The Valley Times – September 20, 2017

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First-year Edinburg CISD Teachers

VOL. I, NO. 8

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Local Businesses Partnerships Provide McAllen Student National Raising Awareness on Fight Merit Scholar Candidate Against Childhood Cancer Internships For PSJA Students

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

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Citrus Canker Disease

The disease is common in countries where it is hot with high rainfall

FL OR A

ID

– The Valley Times Exclusive –

Citrus canker causes leafspotting and fruit rindblemishing and eventually can kill the tree.

Hurricane Irma’s winds and storm surge hit far from Texas, but the Valley citrus industry may be one of the casualties. Texas citrus growers fear the citrus canker disease already present in Florida and Texas citrus might have been carried over the Gulf of Mexico by air currents to infect other areas in Texas not already affected by the disease.

Continue -- pg. 3

Florida was the first state where citrus canker was discovered

$100+M

During the 1980s, more than 20 million trees were burned in Florida, with lost profits and other costs, the loss has been more than $100 million for just that eradication effort.

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Wednesday, September 20, 2017

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- Many Americans’ moral vanity is expressed nowadays in their rage to disparage. They are incapable of measured judgments about past politics -- about flawed historical figures who were forced by cascading circumstances to make difficult decisions on the basis of imperfect infor-

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OPINION

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New Vietnam Documentary Series Provides a Timely Booster Shot

mation. So, the nation now needs an example of how to calmly assess episodes fraught with passion and sorrow.

An example arrives Sunday night.

For 10 nights on PBS, Ken Burns’ and Lynn Novick’s “The Vietnam War,” 10 years in the making and 18 hours in length, tells the story of a war “begun in good faith by decent people, out of fateful misunderstandings,” and “prolonged because it seemed easier to muddle through than admit that it had been caused by tragic decisions” during five presidencies. The combat films are extraordinary; the recollections and reflections of combatants and others on both sides are even more so, featuring photos of them then and interviews with many of them now.

A 1951 photo shows a congressman named John Kennedy dining in Saigon.

There is an interview with Le Quan Cong, who became a guerilla fighter in 1951, at age 12. Viewers will meet Madame Le Minh Khue, who was 16 when she joined the “Youth Shock Brigade for National Salvation”: “I love Hemingway. I learned from ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls.’ Like the resourcefulness of the man who destroys the bridge. I saw how he coped with war, and I learned from that character.” As did another combatant who loves that novel, John McCain.

Eleven years after his Saigon dinner, President Kennedy said, “We have not sent combat troops in the generally understood sense of the word.” Obliqueness and evasions greased the slide into a ground war of attrition. Kennedy, his successor (who said, “Foreigners are not like the folks I’m used to”) and their advisers were determined not to make the Munich mistake of confronting an enemy tardily. Tapes of Lyndon Johnson’s telephone conversations with advisers are haunting and horrifying: To national security adviser McGeorge Bundy: “What the hell am I ordering [those kids] out there for?”

In 1966 alone, eighteen large-scale U.S. offensives left more than 3 mil-

lion South Vietnamese -- approximately one-fifth of the country’s population -- homeless. Just on the Laos portion of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, more tons of bombs -- 3 million tons -- were dropped than fell on Germany and Japan during World War II. By body counts, America was winning. As an Army adviser says in episode 4, “If you can’t count what’s important, you make what you can count important.”

Vincent Okamoto earned in Vietnam

Vietnam syndrome... it’s not an illness; it’s a vaccination. the Army’s second-highest honor, the Distinguished Service Cross. He recalls the platoon he led: “Nineteen-, 20-yearold high school dropouts ... they looked upon military service as like the weather: you had to go in, and you’d do it.

But to see these kids, who had the least to gain, there wasn’t anything to look forward to. ... And yet, their infinite patience, their loyalty to each other, their courage under fire. ... You would ask yourself, ‘How does America produce young men like this?’”

Or like Okamoto. He was born during World War II in Arizona, in a

Japanese-American internment camp.

