My Lover Went To UT Austin see page 6
Most Unbreakable Sports Records see page 10
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio
March 6, 2012
Volume 47
Issue 8
Richard Rowley Intern
news@paisano-online.com If you’ve ever watched television or read by the light of a fluorescent lamp, you, like billions of other people on the planet, have benefitted from the physical properties of substances called phosphors. Most of us take them for granted or don’t even realize they are there, but they convert otherwise invisible energy into (usually) visible light by glowing when energized. Without them, television screens and fluorescent lights would not function, but you might be surprised to know that phosphors have other, more high-tech, applications. Research conducted at UTSA by Dr. Ajith Kumar and graduate student Madhab Pokhrel promises to improve technologies such as solar energy, commercial product authentication, medical testing and many others. Kumar has developed a phosphor that is more sensitive to infrared (IR) frequencies than any other known phosphor. The implications of his research go beyond the applications themselves. Not only does the research have the potential to improve the technologies mentioned and more, it does so at a
lower cost in terms of energy used. Since IR energy takes less energy to produce than higher frequency energy, such as ultraviolet (UV), IR energy production is most cost-effective and more efficient—in other words, it’s greener. According to Kumar, more than half of the solar energy that strikes a solar cell is wasted because the currently used material responds only to limited bandwidths of energy. Kumar says the use of a highly efficient phosphor such as his would extend the range of frequencies that solar cells could use to produce energy, becoming much more efficient than what current technology allows. With the world trying to transition from finite to sustainable energy sources, this type of development can be groundbreaking. In the field of commercial product authentication—or the prevention of counterfeiting—the use of highly-efficient phosphors like Kumar’s has even wider applications. Counterfeiting and stealing intellectual property drives up the cost of many commercial goods. It costs industries and the public some $200 billion annually, according to ipwatchdog.com. Phosphors are being used increasingly to make counterfeiting harder to get away with. According to Dr. Kumar, they are used in everything
from paper money, to cigarettes, to blue jeans. For example, phosphors are woven in very specific patterns into the fabric of certain brands of blue jeans to distinguish them from their illegitimate counterparts. “By adjusting the composition and selecting the suitable emission color of interest, we can design phosphors that show thousands of well-defined spectral features, and that is the major property utilized in the authentication process,” Kumar said. “When we design an authentication material for a specific product, we also design a specific (usually IR-sensitive) sensor that can detect [specific hidden features inside the material] for that specific emission color.” IR-sensitive phosphors are much more difficult to detect than the commonly used UV-sensitive phosphors. “So, simply by shining the IR laser or LED from the sensing device we can (detect the hidden) features coded inside the material,” Kumar said. IR-sensitive phosphors can also be used in certain medical testing procedures that require a dye contrast. According to Kumar, this lessens the need to use higher frequency energy, like x-rays, that are more harmful to patients and require much higher levels of energy to operate.
Brianna Cristiano / The Paisano
Counterfeiters BEWARE! New tech spots knock-offs
Dr. Ajith Kumar shines an infrared laser on one of his cutting edge phosphors.
Melissa Lopez Intern
Stephen Whitaker/The Paisano
news@paisano-online.com Recent problems with redistricting could be a thing of the past for Texas voters thanks to an online voting system for presidential primary candidate elections called AmericansElect.org. With this system, Americans can bypass the current presidential primary nomination system by being able to choose a third-party candidate. Americans Elect is the first national online presidential primary voting website that allows registered voters to gain access to ballots in all 50 states by the time the presidential primary elections are held. Texas redistricting has been a harrowing experience for many according to former congressman, Ciro Rodri-
Courtesy of Torrie Jackson
New law expands meningitis vaccine requirements for UTSA students under 30 Madelyn Garner Intern
news@paisano-online.com
See VACCINE, Page 3
Students can vote online using ASAP for important issues such as SGA elections and student fees.
votes in a solid block for their interests has been fractured so that there is no more political power.” Because of the ongoing redistricting issues, Texas voters are being forced to wait until late May to choose a candidate for president. See ONLINE VOTING, Page 4
Meet the Roadrunner of the Month
A student is about to receive a vaccine for bacterial menengitis to become compliant with new the law.
First time UTSA students, including new transfer students, are required by a new Texas law to be vaccinated against bacterial meningitis or provide documentation of prior vaccination before the start of the spring 2012 semester. Immunization records were due to UTSA Health Services no later than ten days prior to the first day of classes. Exemptions from the vaccine were granted to qualifying students who were enrolled last fall; however, those students meeting the vaccine requirements who were not enrolled in the fall will now be required receive the vaccine or provide immunization records prior to the 2012 summer and fall semesters. The new law expands previous legislation passed in 2009 requiring meningitis vaccines for Texas college students under 30 living on campus to include students residing off campus as well.
guez. “Texas Legislature unfairly allowed racial bias and discriminatory practices to infect their maps,” Rodriguez said. “Those maps, and to a great extent these interim maps, disenfranchise minority voters across the state and deny them the opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice.” For San Antonio, this means that there will be map divisions that will redistrict areas drastically. “The interim maps divide communities across the southside of Bexar County into four congressional districts, and Travis County is divided into five congressional districts,” Rodriguez said. “Harlandale has been particularly fractured, being divided into three separate congressional districts. This is what is called fracturing…when a solid community who
www.utsa.edu/asap
Ready for online voting?
Roadrunner of the Month for December/January Torrie Jackson.
Joshua Morales Staff Writer
news@paisano-online.com Many students toil away trying to work for their diplomas, and most of their peers see this as a typical life for a college student. But a handful of students have taken advantage of their
college life in a different way. Every month, the Student Leadership Center honors a student with the title “Roadrunner of the Month.” The Roadrunner of the Month program is still relatively new to UTSA; therefore, many students may not be familiar with the program. More importantly, students may not be fully aware of the benefits that can come from being “Roadrunner of the Month.” Director of Student Leadership Development Yvonne Pena explained that the Roadrunner of the Month program was established at the same time the Student Leadership Center was created in the fall of 2010—Jennifer Preza being the first student to hold the title. “Student Leadership Center wanted to create a recognition program that highlights students who exhibit outstanding leadership contributions and
qualities at UTSA,” Pena said. The Student Leadership Program recently named junior Torrie Jackson as the Roadrunner of the Month for December/January. Jackson—who was nominated by Pesha Mabrie, UTSA Coordinator of Housing and Residence Life—is a psychology major and a resident assistant at Chaparral Village. Jackson was described as being an excellent leader, and according to Mabrie, she was a mentor to many new resident assistants and assisted them by making sure everyone knew the proper procedures at the front desk. Certain criteria must be met for nomination eligibility. Students must be full-time UTSA undergraduates or graduates and have a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or higher at the time of nomination. (to continue reading the rest of this story go to paisanoonline.com)