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budget in the black?The University of

Texas-Pan American professors haven’t had a raise in three years.

Marie Mora, an economics professor who has been at UTPA for 10 years, is frus-trated by the financial situation that has re-sulted in a lack of pay increase.

Mora believes that if the reduction in state financing proves to be long term, which it probably will, fac-ulty and staff members with other employ-ment options might take them.

“It would leave the less skilled faculty who don’t have many other options, and the stu-dent’s education would suffer,” she said.

The reason for the University’s tight bud-get has to do with larger economic factors begin-ning with the world-wide recession of 2008 and extending to now. In 2011, the Texas Leg-islature, facing a drastic shortfall, had to make difficult decisions to cut expenditures, and high-er education took a hit. According to The Texas Tribune, of the $1.25 billion that Texas ex-cised from its 2010-11 biennial budget, $518 million was taken from

higher education.At UTPA, the

average salary for English professors is $52,000 while math-ematics professors make about $57,000.

UTPA also had to make critical, cost-con-scious decisions. Texas public universities dealt with the cuts in differ-ent ways. Many schools

weren’t able to absorb the debt without laying off faculty and staff, but UTPA avoided making any layoffs by using alternative mea-sures. The University has balanced necessary programs of austerity with the occasional ef-fort to keep faculty and staff morale high.

Faculty and staff

may not need to worry about any further fi-nancial woes, though. UTPA’s budgetary sta-tus has seemingly im-proved from last year; plus, a recent tuition increase helped in-crease funds.

According to Rob-ert Nelsen, UTPA president,there might not be any more eco-nomic troubles in the near future.

“We are not ex-pecting any further budget cuts,” he said. “(Currently), the University’s bud-get is balanced.”

However, to hedge its bet, the school has continued to walk the path of caution and austerity. In April 2012, Nelsen announced the prospect of optional retirement for tenured faculty. The Voluntary Separation Incentive Program provided par-ticipants a one-time pay-ment equal to half their base salary, or in other words, half of the fixed

amount of money paid to employees in return for work performed, not including benefits or bo-nuses.

Forty-three ten-ured faculty members opted to retire early, which allowed UTPA to refill the vacant po-sitions at 80 percent of the original cost. As a result, about $400,000 was saved.

VSIP was put in place in 2011 as a way to save the University money. The program helped deal with sala-ry compression, which occurs when the salary

differential between junior and senior fac-ulty is smaller than it should be. Salary compression, when

left unchecked, can result in new hires re-ceiving salaries higher than existing employ-ees. This is called sal-ary inversion.

There have been other cost-cutting moves along the way, all designed to make up for the decreasing amount the school ex-pects annually from the state. But some deci-sions were made for the short-term benefit, and morale. On July 30, Nelsen released a memo detailing a one-time merit payment that was granted to faculty and staff in De-cember.

By Karina VargasThe Pan American

mugglestudiesHarry Potter class offered this term

January 14, 2013Volume 69, No. 14

happybirthdayPan American n e w s p a p e r c e l e b r a t e s 70th year with throwback issue

Edgar Allan Poe’s 204th to take place at Roosevelt’s

* * Page 3

* * Online

* *Page 6

scoreupdatesMen’s and w o m e n ’ s b a s k e t b a l l

* *Page 7

sportsbriefs

* * Online

utpa saved ~$400,000by filling the vacant positions at

8 0 %of the

original cost

Of the

B$1.25

billionthat Texas excised from its 2010-11 budget,

$518 millionwas taken from

h i g h e r educaTiOn

43tenured faculty members opted to retire early

- robert nelsen, university president

We are not expecting any

further budget cuts. The university’s budget is balanced.“

”

continued on page 2

d

nationalnewsupdate

Reporter Elizabeth E s p i n o s a recaps events that happened over the break

Staff merit bonus, no pay increase, balanced budget all topics for new year

If you’re holding this issue of The Pan American in your hands, first of all, thanks for picking it up our throwback issue, where we paid homage to the design of past The Pan Americans.

