The Paisano Vol. 45 Issue 7

Pamela [email protected]

Beginning August 1 2011, the GRE, a graduate admissions testing tool, will reflect a vastly different and more difficult test.

For years, universities have used the GRE as a determinant to a student’s success and readi-ness for graduate-level course-work. Aspiring graduate school students will be facing the deci-sion to take a less difficult ver-sion now or wait for the newer, more difficult version.

According to the creators of the GRE, ETS (Educational Test-ing Services), the newer version is designed to fit the demand of today’s skill requirements for graduate programs and to assist in making a more precise and reliable result of students’ capa-bilities.

One of the more evident changes will be in test scoring. Currently, the test is based on a 200-800 point scale in 10-point increments. The new version will transition into 130-170 points, in one-point increments. The test will also be one hour longer, cre-ating a four-hour exam that will test the endurance and testing abilities of all grad school pros-

pects.Changes in test content were

made to relate more to the skills needed to succeed once a stu-dent is in a graduate program.

Quantitative Reasoning: In-cluded are more data interpre-tation questions using charts, graphs and tables. Some ques-tions will require a numerical re-sponse without the selection of choices provided. An on-screen calculator feature will be added; however, this charge could mean more difficult problems to solve.

Analytical Writing: Some graduate programs consider this section vital to interpreting a candidate’s skills while others disregard this section entirely.

The time given to complete this section will be reduced by 15 minutes. The essay prompts will have a stronger focus on detail, making a more accurate demonstration of a candidate’s ability to respond to the task given.

Verbal Reasoning: Analogies, antonyms and sentence comple-tion will be removed entirely. There will be a greater focus on reading passages making a more accurate evaluation of candidates’ ability to understand what they read and how they

apply their reasoning skills. Strengthening/weakening ques-

tions have also been added, which will be familiar to students who have taken the GMAT. A stronger focus on vocabulary has also been added with text completion and sentence equiv-alence. The hope for this section is to provide a sense of validity in scores.

The new GRE will allow test takers to skip questions and go back later to change answers to

previous questions. The flex-ibility of this option could be a plus. However, it can also initi-ate new challenges such as poor time management, or the risk of leaving questions unanswered, which are heavily penalized in the GRE; new or old.

“If you can take the current version, do it. It may be less stressful,” said Jeffrey Ryans, PhD candidate at UTSA.

Angela [email protected]

Feb. 19 marked the beginning of parking space reallocation to prepare for the construc-tion of the East Garage, which is expected to be complete in summer 2012.

Crews will officially break ground on the East Garage on March 1.

Most of the “A” and “B” spac-es from Lot 4 will temporarily be lost and relocated to other areas during the construction process.

Lot 3 will be mostly com-posed of ADA, reserved and “A” spaces.

Lot 8 will absorb the remain-ing “A” and “B” spaces that were eliminated from Lots 3 and 4. This shift will result in the temporary displacement of approximately 300 commuter spaces.

“While it is unfortunate that such a large portion of Lot 4 will temporarily be lost, it is neces-sary in order to grow,” Assistant Director of Parking Services, Shelley Deats said.

“Business Auxiliary Services

has been in collaboration with the design and construction teams on this project since the beginning phases and has done everything possible to ensure that as much parking as pos-sible is left open to the com-munity for the duration of the project.”

Faculty and students already routinely experience challenges with locating a place to park.

Michael [email protected]

The Student Government As-sociation (SGA) has undergone growing pains as UTSA makes its way to becoming a tier one powerhouse. Gin ju im, a four-year SGA vet-

eran, had this to say about the transformation in SGA, “SGA used to be more like The Paisa-no in how it was broke but gen-uine. Now, instead of the person who would do the best job in the elected position, the person with the flashiest campaign wins.”Derek Trimm’s executive ticket

for the 2010 election was com-posed of Trimm as president; Ni-cole Munoz, his girlfriend at the time, as vice president; Xavier Johnson, Trimm’s roommate, as his secretary; and Roger Frigs-tad, Trimm’s big brother from FIJI, as his treasurer.Jason Hensley, president of

Young Americans for Liberty got involved with SGA due to mak-ing UTSA more ‘green’, which along with campus sustainability Trimm described as “his legacy.” He was elected by the SGA sen-ate to be Executive Senator during Trimm’s administration, sitting on the executive cabinet unaffiliated with Trimm. “Now granted, Trimm’s [elec-

tion] turnout was the second best, ever, but voter apathy is a big reason why anybody is suc-cessful in SGA,” Hensley said.

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

paisano-online.com

02.22.2011Vol. 45Issue 7

See IMMIGRATION, Page 4

Student reads Kaplan GRE prep book to prepare new 2011 test.

See SGA, Page 4

T h ePa i s a n o

P6: Combat veterans

P7: ‘Rango’ movie review

P10: Women’s hoops

Cour

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Upcoming changes to GRE make grad school admissions tougher

‘Borders crossing statue’ represents immigration in Texas.

Immigrants bolstering

America’s retirement fundsStudent body government experiences growing pains along with university

See GRE, Page 4

See PARKING Page 4

Victor H. [email protected]

Undocumented workers, through the use of bogus Social Security cards, have been pay-ing billions of dollars in the last decade to the Social Security Agency (SSA). Last year alone, Fernando, an undocumented worker who agreed to speak with The Paisano, had to pay $1,680 for Social Security and $450 for Medicare.

The money that Fernando and several other million undocu-mented workers pay every year goes to an account that some have called the SSA’s “secret stash,” the Earning Suspense File (ESF).

The ESF retains taxes that do not match a person’s identity in the SSA’s database until they can be correctly assigned and placed with a valid name and Social Security Number (SSN). As of October 2009, the ESF had accumulated about $836 billion in wages and $296 mil-lion wage items.

In 1937, during the presi-dency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Earning Suspense File was created; its initial purpose was to save the contributions of taxpayers who had misspelled their names, had faulty Social Security information or the new-lyweds who didn’t change their names.

New parking

garage causes

loss of parking

Clinton visits the Little Rock Nine for dedication

Associated Press [email protected]

Former President Bill Clinton joined the eight living mem-bers of the Little Rock Nine on Saturday to dedicate an exhibit in the Clinton Presidential Cen-ter commemorating the black students who were pioneers in school integration more than five decades ago.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1954 outlawed racial segregation in the nation’s public schools, but it wasn’t until 1957, at Little Rock, that the federal govern-ment resolved to enforce the court’s directive.

