UTSA The UTSA Downtown Campus Child Care Initiative is conducting a survey to better understand the needs of the students at the UTSA Downtown Campus in regards to child care services and resources. The answers provided will help the university gauge student opinion on the need for child care at the Downtown campus. The survey is available at https:// w w w.su r ve y monkey.com/r/TVGFFSJ
MAKING THE GRADE
Your professor doesn’t want to make their dean’s list
S.G.A. According to Student Government Association’s meeting minutes, the plan to bring IHOP to campus will be cancelled due to a corporate hold.
Here’s why: Caroline Traylor News Editor
@carolinetraylor news@paisano-online.com
Texas On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Henry “Hank” Whitman, a former chief of the Texas Rangers, to head the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. The agency has been a source of controversy lately due to a spike in the number of kids sleeping in state office buildings and in psychiatric hospitals. A recent federal court ruling condemned the state’s long-term foster care as an inhumane institution in which children “often age out of care more damaged than when they entered.”
Science Future solar panels will harness energy from fallen raindrops. Researchers in China have demonstrated that by using a thin layer of graphene to coat their solar panels, they can generate electricity. Graphene is known for its conductivity, among many other benefits. All it takes is a mere one-atom thick graphene layer for an excessive amount of electrons to move as they wish across the surface. In situations where water is present, graphene binds its electrons with positively charged ions. Some call this the Lewis acidbase interaction.
See Faculty, Page 5
DFW is not just an airport in Dallas. The acronym has different meaning for all UTSA educators : drop, fail, withdraw. The number of students who drop, fail or withdraw from an instructor’s course comprise their DFW rate. Many faculty members, particularly in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts (COLFA), are perturbed and anxious about the pressure from
the administration and its tactics to improve DFW rates. Because their future positions at UTSA are contingent upon the academic success and retention of their students.
“Faculty will recognize that their employment depends on this,” said Dr. Jill Hernandez, - associate professor of philosophy and the Faculty Senate’s secretary of general faculty. “We’re under immense pressure to improve graduation rates,” she said. The metrics UTSA uses to measure student success can be found in UTSA’s Four Year Graduation Rate Improvement Plan (GRIP). Currently UTSA’s four year
Is there enough green to ‘go green’? Alyssa Gonzales News Assistant
@alyssargonzales news@paisano-online.com In an effort to promote green initiatives and campus sustainability, UTSA has hired Dr. Keith Muhlestein as the new Director of Sustainability. As the face of green efforts on campus, working closely with students, President Ricardo Romo and the UTSA Sustainability Counsel to complete green initiatives. Muhlestein will be returning to UTSA for a fourth time. He earned his undergraduate degree, his masters in environmental science and his Ph.D. in environmental science and engineering from UTSA. Considering his ties to UTSA, Muhlestein was excited about the opportunities to improve his home campus. “There has not been a job like this before, because UTSA has just created the Office of Sustainability. So it is my job to create the job and define what it means for UTSA to follow a sustainable path,” Muhlestein said. “It takes a while to get a new office off the ground,
“The next big step is determining what will happen with the Green Fund once the funds are depleted,” says Ashley Polluck, chair of the green fund committee. The green fee was implemented in 2010 and expired this spring. Fabian De Soto, The Paisano; Photo of Dr. Muhlestein courtesy of UTSA
but it’s happening. Step by step we will make it go; bit by bit the wheels are turning.” Muhlestein maintains a close relationship with the UTSA Green Fund. The Green Fund is a studentled organization funded through the “green fee,” a five-dollar tack on tuition, which has funded the new Director of Sustainability position as well as many other green efforts on campus. “Keith, being the new Director of Sustainability, is going to bring synergy among university departments and student groups. He is looking at ways to make UTSA better, by working with Business
Auxiliary Services and finding ways that are not only financially sustainable but environmentally,” Chair of the Green Fund Committee Ashley Pollock said. “The next big step is determining what will happen with the Green Fund once the funds are depleted.” The “green fee” was implemented in 2010 and only written into UTSA tuition for five years. As of Spring 2016, UTSA students were no longer charged a “green fee.” Both the Office of Sustainability and the Green Fund will have to fundraise and solicit private donors to continue their efforts. “Personally, it bothers me
that a $5 fee for sustainability is seen as less necessary than a $120 recreation center fee (per semester), but unfortunately there is not much that can be done at this point,” Vice Chair of the Green Fund Committee Christopher Adkison said. “However, part of the purpose of funding the Director of Sustainability was for (Muhlestein) to help us look into the possible fundraising opportunities at UTSA, such as receiving donations/sponsors from companies in San Antonio that might already support UTSA.” In three years, Muhlestein will have to turn other sources of funding;
however, he and Pollock are discussing the possible revenue generating options for both the Office of Sustainability and the Green Fund. “What I really want is momentum, someone to get behind a project. Take littering for example. They go out to pick up trash around campus and drag their three best friends out with them, and then they’re going to get mad about trash and all of a sudden you have a movement on your hands,” Muhlestein said.
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April 12 - April 19, 2016
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Date subject to change. See office for details.
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April 12 - April 19, 2016
Climate change: a two million year old story
The dinosaur’s Latin name means “Twin Predatory Thief of the Suarezes” in honor of Suarez and her sister.
Based on the size of Geminiraptor Suarezarum’s cranial capacity relative to its body size, paleontologists believe this dinosaur was smarter than most: perhaps about as intelligent as a modern day roadrunner.
“Since I was probably six years old, my dream was to find a dinosaur ”. Dr. Marina Suarez
Photos courtesy of Dr. Marina Suarez
Katelyn Wilkinson Staff Writer
@KatelynMarie11 news@paisano-online.com When paleontologist Dr. Marina Suarez and her sister explored a site in Utah, they found the bones of a dinosaur sticking out out of the side of an outcrop of exposed rock. The dinosaur, Geminiraptor Suarezarum, was later named after Suarez. The 2004 discovery took place while the sisters were working on graduate degrees.
Assistant professor of geology at UTSA Now Suarez, an assistant professor of geology at UTSA has been awarded a $478,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund her research in paleoclimatology. In 2004, Suarez and her twin sister, a fellow paleontologist, were working on their master’s research at a site in Utah. The dinosaur was an exciting discovery for Suarez. “Since I was probably six years old, my dream was
to find a dinosaur,” said Suarez who later went on to research paleoclimatology, the study of Earth’s climate in the past. The focus of Suarez’s research is deep-time paleoclimatology which studies Earth’s climate predating the current glacial/interglacial system, approximately two million years ago. Suarez said that deeptime paleoclimatology enables scientists to study the full range of Earth’s climates allowing them
Correct clocks at UTSA? Only time can tell Kevin Prichard Staff Writer
@ThePaisano news@paisano-online.com For more than a week, clocks around the UTSA main campus were losing time, giving students a legitimate reason to frequently check their phones. Some students have expressed that the broken clocks have been stressful during exams,
especially written exams that rely on time management for essays. Other students have not noticed. It seems that when clocks break, a smartphone is a student’s alternative. “It didn’t affect me that much because I had my phone,” freshman Angela San Juan said. Christi Fish, executive director of university communications, handles facility-related complaints. According to Fish, the cause of the
incident was a power surge that damaged two pieces of equipment that support the master clock, its power supply and its circuit board. Without the master clock sending a correcting pulse to all other clocks on campus, clocks fall out of sync and display inaccurate times. “It makes the university look like it’s being run by idiots,” claimed English professor Robert Wilhite regarding frequent malfunctions of clocks around campus. Many clocks on campus now keep accurate time. The facilities team will perform a spot check this week to ensure repairs on the master clock have resolved the issue.