However, you’ve only got half the story. The other half can be found online at pana-mericanonline.com and is told via videos, infographics, photo essays, social media polls and additional articles. Since our 70-year-old paper has adapted this way to better serve readers, it fits that both the print and the online versions should have someone to spearhead them. We will act as Co-Editor-in-Chiefs,

one focusing on the website and the other on the print product.

Our hope is that with a leader in each component of the

paper, both the print and online presence will continue to flour-ish.

A flourishing print and on-line paper is not worth much, however, without readers. You’re already reading this. Good for you. Keep doing what you’re

doing. Our culture today un-fortunately values quick spurts of ignorance over thought-out knowledge and we refuse to

tolerate it. We will continue to do good, solid reporting dur-ing this upcoming semester. We will produce more videos, write more stories, take more pho-tos and design more graphics... all for you. And we hope that as a result, the first thing you’ll

do after reading this issue is set panamericanonline.com as your homepage.

You can also look forward to tidbits from history throughout the semester, in the run-up to The Pan American’s 70th birth-day in September.

So let’s have a great semester.

2 January 14, 2013

The Pan American is the of-ficial student newspaper of The University of Texas-Pan American. Views presented are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the paper or university.

1201 West University, CAS 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539Phone: (956) 665-2541 Fax: (956) 316-7122

Editors-in-ChiEf: Karen AntonacciDaniella DiaznEws Editor: Charles Vale sports Editor: Norma Gonzalez Arts & LifE Editor: Lea Victoria Juarez photogrAphy Editor: Adrian Castillo dEsign Editor: Karen VillarrealMuLtiMEdiA Editor: Elizabeth EspinosaAdvisEr:Dr. Greg Selber AdMinistrAtivE AssoCiAtE: Anita Reyes AdvErtising MAnAgEr: Mariel Cantu wEbMAstEr: Jose Villarreal soCiAL MEdiA Editor: David Alvarado

The Pan American

Vol. 69, No. 14

thepanamerican@gmail.com

Next Delivery:Jan. 24 at noon

The Pan American ac-cepts letters of 300 words or less from students, staff and faculty regarding re-cent newspaper content, campus concerns or cur-rent events. We cannot publish anonymous letters or submissions contain-ing hate speech or gra-tuitous personal attacks. Please send all letters to:thepanamerican

@gmail.com

to the Editor

oPiNioN

Karen Antonacci

old paper, new era

Co-Editor-in-ChiEf

Francisco Rodriguez/The Pan American

Letters

im so proud of myself for getting into UTPA- @jessyjolynne

#UTPA

UTPA can I get the meal plan they have at Hogwarts?

- @ErickSalazar13

So UTPA cancelled the Films Studies class I was going to attend this semester. I’m gonna irrationalize this and say, CONSPIRACY!!! D:< - @RocketMan_131

“If you’re holding this print issue of The Pan American in your hands... you’re only getting half the story. ”

NEwsT T

Daniella DiazCo-Editor-in-ChiEf

f

continued from Page 1

The Communication Arts & sciences building (CoAs) will henceforth be known as the Arts & Humanities building (ARHU).

According to the memo, although the University’s budget is balanced, nothing is set in stone because the state has requested that UTPA draft two more potential budgets, one with a 5 percent reduction and the other with a 10 percent reduction. It could well be that System schools will have to give back money again. So the merit pay was a bold stroke to take, given the circumstances.

O N E - T I M E MERIT BONUS

The University will spend $2,476,329 from its reserves to pay for the one-time merit bonus for professors who qualify.

The faculty and staff merit payment will go to “employees whose job performance and productivity is consistently above that normally expected or required” according to the 82nd Legislature’s 2011 General

Appropriations Act.Faculty and staff view

the upcoming bonus from different angles.