See CLINTON Page 3

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P3The Paisano NEWSFebruary 22, 2011

On Feb. 17, President Obama had dinner with 12 leaders from technology companies to discuss ways to invest in American innovation and to promote private sector job growth.

Just some of the big names on the guest list were Apple’s chief executive Steve Jobs and Facebook cheif executive Mark Zuckerberg.

Obama said he wanted to work with the group “so we can work as partners to pro-mote growth and create good jobs in the United States.”

The plan the president pro-posed was to increase spend-ing on high-tech initiatives like high speed internet, education in science and engineering and to double America’s exports in five years.

The future is pointing in the direction of higher tech-nology. In 2010 Apple Inc. made $65.23 billion dollars in revenue alone; Facebook’s revenue since 2009 is $800 million. With figures like these, it is no wonder Obama has his eye on the technology field to become the future of our country’s industry.

Obama commends Facebook for using the creativity and the ingenuity of the American people to create the social network that swept the nation.

The conversation also drifted to ways of promoting students to study science, technology, engineering and math, and to go into STEM fields.

Obama meets in

‘Silicon Valley’

File

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From page 1

“If you’re a good campaigner, if you throw out the right rhetoric, you don’t actually have to stand for any-thing [or] have any principles. You can still hold this position and have no integrity and still get your way.”

“And, unfortunately, it has become, literally, who hands out the most fli-ers and gets their name out there more.”

Trimm countered with his own theory, however “Campaigning and the competence of a political can-didate [once in office] go hand in hand. If I’m not able to communicate the ideas that I have, the ideas that I wish to implement to the students that are voting for me, then I should not be in the office in the first place.”

Trimm’s campaign in 2010 was largely powered by platforms for the sale of alcohol on campus, and for housing for Greek organizations, issues picked because of high voter appeal.

“Me and my team sat down and brainstormed different ideas. That’s the whole point of public service you figure out what your constituents want and you deliver it,” he said.

However, success in delivering these elements of those platforms has been questionable. Nothing had

been done to secure Greek housing until the beginning of this current se-mester, the same month as elections.

“Greek housing is something we’ve been doing this semester, after we finished up with Green Fund and all the other things we’ve been doing. We just recently put our focus on it,” Trimm said.

However Trimm’s administration did accelerate the process for the sale of alcohol on campus by intro-ducing a survey at the very beginning of their academic year.

The survey illustrated to UTSA’s administration the support for the sale of alcohol on campus. The re-sounding response that it prompted Dr. Romo to establish a university committee the day after the results were published, which were 91.8% in favor.

“The sale of alcohol on campus has been the one issue on our ticket that has demanded the least time com-mitment out of any of us because the administration took that on,” Trimm said regarding further involvement with the issue of the sale of alcohol on campus.

As newly elected president, Trimm’s style of governing was a stark contrast to past administrations that relied more on a system that delegated responsibilities, a differ-

ence that showed conflict between Trimm’s cabinet and many veteran SGA members. The tipping point for many in SGA was Trimm’s removal of Josh Bart, a political rival, Hensley calls his actions a “judicial loophole.”

However, Trimm contends, “Josh still kept challenging me even though the campaign was over, just so he could prove to himself that he was more qualified than me. Josh op-posed me and my platforms, so I re-moved him.”

The rest of the Standing Commit-tee Chair became uncomfortable after the removal, especially regard-ing its quasi-legality, and took issue with Trimm imposing his directives on their respective committees.

Trimm, who recognized the griev-ances of those committee chairs, replied by saying, “I have to follow my platforms, and I’m just not going to appoint people to my cabinet that oppose those platforms. That would be fundamentally against what I campaigned on.”

Trimm’s regard for differing opin-ions was shown in the weeks build-ing up to the Brackenridge Classics Symposium.

“Despite promising his support to me in executive meetings and $600 left over in other parts of the bud-get,” said Gin ju im, “when it came

time for the senate to vote, Trimm completely flipped on me and bullied the senate against voting to sponsor the event. He repeatedly kept getting up and saying that he thought it was a bad idea and, of course, the senate didn’t know what else to believe.”

Trimm’s version of the situation is markedly different. “There was al-most no rollover from the previous administration’s budget, and as a way to cover shortfalls and cut costs, during the summer, my cabinet and I decided to substantially decrease the amount we allocate to co-sponsoring events in the new Trimm budget. We simply could not afford to fund the Brackenridge Classics Symposium and still have enough left over to fund the larger events in the future.”

However, Trimm’s administration pushed through a $1000 sponsorship of Fajita Fest as emergency legisla-tion in April of last year, using the pre-vious administration’s budget. Trimm supported Fajita Fest, a primarily Greek event that had been generally funded by Greek organizations, and spoke multiple times to the senate in support of funding the IFC event. Trimm confirmed that the money that went to Fajita Fest would have rolled over into his administration’s budget the following year.

SGA: student body president de-fends accusations

Main Campus

First Place:

Hispanic Student AssociationGLBTQ

Second Place:

Greek CouncilsPi Kappa Phi

Third Place:

Catholic Student AssociationSigma Lambda Alpha

Honorable Mentions:

Student COLFA CouncilFilipino Student Association

Downtown

First Place:

La Despedida

Student Activities Facebook "Like" AwardAlpha Omicron Pi

Winners

2011 UTSA HOMECOMING

HSA

GLBTQ

La Despedida

Sponsored by Student Organization Council (210.458.4160)

Window Wars

Your friendly neighborhood student government at work at the shanty shack.

P4 The PaisanoNEWS February 22, 2011

From page 1

Since the SSA maintains its data for a long time, individuals with earnings missing from their records can have them properly posted on their funds. Could it be that millions of taxpayers just forgot to ask for their legitimate money? This is high-ly unlikely. The significant increase in the account is caused mostly by undocumented workers.

“Millions of today’s illegal work-ers could be eligible for hundreds of billions in Social Security dollars, as evidenced by the dramatic growth of the Earnings Suspense File,” SSA General Inspector Patrick P. O’Carroll said when interviewed on Jul. 27, 2010 to PR Newswire.

According to PR Newswire, from 1937 to 1999, 63 years from its cre-ation , the Earnings Suspense File has collected $301.8 billion dollars. From 1999 to 2009, the account went from $301 billion to $836 bil-lion dollars. In 2007 alone, the ESF grew by $90 billion in wages twice the value of Facebook.