Fabian De Soto, The Paisano
to understand cause-andeffect relationships within Earth’s climate and to predict Earth’s response to varying events. For instance, Suarez said climatologists expect that CO2 concentrations in the next century will exceed the range of CO2 concentrations of the last two million years. “So, to better understand how the climate system responds to that amount of carbon in the atmosphere, studying past greenhouse climates is important,”
Suarez said. The NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award is given to faculty members who aim to integrate education and research within their organizations. Community college students will help Suarez with research in the Summer 2016 semester, involving changes in climate following carboncycle disruptions during the cretaceous period. She also plans to use her data to write labs for her
classes. Suarez said that she was honored to receive the prestigious award and hopes that the funding will give her the opportunity to be positively influence students. “After all, I feel like I’ve been successful so far because I’ve had great mentors throughout my education, and I’d like to pay it forward and also be a good mentor.”
2016 presidential primary results
Graphic by Madeline Harper
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri
Trump Cruz Trump Trump TBD Cruz TBD TBD Trump Trump Trump Cruz Trump TBD Cruz Cruz Trump Trump Cruz TBD Trump Trump Rubio* Trump Trump
Clinton Sanders Clinton Clinton TBD Sanders TBD TBD Clinton Clinton Sanders Sanders Clinton TBD Clinton Sanders TBD Clinton Sanders TBD Clinton Sanders Sanders Clinton Clinton
Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
TBD TBD Trump Trump TBD TBD TBD Trump TBD Kasich Cruz TBD TBD TBD Trump TBD Trump Cruz Cruz Trump Trump TBD TBD Cruz Cruz
TBD Sanders Clinton Sanders TBD TBD TBD Clinton TBD Clinton Sanders TBD TBD TBD Clinton TBD Clinton Clinton Sanders Sanders Clinton Sanders TBD Sanders Sanders
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April 12 - April 19, 2016
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NEWS
Faculty put to the test by DFW metrics
Q&A: DROP, FAIL AND WITHDRAWAL RATES With Dr. John H. Frederick Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs University of Texas at San Antonio
continued from page 1
Interview conducted by Caroline Traylor Photo courtesy of UTSA
Q:
What alerted you to be concerned with DFW rates among UTSA students and what strategies are being implemented to reduce them? Do rates vary among colleges? There seems to be a particular concern among the Sciences.
A couple of years ago, I asked to see the data for failure rates in gateway courses after hearing anecdotes about students retaking classes numerous times. I was concerned that retaking courses was one cause for students taking longer than four years to complete their degrees. The DFW rates do vary among colleges, with the defining characteristic being that more quantitative courses tend to have higher failure rates. This includes primarily courses in sciences, engineering and business though there are isolated courses in other disciplines with high failure rates also.
Q:
How do improving DFW rates impact UTSA’s four year plan to improve graduation rates?
There are several ways that lowering DFW rates promotes faster degree completion, the most obvious being that students would not have to retake courses as much, creating additional capacity for other students in those courses who are otherwise on track for a four-year degree. The net result should be easier scheduling for students and more attention paid for helping students succeed academically.
Q:
Is there a higher concentration of DFW rates in certain disciplines?
The higher DFW rates appear to be clustered in quantitative disciplines like the natural sciences, engineering, mathematics and accounting, though I am pleased that most of those areas have greatly decreased the course rate failure rates, particularly general chemistry and principles of accounting.
Q:
How do you respond to faculty who say that it’s the students’ responsibility to not drop, withdraw or fail their courses?
Traditionally, faculty have been the master of everything that happens in the classroom, and they have been right to hold students accountable for poor performance or, in some cases, non-performance (and non attendance). The message that we are trying to communicate to faculty is that they can take ownership of student performances by, in some classes, changing the way that they organize and manage their classes. For example, they could incorporate regular test/quizzes that encourage student attendance, they could adopt more active-learning techniques to engage students in the learning process and they could do more to reach out to under-performing students in their classes to help them earn a better grade. These approaches have been successfully employed by a number of faculty members on our campus, and some of those faculty recently shared their experiences in a great workshop that was organized by the Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars. I think the take-home message from the workshop is that the faculty member does not have to lower their standards to achieve lower DFW rates, but they do have to take some different approaches to their reaching and increase the support that they provide to students in their classes.
Q:
What about the students who simply choose not to attend classes? How does an instructor bring those students along in regards to reducing DFW rates?
Students who fail to attend a class should not pass the class. There is a very strong correlation (found in many universities) between class attendance and academic success. Part of what students need to learn in college is that succeeding in life means showing up, being prepared when you show up and paying attention while you are there. These may seem like simple ideas, but if students don’t attend class, they cannot learn even these simple, straightforward lessons that will serve them well in whatever career they may choose. We are in the process of re-instituting the policy that allows a faculty member to drop a student who has not attended class, or attended only a small percentage of class sessions. Faculty who wish to exercise this option, however, must include some indication that they will do so in their syllabus. It will be important for all students to understand that their continued registration in a class may be dependent upon their regular attendance in class.
Q:
How do you recommend blancing students’ success and instructors’ responsibility in reducing DFW rates with academic integrity and without grade inflation?
As I have told faculty on several occasions, we do not want them to lower their standards and inflate the grades that they assign. We do want them to be more supportive of students, and help them meet the standards that the faculty member has set. We also want them to think hard about what they really want to achieve in terms of long-term learning outcomes among their students. Another way to frame this is that, if a student has emerged from a semester-long class with a failing grade (D or F) or has withdrawn from the class, what have they really learned from the instructor? And if they have not learned anything, then the instructor has to take some ownership of that result. However, a student who fails through non-attendance bears a heavy responsibility for their own failure, and the faculty-instituted drop policy should help protect faculty from being held accountable for student behavior beyond their control. Most faculty on campus care deeply about the success of their students, and it bothers them when students do not put forth a strong effort to learn the material they are teaching. I think the optimal resolution will occur when faculty and students meet each other halfway to achieve better learning outcomes and greater satisfaction with the instructional process. Faculty are always most satisified when students show a genuine interest in the course material, but sometimes, it requires that faculty adopt novel methods in class to achieve that heightened level of interest among students - this is the result that we are striving for at UTSA.
Q:
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April 12 - April 19, 2016
Are there many instances of courses with the same textbook and curriculum with a dramatic disparity in DFW rates?
Yes, one of our concerns from the beginning has been disparities in DFW rates among different sections of the same course. When these have been correlated with particular instructors, we have been alerting department chairs to address the discrepancy to ensure that there is consistent treatment of students regardless of the particular section that they have been enrolled in. I believe that this is important to assure students that equivalent academic standards are being employed.