“I think the merit bonus is a great idea, but a one-time merit bonus doesn’t make up for the annual cost of living increases,” chemistry professor James Bullard said.

Because inflation increases every year, the value of the dollar decreases and professors aren’t compensated for the decrease. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the cost of living in 2012 rose 2.2 percent from 2011. So, the value of 10 dollars in 2011 is worth about eight in 2012.

Mora views the bonuses as bandages.

“Merit payments are better than nothing but are not a long-term solution,” she said. “I am concerned about the long-term morale.”

F A C U L T Y O P I N I O N S

Some UTPA faculty members aren’t sure if Texas will be changing its budget plans any time soon.

Rajiv Nambiar, Manufacturing Engineering

department chair, said Texas public universities are being dealt the financial blow because higher education is considered a luxury from the state’s perspective, not a Constitutional right.

Daniella Diaz, Karen Antonacci and Charlie Vale contributed to this article.

- Robert Nelsen, University President

we are not expecting any

further budget cuts. The University’s budget is balanced.“

”Campus Dining services (UCCF) is now Bronc Dining Hall (BDiN).

f

NoTiCEs: Names of some buildings have changed

comic

Mari Fuentes-Martin

By Karen AntonacciThe Pan American

As school starts Monday, students will file into English professor Amy Becker-Chamb-less’s classroom and start to dis-sect the tale of a bespectacled boy with a peculiar scar.

Becker-Chambless named her class Harry Potter and the Heroic Journey to match the format of the titles for the seven books and eight movies, which in sum formed a worldwide phe-nomenon. The series, penned by British author J.K. Rowling, fol-lows the orphaned Harry as he struggles to save the wizarding world from his parents’ murderer.

“The class is full so appar-ently it does resonate,” Becker-Chambless said about the book series, which was first published in the United States in 1998. “Now there is this generation (of college students) that grew up with the Harry Potter books as the books were being written.”

And those college students bet-ter know their Polyjuice Potions from their Golden Snitches, be-

cause Becker-Chambless wants her class to come in already well-versed in the Potterverse.

“People dropping in on Harry Potter for the first time - this is not their course. I expect a familiarity with all the books, and a bit of fa-miliarity with the movies, too,” she said about the ENG 2308 course.

This is the not the first time a Harry Potter course has been taught at UTPA. Ted Von Ende also taught upper and lower- level English courses until three years ago, but it was as an intro-duction to British literature. The new course will pull from the se-ries, the movies, and interviews with the author to examine Har-ry’s journey from Privet Drive to the Final Battle.

Students will be required to reread fairly lengthy passages and lead discussions, as well as create a script and act out a scene from the series.

“All of the great mythological and folkloric superheroes... they follow a particular pattern in their stories,” said Becker-Chambless, who decided to teach the course after discussing it with Von Ende

during a library event. “It is easier to create these creatures that can discuss the issues of the time than to research past human beings and figure out how they fit into it.”

The crystal ball is a bit fuzzy when it comes to the future of Harry Potter and the Heroic Jour-ney. If this semester goes well, other courses might be in store, Becker-Chambless said.

As for her teaching style, the Ravenclaw paraphernalia-clad professor took a minute to con-sider which of Harry’s fictional classes the UTPA course would most resemble.

“Not Binns. I hate that tech-nique. There’s a practicum to it, but I can’t do scary McGonagall, let alone Snape,” she said, referring in turn to the droning History of Magic Professor Binns, the stern but fair Transfiguration Teacher Minerva Mcgonagall and the sar-donic Potions Master, Severus Snape. “I suppose (Charms Profes-sor) Flitwick would be the closest to my style, with hands- on prac-tice some lecture and some presen-tations from folks.”

3January 14, 2013news

ologypotter

Course on best-selling novels to launch this

week

Following the departure of Calvin Phillips in April 2012, the University has made due with an interim dean of students. But now the void has been filled, as Mari Fuentes-Martin has been appointed to the role of associate vice president and dean of students starting Jan. 14.

