The South Texan Vol. 97 Issue 2

TheSouthTexan.com

Texas Publication

Driving CAB, Carmela’s on-campus route

engagement and campus activities.

“I love my job and I love my organization. We are such a big part of student engagement and I think it’s important to get to know who we are what it is we do,” she said.

community. This gave Carmela the skills and knowledge she still uses today.

Erik Estrada | Digital

If there is one student who is the embodiment of the Javelina spirit, argu ably it is Carmela Marti nez.

As the Executive Direc tor of the Campus Activi ties Board, Martinez is at the heart of events on cam pus that not only give stu dents something to enjoy but help them acclimate to college while providing an opportunity to make friends and have fun.

A senior at Texas A&M University Kingsville, Carmela finds herself at the center of all student

Carmela first joined CAB her freshman year and instantly felt wel comed.

“It was funny because I had never heard of CAB but I ended up staying because they were really welcoming, remembered my name, helped me with school and gave me a place to be with things to do,” Carmela said. “I also got to make some great friends and meet some great peo ple along the way.”

Carmela felt at home with CAB from the be ginning. Growing up in San Antonio, her parents helped organize events and were leaders in their

Career offers free students

Career Engagement is preparing students for the upcoming career expo, offering interview prep and resumé re views, but these aren’t just once a year services. Students have access to these services all year whenever they need help.

On Oct. 6, Career En gagement will bring about 60 employees to campus for students to meet and engage with. Students are encouraged to attend and prepare for the upcoming expo.

“Our standard career engagement offering that we have, we do resumé reviews, we get people ready for internships and

Online

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Attempting to rope people back in

Big goals have been set for Texas A&M Uni versity – Kingsville’s (TAMUK) Rodeo Club, as they have been riding out the ups and downs of getting the club back to a competitive team.

interviews especially and then also we have a big career fair coming up in early October that we’re really looking forward to,” Director of Career Engagement and Corpo rate Relations Ralpf Leal said.

Career Engagement also offers different workshops and presen tations throughout the year.

Leal says the first thing to consider going into an interview is the point of the interview, getting to know the company and the company getting to know you.

“It’s really not unlike getting to know some

“I used to do it all the time with my parish. My mom would plan the Hal loween carnival for hun dreds of people, and we did a lot of programming for sports, just planning tons of events all the time,” Carmela said.

When the pressure be gins to rise from the re sponsibilities of school, work and CAB, Carmela looks for support and guidance from those around her.

“Julianne Gomez has been a big role model to me, even though she is my boss, she is someone I can look up to and depend on,” Carmela said.

Campus Activities Co ordinator and CAB advis er Julianne Gomez works with Carmela to create events and maintain stu

dent engagement on cam pus.

“Reflecting on the stu dent and individual she was when we hired her until now, Carmela, like most students, has faced many hardships, but I

never once doubted that she wouldn’t persevere through it all,” Gomez said.

Carmela previously served as Public Relations Chair and a general mem ber, is a wonderful addi

tion to the team, Gomez said.

“Since day one, she saw my vision and goals and has helped me restructure CAB to what it is now, and I couldn’t have done any of

Enriching culture, one institute at a time

TAMUK adds Mexican American Studies Institute

In the northeast corner of the third floor of Rhode Hall, is a green room filled with Chicano art and books about the Chicano Movement.

As of Sep. 1, Rhode Hall is now the home of the Mexican American Studies Institute (MASI), a Hispanic serving insti tute that was created to ed ucate and inform students on the history of Mexican American individuals in South Texas, the Coastal Bend and the Borderland regions.

“[MASI] is a space for students, faculty, staff, alumni and the Kingsville community,” Associate Professor of History and Director of MASI Dr. Al berto Rodriguez said. “A place where we can help engage with individu als who are interested in learning more about their culture.”

Located in Room 312, MASI is open to the pub lic from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The goal is to aid stu dents in expanding their knowledge of the history and culture of Mexican Americans.

Rodriguez explained that one of the reasons be hind the creation of this institute is to help with Texas A&M – Kingsville (TAMUK)’s retention rates. He felt that students should not only feel repre

sented in classrooms and curriculum, but in a phys ical place as well.

“At the core, you want to belong to something that is bigger than you, and sometimes universities do not do that well,” Rodri guez said. “This is some thing we are working on because we have not been doing that enough.”

Not only can individu als stop by to learn about Mexican American cul ture, but they can also go to relax, unwind or work.

Senior and history ma jor Mariah Mercado utiliz es the institute daily.

“I am so excited about the opening of our new Mexican American Stud

Rural mental health, a TAMUK priority

New institute to focus on rural mental health

When problems are accurately identified, it is easier to focus on a solu tion. That is Dr. Steve F. Bain’s plan of action now that the Institute for Ru ral Mental Health Initiatives (IRM HI) finds a home at Tex as A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK) as of Sept. 1.