In December 2007, the Congres-sional Budget Office estimated somewhere between 50 and 75 percent of undocumented workers pay taxes each year. An estimate of $567 billion that immigrants had contributed in the last 20 years in-cludes tax on consumption, Social Security payments and Medicare. Undocumented workers often get Social Security numbers with fake information or faulty data, and like any other cardholders they are charged a percentage for their pay-check.

Fernando, whose deduction comes punctually every payday, knows he will not be receiving the benefits from his contributions. Nonetheless, he does not mind, or at least he claims so.

“It all comes down to sending money home.”

He takes the money taken from

him as a “payment” for the oppor-tunity to work in the United States, much as other things he has sacri-ficed, like being with his family or bowling, to which he is an aficio-nado.

Like Fernando, millions of ille-gal immigrants are bolstering the Social Security Agency’s accounts. Even when the working conditions of many immigrants border slavery, many of the undocumented work-ers will continue their 70 hours until death does its part; either that or the hope of being retired by their al-ready struggling sons—if they hap-pen to be in the United States.

The contributions of the illegal im-migrants have not gone unnoticed by the public. In particular, it has brought the attention of a certain group that has a great interest in the SSA “secret stash”: The League of Senior Citizens (TLSC).

“Our more than one million sup-porters are crystal clear on one thing - they don’t want one penny of their Social Security checks now, or in the future, to be taken away by the government and given to to-day’s illegal workers as a reward for illegal work,” said Daniel O’Connell, spokesman of the TLSC.

One of the main concerns of the TLSC is an agreement signed be-tween the Mexican Social Security Institute and the SSA: The U.S.-Mexico Totalization Agreement. The treaty, which was signed on June 29, 2004 by Jo Anne Barnhart, So-cial Security Commissioner and Dr. Santiago Levy, Head of the Mexican Social Security, might be the only chance of ever returning the contri-butions given to the taxpaying im-migrants. The agreement has not been implemented since it has not been signed by the President of the United States.

To read the rest of this story please visit www.paisano-online.com

PARKING: approximately 70 violations written since spring of 2010From page 1

“A lot of the times I park far and take the shuttle,” senior technical communication major Robert Mitchell said. “But some-times it sucks when you want to leave and you have to wait 15 minutes for the shuttle to get there.”

Junior psychology major Lau-ren Ortega said “I take the alter-native route which is riding the shuttle just because I don’t want to waste so much time finding parking.”

For accounting lecturer Lorie Milam, even finding a disabled parking space seems an impos-sible feat.

After suffering a broken foot, she purchased a disabled per-mit but discovered that disabled spaces near the building where she teaches are almost always

occupied when she arrives. While trying to locate a spot,

Milam observed what appeared to be an able-bodied student parking in a handicapped space.

“The Parking Division takes [unauthorized] parking in handi-cap spaces very seriously,” Deats said. “Since spring of 2010 our department has written approxi-mately 70 violations for illegal parking in ADA spaces. This is associated with our highest fine of $250.”

Deats says the parking divi-sion has recently added some additional ADA spaces south of the Main Building and once the construction of the North Paseo building is complete, another 11 ADA spaces will be available south of the North Garage.

Writing Program Lecturer Lind-say Ratcliffe has given up park-ing on campus and now relies

on public transportation to com-mute to and from work.

“One of the big reasons that I have abandoned my car com-mute is because of the frustra-tion that parking has become,” Ratcliffe said. “I am now a de-voted VIA rider.”

Many question why the univer-sity doesn’t simply create more lots to alleviate the parking is-sue altogether. Deats explains that UTSA is located on the re-charge zone for the Edwards Underground Aquifer System, so the university is challenged with preserving the area and limited to the amount of hardscape that can be built.

For this reason, the university chose to build a garage to maxi-mize space without creating a large “footprint” that will affect campus.

Constructing the East Garage

will reduce the number of avail-able parking spaces on Main Campus; however, once the project is complete, it will ulti-mately result in 1200 additional slots.

According to Deats, large por-tions of Lots 10 and 11 are avail-able throughout the day and there are shuttles that run from these lots to various locations.

“We are encouraging every-one to be familiar with the park-ing changes,” Deats said. “Arrive early and if possible carpool or use shuttle services.”

From page 1

It was the first gathering of the group of students from Little Rock Central High School without fellow member Jefferson Thomas, who died last year.

“This is the first time for all of us to be together without Jeff among us,’’ said Carlotta Walls LaNier, president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation. “We are eight today but in the spirit of this occasion, we will always be the nine.’’

Clinton shared in that sentiment.“He was one of those men that was

so nice and polite, it was easy to un-derestimate what he knew and how he felt,’’ he said.

The Little Rock Nine Congressio-nal Gold Medal exhibit features one of the medals awarded to the group by Clinton on behalf of the Congress in 1999. Members of the Little Rock Nine collectively donated the medal

to the Clinton Foundation in 2009 to honor their relationship with the for-mer president.

“I want to say how proud and hon-ored we are to have one of our most cherished awards, the Congressional Gold Medal, permanently exhibited here at Clinton Presidential Library. It makes a powerful statement of redemption,’’ LaNier said. “No one could have imagined that this city’s resistance to court-ordered desegre-gation would have the national im-pact that it did.’’

The exhibit also features a video documenting the history of the Little Rock Nine, including a 1957 speech from former President Dwight D. Eisenhower calling for the use of troops to protect black students try-ing to integrate in Little Rock, along with their high school diplomas and other related memorabilia.

After his election in 2008, President Barack Obama sent each of the nine

special invitations to his inauguration as the nation’s first black president and credited the students with mak-ing opportunities in his life possible.

Clinton said the message of the Little Rock Nine is still relevant today.

“It’s important to remember one fundamental thing about democ-racy, and this is what we’ve got to be pulling for with the Egyptians and everybody else. You can’t have de-mocracy that’s just majority rule,’’ he said. “We need the voices of America to remember the mission we’ve been given.’’

LaNier said she is proud to have the medal on display in her home state.

“We are honored that this medal is here to show our young people, the community and the world just how far we have come and provide hope for even greater progress,’’ she said. “Deep in my heart, I do believe we shall overcome. There remains much to overcome.’’

CLINTON: former president says Little Rock, racial integration is still relevant

IMMIGRATION: undocumented workers may be able to retire

From page 1

With the current version, can-didates are able to retake the test once a month. With the new version candidates will be able to retest only every two months. Students should not assume that they will be able to make up for a bad GRE score in time, as in the first few months of initiation, it will take up to three months to get an official score.

Deadlines are important to con-sider when deciding which version to take. If a candidate needs an of-ficial score by November, it is rec-ommended to take the current ver-sion.