graduation rate is 19 percent while the five and six year rates are in the 45 percent range. Improving graduating rates is a key step to reaching Tier One status, a top priority of President Ricardo Romo as laid out in his UTSA 2016 Strategic Plan. In February, Dr. Daniel Gelo, the dean of COLFA, sent a memorandum to the college’s faculty regarding DFW rates. In it, he stated that DFW rates are an important factor to consider as part of efforts to improve metrics of student progress. According to Gelo, over the past several months, Chancellor (of the UT System) McRaven, President Romo and Provost Frederick urged the deans of UTSA’s nine colleges to develop strategies to improve DFW rates. The average DFW rate across all COLFA courses is currently 17 percent. Therefore, rates much higer than this, are not consistent with departmental standards for what is achievable, according to the Dean of COLFA. “Provost Frederick has identified 20 percent as the rate that should trigger concern. A small number of COLFA faculty routinely exceed the 20 percent rate, often while multiple other colleagues teach the same course in the same semester without exceeding the rate,” Gelo stated. To address professors whose DFW rates are higher than 20 percent, Gelo met with department chairs and created the following guidelines and consequences: •Beginning Spring 2016, T/ TT (full time tenured/tenured track) faculty whose DFW rate in any course exceeds 20 percent will be required to meet their department chair to explore the reasons for these grade profiles and to design strategies for improving. •Beginning Fall 2016, T/TT faculty whose DFW rate in any course exceeds 20 percent will be required to furnish the chair and dean with a written action plan for reducing the rate in future courses. The plan should include attendance at teaching workshops, study of student feedback, regular peer classroom visits, affiliation with a faculty teaching mentor and other means of bringing individual courses into comportment with departmental grading standards and learning outcomes. These plans will be appended to annual workload agreements, and agreements will be regarded as incomplete without them. •Faculty whose DFW rates in any course are in excess of 20 percent in a second semester following submission of an action plan will be assigned a rating of “fails to meet expectations” in the teaching category of the annual merit evaluation by the dean’s office •Faculty whose DFW rates in any course in excess of 20 percent in a second semester after submission of an action plan will be assigned a rating of “unsatisfactory” in the teaching category of the annual merit evaluation by the dean’s office. NTT faculty who receive an “unsatisfactory” rating for high DFW rates will
“Are grades awarded or are they earned? If they’re simply awarded, the value of a UTSA degree is diminished.” Dr. Jill Hernandez Associate professor of philosophy Faculty Senate, secretary of general faculty not be retained. Hernandez believes that the problem of high DFW rates should be addressed with faculty generated solutions. “Are grades awarded or are they earned?” Hernandez asked. “If they’re simply awarded, the value of a UTSA degree is diminished.” Many faculty are concerned that new DFW reduction strategies might lead to grade inflation. A professor who received Dr. Gelo’s memorandum and is on the DFW “watch list” is worried that the regulation will lead to academic dishonesty. They wish to remain anonymous as they aren’t tenured and do not want to jeopardize their future at UTSA. “We’re directed to give C’s or better,” the faculty member said as they opened a grade-book, riddled with A’s (indicating absences) T’s (marking tardiness) and C’s (documenting cell phone use in class). They said the only two reasons a student might fail their class is if they don’t show up, or they don’t do the work. “What if they started doing this in medical school? Would you go to that doctor?” the faculty member said. Gelo emphasized in the memorandum that faculty shouldn’t abandon their standards or subscribe to grade inflation “as a way of avoiding the challenge” but stated that “instructor attitudes in the ‘gatekeeper’ or ‘sink or swim’ vein are contrary to university values and objectives regarding student success.” “I will not contribute to UTSA’s prestige or renowned success unless it’s demonstrated through the success of my students. I’m a teacher. But the students need to learn,” the unnamed professor said. The Faculty Senate recently approved a resolution in response to Dr. Gelo’s memorandum. While the body supports efforts to address DFW disparities across classes, many faculty members and Faculty Senate members “are very concerned.” The last two bullet points of the memorandum, (previously listed) are particularly disturbing to the Faculty Senate, which describes the policies as “an affront to academic freedom of COLFA faculty members and department chairs through the use of overly structured definitions of consequences for evaluation”.” Another qualm the Faculty Senate has with the policies is that they seem to be at odds with the Handbook of Operating
Procedures, which indicate “collaboration and faculty governance are fundamental to all matters relating to academic policy as policy appears to have been crafted and implemented without input or involvement of faculty members”.” “If it’s really a team problem, there needs to be a team solution,” said Dr. Hernandez. The resolution states that a faculty member in good faith who is actively working to address his or her DFW rate shouldn’t be subject to such inflexible and punitive consequences. However, DFW rates are addressed differently among the university’s different colleges. Mechanical engineering junior Stephen Kapp does not appreciate the monitoring of metrics among college deans and believes they led his favorite professor to leave UTSA. He explained that in his fluid mechanics class in February, his professor reluctantly offerred an explanation as to why he wouldn’t be returning to class the next day. “The university had been sending him emails claiming that his numbers were different than others teaching the same course. Apparently, his percentage of A’s was significantly higher and his DFW rate was lower than other professors in mechanical engineering,” Kapp said. According to Kapp, the university intervened, and insisted the professor conform to the department’s standards. The professor told his class, Kapp recalls, “I can’t do that, I don’t see my students as statistics. I’m not going to go into a class saying that I’m going to fail 30 percent of my class.” Kapp said: “They questioned his grading procedures and teaching style until he lost all passion for teaching. I was on the waitlist for his course, because he had a reputation for being engaging and invested in his students’ lives,” Kapp said. Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering Dr. Hai-Chao Han, also a professor, said that he could not comment on the situation because it was personal. “We do regularly review and discuss how to make improvements,” Han said. Just as students balance academics with other obligations, it seems professors, depending on their discipline, experience a similar balancing act when it comes to DFW rates.
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OPINION
The Paisano Dim Editor-in-Chief: Mia Cabello
Editorial
April 12 - April 19, 2016
7
screens for bright futures, full sleep
Managing Editor: Randi Gilmore
News Editor: Caroline Traylor Arts & Life Editor: Brayden Boren Sports Editor: Brady Phelps Web Editor: Michael Turnini Photography Editor: Fabian De Soto Magazine Editor: Jade Cuevas Business Manager: Lizzette Rocha Distribution Manager: Patrick Martinez Marketing Director Social Media Coordinator: Madeline Harper
Advertising Marketing Liaison: Jenelle Duff
ASSISTANTS Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief: Claudia Jimenez
Assistant to the Managing Editor: Gaige Davila
News Assistants:
Alex Birnel, Alyssa Gonzales
Arts & Life Assistants:
Annette Barraza, Elizabeth Davis
Sports Assistant: Anthony Suniga
Web Assistants:
Kat Joseph, Ricardo Rodriguez
Photo Assistants:
Ethan Pham, Andrea Velgis
Magazine Assistant: Urub Khawaja
Business Assistant:
Will Stransky, Karina Solis
Distribution Assistant: Kevin Prichard
STAFF Justice Lovin, Christopher Breakell, Robert Avila, Marina Vences, Johnee Jasso, Lyanne Rodriguez, Memorie Johnson, Katelyn Wilkinson, Raquel Alonzo, Chris Herbert, Aidan Watson-Morris
MARKETING TEAM Sam Patel, Kesley Smith, Catherine Adams, Celina Perkins
CONTRIBUTORS Taiwo Adepoju, Bryan De Leon, Diego Ramirez , Jessica Gonzales, Shelby Rose, Tucker Reaves, Kassandra Alanis, Daniel Earles
ADVISOR
Diane Abdo
ADVISORY BOARD
Steven Kellman, Jack Himelblau, Sandy Norman, Stefanie Arias, Diane Abdo, Red Madden The Paisano is published by the Paisano Educational Trust, a non-profit, tax exempt, educational organization. The Paisano is operated by members of the Student Newspaper Association, a registered student organization. The Paisano is NOT sponsored, financed or endorsed by UTSA. New issues are published every Tuesday during the fall and spring semesters, excluding holidays and exam periods. The Paisano is distributed on all three UTSA campuses — Main, Downtown and the Institute of Texan Cultures. Additionally, Paisano publications are distributed at a variety of off-campus locations, including Tri-point and a variety of apartment complexes near the UTSA Main Campus. All revenues are generated through advertising and donations. Advertising inquiries and donations should be directed to:
14526 Roadrunner Way Suite 101 San Antonio, TX 78249 Phone: (210)-690-9301
•Letter to the Editor • Have something to say?
Letters must be fewer than 400 words and include the writer’s name, classification or title and telephone number. The Paisano reserves the right to edit all submissions. Send letters to: editor@paisano-online.com © 2016, The Paisano
Most students start the day sleepy. Their problem starts in the early hours of the morning and continues into the late hours of the night. Digital screens and college students are in a onesided, toxic relationship. The short-wavelength light emitted from the screens of laptops, smartphones and tablets (the bright blue hue that young adults seem to devote
their attentions) negatively impacts their quality of sleep, and consequently their studies, health and overall quality of life. Many studies have been conducted on the effects of screens’ pervasive blue glow: findings from the UCLA School of Medicine and The National Academy of Sciences conclude that the seemingly innocuous light results in a suppression of mela-
Whistleblowers:
Homegrown American heroes
tonin and contributes to sleep deprivation. Prolonged screen time affects the body more severely than consuming high doses of caffeine does. As blue light emitted by electronic screens penetrates the viewer’s retina, it affects the pineal gland in the brain — a small organ that releases and regulates melatonin, the hormone that functions as the body’s natural sleep
aid. Too much screentime much too late curbs the release of the hormone melatonin, threatening the quality of sleep. Experts recommend powering down electronics at least two hours before bedtime in order to extract the full benefits of a good night’s rest. Unfortunately, staying awake (and falling asleep to) scrolling through social media and watching
Internet videos is seen neither as a problem nor a cause of poor sleep, but as a norm among young adults. The sleepless screen habit is a bad one, one that compromises holistic well-being. Students, for a good night give the night light a rest. Beauty sleep is a blue-less sleep.
