The South Texan Vol. 97 Issue 4

TheSouthTexan.com

Texas A &M University-Kingsville Award-Winning Student Publication

Goswami announced as interim Provost

Reinisch moves to faculty in Spring

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

Texas A&M Universi ty-Kingsville (TAMUK) announced the replace ment of Dr. Lou Reinisch

as provost of the universi ty on Oct. 11.

Vice President of Ac ademic Affairs

Dr. Jaya Goswami will serve as inter im pro vost. The university hopes to name a finalist for provost by next summer.

Reinisch started as pro vost for the university in the Fall 2020 with plans to focus on the entire student experience on campus.

“We are grateful to Dr. Reinisch for his leader ship. He will transition to faculty in the Department of Physics and Geoscienc es in the spring,” President of TAMUK Dr. Robert Vela said.

The university was un

able to comment further on why Reinisch was re placed as it is a personnel matter.

“Dr. Goswami is an out standing leader who has more than two decades of experience serving our university. Through her roles as faculty and ad ministrator, Dr. Goswa mi has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to student-centric service

and prioritizing student success, while ensuring stellar, innovative aca demic programing. She is well-respected by her peers and was the natural choice to serve as interim provost,” Vela said.

Goswami has been with the university since 2001.

“With Dr. Goswami leading in this role, the im pact to faculty and the uni versity as a whole should

be minimal. Our mission remains the same—en suring that our students graduate and go on to successful lives,” he said.

Reinisch took the posi tion while the university was facing the COVID-19 pandemic, and had goals to improve the university’s four-year graduation rate to 50 percent, and aspired

Fall Carnival, a festive food fair

Annual

all together,” Executive Director for CAB Carme la Martinez said. “This event allows us to see the students, faculty, staff and community come togeth er and enjoy the night, the Javelina spirit.”

The vibrant sun shines down as the smoke and the smell of barbecue race against each other to see which one the at tendees notice first. The long Boulevard begins to get crowded, a line of hungry customers formed behind a booth, waiting to purchase a dark, flavorful and delicious turkey leg.

Music blasts from the speakers and intertwines with the conversations be ing heard from everyone all at once; elevating the atmosphere at the annual fall carnival at Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK).

Hosted on Oct. 12 by Campus Activities Board (CAB), the fall carnival is one of TAMUK’s home coming traditions, held for the entire community of Kingsville to enjoy.

“I think [fall carnival] is important just so we give everyone a chance to do some fundraising and be

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Martinez explained that CAB structured the entire event a month in advance. They had to pre pare the policies, pick out venders, reserve the bou levard, hire the DJ and make sure all student or ganizations who reached out were ready.

This event gives stu dent organizations the opportunity to fund raise. Each organization

Tejano leaders honored at banquet

Cantú, Janecek, Martínez, Silva recognized

The buzzing sound of chatter and the melodies of Tejano music filled the Memorial Student Union Ballroom at Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK) to celebrate the 15th annual Tejano Heri tage Awards on Wednes day, Oct. 5.

Professor of Communi cation Dr. Manuel Flores began this banquet 15 years ago, to celebrate Te jano culture and individ uals who have served this community.

Every year, the Teja no Banquet awards two to four people who have demonstrated exemplary service to the community of South Texas. This year, Dr. Norma Elia Cantú

and César Martínez were awarded the Tejano Her itage Award and Dr. Rito Silva and Lily Flores Jan ecek received the Tejano Service Award.

“We believe in the Teja no culture and what it has done for South Texas,” Flores said. “Tejano cul ture is all over the place here in Texas, just look at all the river and town names: they are almost all Hispanic names.”

Each person has to be nominated by university faculty or staff, friends who know them or oth ers. TAMUK has a Tejano Awards Committee which evaluates each nomination and narrows down candi dates. There are typically 12 to 14 nominations each year, but only a maximum of four individuals are chosen to be awarded and recognized.

Cantú is a Chicana post modernist writer and the Murchison Professor in the Humanities at Trinity

University in San Antonio. She has several books pub lished, including Canícula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera and Cabañuelas: A Novel and was editor of the book Entre Guadalupe y Malinche: Tejanas in Lit erature and Art. Cantú is considered an expert in Chicana/Tejana literature and is one of today’s pre mier writers in that genre.

Martínez is one of the most prominent Chicano Latinx artists in the na tion. While at Texas A&I, he became involved in the Chicano Movement for civil rights and be came friends with several of the leaders. His work is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, the Vero Beach Museum of Art and the McNay Art

Museum in San Antonio, the Museo de Arte Mod erno in Mexico City and the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston. His work is currently in the Ben Bailey Art Gallery at TAMUK.

“I actually did not want to start out being an art ist, but I always liked art

Dominic Valdez

fill

Boulevard during

Carnival.

Rae Martinez

Sarah Reyna | Campus

Jessica Tijerina

Members of Kappa Delta Chi posing at their Fall Carnival booth.