“I’m a little nervous about all the GRE revisions, but if it is something I have to do, of course I will,” said Linda Gonzalez, PhD candidate. “It just means I will study harder and devote more time into preparing for the test.”

If you are taking the new version,

many practice tests before test date will be important to help familiarize you with the new features and for-mat.

For this reason, the UTSA gradu-ate school has been quick to make their adjustments to help graduate prospects transition to the new ver-sion of the GRE. In fact, Feb. 26, The graduate school will host a free practice test, with the newer ver-sion in place.

Vivian Padilla, graduate school admissions Officer said, “We are doing everything we can to help the students adjust to the new test. The quicker we get started on practicing this version, the more beneficial it will be to the student.”

GRE: older practice tests can still help on new version

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Commuter pass are avaibale for $105..

Photo PollWhen was the last time you went to the Riverwalk /Alamo / Alamodome?

Sapphire SerranoFreshman / psychology“About a month ago.”

Eric HealsJunior / engineering“I went last Thanksgiving with my family.”

Rachel CaesarJunior / biology“I went to the Alamo last fall.”

Connor Smith

Sophomore / psychology & anthropology“I was there last semester for Parents’ Weekend.”

Kaitlynn RuizFreshman / undeclared“The last time I went down there was my sophomore year of high school.”

Jasmine ChristopherSenior / kinesiology“Five or six years ago.”

[email protected] must be less than 400 words and include the writer’s name, clas-sification or title and telephone number. The Paisano reserves the right to edit all submissions.

Send letters to:

February 15, 2011 The Paisano OPINION P5 Editorial

Letter to the EditorI have been attending UTSA for

close to four years and through-out those four years I can honestly say I have still not found the true authentic San Antonio experience. I was born and raised in Houston, Texas, so it is safe to say I had no real expectations to begin with ex-cept for the Alamo, River walk or Fiesta Texas.

With the constant growth in the student population and new pro-grams such as the new football team, we need to burst out of the UTSA/1604 bubble. We need to start creating meaningful experi-ences to share to our future Road-runners that can contribute to an overall school spirit we’re lacking.

This got me thinking about some things we can do on campus. I was wondering why we can’t display some bulletins or displays around campus that students or faculty can post about upcoming events for charities, community service hours or recommendations for the week-

end? What about websites or online

resources for UTSA students to spread the news about things go-ing on in San Antonio? Could there be a section in the Paisano dedi-cated to places and events outside of UTSA? For instance, the article done on Maya Angelou, an amaz-ing influence on our world was at La Cantera’s Barnes and Noble signing books; that’s some pretty serious stuff and it wasn’t anywhere on campus and the article written in the Paisano didn’t provide the time or date. I truly think our student population would benefit from this type of information.

There is this amazing local orga-nization called Culinaria which has a great annual festival that allows normal people to eat and drink fan-cily for a fraction of the cost. You could have the country’s most rec-ognized chefs cooking right in front of you or maybe some of the best food from San Antonio restaurants.

There is one coming up in May and wouldn’t it be great to let everyone know?

It’s easy to attend events when we know they are going on and that it’s something we can benefit from together outside of the main or downtown campus. Not only would this create a memorable ex-perience, but this would create a strong community connection be-tween UTSA and San Antonio.

For UTSA to be a commuter school and have so many students from neighboring cities or neighbor-ing countries, the secret should be out about the hottest places in the city, the best music venues in the city or the most anticipated event in San Antonio that are affordable. Es-pecially if we are going to represent San Antonio as a tier one university (fingers crossed).

Brandon McGrathSenior

The PaisanoEditor-in-Chief: Joseph Tidline

Managing Editor:Vanessa Elizarraras

News Editor:Allison Tinn

Features Editor: Joey Alabbassi

Arts Editor: Ruben Mercado

Sports Editor: Stephen Whitaker

Photo Editor: Burk Frey

Graphics Editor: Robert Calcagno

Ads Manager: Kevyn Kirven

Business Manager: Jenelle Duff

Interim Web Editor: Dan Rossiter

Interns: Dyan Lofton, Angela Martin, Ramsey Rodriguez, Sergio Rios

Staff: Megan Lovelady, Graham Cull, Samantha Burns, Nina Hernandez, Kristoffer Hellesmark, Brandon Hawkins, Kristen Acosta, Dana Messer, Vagnie Bradley, Paty Castro, Melanie Canales, Victor H. Hernandez, Marie Ullrich, Robyn Bramwell, Kayla Larsen, Dan Ros-siter, Cliff Perez, Eric Becerra

Contributing Staff: Travis Walts, Dylan Crice, Maritza Avelar, Micheal Gardiner, Mark Muniz, Katy Schmader, Charles Horvilleur

Advisor: Diane Abdo

Advisory Board:Steven Kellman, Mansour El Kikhia, Jack Himelblau, Sandy Norman, Matt SternThe Paisano is published by the Paisano Educational Trust, a non-profit, tax exempt, educational organization. The Paisano is op-erated by members of the Stu-dent Newspaper Association, a registered student organization. The Paisano is NOT sponsored, financed or endorsed by UTSA. New issues are published every Tuesday during the fall and spring semesters, excluding holidays and exam periods. All revenues are generated through advertis-ing and donations. Advertising inquiries and donations should be directed towards:

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It is not un-usual to see marijuana at parties around UTSA. I know what you are thinking; which parties? Where?

I have no problem with

those who embrace the tender comforts of pot. It is my firm belief that the government should allow any young adult to smoke mari-juana if he/she wishes to; it is a matter of not limiting people’s sov-ereign right to decide.

Whether it is permitted or not, college students still smoke a lot of pot. Marijuana is consumed thoroughly and practically without any social recrimination around the college environment.

The freedom to exercise my lib-erties ends when it begins imped-ing others’ liberties. People in favor of the legalization of marijuana say

that folks have the right to choose. I say the same thing. However, let us not forget that pot doesn’t come from nowhere. Chances are that whether your marijuana was brought from Hawaii or from Co-lombia, it was handled by the same people. I am referring to the Mexican drug cartels.

In a wild and untamed land called Mexico, the government has been fighting an unprecedented violence forged by well-organized mafias that seem to have uninter-rupted funding. The main interest of these organizations is to export drugs to the United States—not forgetting their side businesses like kidnapping, extortion and hu-man trafficking.

In the past four years, 34,000 people have been killed in Mexico alone due to the War on Drugs. The cartels are funded by the biggest consumer of drugs in the world: the United States.