On the limitations of language Commentary by Justice Lovin
Commentary by Gaige Davila The era of massive data leaks and whistleblowing began in 2010 with WikiLeaks unveiling a 2007 video of a U.S. conducted airstrike on unarmed civilians in Baghdad. Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing on metadata collecting programs by the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013 reignited a national conversation on privacy and the utility behind government surveillance. This past week, millions of documents obtained from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca revealed the offshore accounts of several politicians to avoid taxes. Releases of incriminating information about the federal government are not new in the slightest. The infamous Watergate scandal which led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation was revealed through a FBI-head-turnedwhistleblower in the early seventies. Michael Ruppert, former LAPD officer, revealed how the Central Intelligence Agency was involved in a major drug trafficking ring in Los Angeles, Calif. during the late seventies. These information leaks have led to massive opposition to the federal government’s power, as they're held accountable for their unethical practices. Why does it matter? Because of the actions of whistleblowers in the past decade, people who were already disenchanted or cynical toward the federal government have examples of corruption and manipulation -- affording them a platform from which to demand change. Once the conflict has been nationalized, much like with any political policy issue, action almost immediately follows suit. Apple’s dispute with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) requesting a bypass to the iPhone of Syed Farook, one of the perpetrators of the December 2015 San Bernardino shooting, raised concern of the FBI being able to access locked phones. Because this shooting was labeled as an act of terrorism, to assume that the American public would deem Apple’s hesitance to create a bypass for the FBI as unsupportive of the United States’ anti-
terrorism culture is not outlandish in the least. As evidenced by the middle-east intervention immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the American public will be in favor of any initiative for the sake of combatting terrorism, even if it’s entirely unethical. However, the concern for privacy bled through the media attention of the San Bernardino shooting and the anti-terrorism and Islamophobia hysteria that it brought along; if the reveal ing of documents showing the government’s current accessibility to our personal data had not been leaked two years prior, support for the FBI would’ve been unanimous out of the fervor of seeking justice for the shooting victims. The digesting of this information comes at the unfortunate cost of being trickled down from two unreliable sources: the federal government and major news media. Regardless of how many grains of salt you take with the information revealed from these leaks, you are now aware of an underlying system of deceit and a movement bent on stopping it all. The 2010s will be a decade of further enlightenment of people; a growing awareness on the practices of an entirely too powerful federal government is imminent, and will continue to fester until transparency is reached. We have less than four years until the 2010s are over, and the tint on the window of the federal government is almost gone.
__________________
Gaige Davila is a sophomore Political Science and English major and the Assistant to the Managing Editor at The Paisano
There are some things you just can’t say. Literally. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your lexography. But even if we did invent the words to represent these ‘unsayable’ things, and maybe we have, they would be useless in conversation with anyone who wasn’t already familiar with them. There are two components to a word: symbol and idea. The symbol is the word itself, it’s what you say, see or hear, and beneath that is the idea, the thing being represented by the symbol. Thus there are no symbols without ideas, but plenty of ideas without symbols. A distinction must be made between symbols and ideas: though a symbol must refer to an idea, symbols are not ideas. Symbols — words, sentences, and so on — are inventions with a degree of understood meaning. And they are doubly constructed because, in order to define a word, one must use other words, which in turn are defined by other words. All languages are systems for understanding experiences and communicating those understandings. Each linguistic system is an attempt to make sense of the infinite complexity of life. Unfor-
tunately, the limitations of language are both infinite and complex. In the first place, there are far too many symbols. And far too few. Both in the incidence of synonyms within a language and between languages, there are inevitably multiple symbols for the same, or incredibly similar, ideas — and yet the very fact of their difference prevents words from being interchangeable. In the second place, symbols cannot be relied upon to consistently refer to the same idea. They have multiple meanings, contextual variations, and they change over time. Moreover, each language has its own unique linguistic and syntactical rules that determine usage and function, and thus meaning. But the most frustrating impediment of all is that every word must always refer to at least two distinct ideas: speaker and listener, writer and reader. Each of us, as individuals, have our own ideas and experiences to which symbols refer. And when we use these symbols, somehow we’ve got to compress the ineffable particulars of our own experience into what — a few syllables or scribbles? Not to mention, the impossible task of trying to understand what
someone else has said in their terms and not your own. The insidiousness of language is insurmountable; it is allpervading. For it is not just between individuals that words leave their mark, but within individuals as well. We think in words and so they stamp themselves onto our very consciousness. Those things that can’t be said, they can’t be thought either, not without contorting them to fit the parameters of language. What’s even more absurd is that the solution to the problem of language seems to be more language. Knowing the nature of the existing limitations better allows one to negotiate the minefield of discourse; however there is a risk of studying too much, and finding yourself stuck with a system that lets you say exactly what you mean to say, but in a way that no one else can understand. Maybe it’s best to just stay silent.
__________________ Justice Lovin is an English major and a staff writer at The Paisano
OPINION
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April 12 - April 19, 2016
Remaking movies signals a deficit of originality Commentary by Kevin Prichard The old idiom “don’t fix what isn’t broken” comes to mind when considering the veritable deluge of recent movie remakes. My initial thoughts on the topic have been dismissive: “they’re just running out of ideas,” “they’re just doing it for the money.” While I don’t doubt that desire for profits and an apparent lack of creativity play a role, there are other issues at work. When previews for a Ghostbusters remake featuring an all-female team of phantom-fighting scientists started circulating the internet I became immensely agitated. I don’t object to a predominantly female cast. I object that Ghostbusters, a classic movie that hallmarks American culture in the 1980s, is getting remade. Dare I ask what was wrong with the original? Ghostbusters is not alone in this ascpect. Several other iconic movies have been remade or rebooted recently: Star Trek, Poltergeist and Mad Max, to name a few. While I imagine each of these ex-
amples was intended to be a respectful homage or recreation to its namesake franchise, they arguably pervert and ruin the content. The Star Trek remakes, while visually appealing and and generally good movies, completely alter what Star Trek is about. The Poltergeist remake lacks the subtlety and creepiness that made the original so frightening, and doesn’t add any substance to the franchise. And Mad Max: Fury Road seemed overthe-top in terms of special effects and lacked compelling characters or plot. While it did contain some subtle political undertones like the original, the messages of the two movies were undoubtedly different, each reflecting different generations’ political struggles and ideas. At first, it may seem like a good idea to remake old movies to fit a new audience. After all, advances in special effects essentially mandate visually appealing movies. There have been re-
makes that have been well done; The Dark Knight trilogy for instance added depth to the character of Batman, while mostly keeping with the original story. But this is the exception, not the rule. Yes, some stories have very pertinent messages that younger generations should consider, and reframe them in ways to draw younger viewers. But considering the talent and
creativity in Hollywood, why waste money and time recreating an older story that younger viewers should already be able to appreciate? Why not come up with something original? More importantly, why should we, as a generation, settle for the same stories our parents were told? Why should we continue to beat a dead horse and reuse the same characters
and stories for our own agendas? We should appreciate what we have: hundreds of good movies that were done right the first time and don’t deserve to be treated like a smartphone in need of an upgrade. We should focus on what we don’t have: original stories that no one has imagined yet, stories that are compelling and ask the questions older stories don’t.