Martin was offered the position in mid-December, before faculty and staff left for the holiday break. The decision was announced by VP of Student Affairs Martha Cantu, Jan. 8 via a memo to students, faculty and staff.

Martin has served in the same role at The University of Texas-Brownsville and Texas Southmost College since 2004. Martin, who resides in Weslaco, had been with UTB since 2000.

“When I read the recent strategic plan that UTPA released in early fall, I felt that many of my professional goals closely matched the new institution goals,” Martin said. “As a native of the RGV, I want to make an

impact on the development of the future leaders of the Valley and the State.”

The position has been held by Magdalena Hinojosa, but now that the position is filled, Hinojosa will return to her normal job as senior associate for enrollment services at the Office of Enrollment Services.

According to Delma Olivarez, assistant to the dean of students, Martin’s focus will be to advocate for students as an administrator. Some of her responsibilities will be the management of student services and student programs such as the Office of Student Involvement, Student Rights, and the Student Union itself.

“I would like to see more students involved with more departments and services that are available to enhance their college experience,” Martin said. “Students should get the most out of all of the opportunities college has to offer at UTPA.”

Martin earned her undergraduate degree in history and business administration and a master of science degree in administration from the University of Notre Dame, as

well as a doctorate of education from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. During her time at these institutions, Martin held teaching and administrative positions.

“Serving students and making their college experience a well-rounded one is why I love my job,” Martin said. “It will take awhile to become familiar with UTPA and how it’s organized, and to get to know everyone. I’m looking forward to working with Dr. Cantu and my new colleagues and meeting as many students as I can.”

By Charles ValeThe Pan American

Mari Fuentes-Martin, new dean of students

THE PAN AMERICAN January 14,, 2013Page 4 THE PAN AMERICAN January 14,, 2013Page 5

THE PAN AMERICAN January 14,, 2013Page 4 THE PAN AMERICAN January 14,, 2013Page 5

Norma Gonzalez/The Pan American

The McAllen Arts District on Main Street lost a venue about a year ago when the Memorial Li-brary moved, leaving the strip of galleries, which hosted festivals and events, with a vacant building and a hole in the district until now.

Finally, the McAllen City Council decided to occupy the old library building with the McAllen Creative Incubator, a venue where artists practice their craft.

The Incubator has actually been a part of the arts community for seven years, located at 1001 South 16th St. Tucked away in a little neighborhood in the build-ing that was once Sam Houston Elementary school, the sanctuary for the arts and entertainment is finally getting a new home in the Arts District. It’s a new home with the same goals.

Although the move-in date for the Incubator isn’t finalized, Nancy Millar, vice president of the Convention and Visitors Bu-reau of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, explained that it will be “within the next few weeks.”

Millar said that the Incubator has been one of the biggest arts ef-

forts the Chamber of Commerce has made and believes it will only be stronger in the new location.

“I know that the city of McAl-len really wants to feed the art scene,” artist Ilea O’Donnell said. “They want to build it up, and moving the Incubator to that loca-tion will not only help us but them, as in building their Arts District.”

O’Donnell is one of ten-ants renting out a work space in the Incubator along with other artists, a band, a radio station and the producer of South Texas Golf magazine.

To be a tenant, the artists must provide samples of artwork to prove they are working artists of profes-sional caliber. The tenants also have to pay a deposit, consent to a back-ground check and host two events a year to keep tenantship.

The City of McAllen funded the Incubator with $75,000 for any renovations needed at the Main Street space. The radio sta-tion, 96.7 FM The City, is getting a room tailored for it. For needs of visual artists, industrial sinks and drying racks will be installed.

O’Donnell explained that tenants of the current Incubator have the most control as to what will become of the new Incubator,

and are automatically tenants in the new location.