The mindless violence engulfing

several countries in Latin America is funded by consumers here in your local dorms. If somebody holds pot as a gateway for freedom, think again it might be for you, but not for the thousands of broken fami-lies in neighboring countries. Next time you contact your local dealer, look beyond; you might be endors-ing one of the worst social prob-lems of the decade.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for an alternative. Locally grown marijuana is already down the block; those who already buy mari-juana may even know where to get it. I am speaking about Chris—you know, that guy. I don’t see him chopping heads off and traf-ficking little girls into the United States. He is just a communication undergraduate who wants to live the dream. So does everyone my friend; so does everyone.

Victor HernandezStaff Writer

The Paisano encourages new

comic submissions!

Send to [email protected]

UTSA should hype up the outside world more

Photo Poll by Burk Frey

Senate Bill 16 (SB 16), dubbed as the ‘Pre-abortion Sonogram Bill,’ was passed by the Texas Senate last Thursday. It has now been sent down to the Texas House of Repre-sentatives where, given the current supermajority of Republicans, it will almost assuredly pass with little or no further revisions.

In its current form, the bill states that any woman who wishes to get an abortion must first undergo an ultrasound and have both the visu-al and audio content from it made available to her. Further, and far more disturbing, the mother must have the fetus’ features described to her by a doctor in detail – even if they don’t wish to hear it. After all of this is complete, the mother must wait a minimum of two hours before she will be legally allowed to get the abortion.

Let’s assume for a second that this bill is intended to achieve anything more than strong-arming the Re-publican’s religion-centered idealism down the throats of helpless young women. Is whatever good they are trying to achieve really enough to

counteract the incomprehensible evil of the mental scarring that such a bill would impart upon an already distraught young woman?

Taking out religion, as our consti-tution dictates we must, there is no logical reasoning for this bill. Clearly, the bill would at least slightly de-crease the abortion rates in Texas, which could be argued to be a very positive thing. But at what cost?

For those that do decide to walk out of the clinic, they are left with a child who, prior to the sonogram, the mother had logically concluded she could not adequately care for. Any change of mind after the im-posed sonogram would be purely based on emotion – something that is generally not wise to base long-term, life-changing decisions on.

Then there is the other group: the women who do decide to go through with the procedure af-ter seeing the sonogram. In those cases, the women who were forced to make a heart-breaking decision before visiting the clinic will now be laden with the additional, unneces-sary burden of having their unborn

child’s description burned into their mind. How can the infliction of this additional pain on these women possibly be justified?

Finally, there’s the money. Who will pay for this extra expense that this bill adds to the cost of an abor-tion? With Texas’ debt steadily piling up, there is no chance of the state picking up the tab. And think about the population that generally goes in for abortions.

In general, this is a population made up of low-income people who can barely afford the abortion in its current state, let alone with ad-ditional costs tacked on to cover a sonogram and a doctor’s time to sit in there and describe the fetus. Additionally, the two extra hours re-quired by the bill might be enough to force a woman, already struggling to make ends meet, forego the trip which would cost her more working hours than she can afford.

SB 16 may be aimed at protecting the unborn, but, with the inherent cost to the born, it is a net loss to our state.

Political guilt trip is not the right way to address abortion

The first 5 letters to the

editor will win free movie

tickets!Send letters to:

[email protected]

Commentary

The Bird Seed by Megan Lovelady

Yo, UTSA I heard you l ike to smoke

Ramsey [email protected]

I’ve always been afraid of needles. Particularly needles either injecting a chemical compound into my body or extracting blood from my arm.

It took a friendly face and an opportunity to make a real difference to change my mind forever.

This past March I signed myself up for the National Marrow Donor Program through the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center. An utter contradiction to my existing phobia but with two very close relatives who have passed away from Leukemia and Cancer, I wanted to give someone else a fighting chance.

The coordinator eased my tension, using a cotton swab rather than a needle injection to initially test for my compatibility with a pa-tient. I was reassured that it could take years to be called for a match and, perhaps, I could never be matched with a recipient.

In mid-November I received a voice mail from a Blood and Tissue Center representa-tive telling me that I was a potential match for an 11-year-old boy with Leukemia.

The slight wave of shock that pulsed through my veins contradicted the representative’s en-thusiasm as I listened to her instructions. I called the center back and made an appoint-ment to donate blood the following week.

My first blood donation would be to check if I was the best possible match for the re-cipient. A word to the wise: when you donate blood, make sure you are hydrated. That af-ternoon, I made up for other times when I avoided donating.

It took them four tries to finally tell me I was too dehydrated to donate. I turned my-self into a camel before my next appointment.

For confidentiality purposes the doctors won’t release personal information of the do-nor for a year, giving the recipient time to fully recover from the procedure.

To find a match for bone marrow is much more complicated than for a blood donation. A donor and recipient must practically be ge-netically identical if a transfer of marrow is to

occur. Doctors look for a donor who matches their

patient’s tissue type, specifically their human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue type. HLAs are proteins found on most cells in your body.

The immune system uses these markers to recognize which cells belong in your body and which do not. The closer the match between the recipient’s HLA markers and mine, the better.

For the most part when I would tell some-one I was going through the process of do-nating marrow, their initial reaction was much like if I had put their hands in a fire. A scrunched up face with a hiss between their teeth and even an occasional “Why?”

Two weeks before Christmas, I received a phone call confirming that I was the best possible match. My earlier qualms about do-nating bone marrow were now replaced with curious excitement at the concept of helping a sick child.

The Monday before Christmas, I went to the Methodist Hospital for an examination and spoke with my doctor who explained the procedure and all possible scenarios and ef-fects that he assured me were rare.

They would be extracting marrow from my back hip bone, and I was to be put under an-esthesia throughout the surgery.

I received another call on Jan. 4 from the Blood and Tissue Center verifying my clean bill of health and I was scheduled for donation on Jan. 18 at 7:00 a.m. The recipient would go into chemotherapy a week before.

The first thing the nurse asked me when I woke up was “Want some morphine?” The ini-tial pain I felt was much like extreme soreness coupled with general disorientation.

The injection wounds in my back made it impossible to bend in any direction. I spent the first couple of days recuperating at a friend’s apartment, reading on my stomach and waddling around like a pregnant lady whenever I needed to get up.

A few days and a bottle of pain pills later and I was moving around, practically back to my old self.

I’m left now with a curiosity and hope that this 11-year-old is somewhere, alive and on the way to recovery.

