Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio
Summer 2011 Vol. 45
The
Paisano
Birth of football program chronicled in new miniseries on FOX Sports Network Stephen Whitaker
P8: Food truck frenzy
P11: The year in athletics
“There is so much to tell about the story. Now we have all summer to fill in the blanks” Lynn Hickey UTSA Athletic Director
Stephen Whitaker/ The Paisano
P9: Navigate the JPL
The Roadrunners have yet to take the field for a real game, but they are well on their way to building a fanbase, thanks to a television series aired on FOX Sports on Southwest and Houston stations. Two episodes have already aired, but before the first episode was shown to a regional audience, UTSA hosted a premiere party on May 13 in the Skyline Lounge at the Alamodome. Among the dignitaries were UTSA Athletic Director Lynn Hickey, Head Coach Larry Coker and general manager of FOX Sports Southwest, Jon Heidtke. The miniseries has been in the works for two years, thanks to a persistent Jim Goodman, UTSA athletics marketing director. “Jim Goodman called me and said, ‘I have a great idea for a TV show,’” Heidtke said. “He told me about what was going on down here, but I told him we had a lot going on.” Goodman didn’t give up; he kept at Heidtke to get out the story of UTSA football. “The more we talked, the more I realized that this was a story that needed to be told,” Heidtke said. The story of UTSA football--from the team to the band to the cheerleaders-- will unfold on the FOX Sports Southwest and FOX Sports Houston networks, available all over Texas and the bordering states. “The good news for the program is that this is going to be seen across a five-state area; Texas and the four contiguous states,” Heidtke said. “In addition to that, FOX College Sports is going to show it in 55 mil-
FOX Sports Southwest GM Jon Heidtke speaks at the premiere of the miniseries “UTSA Football: Birth of a Program.” The miniseries will follow football through the first game in Sept. lion homes nationally.” FOX Sports will advertise the show during the summer on broadcasts over its Southwest and Houston networks. “It will be promoted in telecasts of Rangers’ games, Astros’ games, our Big 12 coverage,” Heidtke said. “I think it will be a big shot in the arm for this program.”
Campus emergency phones out of order Of the four blue emergency phones inside Chaparral Village, all are at least partially broken. Of those four, two function as phones but have a broken blue top lights making them practically invisible at night. One is completely broken― and, most worrying of all, one is not functional as a phone. However, the blue light remains on, creating what Steve Barrera, UTSAPD’s chief of police, describes as “a false sense of security.” Across the main and downtown campuses only five of the 113 total phones are not functioning, but that number does not include the functioning phones with broken lights. In response to the light issue, Daniel Pena, UTSAPD’s assistant chief of police, said, “There is not specifically a light switch on the poles; we would have to manually go in there and disable them, but it’s something we can look into implementing.” He added that “generally the broken poles are wrapped in black plastic.” Barrera said that the reason for the non-functioning phones in Chaparral Village is the defective wiring to which both of the phones are connected. UTSAPD and Housing and Residence Life are currently col-
Burk Frey/ The Paisano
Dan Rossiter
Five of the 113 emergency poles have non-functioning phones, not including the poles without working lights. lecting bids from contractors to repair the problem. Barrera estimates that the phones should be fixed by the end of June. When questioned about defective Chaparral Village phones, Director of Housing and Residence Life Lionel Maten acknowledged the phone issue but said that students need not be too worried because “Housing and Residence Life has installed close to $70,000
worth of security cameras this summer,” which should provide added security. As the UTSA campuses expand, Pena said that the number of emergency phones will also increase. He added that the general policy for emergency phone placement is approximately 100 yards of walkway per phone, though that number varies based on the specifics of each location. Pena estimates that in an average year, only one “true emergency” is reported through the blue phones, given the increased use of cell phones since the blue phones were first installed in the 1970s. However, Pena insists that “(preventing) any incident that is going to put a student, faculty or staff member’s life or safety in danger, to us, is worth all that expenditure.” Barrera said that the phones are intended to “let people feel safer knowing that there is a blue phone not too far away.” According to Barrera, the blue phones are inspected weekly and, if repairs are needed, they are generally completed within a week. For a complete map of all of the blue emergency phones, please visit The Paisano’s website (paisano-online.com).
Craig Cuney, executive producer, wanted to do a show that would represent the birth of a program. “When I first came here, I wanted to do something that was really going to be impressive to the story. Cuney said. After I stopped, met with Lynn Hickey and Brad Parrot and found out their motives for bringing in football, I realized the story
of how this all came about was as important as the story on the field.” As associate athletics director for external affairs, Parrot had an important part in the birth of the program as well as in the miniseries, namely, making sure there was a story to tell. “If it wasn’t for Brad Parrot, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Hickey said. “His dedication, his vision and all the things he has put together are outstanding.” In the past, a football program starting up would not have drawn much attention outside of its locality, but thanks to modern media and the UTSA’s location in the second largest city in Texas, the birth of football has become big news outside of Bexar County. “I was drawn to this story because you don’t get to launch a football program at the Division One level very often,” Heidtke said. See FOOTBALL, Page 16
New Main Campus visual laboratory promotes research Burk Frey On May 17, UTSA unveiled another component in its drive towards Tier One research status, and the university’s newest effort is its most visual yet. Officially known as the Advanced Visualization Laboratory, the workspace uses specialized equipment to allow researchers to envision data in ways not possible with ordinary technology. The MS Building’s Advanced Visualization Laboratory (Vis Lab) features three key interfaces to achieve this goal. The Vis Lab houses an 82-inch stereoscopic 3-D screen, which will enable users to see threedimensional models and visual data on a large scale. At an open house showcasing the laboratory, the screen was used to display 3-D models of molecular compounds, though countless other uses are possible. A second screen inside the Vis Lab is tied to a high sensitivity haptic device, which is essentially a controller that researchers can use to “feel” a computerrendered object in 3-D space. The device works by providing levels of resistance that match up to the object shown on the screen, giving a very life-like sensation. During the open house, it was used to simulate a surgery, matching on-screen visuals with the appropriate
paisano-online.com
kinds of resistance for skin and organs. The final and largest interface is a 14-foot-wide array of computer screens, all in sync, used to interpret the very largest images and sets of data. Known as the Visualization Wall, the array of screens can display photos at 98 megapixels of resolution, scaling and zooming into areas of interest at near-instant speed. To achieve this speed with such large files, the screens use a Linux-based computer cluster of 144 CPUs and 2880 GPUs running in unison. Though the Vis Lab just opened, student researchers have begun to use the facility. “We already have four graduate students and one undergraduate student working in the lab,” Vis Lab Director Dr. Yusheng Feng said. Feng has been involved with the Vis Lab since overseeing a grant application in 2009 to fund the creation of the laboratory. Critically, the Visualization Wall and the other components of the Vis Lab will eventually be networked via high-speed Internet2 connection to the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.
See VIS LAB, Page 6