Rae Martinez

Pictured (r-l)Dr. Robert Vela, Dr. Rito Silva, Dr. Norma Elia Cantú, Lily Flores Janecek, César Martínez and Dr. Manuel Flores at the Tejano Banquet Awards.

Dr. Jaya Goswami

Jessica Tijerina Spiderman and Porky face off.

Homecoming week kicks off with annual event

can expect throughout the week, including the bonfire, Hog Call, talent show, concert, fall carni val, the Javelina home coming football game and the coveted crown ing of homecoming king and queen.

The pavilion was filled with music and students as homecoming candi dates passed out candy and food encouraging votes.

The smell of popcorn lingered in the air and students ate pizza while the first of many home coming events and tradi tions took place.

The Homecoming Kick Off was celebrated on Monday, Oct. 10, at the Pavilion with face painting, balloon ani mals and art, a photo booth, music and more for students to enjoy.

The start of homecom ing week signifies the many traditions students

CAB President Carme la Martinez says her fa vorite Javelina tradition is the annual fall car nival, even when she’s running the event.

“I like Fall Carnival be cause you see everybody on campus participate, whether it’s working a booth, buying food or the community joining in, so I really like it be cause you get maximum participation,” she said Sophomore kinesi ology major Analysa Munoz was tabling for homecoming queen during the kickoff event.

“It’s exciting and ner vous at the same time, but I’m glad to be able to [have] this opportunity

to get my name out there and just experience the whole thing. It’s a very exciting opportunity for everyone to run,” she said.

Munoz’s favorite part of homecoming includes tailgating and the Javeli na football game.

Several candidates

Javelinas staying safe during homecoming

Annual Sober

event

AbigayleHaydem|Contributing Writer

Student Engagement, along with PEP Talk, the Office of Employment Services and the Javelina Wellness Center, joined forces at Sober Spirits last week to showcase services offered on cam pus and to share some tips on how to stay safe during homecoming week.

More than 300 stu dents, faculty and staff attended the event and

completed stations around the pavilion.

Several local organiza tions attended the event such as The Purple Door, the Women’s & Men’s Health Services Clinic, and many more. This was the first year that faculty and staff were in vited to attend, as Sober Spirits has been used as an event to give students safety tips for homecom ing week. However, PEP Talk and the Healthy Javelinas committee teamed together in order to bring students, faculty and staff together for the event.

“We thought the booths and all the infor mation would be a good idea for them to know what resources are avail

able to them as well, not just students,” PEP Talk President Esmeralda Gutierrez said.

Professional counsel or at Student Health & Wellness Roxana Castel lanos attended the event in order to raise aware ness about some mental health issues students may be facing.

“It’s very important to take care of your mental health,” she said.

One of the most pop ular booths at the event was set up by the Univer sity Police Department, which conducted alcohol level tests using goggles that mimic symptoms of intoxication.

Freshman architec tural/civil engineering major Amanda Martínez said the booth was edu cational.

“[I[ learned a lot of things about drinking I didn’t know before,” she said.

For more information on safe practices any time of the year, students, fac ulty and staff are encour aged to contact PEP Talk or the Healthy Javelinas committee.

SGA in search of students to join

made their appearance during the event tabling with candy and even breakfast sandwiches in hopes of swaying stu dents for their vote.

“I decided to run for homecoming king to support the College of Agriculture and more specifically the colle

giate FFA. We’re kind of a small organization that needs support and representation, and I fig ured running for home coming king would give them just that,” junior Agriculture Science ma jor Daniel Cavazos said.

His favorite part of the annual event was

meeting new people and seeing students show support. Cavazos looks forward to supporting the Javelina football team during the home coming game. While many students look forward to experi encing the traditions for another year, they see each year Texas A&M University-Kingsville is home to many freshmen, who have yet to witness the Javelina traditions that take place during the week.

Freshman Animal Sci ence major Justice Reed attended this year’s kickoff and was excited to experience her first Javelina homecoming week.

“I’m so excited for the football game,” she said.

Reed also looks for ward to the social events throughout the week and said the bonfire would be her favorite event of the week.

Tyler Larraga Student Body President

The Student Gov ernment Association at Texas A&M Universi ty-Kingsville is seeking students who are want ing to be leaders on campus. SGA serves as the voice of the student body in the af fairs of TAMUK. The as sociation is also commit ted to trans paren cy and making infor mation regarding SGA accessi ble.

“SGA is a great orga nization to be a part of if you see yourself as a leader, and it is a great way to meet new peo ple and network. Before

I was a part of SGA I was a bit nervous, but I ended up loving it in the end,” SGA Special Proj ects Assistant Bryanna Reyna said.

The Student Govern ment Association is lo cated in the Memorial Student Union Building in Rooms 201-202. In side the office are the SGA executives which are very welcoming and willing to help with the application process. The application process does not take more than one minute to complete. SGA would love to have more involvement in the new school year.

“I would say that SGA is a great leader ship organization and it feels like a place where you can actually do something and make change around campus. The SGA family is very welcoming as they wel

comed me in and they will do the same to who ever would like to join,”

SGA Secretary Julieanna Chavarria said.