February 22, 2011P6 FEATURES The PaisanoH e r e ’ s H o w - t o :

Joey [email protected]

Dear journal,I like to think that my weekly

how-tos in The Paisano are rel-evant to college students – sub-jects that students should know and learn.

Last Saturday The Paisano cel-ebrated its 30 years of indepen-dent student news, and what a festive night it was; full of old friends, music, food and laughter. Congratulations Paisano!

On a negative note, I’ve no-ticed that some students are… Let’s just say, uncertain about their major.

This is me: “I’m a communica-tion major.” This is most students: “I’m a communications major.” See the difference?

Don’t these students know that they are majoring in COMMUNI-CATION, not COMMUNICATIONS! If they can’t even say their ma-jor correctly, I’m pretty sure they should consider what their major entails before making a fool of themselves and crying out the wrong major name.

I wonder sometimes if students forget that they’re in college and that they’ve left high school. Im-mature, stupid, selfish and plain idiotic are just some keywords some students have sticky-noted their backs.

If someone is in college, shouldn’t she or he act their age? Shouldn’t they stop texting and interrupting classes? Shouldn’t they stop Facebooking and start researching?

If these “children” are in col-lege just to be in college and if they’re that uninterested in their studies, for their sake and mine, they should just stay home and give the rest of us caring students their parking spots.

This isn’t a how-to

paisano-online.com

Sergio [email protected]

In one precise motion, Sergeant Richard Anthony Doyle slapped a gun magazine into his M-16 rifle, pulled the charging handle back to load the first round in the chamber and naturally placed his right index finger a few millimeters above the trigger like he had practiced hun-dreds, maybe thousands, of times before.

Yet outside of the relative safety of Camp Liberty in Baghdad, a sim-ple mistake could prove fatal.

Now, Doyle, a sophomore history major from a small town in Illinois, is still confronting the demons of his experiences in Iraq.

One afternoon in August 2005, Doyle was injured when an impro-vised explosive device (IED) deto-nated as his company patrolled a ru-ral sector of town a few miles from Baghdad International Airport.

“The last words I remember were, ‘Look out, look out!’” Doyle recalls. Then, as he has since pieced to-gether, he was ejected from the vehicle and was saved by the back, left passenger door that kept the up-armored humvee from further roll-ing over onto its roof.

His next recollection is being pinned under 7,000 pounds of twist-ed metal.

“I no longer really cared about the pain in my leg, or that the humvee had me trapped. My primary con-cern was to find my weapon,” Doyle remembers. “Your training kicks in... you enter a self-preservation mode and you do whatever it takes.”

Doyle and everyone in his unit survived the attack, but the injury would ultimately cost him his leg.

In his 10 weeks in Iraq, Doyle tells of other infantry men, individuals he considered friends, who made the ultimate sacrifice. He recalls witnessing friends getting shot as they entered a home, and of entire

squads (groups of four) being lost to roadside bombs.

“We all knew men who were shot when they breached a building. Nine out of 10 times, when we were clearing an insurgent house, they would be waiting for us...and the first one in the door was shot,” Doyle remembers.

“Even if your buddy was hit, your mentality was to keep moving for-ward to contain the threat, even if it meant stepping over your friend. Otherwise, it could be your entire squad hit because you didn’t react the way we were trained.”

“You know,” he continues, “Some-times it was one [fatality], some-

times just the vehicle would be a total loss [with IED bombs] and sometimes the vehicle and all the troops would be lost.”

With military-like exactitude, Doyle even retells of the day his convoy was saved by a seven-year old Iraqi boy.

“We were traveling on a dirt road, going 60 mph, when a young, Iraqi boy ran out in front of the vehicles yelling in broken English, ‘No-no, boom-boom GI, no-go GI!’ He was waving his hands, rapidly opening and closing his fists to keep us from going any further. Well, there were four 155 MM mortal rounds pointing

to the middle of the road set to go off right where we were going.”

These stories are frequent in many military families, as the United States enters its eighth year in Iraq and maintains a presence of over 50,000 troops.

But perhaps more extraordinary are the stories of individuals with no longer able-bodies that have fully adjusted to new lives as students, dedicated parents and loving spous-es.

The sacrifice of individuals like Tony Doyle could never be repaid with a simple medal, life-time ben-

efits or a small article in the univer-sity’s newspaper. It will, however, let those brave men and women know, whether fully-abled or disabled, that their immense sacrifice for their country did not go unnoticed.

Combat veteran begins new life at UTSA

“If your buddy was hit, your mentality was to keep moving forward to contain the threat, even if it meant stepping over your friend.”Sgt. Richard DoyleSophomore history major

Student hopes to save child’s life through bone marrow donation

Sgt. Richard Anthony Doyle, seen here with one of the locals in Baghdad, was injured during a patrol in August 2005.

Have a story worth telling? Contact us at [email protected]

Sgt. Richard Anthony Doyle’s full story will

be available in a series of articles beginning

Mar. 1, at Paisano-Online.com

Rodriguez

P7ARTSThe PaisanoFebruary 22, 2011

Kristoffer [email protected]

Gore Verbinski is the direc-tor of films such as ”The Ring”, ”The Mexican” and the ”Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy, but hasn’t made a movie since the last installment of the “Pirates” saga way back in 2007. He now returns with the animated western “Rango” starring John-ny Depp. In 2003, Verbinski found him-self very busy with work after the first “Pirates” film exploded to both commercial and critical success. He then filmed the two following installments: “Dead Man’s Chest” and “At World’s End” back to back. “Rango” tells the fish out of water story of a chameleon that aspires to be a swashbuckling hero. Rango stumbles upon a western town plagued by bandits and villains. Rango is forced to play the part of the mysterious heroic stranger who has come to save the town. Being the creative force be-hind the Budweiser frogs, Gore Verbinski has dealt with anima-tion before, but Rango is his first completely animated fea-ture film. What are you going to take away from Rango that will change the way you make other films now, including live action and if you de-cide to just make animation again? Gore Verbinski: Wow. That’s a good question. Short answer is I’m going to listen to the sound a lot more. We spent, you know, so much of this movie with just pencil and paper, and nothing moving. Sound is everything. And what are you going to bring from this experience

to live action? Gore Verbinski: We brought a tremendous amount of live action to this animation. I have immense respect for animation directors. It’s a lot harder than I ever imagined. There are no gifts. Everything is manufac-tured and created. It’s just – you have to fabricate every frame from zero. So other times when you’re shooting, you’re orchestrating chaos and they’re trying to, you know, capture a moment of truth and it’s giving back. It’s kicking back, all sorts of good and bad. Do you have a favorite genre? Gore Verbinski: You know what? It has been the Western. I mean, I think those pirate movies were westerns. When I was very young, I found Ser-gio Leone movies, you know, “Duck, You Sucker” and “Once Upon a Time in the West.” I saw them probably at an age-inap-propriate period and felt like I was sneaking into a forbidden world. And so, I’m a fan of Westerns but really the more modern Western, the “Wild Bunch,” the sort of – the myths are dying and it’s the end of an era, prog-ress is inevitable for us. The railroad’s coming! You know, with corruption. There’s no place for honest thieves anymore. Those sort of things have always been pres-ent, I think, in my DNA.

