NEWS
October 19, 2006
RADIO continued from page 1
GRADUATION continued from page 1 mother, who is wheelchair-bound, would have trouble getting to and around the Field House. “The venue does not count with the proper accommodations for handicapped individuals to see the ceremony comfortably,” he said. Ana Maria Rodriguez, chair of the commencement committee, said administration looked into the option of holding graduation at the Dodge Arena last year, but ran into several problems. “The Dodge Arena was already booked for those days, it is an expensive venture, and it is too distant from the university,” she said. “If you are graduating from here, the graduation should be here or at least close to here.” REQUEST DENIED Although the commencement committee has not agreed to hold commencement at Dodge Arena, university President Blandina Cardenas is pleased to hear students’ ideas. “We welcome students’ thoughts and input on issues of concern to them. We are always open to discussion,” Cardenas said. However, tension has increased
during the last couple of weeks, as the group of students petitioning are being more active to get their matters heard. Newell said it is necessary to use available resources in the best way possible. “By presenting this petition, we hope to portray the number of students that genuinely want to have graduation in a place where we won’t have to stretch six or seven tickets,” Newell said. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS Rodriguez, who is also associate vice president for undergraduate studies, said the administration has looked into other options for a venue, but none have worked out yet. “We also considered having graduation at the [Edinburg Baseball] Stadium, but the weather was not going to help and we would still need to have two different graduations,” she said. Rodriguez added that they also considered having commencement at the new Fine Arts auditorium that’s in the works, but the planned size of the building does not coincide with the number of people required. The new center will seat more people than the Field House,
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however. Some recent graduations have begun to segment graduates by pairs of colleges during the commencement day. However, Rodriguez said departmental graduations at the same time bring scheduling problems. “The president and vice-president would not be able to attend all the ceremonies to confer the degrees,” she said. During Tuesday’s meeting with SGA, Gonzalez and Newell presented their results to the senate, and several questions were raised. Senators wanted to ensure students who signed the petition were aware that a venue change to the Dodge Arena would cost more and higher tuition would have to cover that increase. Despite the questions still in the air, SGA senators plan to sponsor this petition and write a resolution plan to present to the commencement committee, said Tony Matamoros, a junior and government senator at large. The SGA senate and petition leaders met with the commencement committee today at 9 a.m. in the Provost’s Conference Room at the Student Services Building to discuss a resolution.
possibility that Mann and his team are looking at. “Right now we offer play-by-play coverage of baseball, volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball home games that can be listened to on the UTPA Athletics’ Web site,” Mann said. The projected costs for a radio station are anywhere from $100,000 for an Internet broadcast to $1 million for traditional broadcasting. Mann said he would look at equipment at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in Las Vegas this spring. “The NAB has the latest equipment and technology,” Mann said of the conference. “It’s like a flea market for broadcasters.” Perez added that being able to work in an actual studio and interview public figures are other compelling reasons he and his classmates want to move forward with the pilot. “We get to work with teams and develop those skills along with our leadership abilities while we do really fun projects,” said Perez. Rodolfo Franz, a sophomore marketing major, says a student-produced radio
program is an idea some students quickly embraced as a way to put the university and its broadcast hopefuls on the map. “I know that UTB has a radio program they produce, and a similar program would be a way for us to showcase our own talent to the community,” Franz, a Hidalgo resident, said. With the high cost of starting a station and the amount of work involved, Mann and his students definitely have their work cut out for them. “In order to start a radio station we would need a professor who was dedicated to that, and that’s all they would probably be able to work on,” said Mann. The department could add a new hire in that area as early as next year. They would also need someone who was good with computers and broadcast equipment along with rights to play music, Mann said. Obstacles make it difficult to start the university’s own station, but Mann says his people hope the new pilot shows that a program produced and generated by students is viable. For more information on Bronc TV, call Mann at 381-3580.
MCDONALD’S continued from page 1 She also thinks the fast-food chain hides ingredients in its nutrition facts and said she stopped eating at McDonald’s after watching the film “Supersize Me,” a pseudo-documentary recording the physical effects of eating only items off the McDonald’s menu for 30 days. Hughes added that she wore black Monday to mourn the death of animals slaughtered by the company. “Even though it’s not necessarily the only company that does this to animals, it’s the largest one that does because it’s on a global scale,” she said. Still, the company’s Web site boasts of its Animal Welfare Council, which was co-developed by Temple Grandin, a professional designer of humane livestock facilities. The program allows suppliers the freedom to develop additional standards and compliance systems.
Jeffrey Schmatz, a spokesperson for JS Media LLC, which represents McDonald’s Rio Grande Valley franchises for marketing and public relations, said that the information distributed by the picketing group, particularly a flyer advertising the event, “is filled with inaccuracies and untruths.” “We have reviewed the flyer that was distributed at the South 10th store,” he said. “Are you aware that this particular flyer was written nearly 20 years ago? This can be easily verified with a quick Google search.” WHAT HAPPENED While the restaurant’s supervisor asked the group to leave, the protesters stood their ground. “As long as we don’t touch the grass or touch their property, we’re free
to exercise our rights,” said Sofia Garza, a freshman anthropology major at UTPA. “If an officer asks us to stop, we just go limp and drop to the ground. It keeps us from getting into any legal problems and it attracts attention.” Located in one of the busiest parts of town, the protest had little trouble drawing an audience, but several drivers made an effort to reach out to them as they waited for traffic lights to turn green. Greg Rodriguez, who organized the protest, said he wore black to mourn workers who have been injured or killed on the job because he thinks McDonald’s is guilty of employee discrimination and a lack of worker’s benefits. Rodriguez, a sophomore at South Texas College, also said McDonald’s exploits its workers by using cheap labor in foreign countries, though the compa-
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Daniel Flores/The Pan American ACTIVIST - Sofia Rivera, a freshman anthropology major, protests outside the McDonald’s off Savannah and 10th Street in McAllen Oct. 16.
ny’s Web site claims the company’s pay is at or above local market rate. About 30 picketers showed up for the protest. Vicky Garza, a junior at
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Edinburg North High School, said she was surprised at the event’s popularity. “When we planned for this, only 10 people came,” she said.
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