Karl Marlantes, a Rhodes Scholar from Yale who voluntarily left Oxford for Marine service in Vietnam, recalls a fellow lieutenant radioing to battalion headquarters over 20 kilometers away the fact that he had spotted a convoy of trucks. The battalion commander replied that this was impossible because intelligence operatives reported no trucks near there. In a Texas drawl the lieutenant replied: “Be advised. I am where I am and you are where you are.

Where I am, I see goddamned trucks.”

Weary of hearing the prudence that was so painfully learned in Indochina derided as the “Vietnam syndrome,” Marlantes says (in his Wall Street Journal review of Mark Bowden’s book “Hue 1968”): “If by Vietnam syndrome we mean the belief that the U.S. should never again engage in (a) military interventions in foreign civil wars without clear objectives and a clear exit strategy, (b) ‘nation building’ in countries about whose history and culture we are ignorant, and (c) sacrificing our children when our lives, way of life, or ‘government of, by, and for the people’ are not directly threatened, then we should never get over Vietnam syndrome. It’s not an illness; it’s a vaccination.” The Burns/Novick masterpiece is, in Marlantes’ words about Bowden’s book, “a powerful booster shot.” George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com. (c) 2017, Washington Post Writers Grou

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McAllen ISD Tax Swap Keeps Tax Rate Same, Increases Revenue

McAllen ISD Board of Trustees approved a tax swap that will allow the school district to increase revenues while maintaining the tax rate at the same level as last year.

Board members agreed to shift the amount of tax revenues going into its two major accounts. The district decreased the tax rate in the Interest and Sinking (I&S) account by 11.5 cents. At the same time, it increased the tax rate in the Maintenance and Operations (M&O) account by the same 11.5 cents, keeping the overall tax rate the same. The I&S account is used to pay for long-term debt. The M&O account is used to pay for general operations, including payroll.

The shift will provide the district an estimated $7 million in additional state funding without increasing the total tax rate. The state gives school districts more funding for M&O than for I&S. A severe weather event that occurred in May 2016, opened the door for this one-time opportunity known as a Disaster Tax-Rate Option. This option allowed McAllen ISD to make a one-year change to leverage its M&O and I&S tax rates and maximize state funding. The additional $7 million generated is for one year only.

According to MISD officials, the district’s tax rate is the lowest school district tax in Hidalgo County at $1.155 per $100 of property valuation. The district has not raised its tax rate for nine straight years.

The change in tax rate alignment takes effect for the upcoming tax year.

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Hurricane Irma May Spread Citrus Canker in South Texas Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Pictured: Fruit infected by canker disease.

From pg. 1 According to Texas citrus industry and U. Department of Agriculture officials, testing has begun to determine if the disease has Florida strain has landed on Texas soil.

The highly contagious citrus canker bacteria are spread by wind, splashing water, movement of infected plant material, or mechanical contamination.

The pathogen flourishes under moist and warm conditions.

USDA reports indicated that the disease’s spread throughout Florida was due, in part, to hurricanes and tropical storms that helped to disperse the bacteria, making it almost impossible to eradicate the disease.

It is so contagious that it can be spread by casual human touch, as well. Infected trees are generally removed, mulched and bagged. The people removing the trees have to sanitize their tools, clothing and themselves after coming into contact an infected tree.

Citrus canker normally

causes leaf-spotting and fruit rind-blemishing, although when conditions are highly favorable for infection, citrus canker can cause defoliation, shoot dieback, and fruit drop. Eventually, the disease can kill a tree within months. The damaged fruit cannot be marketed. Citrus canker is harmless to humans and other animals.

The force of the Irma winds raking the state might have lifted the pathogen high into the air stream that crosses the Gulf of Mexico.

After Hurricane Harvey hit the Houston area, agriculture officials feared that circulating winds along the Texas gulf coast might have driven the citrus canker into other areas. Currently, the quarantine along the Gulf Coast includes Fort Bend, Harris and Richmond counties since 2016.

Lime and lemon trees in the town of Rancho Viejo, northwest of Brownsville, in Cameron County, were confirmed by the U. S. Department of Agriculture to be infected with cit-

rus canker. The USDA issued a quarantine in 2015. While the entire county is not within the quarantine, the agency ordered the destruction of all infected plants to combat the spread of the disease. According to the USDA website, the strain of citrus canker found in the Rancho Viejo Citrus Canker Quarantined Area only infects lime and lemon trees and is different from the Florida variety.