From pirates to lizards: director Gore Verbinski discusses film, animation

What’s in a name? Well, with a name like Suck It, you have to won-der what could be inside this tiny storefront at the corner of Babcock and De Zevala. What was originally supposed to be a hooka bar is swiftly becoming known for also serving a delicious and uncommon drink, bubble tea. It has quickly turned into a hot spot for both UTSA students and lo-cals.Originating in Taiwan, there are three different types of bubble tea served at Suck It. The first is tra-ditional bubble tea, which is mixed with milk, fruit and has tapioca pud-ding balls at the bottom of the cup. “I also offer a smoothie blend made with either milk or soy milk and has a creamy, fruity taste to it,” Vinh Ho-ang, Suck It owner said. “And also a slushie blend without milk that has more of the fruit flavor.” Suck It sells its wonderful bubble tea ( over 20 flavors to choose from) for $3.99 each, all day and night, and has hooka (75 different flavors in all) starting at 4 p.m. until close for just $10.99, each with weekly house specials on two hooka flavors for $8.99 each. If you come during the day the place is pretty empty, but only then can you appreciate the checkered-board ceiling tiles, dual TVs, the ever changing modern wall-art and the variety of board games to play with: Life and Scategories just to name a few. “I think the layout is pretty cool,” Roxanne Herandez, junior educa-tion major said, “I saw the board

games walking in and now I want to come back and play board games.”

During the evening hours it can be hard to find a seat, especially if you come with a large group of friends, because it can get packed quickly.“Wednesday through Saturday are our busiest nights for hooka and there are up to 80 people a night [coming in],” Hoang said. “One of our most popular [bubble tea] flavors is honeydew-avocado, and I can go through up to 20 avocadoes a night.” I must say that being local matters in this case. Suck It opened its door just seven months ago and with its laid back, best friend’s living room

vibe and helpful, friendly employ-ees, you instantly get the feeling you are a regular from the moment you walk in. Whether you have an hour be-tween classes and want to grab a bubble tea, or you are out on a Fri-day night and want to smoke some hooka while playing some board games with your friends, Suck It is the place to go for a wide variety of music, good drinks, and a friendly atmosphere. So, take the short drive from UTSA on over, and believe me, once you have had the bubble tea you will want to go back.

Paisano Eat & DrinkEvery week the Paisano reviews a different local restaurant.

This week, we review...

Rango is Gore Verbinski’s latest film. The lizard protagonist is voiced by Johnny Depp.

Suck It, San Antonio - SISA offers

great bubble tea and hookah

Suck It offers plenty of different hookah flavors and bubble tea.

Katy Schmader [email protected]

When you create a football team, a marching band will come. They’ll also really know how to make some noise. With bright uniforms, instruments blaring and exciting halftime shows they are sure to grab some attention. With new cheers and catchy songs, the bands primary goal is to get the audience off their feet. They create the energy that makes up a football game. But what would a band be without the drum-line. “The drumline’s primary goal is to support the band, but they also have a lot of additional responsibili-ties along with that,” said Sherry Ru-bins. Rubins, head of the percussion department at UTSA, will also be in charge of the drumline next semester. In addition to playing with the band

during halftime, the drum-line create their own cheers and cadences. They are in charge of keeping the audience loud and on their feet. Being part of the drumline is more then just beating on a drum. They are a close-knit family of their own. Spending that much time together, they have to be. Rubins herself keeps in touch with members of her band back in col-lege; in other words, it’s a really great way to make friends. And just like any group sport there is a lot of in-ner camaraderie. Being so close only allows them to push one another to become better. It’s a great way to get involved with the school. Dr. Ron Ellis, the band director, came from the University of Central Florida, and everyone seems to be excited about the creativity that he will bring to the program. He aims

to create shows that will sure to keep an audience. Drumline sessions begin in the spring and will continue right up until football season. Spots in the march-ing band are open to all students, not just music majors. Rubins is hoping to have about 40 students on the drumline alone. With 10 snares, six tenors, six bass drums, 10 symbols and a large ensemble, the band is sure to get loud. The games promise to be exciting with a drumline that large. With half-time shows always changing, there is more to watch at games then just the football team. When going to your first UTSA football game next semes-ter, you might want to save that con-cession trip until after the halftime show.

UTSA Drumline marching

to an upcoming beat

UTSA’s drumline practices outside of the art building.

This week online...

• Pamela’s Picks: Florence and the Machine

• A review of the Call of Duty First Strike Map Pack

• Dyan Lofton previews the up-coming Poetry Jam featuring Shihan

• UTSA’s Wind Ensemble keeps the Classics Alive; a Review

Check out the full

interview online at

paisano-online.com

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Megan [email protected]

The Paisano February 22, 2011SPORTS

Ashley Gardner sent the game against Nicholls to overtime via free throws.

paisano-online.com

Stephen [email protected]

An almost certain win nearly be-came a crushing loss for UTSA’s women of the hardwood. Saturday at the Convocation Center.

The Nicholls Colonels took advan-tage of 26 turnovers to stay with the Roadrunners enough to make things interesting.

The game began with the Road-runners (12-13, 8-4 SLC) jumping out to the first of many 10-point leads with a 12-2 advantage four minutes into the game. As would be the case for the rest of the day, the Colonels (8-17, 3-9 SLC) would use Roadrunner turnovers and the hot three-point shooting of guards Ricshanda Bickham and KK Babin to stay in the game.

Early on, it became apparent that the game would be decided by turnovers. In the first half alone, the Roadrunners coughed the ball up 11 times to the Colonels’ three. The Colonels turned the Roadrun-ners turnovers into 10 of their 24 first half points. The Roadrunners would not be able to capitalize on the few times the Colonels offered up the ball.

The Colonels got to within three with 6:01 left in the half but a few minutes of cold shooting coupled with the Roadrunners knocking down everything in sight pushed the advantage back up to 10, 26-16, with 2:53 remaining in the half.