The way that SGA operates is with a threebranch divided power system that includes the legislative branch, executive branch and judicial branch. All of these branches come to gether to ensure that the student life on campus is a healthy and safe en vironment. SGA makes sure that the students’ concerns are being heard.

“I am looking forward to working with SGA to form new relations and do what is best for the student body on cam pus. I am glad that SGA reached out to me to be a part of something that I really like doing,” Se nior Student Sabrina Garza said.

Ronni Reyna

Homecoming candidates Anna Vela and Andres Baez giving out goodies, hoping to get votes.

Jessica Tijerina

TAMUK Student Health & Wellness members Adrian Lopez and Valerie Martinez at Sober Spirits.

Jessica Tijerina

Student talking to The Purple Door at Sober Spirits.

Homecoming parade puts a smile on your face

Annual event held in Kingsville

|Reporter

Kids chanted as floats and decorated cars packed the Downtown Kingsville area Thurs day, Oct. 13, as the annu al homecoming parade that began at the Kleberg County Courthouse and ended at the Train De pot. The Kingsville city employeers took part in making sure everything ran smoothly before, during and after the pa rade.

“We put up the barri cades to block the traffic for the parade, for every one’s safety here,” City Employee Abel Mayorga said.

Participants in the parade prepared to put smiles on the faces of families in attendance.

Junior and Leasing Con sultant for Javelina Sta tions Kaylee Silva said a lot of preparation went into the parade.

“We made candy bags, blew up balloons and of course, we decorated the car, once we were on site waiting for the parade to get started,” she said.

The Kingsville com munity cheered as they received candy bags and waves from all of the pa rade participants.

“Seeing the little kids…they’re all excit ed. It was really nice to see that we’re putting a smile on their faces,” Sil va said.

During the parade, the community came together in celebration of homecoming. Parade participants such as cheer and football teams and apartment complex es were in attendance Thursday evening.

The people of Kings ville enjoy events like the homecoming pa rade, to be able to come together and enjoy time with one another.

Silva said she hopes Kingsville will hold “more events with the University, because

Kingsville is a small town, so it would be nice if we could do more things.”

Holding events such as these brings families and old friends together.

“I think it’s import ant to get more people talking about the school and putting it on the map,” freshman Julia Flood said.

The Annual Home coming parade is part of the weeklong events leading up to the TA MUK Homecoming football game.

Bonfire, Hog Call, block party for homecoming

Events held to hype up students

Javelinas packed the intramural fields as they waited with anticipation to watch the burning of 300 wood pallets at the bonfire Thursday, just days before the Home coming game.

Students enjoyed the Hog Call right before the bonfire, which was fol lowed by the block par ty, all of which happened in one night. Events like these are not planned overnight, Assistant Dean for Student Life Erin McClure said.

“We start planning for homecoming events six months ahead of time,” she said.

Although the univer sity hosted these events, the Kingsville commu nity took a big part in supporting this event throughout the night.

“Kingsville fire chiefs were on site during the bonfire, campus activi ties brought in rides and SGA provided smores,” McClure said.

These events are held every year during home coming week to bring Kingsville together and continue traditions.

“I love the atmosphere here. Homecoming week really brings in a lot of alums to the community and all of the students together to have fun,” McClure said.

Followed by the bon fire was the block party and one of Texas A&M University-Kingsville’s own students performed at the block party live for the first time.

Javelina fans smiled, shouted and sang with excitement as they watched their fellow classmate Jose Ramirez, also known as Whapö, perform at the block par ty.

“This is like a dream come true since it’s my school. I right away said yes to this opportunity,” Ramirez said. “It feels good to perform for my school. I love this com munity a lot and it has definitely helped me grow.”

Before the concert kicked off, Trenton Payne and Amberly

Zaragoza, former Home coming King and Queen, hosted their last event while being royals.

“We introduced the new people that could be coming into the court. We also spoke about what being a Javelina means to us and we got the crowd hyped up and ready for the night,” Zaragoza said.

Payne described his nostalgic feeling during his run to Homecoming King and the feeling of letting go of the crown.

“It was awesome to represent TAMUK by be ing Homecoming King, but it’s also bittersweet. Since we are all connect ed, it feels like we will all still be kings at the end; we’re just adding some one else new to the fami ly,” he said.

MelissaMata

Melissa Mata

Javelina football team on a float during the parade.

Melissa Mata

Whapö performing after the bonfire.

Melissa Mata

Miss TAMUK Jacqueline McClendon.

Growing to love the game

Moses Horn III, building a legacy of his own

Tears rapidly trickled down and hands were gripped even tighter as the unknowing future college athlete begged his parents from the back seat of their Ford F-150 to turn around. Pleas ignored, the truck arrived at its scheduled destination where young Moses Horn III at just the age of six, would go on to do great things: the foot ball field.

Upon earning his Bach elor’s in Sports Manage ment in December 2021, Horn decided to continue his studies at Texas A&M

University-Kingsville (TAMUK) as a graduate student, seeking to earn his Master’s in Business Association.