“The vision of the IRM HI is to help educate lead ers who will make a dif ference in the lives of rural populations in South Tex as and beyond,” Bain said. The associate professor

and former Dean of the College of Education and Human Performance will now serve as the Founding Director of the institute.

The Institute will uti lize multi-disciplinary and system approaches to help support the academic and clinical needs of stu dents within the College of Education and Human Performance and in other programs across campus related to mental health education.

“The institute has been founded to support our students through our counseling-related pro gram as they receive a world-class education via mental health research advocacy and instruction related to mental health is sues impacting rural and remote South Texas,” Bain said.

Housed within the De partment of Educational Leadership and Coun seling, the Institute will support graduate students who are pursuing their

professional counseling degree or related degrees.

“We want to provide support, research and any resources we can to help them become the best graduates, who then become mental health pro fessionals, that anyone in the world can produce, and we believe we can do that,” Bain said.

The institute was found ed for TAMUK students and rural populations. The primary tasks will be to enhance current grad uate programs to focus on rural mental health, drive forward a robust research agenda related to rural mental health and to serve as an advocacy force for rural populations.

Bain felt that TAMUK needed a program like the IRMHI because Texas ranks low in the nation when it comes to avail ability and accessibility to mental health services in rural communities.

“The institute is a proac tive response to the mental

health needs of our state,” Bain said.

Bain mentions that the institute is a product of the work started through the TAMUS Chancellor’s Re search Initiative in 2014 .

Dr. Robert Vela, presi dent of TAMUK, was also involved in the creation of this institute. Vela is a founding member of Bain’s dean’s advisory board. He had the vision of starting an institute that would have a number of focal areas.

“I was able to help clear the path to ensure that we, as an institution, can be responsive to community needs, particularly in light of recent tragedies that of ten involve mental health crises in our communi ties,” Vela said. “We must be responsive to those communities, providing resources, training and support.”

Vela explained that the IRMHI allows TAMUK to align education and coun seling programs that pre

pare future mental health counselors with the needs of rural communities.

Under the leadership of Dr. Bain, TAMUK began offering the only Master of Science (MS) in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with an emphasis in rural mental health in the state of Texas.

“Dr. Bain’s extensive knowledge in the field of rural mental health makes him a great choice to lead this new initiative,” Vela said.

Vice President of Enroll ment and Student Affairs Dr. Rito Silva was another individual who aided in the creation of this insti tute.

“While the Division of Student Affairs was not directly involved in the creation of IRMHI, we do share in the institutional priority placed on mental health, and we are con tinuing to invest in ex panding mental health re sources for our students,” Silva said.

Ronni Reyna | Editor-in-Chief chief.editor@thesouthtexan.com

Submitted Photo

Carmela Martinez does team-bonding activities with CAB members while on retreat.

See Director,

Rae Martinez

Matthew Almaraz and Mariah Mercado in the MASI.

Rae

Celebrating Hispanic family, traditions, tamales

Conner Museum to host first Tamalada Festival

Sarah Reyna | Campus Editor campus.editor@thesouthtexan.com

To celebrate Hispan ic culture, cuisine and traditions during His panic Heritage Month, the Conner Museum at Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK) will be hosting the very first Tamalada Festival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24 at the Conner Museum grounds.

According to the Muy Bueno Cookbook website, a tamalada is a tradition al Mexican event where groups of family and

friends get together to assemble tamales, and that is exactly what in dividuals can expect by attending the festival.

At TAMUK’s Tamala da Festival, students, faculty and staff and members of the Kings ville community can ex pect to learn the history and science of all things tamales and corn, as well as the cultural value of tamales.

By attending the festi val, people will also have the opportunity to taste tamales from Hillcrest Tamales in Hebbronville, participate in corn husk crafts, play loteria and indulge in other fami ly-friendly activities.

“The festival was in spired by our En Mi Familia exhibit by Car men Lomas Garza that we brought in a couple years ago. There is an

area where the artwork is a representation of a tamalada, which she cre ated to honor that tradi tion,” Conner Museum Interim Director of Ad missions and Operations Kathy Pawelek said. “We took components of that and decided it would be good to celebrate the val ue of what this means to South Texas.”

The lineup of present ers at the festival will include Javelina alumni, students and faculty and community members. However, the majority of the lineup at each area will consist of faculty and students, as the mu seum’s goal is to high light their expertise and knowledge.

With this being the first Tamalada Festival at TAMUK, the Conner

Museum and the uni versity wanted a way to bring the community to gether during Hispanic Heritage Month.

“The Conner Museum is part of the College of Arts and Sciences. This initiative is part of our vision for the Conner Museum, as a place to create innovative ac

tivities to highlight our community’s heritage,” College of Arts and Sci ences Dean Dr. Dolores Guerrero said.

“This event celebrates Hispanic culture, fam ily and traditions. [The festival] is scheduled during Parent Weekend so our students and their families can be part of

the celebration. It is also an opportunity to bring the community and the university together.”

