UNIVERSITY PRESS
The Newspaper of Lamar University
Vol. 92, No. 4 October 1, 2015
LU celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month Kara Timberlake UP staff writer In observation of Hispanic Heritage Month, Lamar University is hosting a variety of Hispanic culture events across campus through Nov. 4. âHispanic Heritage Month events are an effort to foster an inclusive environment that recognizes and celebrates the richness of Hispanic culture, and the contributions of Hispanics to American culture,â Cynthia Parra, office of diversity and inclusion assistant director, said. âAnother goal is to prepare students to thrive in a culturally di-
verse and global society.â Parra said Hispanic Heritage Month will educate the Lamar campus about Hispanic culture, history and social issues. Hispanic Heritage Month activities began Sept. 15 with a kickoff featuring a Tres Leches (three milks) cake-eating contest, Hispanic music and a trivia game that tested student knowledge of Hispanic culture and famous people. âThis event offered an opportunity for the Lamar University community to taste and hear Hispanic culture, as well as learn more about the contributions that Hispanics made,â
Parra said. Sept. 15 marks the independence anniversary for five Latin American countries â Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on Sept. 16, and Chile on Sept. 18. âNational Hispanic Heritage Month had its origins in 1968 when Congress passed Pub. L. 90-498, which authorized and requested the president to issue an annual proclamation designating the week, including Sept. 15 and 16, as National Hispanic Heritage Week,â she said. âPresident Lyndon Johnson is-
UP Grant Crawford
Students participate in Salsa Night, Sept. 23, in the Setzer Student Center Ballroom. The event was part of the Hispanic Heritage Month activities.
sued the first such proclamation, Presidential Proclamation 3869. In 2011, Lamarâs leader-
Casting for research
ship and development depart-
See HERITAGE page 4
Comm dept. grant equips students for âreal worldâ Trevier Gonzalez UP contributor
tion is not just found in the classroom, but something that continues oneâs whole life. âIt is called lifelong learning,â he said. âYou are a student all your life, and I think we are successful in our education if we can teach students to be lifelong learners. Learning doesnât stop when you step off campus.â With the changing demands of the industry, Palanki said he is confident in the evolution of the engineering program. âI think there is definitely going to be a more focused attention on research, because when Lamar started out, we were basically a teaching institution that served the local industry,â he said. âWe have outgrown that role. We outgrew
Following a successful grant proposal with the city of Beaumont, Lamar University broadcasting and film students will be able to take advantage of a $263,219 grant that provides a professional, hands-on approach within the communication department. LUTVâs studio will also be receiving upgrades. âWe were part of writing a grant proposal to the city of Beaumont to request money for the studio,â Shenid Bhayroo, assistant professor in broadcasting, said. âThe city made us aware that they had money that they could possibly allocate to Lamarâs television facility in broadcast journalism, so we put together a strong proposal to request the money from the city, and the proposal was successful.â OâBrien Stanley, chair in the communication department, said the new equipment will encourage advancement for students. âWith the grant, weâre getting more news-related software, a total of 30 cameras, and tripods, bags, lenses â everything to support more growth in all these areas,â he said. âAnd the city is fine with that, thatâs what they want us to do.â Bhayroo said that the grant will enable students access to better equipment. âWe are able to replace our aging equipment â particularly the cameras that we use to gather news in the field and the cameras that we use to teach with,â he said. Clinton Rawls, broadcast programming manager for Channel 7, details the departmentâs acquisitions.
See PALANKI page 2
See LUTV page 6
UP Kyle Swearingen
Srinivas Palanki, dean of the College of Engineering, holds a full-size glass reproduction of his face that he cast during a material science class.
Dean Palanki promotes life-long learning Kyle Swearingen UP contributor Srinivas Palanki is not two faced, but the new College of Engineering dean sees his reflection every day. A life-size glass reproduction of his face sits on the file cabinet in his office. âI was teaching this class on material science,â he said. âOne of the processes we do is casting. I had taken a glassblowing class, just for fun, and I had access to the glass shop. So, instead of doing a rectangular part we (did) a cast of my face. How often do you see that? Everyone remembers the casting part.â Palanki joined Lamar University in July, part of a wave of new administrators at the school. âThe president is relatively new, and
three of the five deans are new, and the provost is new,â he said. âSo, I think this is an exciting time for Lamar University. There is fresh thinking â new ideas â and there is a chance the new ideas will be implemented. This is a very unique opportunity.â Palanki said he believes college should be about preparing students for the realities of the job market after graduation. âLetâs say you work for Exxon Mobil â five years into the job, nobody will ask you if you are a chemical engineer or an electrical engineer,â he said. âThe question they ask is, âWhat can you do? Can you run the refinery?â If there is a skill you didnât quite have in college, and you acquire that skill, then you are a successful engineer.â Palanki said he believes that educa-
Abelmanâs perspectives âEvolve into manyâ Alumnusâ art show to open Saturday Brooke Stinebrickner UP contributor
âTo Be or Not to Be Americanâ by Maurice Abelman
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In todayâs world, there are many ways to express oneâs self. Through graphic design and art, Maurice Abelman is able to creatively demonstrate his views on society. âI usually do drawings about what surrounds me,â he said. âThis is where I am trying to take my work â to create different types of meaning from the way we see things. I just think the reason why I am doing this, is trying to understand how we as American people can get to a certain point, a certain train of thought. âAll of these ideas that combine together, these perspectives, they combine together to form a greater whole. I donât know if it is physically possible to
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draw or paint a perfect reflection of society, but my ultimate goal is to try and achieve that somehow.â The Lamar graduate will present âEvolve into Many,â a show of recent works, at The Art Studio Inc., Saturday through Oct. 23, with an opening reception at 7 p.m., Saturday. This will be the San Diego nativeâs first solo show at The Studio. His works consist of graphic design, printmaking and woodblock carvings. âThis show is called âEvolve into Many,â because it is a reflection of a lot of different aspects of the work where I am taking single prints and evolving into many different prints, many different concepts,â he said. âI started understanding that one perception of the See ABELMAN page 4
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