And when we create, we should be proud to stamp our names onto something we came up with ourselves, without relying on someone else’s ideas as a starting point.
__________________ Kevin Prichard is a sophomore CAP student and the Assistant to the Distribution Manager at The Paisano
Letters to the Editor In response to a commentary entitled Choose Brain Power, Not Fire Power by Mia Cabello, I couldn’t disagree more with the writer. The thought at one can and will outsmart, out-maneuver an active shooter, who has probably planned and rehearsed their attack, seems ill conceived. Individuals who choose to engage in gun violence generally plan their attacks to occur in places where guns are prohibited. Question: when is the last time the news reported a mass shooting at a gun show/NRA Convention? I can’t recall ever hearing anything remotely close to that at happening. Question: where did the last mass shooting attack occur? I’m willing to bet the answer to that question is a place where guns are prohibited, such as a school, church, movie theater, etc. While these gunmen may not have been the world’s smartest individuals, they were smart enough to know that the places that they attacked were places that prohibited guns. It’s feasible to say that they chose these places based on the very fact that they would be one of the few, if not the only, persons with a gun. Generally, armed criminals don’t commit offenses in well-armed or potentially well-armed places. I understand there are those who believe that SB11 is “stupid” and relegate CHL holders to wearing tube sock wearing, boot cut jean having, Bible carrier; however, that seems very judgmental and prejudice. It is quite possible for a CHL holder to be a crew sock wearing, skinny jean having, Quran carrying individual. UTSA, and all schools, will be safer places because of SB11, despite the weak counterpoint offered by those who oppose it. While the actions of an individual with the mindset to harm other with gun violence can’t predicted, knowing that there are unknown number of wellarmed individuals on the UTSA campus could deter their attack SB11 doesn’t force one to carry a gun, it allow those who have completed state approved training to carry a gun.
As someone who considers themselves to be a feminist and an advocate for victims of sexual assault, I was glad Elizabeth Davis’ “Ending Rape” article mentioned a taboo topic among many. What I find to be disappointing, though, was the lack of mention of male victims of sexual assault. In a society where female victims of sexual assault are berated with questions of what they were wearing or how much they had to drink, male victims are afraid to speak up due to the assumption that they could’ve easily stopped the assault, or their sexuality. While I do understand that females are likely in the majority and they deserve to be heard, we should be inclusive to both genders when addressing sexual assault – on campus and elsewhere. Ending rape culture is a process that will take steps to overcome, and I am glad that organizations such as End Violence Against Women International are standing by victims of sexual assault. With that said, when speaking about sexual assault on campus, female and male victims alike need to be aware that they have a safe place to be heard. I am proud that the UT system is taking steps to address sexual assault on campus and decoding several myths that victims often face, such as intoxication justifying the rape, but I feel that the article neglected the fact that male victims are among those that need a voice. When addressing the university’s role in preventing sexual assault and bringing awareness, female and male victims need to know that UTSA takes them seriously and they are not alone.
Brandon Young Masters of Social Work Student UTSA
Emily S. Ehling Freshman and Cyber Security Major UTSA Class of 2019
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ARTS & LIFE
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April 12 - April 19, 2016
Arts & Life Events Calendar: Tuesday 4/12 6 p.m. Beer Fang’s VHS Cinema Every Tuesday, Attaboy Burgers is hosting Beer Fang’s VHS Cinema at Paper Tiger, a classic movie experience complete with wacky VHSs and all. This week the film screening begins at 6 p.m., and guests can enjoy $1 hot dogs, $3 wells and $7 pitchers. Admission is free.
Wednesday 4/13 6 p.m. Recent Royal Finds at Xunantunich, Belize Drs. Teresa Eckmann and Juliet Wiersema of UTSA’s Department of Art & Art History presented the Latin American Art & Culture Colloquium last fall, which hosted 11 lecturers in humanities disciplines who had studied Latin American heritage and culture, both past and present. Join Associate Professor of Anthropology M. Kathryn Brown and Professor and Chair of Anthropology Jason Yaeger on Wednesday evening as they explore their recent findings in Xunantunich, Belize. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Thursday 4/14 5 p.m. Official Opening Ceremonies: Fiesta® at the Alamo In 1891, the city of San Antonio came together to commemorate those fallen at the Battle of the Alamo and San Jacinto – the first ever Fiesta festival. Now in its 125th year, the Fiesta festival has grown into a weeklong celebration of local culture, business and art. The 2016 Fiesta celebration commences this Thursday with its annual kickoff ceremony at the Alamo, and admission is free, so come out and “¡Viva Fiesta!”
Maverick Music Festival 2016 Elizabeth Davis, The Paisano
ANNUAL FESTIVAL BRINGS WIDE ARRAY OF TALENT TO THE HEART OF SAN ANTONIO Elizabeth Davis Arts & Life Assistant @elizabethidavis arts@paisano-online.com
Festival season is upon us – (does it ever even leave?) – and the fourth annual Maverick Music Festival kicked things off in San Antonio. It did not disappoint. Rumors and speculation circulated prior to the fest, to be expected, regarding matters like the (potential) extinction of Maverick Music Festival – as noted by the San Antonio Current’s “The (Maybe) Final Maverick Music Fest Goes Up in Flames,” and in Maverick Music Festival’s webpage. In 2014, the Flaming Lips’ frontman—and headliner for Maverick Music Festival’s Saturday lineup—Wayne Coyne became embroiled in a battle over cultural appropriation that resulted in the firing of the band’s drummer Kliph Scurlock. In short, Scurlock had expressed sentiments of disapproval toward Oklahoma-native Pink Pony’s vocalist Christina Fallin and her adornment of a Native American headress on Instagram. Coyne responded, taking Fallin’s side and dropping Scurlock, a 12year member of the Lips. So when Maverick announced that the Flaming Lips would be closing the festival on Saturday night,
the event’s producers took to the Internet in addressing the controversy, stating in vivid, red lettering via the website’s “Info” tab, “Maverick Music Festival want(s) to make it absolutely clear that any behavior, clothing, etc that could be construed as insensitive or as cultural appropriation will be viewed as offensive in nature and (is) not permitted under our established festival guidelines.” Nevertheless, Maverick Music Fest seemed to unfold without a hitch. The festival was sectioned into three stages, each about five minutes walking distance from each other. The majority of the headliners performed at Maverick’s main stage, the Shiner Music Stage, while other, local acts played at the Shiner Biergarten, complete with Jenga sets, Cornhole materials and picnic tables. One of the unique elements of Maverick Fest was the Arneson Stage, situated along the banks of the San Antonio River. The river effectively separated performing artists from the viewing area, so as patrons enjoyed the acts, they were accompanied by tourist-ing River Walkers and the occasional San Antonio River tour cruise. Gates to the festival opened at 5 p.m. on Friday evening, and acts began shortly thereafter at both the Shiner Biergarten and
Saturday 4/16 10 a.m. El Rey Fido XIV Coronation A Fiesta celebration is simply not complete until it is celebrated alongside our four-legged, canine pals. This Saturday, the San Antonio Humane Society is crowning only its most regal pups in the XIV El Rey Fido Coronation at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio. The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. and is free and open to the public. Elizabeth Davis, The Paisano Mother Falcon playing the accordion, violins, drums, trumpets and more.