Any questions regard ing the festival can be directed to the Museum at (361) 593-2819 or con nermuseum@tamuk.edu , or to Pawelek at kathy. pawelek@tamuk.edu or (361) 593-2849.

Kicking off festivities with cultural activities

Student Engagement and Campus Life to host events

Melissa Mata | Reporter

To kick off the begin ning of Hispanic Her itage Month, which is Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, Tex as A&M University –

Kingsville’s (TAMUK) Student Engagement and Campus Life (SECL) coordinators will be hosting multiple events around campus.

“This is a big time for our community to come together and really cele brate Hispanic heritage. We are holding cultural events, academic events, and many other fun events,” Multicultural Coordinator of SECL Ga

brielle Vaughn said.

The purpose of these events is to learn all about the Hispanic cul ture, their accomplish ments, food and music.

The first event com memorating Hispanic Heritage Month will be a Tamalada Festival, which will involve tast ing tamales and learn ing different techniques of making tamales with other activities, which

will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Conner Museum.

Although the univer sity is fairly diverse, the biggest ethnicity present on campus is Hispanic, with 69 percent of the student body identifying as that background, ac cording to the TAMUK website.

“For the whole month I would really like [stu dents] to get a different perspective on their cul ture,” Vaughn said. “I think a lot of times soci ety could kind of portray the culture as being only fun, but they have a lot of academic portions, and so many Hispanics are really making strides in their careers, so I want

to present that to the community so the stu dents know that can be them one day.”

The purpose of these events is to bring stu dents together to learn about and celebrate His panic culture.

Luis Juárez of Sigma Delta Pi, a Spanish af filiated organization on campus that honors His panic heritage and cele brates Hispanic culture, is a part of the many organizations who have come together at Memo rial Student Union Ball room Pavilion to answer any questions students have about Hispanic Heritage Month.

“My goal for the orga nization is creating uni

ty around the campus for Hispanic heritage,” Juárez said. “It is nice to see other cultures come together to honor one heritage as a one.”

Other events to be hosted during the month include a Cultural Com positions Poetry Night, an Art Exhibit, Loteria Night and a Hispanic Heritage Night Tailgate & Football Game, Satur day, Oct. 8.

For more information regarding Hispanic Her itage Month and the up coming events, contact Student Engagement and Campus Life at (361) 593-2760 or visit their office located at 1119 W. Santa Gertrudis Ave.

Interested in running for Homecoming Court?

The Student Govern ment Association would like to welcome anyone who is in terested in running for King or Queen for the 2022 Tex as A&M Universi ty-Kings ville home coming.

If you are inter ested in signing up, please con tact the Election Code Commissioner, Lue Gon zales at lue.gonzales@ta muk.edu or call 361-593-

3610 and he will guide you to the requirements and steps to sign up.

The sign up date for elections is on Sept. 12 to 28.

After signing up, there will be an election code meeting that is manda

tory to attend on Sept 29 and 30.

Elections will be held on October 10 to 14 and the winner of King and Queen will be an nounced at the Javelina Football Game during halftime.

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Carmen Lomas Garza, Tamalada, 1990, color lithograph.

Melissa Mata

Amber Garcia and Gabrielle Vaughn talking about Student Engagement and Campus Life.

Tyler Larraga Student Body President

Review: Rock ‘n’ roll down south

A blast from the past in a new age

When you think about rock and roll bands you may think about The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, AC/DC, The Beatles, Aerosmith and so many other famous rock bands with their awesome mu sic. If people wish they saw any of these and other rock ‘n’ roll bands before they blew up, this is their chance.

There is one local band that is up and coming with great rock ‘n’ roll music like the bands of yesteryear right here in South Texas.

This band loves to pay tribute to the founding fathers of rock and roll for their fans known as Rock ’N’ Riot. They play music that caters to the classic rocker’s love of Judas Priest, Ozzy, Mot ley, ZZ Top and more. I enjoyed their music in the past at their concerts and I’m going to their fu ture ones.

Rock ‘N’ Riot is a group of four players. There’s Rocco (Rocco Eros) Eros Olvera who is the lead vocals with a rhythm guitar, Trey (Trey Eden) Gonzalez Cana les on lead guitar and is a Texas A&M-Kings ville student, Seth (Seth Layne) Martinez who plays the bass and pro vides back-up vocals and Tony (Tony Lee) Lee

Sandoval, another TA MUK student, who rocks the drums.

From listening to the fans and attending a few of their shows, it looks to be going well for them and they have a faith ful fan base in McAllen, Texas. They are booking venues in Alice and oth er surrounding towns nearby.

They have so much fun with their shows and interact with their fans in between their perfor mances but when they play their songs, you can see it in their eyes that they are in love with the music when they play.