“There’s a lot of high hopes because we’re getting a lot of new equipment, bigger spaces and bet-ter spaces,” the 25-year-old said. “We’re going to be right smack in the middle of where everybody thinks the art is and all the art is found. Everybody is really excited about it.”

One of the events hosted in the Arts District is Art Walk, a fes-tival open to the community ev-ery first Friday of the month from September through May. Becky Guerra, the creator of Art Walk, gladly welcomes the Incubator to the District.

“I think it’s going to bring exposure to all the occupants of the Incubator. A greater number of people will get to see them be-cause of the Art Walk,” the Nuevo Santander Gallery owner said. “It’s another great example of how the Chamber of Commerce and the City of McAllen have been supportive of the art and art de-velopment in McAllen.”

Millar explained that the Convention and Visitors Bureau is responsible for bringing folks into town. She believes that the Arts District will be able to flour-

ish with the Creative Incubator moving locations, making art more accessible, along with sup-porting the artists.

“The reason that we put so much attention on the arts is be-cause we recognize that the arts help increase the quality of life for our residents, but it also increases the attractiveness of the city for visitors,” Millar said. “When we have visitors from out of town, it is helping McAllen economically.”

The Incubator’s current loca-tion has space for 12 tenants to rent out, but once moved to Main Street, the Incubator will be able to hold 14, giving more artists a chance to showcase their work.

“(The City of McAllen) is re-ally hoping the Incubator is go-ing to become the anchor of the Arts District, especially on your Art Walks and on your shows,” said O’Donnell, a Mission native. “We’re excited because we’ll get our own gallery spaces. We don’t have to depend on gallery people saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to what we can and cannot show.”

The Incubator celebrated its last event at the current loca-tion Dec. 14 with an exhibit of O’Donnell’s artwork. As of now, future plans for that building are not finalized, but demolition is being considered until approved by the city council, according to McAllen Deputy City Manager Brent Branham.

With the Incubator taking the place of the library, Incubator ten-ants and members of the City of McAllen have high expectations for the art scene.

“It’s going to be more conve-nient for not only the artists who will be working out of there, but also the general public who will be attending different functions there,” Millar said. “That’s really going to open up a lot of possibili-ties for us as far as events and just being able to do more and bigger there.”

By Lea Victoria JuarezThe Pan American

‘Feed the art scene’Creative Incubator to move to Arts

District

6 January 14, 2013 Arts & life

We Need Words, a literary project, will host the most sul-len birthday party Jan. 19 in celebration of Edgar Allan Poe’s 204th birthday. The night of po-etry and music will take place at Roosevelt’s at 7 restaurant and bar, located at 821 N. Main St. in McAllen.

The event, A Dream Within A Dream: A Poetic Tribute for Edgar Allan Poe, is just one of the themed poetry nights planned by We Need Words for the year. As an avid member of the poetry community, organiz-er Rachel Vela found it fitting to salute the detective fiction writer by holding an event where his works and other work of the same genre could be read.

“I have different poets com-ing out and reading their favor-ite poems by Edgar Allan Poe,” the UTPA English major said. “If they want to read a short

story, I’m asking that they read an excerpt from the short story because of time. It’s anything that’s Poe-inspired.”

His poems and short stories such as The Raven, The Fall of the House of Usher and A Tell-Tale Heart, were primarily laced with vivid descriptions of horror and supernatural elements, cap-tivating audiences even after his death Oct. 7, 1849.

“Poe is a lot of mystery and kind of gothic themes. So that’s what we’re celebrating that night-- what he has contributed to litera-ture,” 34-year-old Vela said.

The open-mic event will be from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Vela has readers already scheduled to per-form, but assures there will be time for others to participate.

Information on how to pres-ent at the tribute and details on future events is available at the We Need Words Facebook page.