During his time as an undergrad, Horn was in volved with the Javelina football team as an offen sive lineman.

“I always wanted to be a part of something and football felt like the easier way for me to do that. I’ve always been good at it, but it also forced me to be in more uncomfortable sit uations. I have to step up to be a leader and speak up for myself and oth ers, which is something I struggled with early on as

a child,” Horn said.

Alongside football, his father and high school of fensive line coach, Coach Dorsey, shaped him into the man he is today. Horn states that his father taught him to work hard for what he wants. Before his father’s passing, he left him with the quote, “what you do in practice makes you good, what you do on your own makes you great,” which Horn always tries to build on.

Horn states that his goal is to one day build a legacy as his father did, which is to be known as a man who is honest and who always upholds his promises.

Horn is a joint student intern, working for both the Alumni Association and Athletic Department on campus.

Vice President for In stitutional Advancement Brad Walker disclosed the alumni office’s excitement when recruiting Horn.

“We met him and he just seemed to get what we do in dealing with alumni. He talked about the Jave lina family and what that means to him. The way he talked sounded like our alumni, which is differ ent from most students and he’s coming at it from a unique experience and perspective that we felt would be a really good addition for our office,” Walker boasted.

Horn slowly transi tioned from the alumni to

the athletic department, giving him the chance to work more closely to wards his career goals.

At the Athletic Depart ment, Horn helps draw up corporate sponsorship contracts and sits in on meetings and negotia tions. He recently attended both the Valero and Jave lina Stations negotiation meetings and even helped come up with Valero’s partnered slogan.

“Moses is exactly what you want a student-ath lete to be. He takes his ac ademics very seriously, he is a hard worker, and he is making a positive impact on this campus and com munity,” Executive Di rector of Athletics Steve Roach said.

Horn hopes that his cur

rent position in life helps him build strong relation ships with pro-athletes in his future.

Besides football, Horn enjoys fishing, collecting vinyl records and cook ing. His favorite foods to make are burgers and chicken marsala. He re cently learned how to cook paprika chicken and rice bake, one of his now go-to meals.

A man of many inter ests, this soon to be grad uate is always willing to try new things, a skill that he states will continue to benefit him in the future.

“I would have never found out I could sing if my grandmother didn’t force me to go up on stage when I was 12 and sing lead in Father Abraham

in the church choir. You never know what you can do until you try. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll build up the courage to skydive,” Horn finishes.

Fast-forward seven years from the young boy crying in his parents truck.

The blinding stadium lights gleamed and the packed house erupted in cheers as Horn’s sixthgrade football team, the Southwest Steers, took home their trophies, win ning the Little League Superbowl. It was in that moment, when Horn fell in love with that champi onship feeling, that team feeling and finally grew to love the sport he once begged his parents not to make him play.

Makaylah Chavez

KTAI-FM

Submitted Photo

Moses Horn III poses in his football jersey.

Submitted Photo

Moses Horn III hugs his mom after graduation.

Standardized testing must go

The first standardized test in the state of Texas was introduced in 1980. The introduction of the Tex as Assessment of Basic Skills exam to the classroom marked the end of an era when people learned be cause they wanted to and not because they were obligated.

Texas candidate Beto O’Rourke stated at the Texas gubernatorial debate that he plans to end the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STA AR) test in order to increase teacher and student re tention, if elected as the 2022 Texas Governor.

It is widely known that the United States faces a shortage of teachers as well as a lack of student en gagement in the classroom. With current standard ized tests like STAAR, teachers lack the freedom to teach the way they want, because they are forced to meet deadlines during certain times of the year. The lack of creativity and freedom teachers have overall leads to lack of engagement and retention of students. With teachers not having control over the classroom, more and more teachers quit every year because of the pressure and lack of motivation.

Standardized testing is an overall poor and lazy way to measure the knowledge of students. Every individual student has their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to school. Teachers should be the ones to have control over a student’s academic path as they were the ones who witnessed their academic growth within a year.

We believe Texas should get rid of standardized testing, because we don’t think it’s a beneficial or ac curate way to measure what students have learned. It is not common to hear about someone that enjoys taking a test, and the stress of taking one can often make it more difficult for students to answer ques tions properly and thoroughly.

Standardized testing does not enhance students’ knowledge; it conditions them to only memorize and pass their STAAR test. We, as products of the public school system, know the struggle and stress that goes into preparing for the STAAR test.

The challenge we faced growing up, that is stan dardized testing in the public school system, is due for revision and removal. Schools must be allowed to teach the future leaders of America as they see fit based on students’ needs.

Collaborations: not something we needed but wanted

Who doesn’t like to mix things up every once in a while? It can be easy to blend things togeth er to see how well it will go, but is that final product worth the effort and time? The answer will vary from person to person and be dependent on what is be ing mixed, but I person ally think it is a fun and harmless idea most of the time. Some business

es seem to agree with that notion.

