’s office. But foryoung hoopsters looking to improvetheir game, a UTPA coach providesan alternative to summer inactivity.
For many years the Bronc basket-ball program has hosted a number ofsummer camps to benefit kids rang-ing from peewee to the high schoollevel.
This year head basketball coachBob Hoffman is directing his thirdcamp at UTPA, and he anticipates avery successful program.
“We’re going to have more [kids]this camp than we’ve ever hadbefore,” Hoffman said. “We’re goingto have over 1,000 kids in camp thissummer, which has never beendone.”
Summer camp is scheduled tobegin tomorrow and run throughJuly 2 at the UTPA campus.
Campers will have an opportunityto learn the fundamentals of basket-ball, including shooting, passing, andpivoting. The camp is for boys ages8-18, while the peewee camps willbe for boys and girls ages 5-8.
While Hoffman and a number of
Bronc players and coaches workhard to teach youngsters better bas-ketball skills, he believes there ismore to camp than just teaching thejoy of dribbling and spinning theball.
“We’re going to try and increasetheir ability to perform at a higherlevel,” Hoffman said. “More impor-tantly, we try to also impart knowl-edge about life skills, characterbuilding and to be successful in allareas of their lives.”
According to Hoffman, the num-ber of kids attending his camps hasrisen over the years due to its popu-larity and his ability to get kids’attention.
“I’ve run camps for almost 22years now, and we’ve had lots ofkids come where we’ve been,”Hoffman said. “It’s not a play-aroundcamp. We try to have a lot of disci-pline and use notebooks where theywrite things down that we’re talkingabout. Parents and the kids feel likeit’s something of value and not justplay time.”
With discipline a part ofHoffman’s repertoire, campers willget a taste of what it’s like to get upearly and stay on their feet the wholeday.
WELCOME TO THE NBA:The Houston Rocketsselected 7-foot-5 cen-ter Yao Ming with thenumber one pick of the2002 NBA draft. TheChina BasketballAssociation clearedMing to play earlyWednesday morningafter days of negotia-tions with the Rocketsendorsing him to leavehis China team,Shanghai Sharks, forthe NBA draft. The CBApromised that Yao willbe able to play the full-season and playoffsstarting next season.Ming did not attend thedraft due to his train-ing with his nationalChina team that willcompete in a tourna-ment againstYugoslavia, Italy andAustralia. A possibleconflict will be whenMing is competing inthe Asian Games whenthe Rockets begintraining camp in inOctober.
NBA
WORLD CUP
IT’S ON:Brazil advanced to theWorld Cup final aftersqueaking out a winover Turkey 1-0Wednesday. Ronaldoscored the only goal,despite three Turkishdefenders guardinghim. Brazil facesGermany, who will begoing for its fourthcup, while Brazil willbe going for its fif th.Germany blankedSouth Korea 1-0 earlierin the week. The gameis set for 6 a.m.Sunday.
■ Coaching Search . . . . . 6
■ Baseball Stats. . . . . . . . 7
PAGE 8
Mike Gonzalez/The Pan American
Nearly every child dreams oflooking up to an athlete who willhave a positive influence in theirlives. Many Valley kids got theirwish when UTPA kicked off an all-girls summer basketball camp June14.
Involved were Bronc playersfrom the men’s and women’s bas-ketball teams who taught younggirls the fundamentals of basketballas well as life in general. Seniorguard Kevin Mitchell felt he andthe rest of the Bronc players wereable to connect with the youngcampers.
“Just to see that you affectedsomeone’s life, to be able to lead,adds more repetition and more con-fidence to me,” Mitchell said.
The experience allowed UTPAplayers to reach kids who have thedesire to play basketball.Head
men’s basketball coach BobHoffman feels the camp experiencegave UTPA athletes a chance to seewhat it’s like to coach a group ofyoung kids.
“Summer camp does a lot ofthings for us,” Hoffman said. “Ithelps our players teach the game,and anytime you’re teaching thegame and reinforcing the thingswe’ve taught them during the year,it helps them understand why we’reteaching them certain fundamen-tals.”
Senior guard Alex Gravel, who’sbeen part of the Lady Broncs teamfor three years, was excited to bepart of this year’s summer camp.
“It’s always fun to work withkids,” Gravel said. “You try toshow them a good time and it was agood experience.”
The weekend-long camp thatended June 16 featured a number ofclinics geared to help campers learnthe basics of basketball. While the
girls learned how to dribble, shootand pass, campers and instructorsalike enjoyed the intensity of thecamp, according to sophomoreguard Clarrise Arrendondo.
“It got pretty intense by tourna-ment play,” Arredondo said. “[Thegirls] were trying hard to wingames and [camp] was intensivebecause they woke up at 7:30 anddidn’t sleep until 10:30 at night.”
Most kids have the privilege toparticipate in camps while growingup, but sophomore guard EricMontalvo of La Joya didn’t havethe pleasure as a youngster.According to Montalvo, this year’scamp was special for him becauseit gave him a chance to give backto kids who have the desire to learnhow to play basketball.
“I never had a camp when I wasyoung, so I taught them as much asI could,” Montalvo said. “I told [thekids] to have fun and work hardbecause you’ll never have another
chance.”Many UTPA athletes were new to
instructing youngsters on the pointsof basketball, so nerves played arole for a couple of participants,including Arredondo.
“Definitely having to demon-strate in front of the children, I wasa little nervous,” Arredondo said.“But once I got to know them, Iwas at ease.”
According to Montalvo, talkingin front of kids helped improve hispublic speaking ability.
“You become more sociallyinvolved because you talk to differ-ent people,” Montalvo said.
UTPA players did their bestteaching and guiding the kidsthroughout summer camp andaccording to Mitchell, mostcampers took something from theirexperience.
“The kids that wanted to be theregot their money’s worth,” Mitchellsaid.
By Mike GonzalezThe Pan American
Players switch gears, teach kids at camp
Kids learn morethan just hoopsBy Mike GonzalezThe Pan American
See CAMP page 7
NICE SHOT: Eli Garica, a member of the National Youth Sports Program,shows children the fundamentals of basketball in the Fieldhouse Wednesday.
SPORTS