The citrus canker was first found in the United States in 1910 along the Georgia-Florida border. Since then, the disease has spread across the state despite repeated attempt to eradicate the disease by burning of entire orchards and individual trees. In 2005, USDA issued a quarantine for the entire state.

During the 1980s, more than 20 million trees were burned in Florida at a cost of nearly $94 million. The industry lost and continues to lose even more in long-term profits. Additionally, the intensive regulatory requirements now in place to contain the spread of the disease

and limits on shipment of fruits and trees continue to add to the economic pressure citrus farmers continue to deal with.

If the disease is spread to other areas of South Texas, local farmers would have to incur similar losses and costs.

With the force of Hurricane Irma’s winds measured as one of the strongest to hit the US mainland, officials feared that the water-borne bacteria could easily be carried into areas outside the quarantine zones in Florida, spreading the disease further within the state.

State and federal agriculture department officials feared that the two major weather incidents may have driven the pathogen to other areas in South Texas that have not been infected by the disease.

In addition to their normal monitoring, agricultural staff started testing targeted sights to determine if the disease has been spread by Irma’s and Harvey’s airflows. They expect test results to be finalized within the next two weeks.

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Wednesday, September 20, 2017

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September is Valley Voter Awareness Month

Hidalgo County Elections Administrator Yvonne Ramón (standing at podium) introduces her staff and explained their election duties to the Hidalgo County Commissioners Court.

The McAllen Parks and Recreation main office is set to be torn down and replaced.

McAllen OKs New Parks HQ Construction

By Davis Rankin

For the people who work in the McAllen Parks & Recreation offices, help is on the way. City commissioners at last week’s meeting set in motion plans for a new parks headquarters building at a location still to be determined.

The decades-old building, described as “terrible” by City Manager Roy Rodriguez recently, is in a state of disrepair and must be replaced. Several weeks ago, commissioners contemplated calling a bond issue for this November to pay for traffic and drainage improvements, along with new parks offices, but it has been moved tentatively to next May. Rodriguez told commissioners last week that the parks office situation is so dire, they need to act now.

Commissioners voted to take advantage of a provision in federal tax law that allows them to “borrow” from the proceeds of the contemplated bond issue and pay themselves back after it is issued. They passed a resolution declaring their intent to start drawing up plans for a new building, paying for the work out of the budget, and then reimbursing the city after they issue what are known as General Obligation (GO) bonds, which the commission can issue on its own without an election.

Rodriguez said they should be ready to issue to General Obligation bonds

early next year. They intend to issue $6 million in GO bonds, $3 million for a new parks site and office, and $3 million to replace fire station #2 on Main Street north of Pecan. The station is too small for new fire equipment. Rodriguez told commissioners that city staffers can do most of the planning work on the new fire station, using existing plans, and that it will be just like the new fire station on East Dallas.

In other business, Commissioners took action to update the baggage carousels at the airport. When the baggage claim carousels at McAllen Miller International Airport were installed, Bill Clinton was well into his time as president. Mr. Clinton, of course, is no longer in office and, soon, the carousels will be gone, too.

Commissioners voted to accept a bid of $849,400 from G & S USA Mechanical Inc. of Wichita, Kansas, to take out the existing machinery and install new equipment. The federal government will pay 90% of that. The job is scheduled for 120 days. No word on when they start work.

According to a memo to commissioners about the carousels, “maintenance expenses are high and locating parts is extremely difficult.” Not only will the carousels be replaced, but also the baggage conveyors that feed luggage from the planes into the terminal.

Last week, the Hidalgo County Commissioners Court unanimously proclaimed September as Valley Voter Awareness Month.

“Across the RGV, there is an urgent need to increase participation in the electoral process,” said Hidalgo County Elections Administrator Yvonne Ramón.

The Rio Grande Valley has historically had low voter turnout. Only four out of 10 people vote in South Texas, while six out of 10 vote in other parts of the state.