The simplest example that anyone is capable of doing this would be to mix food together to create something poten tially great, but compa nies can mix even larger components like brands and celebrities in order to make something that will grab major atten tion. McDonald’s has been doing this recently by collaborating with major celebrities and art ists like Travis Scott and BTS to promote special versions of meals on the menu in order to drum up more business.

Their newest hit is a recent collaboration with Cactus Plant Flea Market, an artist owned brand, to create a new adult happy meal. The meal does include a de signer toy based on an altered look for some old McDonald’s mascots, but it can only be or dered as a nugget or Big Mac meal with little al terations available. This unexpected crossover has been selling out con sistently so perhaps it will lead to similar meals with other artists or com panies in the future.

Aside from food, crossovers can be seen in all forms of media whether it is two art

ists collaborating on an album or two brands coming together to cre ate a special experience that fans may have been clamoring for. They can also happen internally within a single brand which is something that Marvel does constant ly for its shows, movies and games.

I think collaborations have more good to offer than they do bad since the outcome tends to be something interesting and unique like the adult happy meals currently available. It would be nice to see what other companies can come up with to either copy or ex pand on this offering.

There is more to news channels than what we see

Last Thursday, my friends and I got the op portunity to visit KRIS 6 News in Corpus Chris ti, Texas, and it is safe to say that this trip broad ened my perspec tive on news channels. Before taking this trip, I did not give news channels a second thought. I appre ciated the fact that these individuals took the time to inform us on what is going on in the area and

the country, but this was not something I was wholeheartedly interest ed in. This all changed in a matter of hours.

Visiting KRIS 6 News was one of the best things that could have happened to me. It showed me that there was so much more than they let on. If the saying, “There’s no ‘I’ in team,” was an actual, physical thing, it would be news channels. This news channel is comprised of different people doing different tasks that even tually come together to create news segments. There is an area with people who only focus on production, there are others who focus on the

digital media aspect of it, the ones pressing but tons that program the footage (what you see on tv) and of course, the news anchors. Everyone has a different role that is just as important.

Getting to witness these hard-working in dividuals do their job was an eye-opening ex perience. It sparked an interest in me that was not there before and see ing just how passionate the employees are about what they are doing, deepened that interest. It also made me hyper aware of the team effort that is required. When I watch the news, I hard ly ever acknowledged that it is more than just

a news anchor and a me teorologist. Talking to some of the employees enhanced the level of re spect I have for them.

As a fellow news re porter, it is nice to be appreciated for the work that gets done behind the scenes every once in a while; and I am more than sure these employ ees must feel the same way.

There is always more to the things we see. The news anchors and me teorologists at KRIS 6 News do an outstanding job, but they could not share their work to the public without the help of everyone else. For that, we appreciate them as well.

Ronald Beckham: an athlete and an inspiration

On Oct. 12, 1995, football recruit Ronald Beckham was a leading number one high school defensive end in the nation and coun try. From a true freshman to a start ing varsi ty senior, every college in the na tion had already contacted Beckham wanting to give him of fers. Ronald Beckham was not just any defen sive end in the country, he was THE number one defensive end in the

The South Texan is a student

country.

A massive unit who stood at six feet, sev en inches and carried around 270-pound body, Beckham was pure sol id muscle but moved so fluently and quickly. You may think he is slow un til you see him run the 40-yard dash. Most de fensive linemen are not running the same speed as their running backs are, but Beckham was one out of many to do so. Strength was one of the least worries Beckham had to worry about.

Setting the bench high school powerlifting record at 575-pounds and a squat record at 955 pounds. Beckham helped lead his team to a high school state cham

STAFF

Ronni

pionship game in which they came out success ful. Leading the team with 15 solo tackles, five quarterback hurries, four sacks and five tack les for loss, these were one of the best stats since the mid ’80s people were saying.

Beckham started to feel overwhelmed and stressed out after the sea son had ended because he knew the signing date was getting clos er as each day passed. Advice coming from his parents gave him a little more hope that he had made the right move.

On a table just in front of Beckham and his fam ily were hats of the top five schools he wanted

Erik

Zena

to attend. Everyone gets quiet and gives their at tention to Beckham.

Ronald Beckham was a football player that I considered as myself. When I was in high school I began to fall in love with the game of football. As I became more passionate with the sport my body, physique and technique also grew which helped me tow er over classmates and some opponents. I also had a hard time trying to figure where I want ed my future home to be, but with all the great opportunities thrown in my corner I chose to go to El Paso. No matter what you go through in life whatever you want to be is possible.

Aryssa

nicole.morris@thesouthtexan.com

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TAMUK winning streak continues

2009 season.

Since the team was ranked 20th in the nation last week, the best since 2014, it is understood that the tide is turning here and for the better.

The Javelinas had the best start to a football season in 13 years. The success this year can be attributed to the hard work and dedication of each member of the team and coaching staff, put ting together the longest winning streak since the

“The guys are excit ed and have worked extremely hard to get to this point,” Head Coach Michael Salinas said, “I think everyone being associated with this pro gram is happy where we’re at but we’re not satisfied and they got to attack each week and try to get better.”