Their last show was in July at Texas Nugget, which was understaffed and under supplied for

the crowd. The venues they performed at didn’t think it was going to hap pen but the band proved them wrong. Now the venue wants them back to play and they are glad to go back.

They have a few up coming shows and the

Review: New Gold, a new track from a platinum band Gorillaz drops a new single

The more I listen to the new Gorillaz track, “New Gold,” the more dissatisfied I start to feel.

A big name like Tame Impala joining the band for a song got me ex tremely excited so I walked in and had grand expectations.

The song starts off with a quick ambient build with synths, bass and drums then it quick ly transfers to the chorus with the vocals of Tame Impala.

This is not necessarily a terrible thing as he has wonderful vocals and is a talented individual but when he only sings a re peat chorus and nothing else it makes me want so much more.

After the chorus comes

Bootie Brown’s first verse which I believe helps save the song.

Lyrically the song is fun, it has many jabs to Twitter drama calling them a revolving door of jokes as well as other lyrics that kind of seem unexpected like talking about a grandma get ting surgery for her girls’ night.

It is important to have fun while creating so be ing able to make good instrumentals that can be paired with over-the-top lyrics add some sort of charm that I do enjoy.

Aside from the lyrics, Bootie Brown performs well. I like how he flows with the song and I don’t feel like he fell behind or that he didn’t fit the song at all.

He is a highlight that makes me want to keep the song playing and one

that makes me want to keep moving my head to the rhythm.

Lastly are the instru mentals that go with the song.

New Gold is a great dance song that has a great beat, amazing players and is just mind blowing from start to fin ish. I always love listen ing to basslines in music and New Gold has that element that just makes me smile.

When the song was released on Aug. 31, it came out with a visualiz er on YouTube that made it better.

From the Golden Xa nax to the characters fly ing through the screen, it helped me listen and bump up the score on the song.

New Gold is a very five-out-of-10 song, and I am still excited for what is to come.

When you step inside you time travel to the 1950s as Pizza Parlor is fully decorated with a lot of artifacts of that pe riod.

Not to mention that they have an actu al 1950s Thunderbird parked in the corner of the entry room as well as a jukebox with a variety of songs from different decades.

First let’s talk about the menu. Pizza Parlor offers a wide array of food on their menu like pizza, submarine sand wiches and pasta.

The menu itself is not too big nor is it too small. One special they offer Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. is $6 lunch specials.

I ordered one of their 8-inch, three topping

first is Sept. 24 at the VFW in Alice. They’ll be opening for Drums, a tribute to Fleetwood Mac. They will have two more concerts in October. The first is Oct. 8 again at the VFW in Alice and will feature their own music which is nothing but killer rock ‘n’ roll. The next concert will be on Oct. 29, at the Texas Nugget and it will be a Halloween-themed concert with a costume contest.

The band is currently in the studio recording their first EP.

Review: A classic pizza from the Parlor A crunchy sensation for a great price

pizzas. When the piz za came, I noticed there was no dark color on the cheese which meant there was not a lot of grease.

There was an equal distribution of cheese sauce and toppings on this pizza. For this one, I ordered cheddar cheese to be a little extra cheesy.

The crust was incred ibly unique. It was hard

and crusty on the out side but once I took a bite MAMA MIA, it un leashed the fluffiness of the crust in my mouth.

Overall, Pizza Parlor did not disappoint and their lunch specials are well priced.

Overall, their food is a 10/10. If I ever want to get a slice of the pie, Piz za Parlor would be my destination.

How to Adult: Voter Registration

The future is in your hands

Election season is on the horizon and there’s the chance that it can bring changes that’ll af fect you more than you may think.

Instead of sitting idly by and waiting to see what happens you can take action by going out and voting.

Your vote can decide which candidates are chosen to represent you and the people but first you’ll need to register to ensure your ability to vote (if you’re already registered then check to see if your information is up to date online).

There are restrictions and requirements set in place that you need to know before you can im pact the future.

There aren’t many re quirements in order to vote but you need to meet all of them in order to register.

Only people 18 and over are allowed to vote in the state of Texas but you may register as ear

ly as 17 years and 10 months old so long as you are a citizen of the United States.

Along with this you need to also be a resident of the county in which you submitted your reg istration application.

The main restrictions outside of age are that you can’t register to vote if you’re convicted of a felony or have been said to be completely or par tially mentally incapac itated with no ability to vote by a court.

If you meet the re quirements and none of the restrictions, you should be able to regis ter.

There are three ways that you can register to vote in your area.

You can do it in person at the county’s registrar office, by mail through a registration form that can be picked up at offi cial government offices or public libraries or by

filling out an application online.

After completion you would need to print, sign and mail it to the office of the county you were registering for.

If you’ve moved to a new address or have changed your legal name, then you should go online and update your information. The deadline for registration is Oct. 11.

Once you’ve com pleted and submitted the form, you should be good to vote for your preferred candidates in the upcoming election.