Arneson Stage. Crowds were fairly sparse as DJ Ras G (Gilbert Anthony on Facebook) inaugurated the Shiner Biergarten with his own rendition of reggae soul and record spinning, bringing with him a backpack (or more) full of old school records, including LPs from reggae idol Bob Marley. His revival of the lost craft was both surprising and entrancing, making a smooth transition into a jam-packed night. Around 7:20 p.m., the longhaired and groovy Bright Light Social Hour took the Shiner Music Stage, serving up fast-pace, psychedelically charged tunes alongside a cowboy cactus figurine. An hour later, an enormous flag inscribed with “The Drums” descended upon the stage, and the crowd went nuts. The Drums exuded a modern “The Smiths meets fallenfrom-church-boy” energy – and a few David Bowieinspired dance sequences, that left everyone feeling nostalgic and hyped for the final set of the evening. Public Enemy rounded out Friday’s festivities, performing with legendary members P.E., Chuck D and Flavor Flav. At one point, the group was joined onstage by a dancing churro (gotta love San Antonio). The atmosphere transformed into staunch political activism as the group’s set progressed. “Lemme hear you say fight the power,” rang out into the dwindling Friday hours, solidifying Public Enemy’s message since day one that we, as aware human beings, have to stand up against the injustices of our society, confronting racial oppression, xenophobia and of course, the power. Saturday began with a 25-minute set from Chicana punk rock band Fea. It was 3 p.m., and rays of San Antonio (death) sunshine were beginning to emerge from behind the clouds, but still, the sparse crowd reverberated Fea’s vigor, head banging and all. At 3:45 p.m. Mother Falcon took the Shiner Music Stage. The band’s set, which consisted of 13 members playing the accordion, violins, drums, trumpets and more, allotted time for only three songs; however, the sound produced was unlike any other in the festival.
Elizabeth Davis, The Paisano DJ Ras G, spinning records and performing his own rendition of reggae soul
“Lemme hear you say FIGHT THE POWER!”
Chuck D
Public Enemy
Reverend Horton Heat was next, regenerating the spirit of classic Honkytonk and rock ‘n roll. Old dogs Jim Heath and Jimbo Wallace even switched instruments during one of their songs, and closed with a Johnny Cash cover. Over at the Shiner Biergarten, Chulita Vinyl Club spun Latina fusion records, whilst Wild Child took center stage at Shiner Music. Daylight began to fade away, and at 7:15 p.m. Young Fathers’ set got going, with each member belting out poignant verses against eccentric, bongoinfused beats. Meanwhile, The Octopus Project serenaded crowds at the Arneson Stage, which was packed and lively. At 9:50 p.m., the Flaming Lips surfaced, in looking like a scene out of James Cameron’s “Avatar,” Wayne Coyne manifested from behind a sea of strung LED
lights, playing fan favorites such as “Do You Realize??” and “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part 1.” All controversies aside, the Lips put on one hell of a show. Crowds were doused with huge vibrant balloons and an unforeseeable amount of confetti, and at one point, a “Fu-- Yeah San Antonio” banner even appeared. At the end of the Lips’ set, Coyne entered the crowd in his signature hamster ball for a tribute to the late David Bowie, and the feeling of being a part of something so impactful and hearing hundreds of voices harmonize to “Space Oddity” was utterly surreal. This year’s Maverick Fest was unforgettable, and even if the San Antonio Current’s prediction does happen to come true, rest assured the possibly final event would go out with a deafening, confetti-filled bang.
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ARTS & LIFE
April 12 - April 19, 2016
Dressed to Kill: Glam and Gore in Theatre Stylish seductresses and fashionable fiends explored in McNay’s new exhibit
“The exhibit offers a tangible connection between the work and cosutmes created for charactes who deceive, commit crimes, undermine, destroy and kill.” Annette Barraza, The Paisano
Annette Barraza Arts & Life Assistant @ThePaisano arts@paisano-online.com
Dressed to Kill: Glam and Gore in Theatre, an exhibition at McNay pairs designs with costumes inspired by five infamously stylish seductresses and fashionable fiends seen on an operatic stage: “Carmen,” “Lulu,” “Lestat,” “Turandot” and “Don Giovanni.” Each of the five theatre works accompany a description of the play and an explanation for some of the costume designs. Sketches of the costumes and some of the originals themselves donated by designers accompany the collection. The most recent addition to the collection are the sketches for costume designs for “Lestat.” The Broadway musical “Lestat” features period garments exquisitely designed to also convey central meaning and undermine the myths of vampire lore. The 1957 opera “Don Giovanni” features a leading man dressed for any occasion—be it to seduce, deceive, escape or even de-
fend himself. The leading lady in the opera “Carmen” changes identities—and men. Her costumes range from a scanty petticoat and camisole to a tiered, gypsy-red “traje de flamenco.” The 1937 opera “Lulu” features the lead character ironically dressed in white, until the tragic last scene— although she brought about the death of many men, including that of her five admirers and a friend who dies trying to protect her from her imminent death. The 1926 opera “Turandot” exhibits extravagant designs: costumes made of silk robes and jewels, represented in the sketches as sequins. The tells of Princess Lou-Ling, who asked three riddles to men seeking her hand, are quite like Atlanta from Greek mythology, who challenged her suitors to a footrace, which losing would result in their death. The exhibit offers a tangible connection between the work and costumes created for characters who deceive, commit crimes, undermine, destroy and kill. The Dressed to Kill exhibit is a program provided by Tobin Theatre Arts
Fund, which also donated to UTSA’s Department of Music in 2004. The Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum houses the vast library and theater arts collection of Robert L.B. and Margaret Batts Tobin, strong supporters of the McNay from its opening in 1954. The historic McNay Mansion, built in 1927, and was converted to an art museum in 1950 when it was bequeathed to become an art museum. The original architects assisted in the metamorphosis of the mansion into a museum. A guard who has worked there for eight years even testified that several people have spotted the friendly ghost of Mrs. McNay, especially at the grand staircase. The museum houses the works of Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, Camille Pissaro, Henri Rousseau and Paul Gauguin, as well as shows films and offers special events such as exhibition lectures, workshops and ArtFULL Wednesdays. It is also a popular spot to take pictures and have wedding receptions. The Dressed to Kill: Glam and Gore in Theatre exhibit will be open until June 5.
Annette Barraza, The Paisano
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ARTS & LIFE
11
April 12 - April 19, 2016
Photo Courtesy of Fea
Chicana and proud: an interview with Fea
San Antonio punk band explores societal and gender-related issues Elizabeth Davis Arts & Life Assistant @elizabethidavis arts@paisano-online.com
Women in the music industry are held to a standard demanding sexual appeal. If a woman aspires to succeed musically, she is often encouraged – if not required – to slim her waist, grow out her hair and augment her breasts and buttocks just to advance her product, pressures and procedures her male counterparts seldom experience. Nevertheless, San Antonio based Chicana punk rock band Fea is taking steps to promote that women in the music industry are more than just their bodies, cultural background or sexuality. Fea came together in 2014 during a temporary hiatus from Girl in a Coma. Two of GiaC’s members, drummer Phanie Diaz and bassist Jenn Alva, decided to channel their fervor for empowering women – specifically, women of color – into a culturally rich and forceful product, and thus, Fea was born. The band has crafted a sound exclusive to Chicana San Antonio, filled with intermittent English
and Spanish lyrics, upbeat guitar riffs and politically cognizant hooks like, “No soy golfa ni ramera, no soy puta o mujezuela! No soy zorra, no soy perra! Solo soy mujer moderna!” Fea debuted at the 2014 Maverick Music Festival and went on to tour the country with bands such as Babes in Toyland and Kristeen Young. After a few transitions in membership, the presentday Fea is lead by bassist Jenn Alva, drummer Phanie Diaz, vocalist Letty Martinez and guitarist Aaron Magana. In honor of the band’s two year anniversary and stellar show the 2016 Maverick Music Festival, Elizabeth Davis of the Paisano spoke to Diaz about the band’s concept, and what San Antonio’s response has been in receiving Fea’s socially constructed, unwavering Chicana message. Elizabeth Davis: Fea began in 2014 during a break period of Girl in a Coma. Are each of Fea’s current members based in of San Antonio, and did you guys know each other previously? Phanie Diaz: Jenn, myself and Aaron are all from
San Antonio. Letty is from the Valley of Texas and currently lives in San Marcos. She’s working on living in SA, though. Jenn and I met when we were in 7th grade. So a long time ago. It’s been a 20+ year friendship. We bonded over music and have that drive to this day. We met Aaron at an open mic Nina used to host in 2010 or so. Letty had a previous band she fronted called Angela and the X’s, and whenever GiaC would play the Valley, they would open up. When we started Fea we put an ad up on Craigslist looking for a singer and Letty replied. Small world! Davis: Fea blends social awareness and culture into a product that is wholeheartedly fierce, but not unwelcoming. This is conveyed through even your band’s name, Fea, which represents the fact that you all don’t view yourselves as conventionally “beautiful.” Fea isn’t after the stereotypical or even desired image of female beauty; rather, you guys seem to be dismantling the idea that women — especially Latina women — have to be beautiful if they want to make it in music.