With the Lone Star

Conference (LSC) being historically one of the toughest conferences in football, this year’s team has taken all the right steps to be considered one of the top teams in Division II.

“We’re just trying to control the things we can control, and our guys will look at some of the media and social media so it’s nice we are one of the last undefeated teams,” Salinas said pri or to the Homecoming game Oct. 15. “But if we worry about last week, we won’t be focused on next week, so we try to get our guys to forget about that and move for ward.”

The community and the entire division rec ognize that Coach Sali nas, as well as the rest of the coaching staff, have built this team up to be mentally and physically strong to keep their win ning ways afloat.

The Javelinas current ly have the top offense in the conference, utilizing both the running game as well as the passing attack in order to con trol their own destiny by taking time off the clock as well as scoring points when it matters the most.

Players like running

back Toneil Carter, who has split carries with top LSC running back Christian Anderson this season, utilize whatever chances they are given to get through oppos ing defenses and score points.

“I think the running game has allowed our team to control our own destiny and play foot ball at a high level and keeping winning,” Car

ter said. “We just want to take it one game at a time and continue doing what we do best and be ing prepared mentally.”

Another player who has been a significant piece on the offense is wide receiver Jason Gaines, who also scored the game tying touch down against Western New Mexico.

“Getting things going early and the little things

is what we should work on and ultimately trust ing each other and mak ing plays,” Gaines said.

Gaines has been a reliable target for quar terback Jacob Cavazos throughout the season up to this point.

As the football team prepares for the next game as well as the rest of the season, the hun ger to get better and stay winning amplifies.

The Texas A&M Uni versity-Kingsville athlet ics family is committed to helping their athletes perform best to their ca pabilities.

According to the Ja velina Athletics website, the Athletic Training System (ATS) requires all athletes to be medi cally cleared by TAMUK physicians to participate in any athletic activity, from strength and condi tioning to the games. The information that is pro vided to the ATS is kept confidential until further notice.

The ATS at TAMUK also emphasizes teach ing the students who want to work in athletic training by giving them a chance to get handson experiences with the athletes and become stu dent workers.

At the current mo ment, TAMUK has five male sports and eight fe male sports. As of 2021, TAMUK had five lead ing Graduate Assistant Trainers.

A GA is a student com pleting his/her master’s, occasionally with a par tial scholarship. Current ly, the school only has one GA and two official trainers. This means that the ATS staff is un derstaffed and is highly dependent on their stu dents.

“At the end of the day,

we are still students and we must put our educa tion first, although the program needs help. I do wish I could participate in a normal college life style but this profession already requires a lot and being understaffed increases the pressure,” Stephanie Vela, a senior student in the ATS pro gram said.

“I currently work with women’s basketball. However, I have been a part of the indoor vol leyball team, men’s and women’s track and field and football. I also help with women’s tennis and have personally done a post-surgical rehab on a baseball athlete “

TAMUK recently add ed Adrian Cruz Her nandez as the assistant athletic trainer and ath letic training education program coordinator to their ATS program.

Hernandez also served as an Intelligence Specialist in the military and is currently respon sible for seven sports

teams at TAMUK which include tennis, golf, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s basketball and cheer.

“For every hour of sport played or prac ticed, I always suggest three to four hours of re covery. On average in a week, an athlete should dedicate 15 to 25 per cent of time to conduct ing rehab and recovery time activities. These activities could include stretching, foam rolling, ice bath, and modalities with athletes,” Hernan dez said.

“TAMUK needs more athletic trainers to help the athletes perform bet ter. And understanding staffing issues is a uni versal issue, the athletic trainers at TAMUK can also find a way to use outside resources such as contract athletic train ers or local high school athletic trainers.”

TAMUK hopes to tackle this situation by adding more employees and GAs in the following

life of an

same time. Followed by one class at 10 to 10:50 a.m. My end of the day consists of a 5:15 p.m. meeting every day of the week. When I get home at around 6 p.m., I usu ally do at least an hour of homework. My day ends at around 7 p.m.,” Perez explained.

tude. Most athletes want to be the best at their sport and in life. This can cause them to stress out, especially if some thing goes wrong or they have a bad day.

College athletes are superb at their sport, but they must also find time for class and life as well. It is often overlooked by fans and spectators how much time a student-ath lete actually puts in.

James Perez is a de fensive tackle for the Texas A&M Kingsville (TAMUK) football team. He is a redshirt junior and has been playing at TAMUK his whole col lege career. He describes what a typical day is like.

“I usually wake up in time for practice at 5:40 a.m. for 6:30 a.m. meet ings before 7 a.m. prac tice. After practice on Tuesday and Thursday I have class at 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m, as well as 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. class.

Between classes I have 2 p.m. weights on Tuesday and Thursday. On Mon day, Wednesday and Friday, I have slower days with practice at the

With how long a foot ball player’s day is, they have to be very profi cient at whatever they are doing. They can eas ily fall behind on any given aspect of school or sports.