If you’re already reg istered to vote, then all you need to do is pro vide a form of identifi cation (a driver’s license, passport and other legal identification like these will do) that isn’t four years past its expiration date at your designated polling location on elec tion day on Nov. 8.

Photo from Rocco Olvera.

AaronCarbajal

Photo provided by Amado Moreno.

Image

Cavazosishines bright in first victory Javelinas start the season with a win

On Sept. 3, the Jave linas defeated North American 60-0. In a game where every play er shined as bright as the stars on a clear Tex as night, the one who shined the most was starting quarterback Ja cob Cavazos.

His performance in the victory was a sight to be hold, fans, coaches and teammates said.

“We put in a lot of work to this point day in and day out to have that much success on the field,” Cavazos said.

Cavazos, of Weslaco, completed 11 of his 15 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown through the air. Along with this Cavazos took matters into his own hands run ning the ball five times for 41 yards and scoring the first touchdown of the night, according to stats on the night.

Despite this perfor mance there is always the desire to be better

than the previous week.

“There is always room for improvement, and it is hard to be perfect but at the end of the day there is always some thing work on,” Cavazos said.

His success and lead ership on the offensive side of the ball helped boost the morale and the confidence of his team mates. It also helped each one of them want to outperform themselves from previous plays.

“It helps everybody, gives more confidence going into next week,” said wide receiver JT Mackey, who caught a touchdown pass from Cavazos in the first quar ter of that game. “With all the work we have been putting in for four weeks straight and with Jacob having the game he did, it just gives confi dence to everybody.”

Offensive Coordinator Chase Kyser was very pleased with the way his offense took care of busi ness.

“They did a good job,” he said. “They worked hard all fall camp and the quarterback made good decisions and wide re ceivers did a good job at getting open and being ready when their num

ber was called upon.”

Kyser also added that despite this great offen sive performance there is room for improvement all around.

“We just must stay consistent and finish drives,” Kyser said. “We got to stay physical up front and not turn the ball over, and the quar terback has to continue to play smart and get the ball to where it needs to be. Our goal is to fin ish drives in the green zone.”

Cavazos and his team mates look to better themselves as time goes on and keep doing what they do best one game at a time.

Record broken by senior Javelina

Murff=breaks 23-year-old program record

The Javelina volleyball team is looking to make yet another strong push towards the Lone Star Conference (LSC) title this year and to start the campaign, Nicole Murff has set a new standard at the university with consistent, top tier per formances since her first year at TAMUK.

Murff is now the hold er of what was a 23-yearlong record for digs, formerly held by Kim Martinez since 1999. Af ter her performance at the OBU Fall Invitation al, she would eclipse the 2,000-dig mark and go on to record what was her 2,010 dig, making her the new record hold er for the program.

“What pushes me the most is that my coach is always telling me I can do better,” Murff said. “Every season, no matter how I have done, they always tell me I haven’t reached my full potential yet and to keep driving to be the best I can be.”

Head Coach Tanya Al len-Gonzalez recruited the Defensive Specialist in 2018 out of Antonian

College Preparatory in San Antonio. In her inau gural season as a Javeli na, she would set a fresh man record, recording 594 digs in 30 matches that year. Her 4.87 digs per set would see her in the top three that year in the LSC while also lead ing the team in aces with 40 and contributing 117 assists.

Murff started and has continued her career as a top defender in not only the LSC but also the en tire division II scene as coach Allen-Gonzalez highlights her improve ment over the years as it has led to this major ac complishment.

“Nicole is fun to coach. She is a tough kid and throughout her career we were able to be tough on her and really push her,” i Allen-Gonzalez said. “She has improved tremendously over the course of her career and I’m so proud of her for earning this accomplish ment.”

Since arriving at TA MUK in 2018, Murff has consistently been in the top three in averages in the LSC for digs and has been a defensive anchor for the Javelinas since her recruitment. Last year during the 2021 sea son, she led the LSC in digs with 5.42 a set and climbed to 27 in the na tion on those numbers.

“Our success relies a lot on Nicole’s contri butions. She is a very consistent passer and obviously a very good defender,” Coach Al len-Gonzalez said. “She also brings a lot of com posure on the court and is able to help the team maintain control when things get chaotic.”

Murff has been select ed to the All-LSC first team three times in her career and she has dedi cated herself to the sport and to the university to bring great play to the court.

With the 2022 season being her final, she is looking to December to graduate with her de gree in accounting and a certificate in forensic accounting along with ending her career as a champion here at the university.

Javelinas on the hunt

Look to capitalizeiioff last season’s success

Last season, the Jave linas men’s basketball team finished with a tough loss in the national tournament.

Finishing the season with a winning record of 18–11 fans have to be cu rious about how the Ja velinas will do this year.

The Javelinas believe they are on to something considering the season they had this past year.

To help ensure the Ja velinas are successful, they start every week off with a 6 a.m. run and lift.