After Ramón enumerated a long list of

county voter’s statistics, she introduced her staff members and briefed the court on their duties.

“Thank you for all the great work you and your staff do for our county. Voting is not only a right, it’s a privilege and an obligation,” said Hidalgo County Judge Ramon Garcia.

The Commissioners Court encouraged all citizens to exercise their right to vote and to promote participation in the electoral process to all their friends, families and neighbors in local, state and national elections.

“A fundamental element of effective democracy is the principle that all eligible citizens should participate in fair and open elections,” added Ramón.

Early Voting for the November elections will begin Oct. 23 and continue through Nov. 3. Election Day will be Nov. 7. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 10. The cities of Edinburg, Alamo, Donna, Elsa and Weslaco will hold elections this November.

Hidalgo County residents can visit www.co.hidalgo.tx.us/elections to find the nearest polling location.

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INSPIRE Academy Prepares First-year Edinburg CISD Teachers

Teachers, mentors and ECISD administrators pose for a photo during the INSPIRE Academy at the Information Technology Building in Edinburg.

Approximately 50 firstyear teachers recently participated in the Edinburg CISD’s Induction for the Nurture, Support, Preparation, Inspiration, and Retention of Educators (INSPIRE) Academy.

During the four-day event, teachers attended workshops to prepare them for academic success. The academy cov-

ered several educational areas, including instruction on best practices, technology integration, and mentor support.

First-year teacher, Cynthia Salas Rodriguez, said that she learned a great deal about curriculum, lesson plans and what to expect her first year.

“What I love about the

INSPIRE Academy is that I feel like we’re supported,” she said. “We’re supported by the district and that thrills me.”

The INSPIRE program continues throughout the 2017-2018 school year with first-year teachers working closely with mentors, who have also been attending the academy. Lead Mentor

Trainer Gilda Garcia said that it’s essential for the district to have a mentor program.

“This is a program that’s very important in order to maintain a standard of excellence in our district for our students through the course of these mentors for our first-year teachers,” Garcia said.

University Productions to Present PSJA ISD Elementary Receives Free Backpacks For Student Body Dark Comedy, “Venus in Fur” University Productions will open its 2017-2018 season in late September with “Venus in Fur,” a dark comedy by David Ives.

“Venus in Fur” is about a brash, sultry actress who arrives late for an audition and a power play ensues. Full of tension and mystery, the play Venus in Fur leaves us wondering just who is really in control. Warning: Adult language and content.

It runs Sept. 27-30 at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on Oct. 1, at the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre in the ELABS building, corner of University Drive and Sugar Road on the UTRGV Edinburg Campus.

Tickets are $15 for

general admission, and $5 for UTRGV students and UTRGV students, faculty and staff with a current school ID. For more information, or to be added to the theatre mailing list, call the box office at (956) 665-3581 or email elva. galvan@utrgv.edu.

No children below the third grade will be admitted.

Subscriptions for the 2017-2018 University Productions theatre season are now available.

To subscribe or re-subscribe, call the University Box Office at (956) 665-3581 or email elva. galvan@utrgv.edu.

You can also like the UTRGV University Productions page on Facebook.

Carmen Anaya Elementary hosted the 4th annual backpack drive, Kickstands for Kids, at their campus on Sept. 8.

Sponsored by the American Bikers Association of McAllen (ABA), about 400 backpacks filled with school supplies were donated to the student body.

“I absolutely love that they do this and I hope they can do it lots more times because I really appreciate it,” said backpack recipient Sebastian Torres, a first grader in Mrs. R. Perez’s class at Carmen Anaya Elementary.

Kickstands for Kids started in 2014 when ABA member Julia Canon reached out to the PSJA school district in an effort to help stu-

American Bikers Association of McAllen members distributed 400 backpacks filled with school supplies to PSJA Carmen Anaya Elementary students.

dents in need. Each year the members of the organization gather up donations from local businesses and hand deliver the supplies to the students at their campus.

In the first year of this

event only about 200 backpacks were donated, while this year almost every student at Anaya received a backpack thanks to the organization and contributions from Walmart, the City

of Pharr and other local businesses in the area.