Walker Ring is a junior tight end for the Javeli nas and is majoring in engineering. Engineer ing is one of the hardest degrees to get in general, but with how much time he has to put in for foot ball, it adds to the chal lenge.

“It’s all about making a schedule that works for me. Personally, I struggled with procras tinating as a freshman, so I have to get my work done early in the week. Especially when we have to go out of town for away games,” Ring said.

There have been many articles published re garding athletes’ mental health and mental forti

Xavior Henderson is a redshirt sophomore defensive tackle for the TAMUK football team. He is majoring is sports management and has been at Kingsville his whole college career.

“I do not really stress at all. On certain things such as big test, I will, but other than that I love my situation. I love foot ball and I will continue to work more and more to make my dreams a re ality,” Henderson said.

Some people have dif ferent ways of dealing with the situations in which they find them selves. Through tri al-and-error athletes can figure out what works for them.

“My freshman year I really didn’t know how to be independent, as well as manage my school load with prac tice. Since I’m entering my fourth year, I have a routine that works for me. I rarely ever feel stressed unless I maybe have a hard exam that week,” Perez said.

Jessica Tijerina

Toneil Carter getting around a block from Allen Arcales.

RainaZaffar

Contributing

Jessica Tijerina

Coach Jaxson Money coaching up the offense.

Jessica Tijerina

Training staff on game day.

Christopher Olivarez

Reporter

JoeTarvin|

Jessica Tijerina Javelinas exit the tunnel to battle the Mustangs.

Review: Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, a haunting ‘children’s show’

A web series turned television phenomenon

Spoilers Ahead

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared (DHMIS) had its start as a web series on YouTube about a decade ago. Now, as of Sept. 30, the minds behind this show made their televi sion debut as a broadcast show.

DHMIS is disguised as a puppet children’s program, but in reality, it’s a surreal horror com edy that takes our char acters Yellow Guy, Red Guy and Duck through lessons about family,

work and even death. But things are not all as they seem as throughout the lessons the trio are taught close-minded or wrong ideas about the concepts mentioned.

For example, for their death episode Duck read in the newspaper that he had died and he believed it because it was in the paper. The paper he was reading had “Opinion” in big letters so there are various statements be ing made other than the lesson at hand and they are well thought out and crafted perfectly.

The show may be full of bright colors and fun ny looking puppets, but it may not be for the faint of heart.

As the show goes on,

everything slowly starts to fall apart; characters may not like the situa tion and will actively try to leave.

During the episode about jobs, Duck does not like how he is not given a respectable job and tries to talk to the background characters, but they only say the same few lines or anything that relates to work.

He is later attacked and mauled by a creature trying to “fix him” to be happy about his work which successfully hap pens for a moment be fore Duck breaks again and gets his friends out of the situation.

There are plenty of similar instances like this in other episodes and some include gore where

limbs are being torn apart for shock value.

I was in middle school when I first heard about DHMIS and initially thought it was just an other shock value kind of video.

However, upon fur ther watching and analy sis you can see messages about society, how you should not trust every thing you are told and that it is okay to think differently than other people.

The creators of the show Becky Sloan, Jo seph Pelling and Baker Terry have an amazing sense of creativity to bring such lessons to an audience in this way.

Whether it be through a one-off comment, pic ture in the background,

or just saying it to our faces the whole show is one way to make you think but with the need to entertain. The televi

sion show only has six episodes, but they are all great and I cannot wait to see more. DHMIS is a nine out of 10.

How to Adult: Making connections

You should get to know those around you

It can be difficult to meet new people and establish useful connec tions if you’re a new face to the scene, but it doesn’t need to be.

Sometimes all you need to do to network is to put your best foot for

ward.

It can be easier to start small so it’s worth trying to strike up a conver sation with the people around you in a class room if no one else had started one already.

Everyone tends to have one or two topics that they can relate to whether it’s a shared in terest in a show or a fa vorite sport.

Honestly you don’t even need to share in terests to make a con nection. You just need to approach a conversation with a comfortable de

meanor.

It’s good to show that you’re paying atten tion to when someone is discussing something that they enjoy even if you don’t entirely un derstand what they’re talking about.

It’s a good sign of respect and they’ll be bound to notice it which could make working to gether a smoother pro cess.

To further expand the range of folks that you meet and know, it would be good for you to vis it and maybe even join

the clubs affiliated with your interests and field of study.

Doing so would make it significantly easier to meet like-minded indi viduals and help you get an advanced look into your field.

Professionals you meet in clubs will be helpful connections and points of guidance for your future since they can mention programs that you might not hear about normally, but it’s important to not forget about your peers in the clubs.

They can be untapped fountains of insight for concepts and ideas that you hadn’t considered before.

Plus, they may also be acquainted with other people that you’re unfa miliar with which could further expand your net work.

It’s the same with the people that you see con sistently as you further your degree.

Your fields of study will most likely be shared so you should make a point to network within your classes with individuals that could one day be your col leagues in the field.

Outside of classes and clubs, it would be a good idea to go to events on campus or in the area to

mingle with other orga nizations and people.