I guess I want to know what public reception has been to this idea? Diaz: You hit the nail on the head. The cool thing is our audience gets exactly what we are trying to do and we have been well received. We believe once our May record is released it’s going to open up a conversation that already exists but tends to be overlooked or even ignored. In this industry women are told how to look in order to sell records. It should not be so. It has happened to Jenn and I, and we’ve been told comments about our weight and look. The product is the music. I find that there is just too much music that is mass produced, similar in sound and no thought behind it and its selling. This is because people are getting conditioned to believe that this is the way it is. It’s not. When females like myself, Jenn and Letty come forward and talk about it and expose it we can address it. We need males to also understand that a woman is not an object and also carries the same strength as them. We are equal beings. That is why Aaron is here as well. He sees us as equal
musicians.
scape and attraction?
Davis: I hear a lot of Riot Grrrl in Fea’s sound. Who would you say are Fea’s biggest musical influences?
Diaz: It’s no secret that Jenn and I adore San Antonio. People will always have a love and hate relationship with their hometown, but once you leave it you start to realize how great it is here. How cultural and real it is. I always hear the conversation that San Antonio holds them back. There is no such thing. You can only hold yourself back. Changing the scenery will not change your development. It’s what you can do to better your talent and how you can expand. There are ways to leave and expand but always come back to home base. We’ve always asked ourselves how can the band grow and how can we help this city. It’s a give and take. Girl in a Coma only became successful because of the people here. We are proud of them and they of us. You are limitless when you have that hometown support. So having these festivals just showcases how beautiful this city can be. It’s great to feel that energy and to have touring bands see that we have something special here as well.
Diaz: Alice Bag, Poly Styrene and our mothers. Davis: In May, Fea is heading out on tour with Kristeen Young, and on May 5, you guys are premiering your new record at Hitones. This might be a breach of contract, but will “Mujer Moderna” be featured on the record? Diaz: The release on May 5 has the songs we did with Lori Barbero of Babes In Toyland. However, in July the full length will be released with songs produced by Alice Bag, Laura Jane Grace and Lori. It will also include “Mujer Moderna” with a video. Davis: 2016 is not the first time Fea will have played at Maverick Music Festival. In fact, you all did your debut show at Maverick in 2014. What does Maverick Music Fest mean to you all, and how much do you think it does for the city of San Antonio’s musical land-
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April 12 - April 19, 2016
ARTS & LIFE
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SPORTS
13
April 12 - April 19, 2016
UTSA earns first at Roadrunner Invitational UTSA TRACK & FIELD Johnee Jasso Staff Writer
@johnee_tech sports@paisano-online.com Both UTSA men’s and women’s track and field teams ranked first at the 2016 Roadrunners Invitational, with total scores of 243 and 221.5. UTSA hosted the 2016 Roadrunners Invitational, their third home meet, on April 8 and 9 at the Park West Athletic Complex. In their first home meet, the UTSA invitational, the UTSA men ranked fifth place and the UTSA women ranked fourth. In their second home meet, the Ricardo Romo Invitational, both UTSA teams ranked fourth place. UTSA, Houston Baptist, Lamar, Texas-Rio Grande Valley and Texas A&MCorpus Christi attended the 2016 Roadrunners Invitational. Of the 38 events scored, UTSA won sixteen events – UTSA’s men won
nine and the women won seven. Senior Katelynn Homb and junior Victor Perez opened the Invitational for UTSA men’s and women’s field events and each placed first in the hammer throw. Homb threw a distance of 47.96 meters in the women’s hammer throw and Perez threw a distance of 59.38 meters for the men’s. Sophomore Kelsey Benoit followed suit in the men’s shot put with his distance of 17.7 meters. He currently ranks second in Conference USA (C-USA). Meanwhile, freshman Mia Hicks placed second in the women’s shot put to conclude Friday’s events. Hicks also placed second in the women discus event on Saturday, setting a program record with her 47.61-meter throw. Other notable field event wins for the men include sophomore Ty Anderson in the high jump (2.05 meters), sophomore Adrian Riley in the long jump (7.29 meters),
freshman Jerrod Young in the pole vault (4.7 meters) and senior Levi Jordon in the discus (51.24 meters). Additionally, field event wins for the women include freshman Jemira Tomlinson
in the javelin throw (33.54 meters) and freshman Gabby Torres in the high jump (1.63 meters). On the track, UTSA dominated the relays. The 4x100meter relay team (Aaron
Lejeune, Caleb Howe, Patrick Prince and Davante Edwards) placed first, finishing in 42 seconds. Also, both UTSA men’s and women’s 4x400-meter relay teams placed first, fin-
Freshman Davante Edwards competes in the men’s long jump event at the Roadrunner Invitational.
UTSA should support You Can Play Project aims to end homophobia in athletics
SPORTS COMMENTARY
SOFTBALL DROPS HOME SERIES UTSA SOFTBALL
Chris Herbert Staff Writer in 2010 at age 21, shortly af- experienced some form of step toward change. @PaisanoSports1 ter publicly coming out and homophobia in sports, inDirecting the conversa- sports@paisano-online.com
Marina Vences Staff Writer
@Marina_vences sports@paisano-online.com You Can Play (YCP) is an organization dedicated to making athletics, on and off the field, a safe and welcoming environment for both LGBT and straight athletes. Casual slurs in the locker room and phrases where the opposite gender is used as an insult create an environment that alienates young athletes. Hyper-masculine ideals and gender-normative pressures can make athletic environments an unsafe and uncomfortable place for LGBT youth, something that YCP hopes to change. YCP’S founders, Patrick Burke, Brian Kitts and Glenn Witman, who share a common love of sports, discovered the general environment was very hostile toward LGBT youth. You Can Play was founded as a tribute to Brendan Burke, hockey player and brother of Patrick, who died as a result of a car accident
advocating for change. The project involves something called “the captains’ challenge,” an online pledge for team captains to maintain a safe and accepting environment for LGBT teammates. Many organizations such as the National Hockey League, Major League Lacrosse, Positive Coaching Alliance, and Canadian Football League – as well as numerous teams that compete in professional sports leagues – have publicly pledged their alliance with YCP and integrated educational programs that are in line with YCP’s mission. A 2014 study “Out On The Fields” – the first international study on homophobia in sport in which 9,500 participants of various sexualities across the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand were surveyed – found that 80 percent of the overall population and 82 percent of LGBT people have
ishing in 3:19.55 and 3:49.91, respectively. For the men, freshman Patrick Prince placed first in the 110-meter hurdles (14.13 seconds), sophomore Justin Gerbrecht placed first in the 400-meter hurdles (53.42 seconds) and freshman Kyren Hollis placed first in the 800 meter run (1:56.61). Meanwhile, senior Evelyn Clark placed first in the women’s 400-meter dash (55.21 seconds) and freshman Christy Gilbert placed first in the 400 meter hurdles (1:05.82). Junior Paige Patterson placed first in the 200-meter dash with her personal-best time of 24.43 seconds. The Roadrunner men defeated runners-up Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 243 to 120, while the women defeated the runners-up Houston Baptist 221.5 to 140.5. UTSA will compete on April 16 at the Texas Invitational in Austin.