“It’s a community effort,” said Canon. “We plan on coming here every year as long as they’ll have us.”

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Wednesday, September 20, 2017

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McAllen Public Library Launches 3D Printing Services to the Public

PSJA Memorial ECHS students Serina Kornegay and Jennifer Crossman wrote a feature story on this year’s Operation Lone Star event at PSJA ECHS as part of their internship at the Rio Grande Guardian.

Local Businesses Partnerships Provide Internships For PSJA Students

For five PSJA ISD high school students, getting a taste of real world work experience has made a difference in how they see themselves and the careers they’ve chosen to pursue.

For Serina Kornegay, now a senior at PSJA Memorial Early College High School, spending part of her summer as the Editor Intern for the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service was unforgettable.

“I learned many important lessons about the workforce, networking and communicating with others,” shared Kornegay who got to write and have articles published, such as one featuring this year’s Operation Lone Star event. “I will take all that I learned this summer with me as I pursue my professional career and will always be grateful for this opportunity.”

Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD partnered with numerous local businesses this summer to ensure high school students gained work experience in their field of choice.

As part of the 2017 Summer Internship Program through the PSJA Career Technical Education Department (PSJA CTE), seven juniors and seniors interned at The

Monitor, Rio Grande Guardian, the Numbers Co. and NAFT Federal Credit Union.

Participating high school students included: • Candy L. Gonzalez from PSJA North ECHS, Intern at The Numbers Co. • Jennifer Crossman from PSJA Memorial ECHS, Intern at Rio Grande Guardian • Serina Kornegay from PSJA Memorial ECHS, Intern at Rio Grande Guardian International News Service • Yesenia Padron from PSJA Southwest ECHS, Intern at The Monitor • Karina Padron from PSJA Southwest ECHS, Intern at The Monitor • Karla Vega from PSJA Sotomayor ECHS, Intern at NAFT Federal Credit Union In addition to providing high school students with the opportunity to earn college credit through the district’s Early College Program, PSJA ISD internship opportunities can open yet another door for students wanting to learn more about their career interest.

PSJA ISD is looking for additional business partners to join these efforts, if interested please email stephanie.mendez@psjaisd.us.

The McAllen Public Library is offering an exciting new service at the main library. The library’s 3D printers are now available to print designs submitted by library patrons. The printers, which use plastic filament to build objects layer by layer, can print just about any object that can be designed.

Patrons can design objects using 3D modeling websites, such as Tinkercad or Thingiverse, which also provide design-ready objects for printing. Patrons can then save the design on a flash drive in .STL format, bring it to the Computer Lab at the Main Library and talk to a staff member to submit the design for printing. The cost of 3D printing is .10 per gram and staff will give the patron an estimate on the time it will take for the print to be ready.

“Libraries are truly at the forefront of technology,” said Kate Horan, Library Director. “This service is the next step we are taking after the launch of our MPLab

space to provide access to new and exciting technology.”

In addition to the service, the library has classes available for all ages that serve as an introduction to 3D printing.

Patrons that register for the classes learn about the basics of 3D printing and get hands on experience with Thingiverse.

For more information about 3D printing and 3D printing classes, please visit http://www.mcallenlibrary.net/services/ mplab or call the library at 956-6813000.

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STC Students Participate in Annual Builders Blitz

STC HVAC&R instructor Arturo Zamarripa (far left) inspects work being completed by students at a job site in east Edinburg. Participating in Habitat for Humanity’s Builders Blitz event, students with with STC’s College Construction Supervision Program, along with its Electrician Program as well as HVAC&R receive hands-on experience while becoming close with the people they serve.

Students from South Texas College – Design & Building Technology Department partnered with a local builder, subcontractors, suppliers and trade professionals seeking to build a house from the ground up within the span of a week.

Participating in Habitat for Humanity’s

Builders Blitz event taking place in San Carlos, a community east of Edinburg, students with STC’s College Construction Supervision Program, along with its Electrician Program and HVAC&R in turn receive hands-on experience while becoming close with the people they serve.

McAllen Student National Merit Scholar Candidate Garrett Garzonie of McAllen High School has been named to a prestigious group of national scholars.