“We plan on getting back to the national tournament by starting with the process,” Head Coach Johnny Estelle said. “The beginning process of becoming a team, building chem istry, improving our strength, working on our skill sets, and putting it all together for our one common goal.”

The Javelinas’ main goal is to win the Lone Star Conference and move on to compete in the national tournament for a chance to win it all.

The Javelinas plan on doing that with the help of some key players who know the ropes.

“We have a great core of players coming back and some talented new comers that are going to put a different spin on the way we played the last few years,” Es telle said. “It takes time

to match that chemistry together and they are working hard on that right now.”

Graduate Assistant/ Coach Chauncey Thom as plays a key role as he is a link between players and coaches having once played for coach Estelle.

“Playing under both Coach Estelle and Coach O [Assistant Coach Omar Gonzalez] I have learned a lot,” Thom as said. “Now it’s the transition from being on the court and playing to being in the office as a graduate assistant and listening... I have learned a lot more about life and basketball as well, which is the best thing that can happen for a young man like me.”

Thomas has scored many buckets for the Ja velinas and he hopes to produce as a coach just as much as he did as a player.

Thomas will be enter ing his second season as a graduate assistant for the Javelinas men’s bas ketball team.

“I will express the knowledge that I have gained from my coach es as a player and as a graduate assistant,” Thomas said. “Bad days are going to happen and remember it’s a mara

thon and it takes a while but eventually, you’ll get there.”

Expressing his knowl edge to veteran guards like Sammy Brooks and Creighton Avery the message was received. The two dominant guards who came off an outstanding season last year look to keep that energy going and spread it throughout the team as they spring forward into a new season.

“We keep them in sync by letting everyone have a voice and giving ev erybody responsibility,” Brooks said. “Because at the end of the day it’s a team game and every one has their weight to pull in order to make sure we’re successful as a team.”

Avery agrees with his teammate.

“It starts with the way we take pride in our selves and that will have a droplet effect,” Avery said. “The system/for mula is already in place, it’s just up to us to make sure no one strays away from what’s made us successful.”

The Javelinas look to start the season off right with an exhibition game at 7 p.m., Nov. 4 in Col lege Station.

Chris Olivarez | Senior Reporter

Mireya Martinez

Jacob Cavazos, quarterback.

Javelina Athletics Coach Johnny Estelle during a press conference.

Javelina Athletics Nicole Murff

Dylan Sanchez | Sports Editor sports.editor@thesouthtexan.com

Craig Clemons | Contributing Writer

Our Opinion

The importance of student media

As a digitized society most news media can get lost among other content. Student media’s presence may not be well known. Though we have dedicated read ers on our campus and throughout the community, how do we spread the importance of student media to other students?

Student media attached to Texas A&M Universi ty-Kingsville (TAMUK) is a separate entity, allow ing journalists to hold university programs, faculty and staff accountable. Being a separate entity from TAMUK allows us to produce content without being filtered, granting us the opportunity to practice our freedoms of speech and press.

Student media has changed rapidly in the last few years at the university. We went from just publishing print newspapers to now creating multimedia con tent that allows us to reach a wider audience. We now have the capability to reach the entire Kingsville area and beyond through social media, video and radio news.

Participating in student media allows students to have first-hand experience in journalism and pro fessionalism as well as gain skills by reporting on the subjects students are surrounded by every day. From featuring students to covering organizations and university traditions, student media plays a vital role in delivering these aspects of news to students, faculty and staff.

In an age of faulty news, student journalists are more important than ever. We are forming skills to venture out and provide unbiased news in the fu ture, allowing us to discover the untold stories at our university.

We are active members of the TAMUK community but at the same time, we are still watch dogs. We can file for information; we can schedule interviews and we can search for answers when students need them. We will fight to make sure the truth gets uncovered, and the stories you want to hear get delivered.

Want to know enrollment numbers, stay updated on campus incidents or see a deserving student take the front page? Student media is the place.

Like all, we hold our university near and dear, but know there is a time and place to hold even our own university accountable.

Support your local student media. We work hard to produce content, edit and write. We are journalists and students, too.

Banning of books in Texas? Why it is wrong

Many school districts in Texas, including some local South Texas schools such as West Oso ISD, have sent out a list of books that are now banned from being available at their school librar ies. Flour Bluff ISD also had a group of people with con cerns over books that they have available in the school libraries speak up at a school board meeting.

While some people agree with this new list of banned books, others are concerned, as I am.

What is even more con cerning is that a lot of these people that are for banning these books do not even have children in the school district.

Many of the books that are being banned are LBGTQ+ communi ty based, and have other references to sex, drugs, slavery and other deep topics. It seems as if these groups that are push ing the banning of these books have their own personal agendas, and truly do not care about the student’s safety and well-being. Students, es pecially teenagers that may be going through a lot mentally, and/ or hormonal changes, or any major change in general in their lives, of ten read these books and may be able to connect to them and feel like they

are not alone in what ever situation they are going through. By read ing these books they re alize that others have felt and or experienced the same challenges they do. These books not being available to them may cause their mental health to deteriorate and cause other major problems such as depression.