By Lea Victoria JuarezThe Pan American

Poe-try PArty

A tribute to writer edgar Allan Poe

”- rachel Vela

organizer

Poe is a lot of mystery and kind of gothic themes.

so that’s what we’re celebrating that night-- what he has contributed to literature.“

The McAllen Creative Incubator, previously located on 16th street, will be moved to the Arts District where the Memorial Library once was.

Although some students may know yet, UTPA is getting a soccer program.

Toward the end of the Dec. 19, 2012 press conference, when the University announced it had accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference, Athletic Director Chris King gave those in attendance an extra reason to celebrate.

Even though different media outlets reported on the initial press conference and change of conference, it seems news of the additional sport has gone unannounced.

There isn’t much information on the impending soccer program, but it is almost certain

it won’t be ready by the time the University joins the WAC July 1. The soonest it could be ready would be for the 2014-15 school year.

Junior ex-cheerleader Meghan Guzman wasn’t aware of the recent change of conferences, but wishes the University would spread the soccer news more, whether it be by word of mouth, flyers or placing commercials on Bronc Net.

The pre-med biology major isn’t sure how soccer will change the amount of school spirit around campus, but she has seen an increase of Bronc mania.

“I cheered last year and almost no one went,” Edinburg native Guzman said. “But I have heard that each year there have been a little bit more people attending.”

Senior Rami Alanbari believes there is a good amount of school spirit already on campus, but the addition of soccer could add more green and orange.

“It’s a very popular sport in Mexico and people can relate to that,” said Alanbari, a biology major.

The relatively short distance to the south and the predominantly Hispanic culture throughout the Valley makes it ideal for the University to get soccer, according to Juan Gonzalez, communication disorders major.

“We live in the Valley, I’m sure we could have better players (than other schools). We’ve got the Mexicans,” Gonzalez explains. “It’s a good addition and it can’t hurt us, it can only

make us a better school and attract more people.”

Soccer will become competition to volleyball, the fall semester’s main sport. Stadium plans, recruitment and other plans are still being sketched out and questions should be answered at next month’s press conference, according to King.

As far as how the conference affiliation, and the pending UTPA-UTB merger will affect athletics, is still uncertain.

“Right now the Board (of regents) is more worried about the name than athletics,” King said.

The press conference regarding the soccer program will be held Feb. 6, time and location to be determined.

7January 14, 2013sports

By Norma GonzalezThe Pan American

UTPAgeTTing fUTbol

8s t u d e n t pep rally

saturday during halftime of the men’s basketball game against utah

Valley university

to celebrate utpa joining the WaC

8

The UTPA Track and Field teams will begin its indoor season with the Texas Tech Invitational Jan. 18-19.

The Broncs, who had com-peted in only two meets prior to the Great West Conference Championship the last three seasons, will be adding a third this season.

The meets include the Texas Tech Invitational, the Howie Ryan Invitational/Multis and the Red Raider Open, all within a month.

Last season the Broncs won three indoor conference championships. The team of Martin Casse, Guillermo Mar-tinez, Sebastian Benavides and Andrew Lopez won the distance medley relay (the Broncs’ fourth win in that category in a row), Lopez won the 800-meter run and Alejandro Treviño won the triple jump.

Track & field Takes off

By Norma GonzalezThe Pan American

For more jinformation on the WaC press c o n fe r e n c e , visit:panamericanonline.com/utpas-gone-wac/

The South Texas Rolleristas held a STR Mixed Exhibition Bout to kick off the 2013 roller derby season. The exhibition bout was used to test the fresh meat. The veteran players stayed on the bench until the second half of play. The Rolleristas were split up into two teams, Kiss v. Disco.

The Rolleristas, established

in 2006, are separated into three interleague teams: Fallout Brigade, Traumakazes and Nerdcore, and use the home games to fundraise for the STR travel team. This bout also worked as a fundraiser for the Rio Grande Valley Food Bank, as people brought in cans for reduced ticket prices.

view full photo essay online8

THE PAN AMERICAN January 14,, 2013Page 8