Out of an initial pool of 1.6 million students, Garzonie became one of the national Semifinalists in the 2018 National Merit® Scholarship Program, placing him in the top one percent in the country. Only five students in the Rio Grande Valley earned this honor.

Officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program on Wednesday, September 13. These high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship ® award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will win a

National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 420 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

About 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

For more information about the competition, please visit NMSC’s website at www.nationalmerit.org.

“Instead of our students being in a class, this is like their lab. They are here at a real job site” said Rey Sanchez, Design Building Technology Program Chair at STC. “Students from the HVACR program will install/fabricate the AC system, and students from the Electrician program will wire the house, “rough-in” with the assistance of faculty and 24 students. Students are expected to return to the project on Friday and complete the “electrical finish”. Students are reflecting a vital mission of the college, placing a strong value in giving back to the community, and taking what they have learned to make a difference in the lives of Valley families” Construction students often work with various humanitarian groups including Habitat for Humanity, Proyecto Azteca and Buckner International. At the construction site, students spent the day doing various jobs including all electrical work, insulation, drywall installation, painting, flooring, cabinets, trim and doors to benefit a family in a need.

“I brought my capstone class today.

These are my students who are planning

to graduate in December,” said Arturo Zamarripa, a full-time faculty instructor in the HVAC&R Program at STC. “This is a hands-on experience that they are gaining right now. We show them how to fabricate duct board, and we have another group running refrigerant lines.

“It’s very important for them to learn now because this is real world experience, and it enables them to understand the proper steps needed to do the job right,” Zamarripa said.

Habitat for Humanity receives applications year-round, and actively seeks low-income families to work with. Homeowners are then responsible for 300 “sweat equity” hours while their home is being constructed. The process then includes community volunteers who help organize the families, and then makes a determination of their eligibility.

This year’s home recipient is a single mother who is in need of a home for her three daughters. The job home will be located at 124 S. 83 ½ in San Carlos.

Construction took place from Sept. 11 to Sept. 16.

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Wednesday, September 20, 2017

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UT Rare Documents Collection Exhibits Maps at South Texas College South Texas College’s Pecan Campus Library Art Gallery presents “Mapping Mexican History: Territories in Dispute, Identities in Question,” a traveling exhibit featuring reproductions from UT’s Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection.

There will be a free digital map workshop on September 19 at 10 a.m. at the Pecan Campus Library, room F220 and at 1 p.m. at the Mid-Valley Campus CLE, room A105. Parking will be available on campus and no citations will be issued for guests. Lunch will be served.

Space is limited to 30 people.

Registration closes Wednesday, September 13.

“The maps presented in this exhibition span from 1580 to 1847, and reflect the intertwined relationships between indigenous and European, sec-

ular and religious, as well as national and foreign identities in Mexico’s evolution from colonial territory to modern state,” said Julianne Gilland, director

of the Benson’s Latin American Collection. “Taken together, the maps featured in the exhibition tell a story of Mexican territory as it was defined, redefined, and contested through three centuries.”

The exhibit will be on view from Monday, August 28 through Friday, October 27, 2017 at the Pecan Library. Admission is free and open to the public.

StoryMapJS, a web-based authoring platform will be introduced for the presentation of map and visual material analyses. Using historical Mexican maps held at the University of Texas at Austin’s Benson Latin American Collection, attendees

will learn how to create a set of zoom-able images, host them on Github, and bring them into StoryMapJS to create a dynamic visual-based story. No prior knowledge is necessary, and students or faculty from any discipline are encouraged to attend.

Workshops will be led by Itza Carbajal (Master of Science in Information Studies Candidate) and Albert A. Palacios (LLILAS Benson Digital Scholarship Coordinator) from The University of Texas at Austin.

For more information, contact Gina Otvos at (956) 8723488 or gotvos@southtexascollege.edu or visit http://library. southtexascollege.edu/lag.

UTRGV Online MPA Program Ranked Nationally for Quality, Affordability

Teachers prepare for HESTEC Greenpower USA South Texas Electric Car Challenge The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, through its HESTEC program, will host the first Greenpower USA Electric Car Challenge in Texas in spring 2018.