Having perspectives and connections out side of what you study can help you get a bet ter grasp on how other people see your field of expertise.

Those fresh perspec tives will also provide you with unique ways to think outside of the box you field creates.

To go even further out side of the college (or

not depending on your situation), you can try to connect with the people at your workplace.

It’s a worthwhile en deavor especially if you’ve got an internship within your field.

It’s important to take any opportunity you can to make a connec tion with someone even if you don’t think it’ll be worth your time since you can never tell what the future holds.

Image from imdb.com.

to provide an education students could feel com fortable with.

“Provost is an incredi bly important role for any campus,” Director of Mar keting and Communica tion Adriana Garza-Flores said.

TAMUK’s Provost over sees the seven colleges on campus including the Dick and Mary Lewis Kleberg College of Agri culture Natural Resourc es and Human Sciences, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business Administration, the College of Education and Human Performance, the Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering

and the Honors College, she said.

“In addition, the pro vost oversees the Cen ter for Student Success, the Jernigan Library, the Office of Research and Graduate Studies and the Center for Academic Technology,” Garza-Flores said.

The university is set to begin a search for Provost and Vice President of Ac ademic Affairs as soon as possible.

“Academic Affairs is the largest division on campus. This position provides vital support in developing and imple menting the institution’s strategic priorities,” Gar za-Flores said.

set up booths and sold a variety of food, beverages and even dog treats. Other student organizations had activities set up for every one to enjoy.

“I wanted to give our organization an opportu nity to make a profit and get our name out there in a positive outlook,” Vice President of the ProChoice organization Bri ana Beltran said.

Not only does this event help organizations raise money, it also allows them to promote themselves to anyone who may be inter ested.

“We are giving some of our portions of the profit to The Purple Door and we also just wanted to raise money for our orga nization since it is brand new,” Beltran said.

entire community comes together and enjoys each other’s company.

Before the night be gan to wrap up, the 2021 Homecoming King Trenton Payne and Miss TAMUK Jacqueline Mc Clendon announced the individuals who got cho sen for the homecoming royalty.

“My favorite part about tonight is seeing every body enjoy the fall carni val and getting selected as a top five candidate and advancing [in the homecoming court] which is amazing,” junior and Homecoming King con tender Antonio Rosen baum said with a smile on his face.

Rosenbaum said feels great to be selected to ad vance in the homecoming elections. He is no strang er to this event as he has done this before.

as a child,” Martínez said. “But [to succeed,] you don’t have to have talent; you need to have desire. I liked to color and paint when I was young, but I wasn’t good. I did not get good [at art] until I had a lot to say as an artist.”

Dr. Silva is the vice president for enrollment services and student af fairs at TAMUK. He has a passion for Tejano music and helped establish the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame Music in 2000 in Alice. Silva has had a long academic career as a college administra tor, working for Coastal Bend College, Lone Star College-CyFair and Del Mar College.

Janecek is a pioneer Hispanic journalist in newspaper and T.V. She was listed among the

“Most Influential Wom en in South Texas Histo ry” by the Corpus Christi – Caller Times as a KIII – TV3 Anchor. Janecek was also a reporter for the Caller Times and a board member of the Corpus Christi Press.

During her time at Tex as A&I, she was editor of The South Texan from 1975 to 1976.

“[My favorite part of journalism] is the stories people have. It’s fun in terviewing politicians, stars and famous people, but I also enjoy getting to know ordinary people and finding out their sto ries,” she said.

As the banquet came to an end, the lively chatter calmed down and four individuals left the ball room in good spirits with their awards.

Beltran believes CAB did a great job sponsoring and organizing the event as well as promoting it on their social media.

Student organizations brought the goods, people in attendance bought the goods. Everyone benefit ed from this event; it was a universal experience for all who were there.

“I for sure recommend [that more events like these get hosted on cam pus],” senior Krystin Kilbourn said. “All these events are super fun, it’s a good way to get all the Ja velinas out here to interact with each other and make new friends.”

Anyone who was walk ing around the buzzing boulevard got to see peo ple dancing in the grass to the songs the DJ was play ing. Fall carnival is one of the many events held by TAMUK in which the

A JAvelinA Homecoming

“You just have to work hard and have fun with it,” Rosenbaum said.

The fairy lights turned on after the sun bid ev eryone goodbye. The booming speakers slowly faded away until the only sound that was heard was of tents being lowered and students packing up

their belongings. Individ uals went home with full stomachs, empty wallets and a happy heart. The once crowded boulevard cleared up, leaving noth ing but good memories behind.

Jessica Tijerina

Skylar Farrell, Pily Stevens and Danielle Martinez getting pies to raise money for Dance Marathon

Jessica Tijerina

Students with signs advertising their Fall Carnival booth.

Jessica Tijerina

Erial Hawkins, Julianne Gomez, Gabrielle Vaughn and Vielka Rivera watch over Homecoming Kickoff

Ronni Reyna

Deidra Eureste sits in an inflatable chair during the kickoff.

Jessica Tijerina

Homecoming king and queen finalists during the homecoming parade.