cluding slurs and physical altercations. According to the study, 81 percent of gay men and 32 percent of lesbians surveyed hid their sexuality for fear of retribution in both youth and adult sports teams. Only one percent of the participants believed that LGBT people would be safe in athletic events and 78 percent said they did not think that an LGBT person would be comfortable as a spectator at a sporting event. The study also found that the U.S. had the highest percentage of LGBT people that reported feeling uncomfortable in a sports environment and the highest number of gay men who were the recipients of slurs. “Out On The Fields” deemed the U.S. the leastwelcoming English-speaking country to LGBT athletes, and incorporating this positive and accepting attitude into national sports programs could be the first
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tion away from sexuality and instead toward talent and ability is a feat that can only be successful with efforts from not just LGBT people, but straight allies. Several universities have come out in support of YCP such as Brown University; University of California, Los Angeles; University of North Dakota; Louisiana State University; Princeton and Notre Dame. UTSA has not endorsed YCP, but publicly supporting the initiative could make a difference by initiating conversation that will change the environment that is commonly associated with athletic teams and their events and perceived as hostile by LGBT participants. By embracing YCP on campus and unifying both straight and LGBT athletes, UTSA can become a campus where all students and athletes will know “you can play” applies to everyone equally.
Before the 2015-16 softball season began, UTSA Softball was projected to finish fourth in Conference USA (C-USA), where they currently stand with a 8-7 record. However, the Roadrunners have entered a midseason slump, having lost seven of their last 10 games. On April 6, with a chance to upset the Texas Longhorns (27-10, 2-3 Big-12), the Roadrunners played a tight game in front of a sold out crowd at Roadrunner Field. Tess Soefje, Kendall Burton and Jade Smith earned hits for the Roadrunners. Burton and Soefje also hit their first and sixth home runs of the season. Starting pitcher Nicole Merrill gave up two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts. Three of the hits came from Celina Felix, who also hit the game-winning home run in the top of the seventh inning. UTSA had a chance to win in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs and the bases loaded, but were un-
able to capitalize and lost 3-2. On April 9, UTSA hosted the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and split the first two games. Southern Miss won the first match 3-1, scoring all three of their runs in the fifth and sixth innings. UTSA won the second matchup of the day with a score of 7-4. On Sunday, after a onehour rain delay, the Roadrunners struggled, allowing four runs in the third inning. Southern Miss also scored on two unearned runs in the first and fifth innings. UTSA’s lone run came on a single home run from Randee Crawford – her 11th home run of the season. Many of the Roadrunners’ frustrations were apparent throughout the game.“There have been some games mixed in there that we’ve had an opportunity to win,” Head Coach Cheatham said. “It’s just the will to do whatever it takes.” UTSA Softball (14-25, 8-7 C-USA) will host Sam Houston State (14-23, 6-9 Southland) in a doubleheader on April 13 to face conference foe Louisiana Tech (21-13,36 C-USA) in a weekend series starting April 16.
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SPORTS
April 12 - April 19, 2016
Andrea Velgis, The Paisano
Kansas State connection
Hickey, Henson share past, vision of UTSA hoops future UTSA MEN’S BASKETBALL Brady Phelps Sports Editor
@bradytphelps sports@paisano-online.com Associate Vice President and Director of UTSA Athletics Lynn Hickey began Head Coach Steve Henson’s introductory press conference on Friday, April 8 by briefly acknowledging UTSA students’ contributions to the athletics department. “I want to say a special thank you to our students… thank you for being here,” said Hickey. “I hope that one of the things that you remember, as we talk about building a program, is that this is your program… that we’re not doing this for Coach Henson or Lynn Hickey. We’re doing this for our students. So thank you for being here.” Hickey then credited Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs Brad Parrott for heading up the search, talked about the current state of the program and mentioned some of the qualities that she searched for in a new coach. “This is not an overnight deal,” Hickey cautioned. “This is going to be building a program, and we want Steve and his staff to do it the right way and to really give our student-athletes a
wonderful experience and to build relationships in the city and in this state. We know as an athletic department we have the responsibility to engage our students, our alumni and our community fans. And quite honestly, I don’t think we could have found a better person to do that than Coach Steve Henson.” Coach Thompson, eager to sit down with his new team as soon as he got into town, held a meeting on the evening of Wednesday, April 6 and a casual practice the following morning. “I just shared my expectations with them,” said Henson about the players currently on the roster, “and I told them I was hired here to turn this program around. As I looked at each one of them, I said, ‘but you guys are going to determine how quickly we turn it around. You guys determine how drastic the turnaround is.’” “(I) went to training camp with Don Nelson one year with Golden State,” said Henson, reminiscing on his professional experience. “You watch the way people are playing basketball right now – that’s the way Don Nelson was trying to play in 1992 – smaller big guys, fast, shoot it, run-and-gun, fly around and not worry
about mismatches. Just switch everything and pass the ball. Don Nelson probably has a great big smile on his face about watching the way the entire world is playing the game right now.” Nelson’s unique brand of basketball, commonly referred to as “Nellie Ball,” seems to have a significant influence on the style Henson wants to play at UTSA, judging by his own description: “We’re going to play fast.
It’s a style the fans want to watch.” Since joining Conference USA (C-USA), the Roadrunners have a 27-65 record – a .293 win percentage. They also finished last in CUSA in two of those three seasons. The Roadrunners’ offense has been lackluster, but their defense has been downright deficient – something Henson plans to address with an aggressive approach to defense.
gressive, switching man-toman. Pick up the ball early, try to take things away, be disruptive. Mix in a lot of run and jumps, a lot of traps around mid-court, stir things up defensively. We don’t want (opponents) to come down and be comfortable.” “They want to do better, there’s no question,” said Henson. “They don’t like the taste in their mouths after winning five games. They want to step it up, and they
“We know as an athletic department we have the responsibility to engage our students, our alumni, and our community fans. And quite honestly, I don’t think we could have found a better person to do that than Coach Steve Henson.” - Director of UTSA Athletics Lynn Hickey We’re going to play up-tempo, push the ball, throw it ahead at every opportunity. Make plays for each other, be unselfish, and shoot threes – the guys that can make threes, they’re going to shoot threes. Those who can’t are going to pass it to the guys who can. But really, we want to get up and down the floor. Our guys will have to be in great shape, great condition in order to play that way. It’s a fun style… the way kids want to play.
Last season, UTSA was bottom-five in the nation in field goal percentage against, 3-point field goal percentage against, points against per game and points per one hundred possessions. They ended the season with a negative-16.4 point-per-game differential and negative-20.23 net efficiency rating – essentially a measure of point differential per 100 possessions. “Defensively, we’ll be mostly man-to-man…ag-
want to do something a lot more special.” “In that first meeting, I was talking to (the players) a lot about my expectations around town, on campus and in the classroom,” said Henson. “I told them we weren’t going to talk a lot about actual basketball in our first meeting, but I hit them on their field goal percentage defense last year. They know we’ve got to step it up and make a huge jump with the effort on the defen-
sive end.” “Defensively, we’re going to switch a lot. It disrupts people; it’s what I’m most comfortable with,” Henson continued. “We want to take entry passes away, stir up the ball pressure, break up rhythm and tempo and make (opponents) do something different from what they practice every day.” Similar to UTSA Football Head Coach Frank Wilson, hired just earlier this semester, Henson advocates for a recruitment style that hinges on developing personal relationships and focusing on players who are the right fit for the program rather than just sending offers to all of the best recruits. As Hickey said, getting UTSA men’s basketball up to the task of competing with programs like Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion and University of Alabama – Birmingham (UAB) will take patience and diligence. But the program was in desperate need of an overhaul. If struggling programs want to get people back into their facilities, they must either find a way to sell wins or sell hope, and former Head Coach Brooks Thompson was not doing either. With Henson at the helm, hope for success from the UTSA basketball program is back in stock.
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