Most of the people that want these books banned have no edu cation or professional background. They come from distinct groups, or local churches. I believe anyone deciding about curriculum or about what should and should not be in a school library should be educated and have some kind of ed ucational background. Not someone who has their own personal agen

das that they want to ful fill.

It’s important to know that this is happening not just in Texas but around the world. One day you’ll possibly have children in the school system, and you may not want them to be de prived of major parts of history that these people are trying to erase or de prived of a book that can help them deal with per sonal problems that they may not feel comfort able talking to someone about.

My hope is that by the time my son is old enough to attend pub lic schools, he is not de prived of books that can help his mental health, and not have true histo ry hidden from him.

Kingsville water got me feeling salty

Being the type of per son who is constantly drinking water my poor taste buds do not like the Kingsville water.

As an avid wa ter drink er, I feel like you definitely get a feel of all the different types of water, and you know how they all taste. You can taste the plastic in some water

bottles, or maybe even the box from Boxed wa ter is better (it’s not!). Let’s not even talk about how Ozarka and Voss water taste like tap wa ter. But of course, some might say “All water tastes the same,” but we know that is not the case.

Personally, my favor ite water brand is Klar brunn, although it is very hard to find since they do not sell it at H-E-B or Walmart, and not even at Target.

But being the type of person who drinks so much water it just makes sense to buy a water fil

ter, instead of buying case after case of water.

Last week I bought a Brita water filter pitcher. I did as the instructions said and let the water run through the filter a few times. Then poured the water into my Hydro Flask water bottle. I was utterly shocked that it tasted like salt!

I tried the same Brita in Corpus Christi and the water was not salty. Why is the Kingsville water inordinately salty?

Director of Public Works William Donnell explains the city adds ammonia with chlorine

to the water to clean it and make it safe to be consumed.

Donnell explains that Kingsville receives 90 percent of its water from local water wells. He explains that the reason behind this salty taste could possibly be from the natural surface wa ter.

Although this water is safe to consume, it just doesn’t taste good to me.

In the meantime, I will be getting a filter for my faucet too, so it will be double filtered. Maybe this will filter out the surface water taste.

The @thesouthtexan.com (361) 593-4370.

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The South Texan, Manning Hall 165, Texas A&M University-Kings ville Kingsville, Texas 78363

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances.”

Laryssa Salinas

Contributing Writer

Melissa Mata Reporter

it without her help. I truly appreciate Carmela,” Go mez said.

Aside from CAB, Car mela takes on other re sponsibilities around cam pus that promote student engagement.

“She also takes on re sponsibilities around campus such as being a part of different univer sity committees, which in turn, allows her to meet faculty, staff and upper administration,” Gomez said. “From these oppor tunities, she has grown as a leader and an individual and I am so proud of her.”

body for the very first time so you just want to talk and have a really nice conversation,” he said.

The biggest thing to do in preparation for an in terview is practice, pref erably with someone, Leal said.

“Practice with some body because there’s all kinds of questions that get asked and [it’s] always good practicing those questions out loud for the first time with somebody else rather for the actu

ies Institute at TAMUK,” Mercado said. “I can’t wait to see how this new insti tute will impact students on a day-to-day basis by giving them a safe space to spend time in and inter act with faculty and staff.”

She encourages every one to check the institute out and be immersed in the culture that is shared by a large population of students.

Like Mercado, senior

Carmela serves on such committees as the Multi cultural Committee, Black Heritage Committee, Homecoming, and more.

Carmela fills her sched ule with other responsibil ities that are not written in the job description.

“My biggest respon sibility is taking care of my board and members, they’re the ones that make CAB successful,” Carmela said. A responsibility she holds close.

Through CAB, Carme la has met many people and created friendships that she cherishes. One of her best friends and a fel low CAB Board member,

al employer that you’re talking to,” he said.

It’s also recommended that students make sure to plan for the day of the expo, including speaking with professors if they need to be excused from class, and looking at the list of employers who will be in attendance.

“As far as just what to wear, I think you just [have] to be comfortable. You have to understand that you are making a first impression with an employer but at the end

and history major Mat thew Almaraz also spends most of his days at the in stitute.

“I think our universi ty needs something like this to provide a space for intellectual conversation about Mexican American studies and faculty,” Al maraz said. “The institute also provides continuing education on the plight and struggle of Mexican American individuals.”

Almaraz likes the friendly and welcoming

Erial Hawkins, has been working with Martinez since they both joined as freshmen.

“She’s the best. She’s my right hand. I believe every one should have a Carme la in their life. Carmela is a very understanding, self less and caring individu al. She is always there to listen, and to give advice,” Hawkins said.