The competition uses the excitement of motorsport to inspire students from middle school, high school and college to excel in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) studies.

Only 30 school teams will have the opportunity to participate. The competition is open to the first 30 school teams that sign up. To register, email. Javi-

er.Garcia@utrgv.edu On Friday, Sept. 22, and Saturday, Sept 23, teachers will take part in training sessions to learn how to build and design the cars. More than 30 teachers already have signed up for the sessions.

At the end of the two-day workshop, teachers will be able to test the car they’ve built.

Media availability will take place between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. Friday, Sept 22, at the Gran Salón on the UTRGV Brownsville Campus.

Greenpower runs these engineering challenges for schools,

based around designing and building a single-seat, electric-powered racecar. The mission is to advance education for young people in the subjects of sustainable engineering and technology. UTRGV and Greenpower USA Foundation are collaborating to bring the HESTEC Greenpower USA Challenge South Texas to the Rio Grande Valley.

For more information about the HESTEC Greenpower USA South Texas Electric Car Challenge, visit http://www.utrgv. edu/gcr/programs/greenpower-redirect/index.htm.

The UTRGV Master of Public Affairs online degree program has been ranked 21st in the United States for its quality and affordability. UTRGV is the topranked program in the UT System, followed by UT Arlington in 22nd place.

The rankings were released by AffordableColleges.com, an online ranking program that helps prospective students find affordable schools and programs that match their educational interests.

In its ranking comments, the website says UTRGV “has embraced technology and the internet as a means to grow even bigger. UTRGV offers seven online graduate degrees, including a cheap online MPA. The school’s master of public affairs is a 36-credit program that grounds students in public policy analysis, grant writing, research, nonprofits, and the latest management techniques.

“The (UTRGV) curriculum was laid out to fit around a public-service manager’s busy schedule, and it can be pursued entirely online in an accelerated format.

Ambitious students can earn their diplomas in as little as 12 months.”

The full rankings list is available here: http://www.affordablecolleges.com/rankings/affordable-online-mpa-programs/.

AffordableColleges.com creates a “Value Score” for each school by weighing criteria – such as loan default rates, graduation rates and financial aid data – to winnow out programs that appear cheap at first glance and highlight those with long-term benefits.

Among the 50 schools ranked, UTRGV’s Value Score was 6.38.

The lowest score awarded was 4.38 and 7.86 was the highest.

According to the website, when calculating the rankings, they use the most recent data available from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Run by the US Department of Education, IPEDS offers reliable and accurate insight into affordability, academic pedigree, and online/distance learning programs. Using IPEDS data, AffordableColleges.com developed a 1-10 rating system which informs the order of the rankings. The closer a school is to a 10, the more value it offers its students. The methodology is available at the website.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

WWW.RGVTIMES.COM

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ALEJANDRO GUERRA ATTORNEY AT LAW

FEDERAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE Yarissa Diaz is surrounded by family and supportive staff members from Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Health System.

Raising Awareness on Fight Against Childhood Cancer Each year, pediatric cancer interrupts the childhood and limits the potential of thousands of young Americans. It is estimated that almost 16,000 Americans under the age of 20 will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and it remains the leading cause of disease-related death for children.

The Hidalgo County Commissioners Court unanimously proclaimed September as Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month.

“Before I read the Proclamation, I want to introduce a very special guest we have with us here today,” said Hidalgo County Public Affairs Director Julia Benitez Sullivan. “Yarissa Diaz is fouryears-old and a cancer survivor.”

Yarissa and her family were welcomed with a wave of applause from the audience.

“We really appreciate the county for amplifying this important message that helps support and draw attention to such an important fight that young children face daily,” said Dr. Gerardo Lopez-Mena, who serves as Medical Di-

rector of the Advanced Care Center at Renaissance Health Care.

“During this special month, our nation comes together to remember all those whose lives were cut short by pediatric cancer, to recognize the loved ones who know too well the pain it causes, and to support every child and every family battling cancer,” read the Proclamation, in part.

The Hidalgo County Commissioners Court encouraged all Hidalgo County residents to join in national observances and in reaffirming theirß commitment to fighting childhood cancer.

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