As Martinez continues in the executive director position, she tries to pro mote a constructive envi ronment for everyone she meets.

“Carmela promotes a positive and healthy en vironment for everyone,

of the day the employer just wants to talk with students,” Leal said.

Even if you can only come between classes, students are still welcome and encouraged to attend the expo.

“Students should ex pect people from all over, various different compa nies and they should be ready to introduce them selves as well as possibly inquire about upcoming internships in the spring and summer,” Assistant Director of Career En

atmosphere of the insti tute. He hopes that every one around TAMUK gains a sense of belonging from having an institute like this.

Rodriguez says the institute had been in the talks for about two or three years. It started as a conversation with the Spanish faculty council, then it went over to Dr. Mark Hussey and Dr. James Hallmark. By the time Dr. Robert Vela en tered the picture, the plan

I believe this has helped everyone look at one an other as family,” Hawkins said. “The environment we have is what she pro motes to non-members, and this makes students want to join.”

Though she enjoys be ing executive director, Carmela feels the pressure does get overwhelming.

“It’s a big responsibil ity being in my position. Heaviest is the head that wears the crown, and trust me, it’s heavy,” she said. “It can be a tough job, but I try to focus on the positive and the people who help me serve our community.” Carmela is excited to

gagement Tammy Alcala said.

Career Engagement is open until 7 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to offer services to stu dents who may not have the opportunity to come in earlier in the day.

Alcala encourages freshmen to take advan tage of the services they provide.

All services provided by Career Engagement are free to students.

“Use us, we work for you. Use the opportuni

was sort of already in place and he supported the idea to a new level. Rodriguez recalls that out of all the support he has received, it is the support of Dr. Lou Reinisch, provost, that has been the steadiest.

Additionally, MASI has received support and donations from different faculty members. The art that is hanging on the walls was donated by an art professor, the table in the center of the room was donated by Dr. Hallmark,

continue in her position and to make this year full of opportunity for stu dents at the university.

“I’m excited to meet new people, create new op portunities and welcome people to CAB the way I was welcomed back then,”

ties that are given. Again, we are centrally located across from Starbucks,” Acala said.

Joshua Macareno, a senior business manage ment major, is a student worker in the career en gagement office. He not only helps students but uses the resources him self.

“Some of the resourc es I’ve use personally is there’s this thing called Quincua so basically em ployers they use this ATS system, they usually don’t

and the coffee and snacks were donated by different faculty members. Even students have stopped by to drop off décor for the institute.

Rodriguez said there was already a place for ethnic studies, like the institute during the ’70s, but it got lost during the Chicano Movement. He clarified that he is not cre ating anything new, he is just trying to re-engage it. He hopes MASI is the match that lights up the

Carmela said. “Our job as an organization is to bring students out to our events and give them something to be excited about. We give them a break from their homework and ex ams and make sure our campus is full of life.”

read your resumé they… use it to get keywords to make sure like you’re a great fit for the company and in the summer I actu ally used that and I actu ally landed an internship with Enterprise Holdings this summer,” Macareno said.

To schedule a meeting with the Career Engage ment team contact them at hirejavelinas@tamuk.edu or call 361-593-2217.

Their office is located across the hall from Star bucks.

spark, and that more in stitutes are created for different ethnic groups so that everyone across cam pus feels represented and organized.

“Rodriguez plans on hosting workshops and other cultural events in the future. For more in formation on MASI, stop by Rhode Hall, Room 312, or contact Dr. Rodriguez at Alberto.Rodriguez2@ta muk.edu. An open house is scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday Sept 20.

UNIVERSITY POINTS OF PRIDE

Hispanic Outlook on Education 2021 Texas A&M-Kingsville is a Top 10 University for Hispanic students pursuing a degree in Agricultural/Animal/Plant/Veterinary Science and Related Fields according to an October 2021 report by the magazine Hispanic Outlook on Education. The program’s student demographic is 66% Hispanic/Latino.

Educational Leadership program Ranked 8th by Best Value Schools 2022 Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at Texas A&M University Kingsville is ranked 8th in best educational leadership programs by Best Value Schools, which looked at tuition costs and enrollment for ranking criteria.

Forbes’ Top 25 universities based on alumni rankings

A&M-Kingsville ranks in the top 25 of universities in the United States based on alumni rankings, according to Forbes’ in 2020. The University was one of only two Texas universities to make the list.

Accredited Engineering Programs

The Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering has the most comprehensive array of undergraduate programs in South Texas including: architectural engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, and natural gas engineering.

Carnegie Classified Doctoral University with High Research Activity Texas A&M-Kingsville awarded 29 doctoral degrees during the 2019-2020 academic year. The university reported research expenditures of over $22.2 million in the 2019 fiscal year and over $22.7 million for fiscal year 2020.

From Institute

From Career

Submitted Photo

Carmela Martinez holding a snake during a CAB hosted petting zoo.