With 1:03 left before halftime, the Roadrunners’ lead grew to 11, 30-19. However the Roadrunners went cold while Babin used a layup and a long three point field goal at the buzzer to cut the Roadrunner lead down to six, 30-24.

“I said at halftime we would lose if we had 20 turnovers,” Rippetoe-Blair said. “You usually don’t win

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UTSA outlasts Nicholls in double-overtime thriller

games with 25 turnovers.”The Roadrunners showed no ill ef-

fects from the buzzer beating three as seniors Ashleigh Franklin and Am-ber Gregg pulled the Roadrunners back up by 10, 34-24. The Colonels cut it back down to single digits on a LiAnn McCarthy jumper. Again the Roadrunners went back up 10 but back-to-back threes by Bickham cut the lead to four.

The Colonels would continue to chip away at the Roadrunners lead every time it seemed the Roadrun-ners would put in the buckets to pull away. The Colonels would get within four yet again at 40-36, but the Roadrunners went on a 10-2 run over three-and-a-half minutes to hold their biggest lead of the game at 12 points, 50-38.

Just when it seemed the Roadrun-

ners might pull away for the victory, the turnover troubles came back as the Colonels erased the 12 point deficit and took their first lead of the game with 20 seconds left, 54-53.

The final 20 seconds were chaotic at the Roadrunner basket before Ashley Gardner would draw a foul with one second left to play. The case was simple for Gardner, two free throws, only one needed to tie. Gardner would miss the first one, but after a huddle with her team-mates, she hit the second one and the Roadrunners forced overtime.

“When I missed that first one I got really nervous,” Gardner said. “I calmed down and made the second one.”

The first overtime looked like the rest of the game. The Roadrunners jumped out to a lead on a three

point field goal by Jermini Malone and then spent the rest of the five-minute period trying to hold off the Colonels. The Colonels weren’t going away as they stayed within range of the Roadrunners and even-tually forced a second overtime on two Cassie Hearon free throws.

Almost a year to the day since their last double-overtime game, the Roadrunners found themselves in that situation yet again. The second overtime period would be all Road-runners as they outscored the Colo-nels 11-1 in the period to pull out an ugly 73-63 win.

“Sorry you had to watch that,” Rippetoe Blair said. “They hit some big threes; we acted a little bit like we were in slow motion.”

The Roadrunners outplayed the Colonels in every area except the turnover battle.

“It was a crazy game,” Rippetoe-Blair said. “I am frustrated; it doesn’t feel like a win.”

The Roadrunners will hit the road to face the Texas A&M Corpus-Christi Islanders (2-22, 0-11 SLC) Wednes-day and return home for the I-35 Ri-valry with Texas State Saturday.

SLC West Standings1. Sam Houston State...................9-32. UTSA...............................8-43. Stephen F. Austin.....................7-5

SLC Standings1. McNeese State.........................11-12. Lamar......................................10-23. Sam Houston State..................9-34. UTSA..............................8-4

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Stephen [email protected]

Brooks Thompson knows basket-ball. In a four year career, Thomp-son experienced the life of an NBA player. In his tenure with the Or-lando Magic from 1994-96, Thomp-son reached the NBA finals as a rookie and set a franchise record, since broken, for points in a quarter with 21. After the Magic, Thompson would play for the Utah Jazz, Den-ver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks before hanging up the sneakers in 1998.

Following a career in the NBA, Thompson got into coaching. Thompson has climbed the ladder of coaching, starting out as head coach at Yavapai College in Prescott Ari-zona. While at Yavapai, Thompson won 79 percent of his games which set a Yavapai school record. Follow-ing two years at Yavapai, Thompson

The PaisanoFebruary 22, 2011 SPORTS

paisano-online.com

Time out with the coaches:Brooks Thompson

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of stories on UTSA coaches.

became an assistant coach at Arizo-na State for two years before being hired as the fifth head coach in the history of UTSA basketball.

What is the best part about being a coach at UTSA?

I think there is alot. This is a uni-versity that is growing imaginatively. It is a great community to recruit to. There is so many intangibles to this university, so much upside that we are so excited about. This is a great place to be a part of and its only go-ing to get better.

When did you decide to be-come a coach?

When I was a high school athlete going through the recruiting process and seeing the coaches coming in. I thought what a great profession to be able to go out and let young men experience your university.

When not coaching, Coach Thompson is____?

Restless.If you couldn’t be a coach,

what profession would you have chosen?

In college, I majored in broad-cast journalism but got my degree in political science. I knew in high school I wanted to be a college bas-ketball coach but if there was some-thing else I was interested in, it was broadcast journalism.

Where is the best place you have ever visited, as a coach, player or just to visit?

The best place I have ever visited is Sydney but I would consider San Antonio one of the best places to [live].

What is your favorite moment in sports that you were a part of?

Basektball coach Brooks Thompson

Men’s basketball coach brings NBA experience to job

LOW RATES START AT $405/MO

Next Week: Baseball CoachSherman Corbett

In the Week Ahead:Men’s BasketballWednesday Feb. 23

UTSA vs. A&M Corpus-Christi 7 p.m.

Women’s BasketballSaturday Feb. 26

UTSA vs. Texas State 2 p.m.

BaseballFriday-Sunday

UTSA vs. Saint Joseph’sMonday Feb. 28

UTSA vs. Oregon State12 p.m.

Tuesday March 1UTSA vs. Houston

All upcoming baseball games will be played at Nelson Wolff Stadium

Beating the Chicago Bulls in the 1994-95 Eastern Conference Finals to go to the finals against the Hous-ton Rockets. I wish I had that ring but the Rockets deserved to win.

W o r k i n P r o g r e s s

Stephen [email protected]

Things are picking up.The basketball season is

winding down. March Mad-ness is just weeks away.

The three weeks of March Madness are the closest this country comes to completely shutting down. Other coun-tries shut down for the world cup every four years; America closes shop for March Mad-ness.

The Madness will be even greater this year as every game will be available ev-erywhere. In previous years the tournament games were played in windows, and if you wanted to watch a game out of your area, you had to fork over hundreds of dollars.

Now you can watch every game without having to buy a special package.

Elsewhere in sports, the days are getting warmer and it’s time to take a pilgrimage to your local ballpark.

This weekend marks the home debut of the Roadrun-ners on the diamond. The games, which will be played at Nelson Wolff Stadium, begin on Friday at Six with the Saint Joseph Hawks making the trip down from Philadelphia.

Also coming into town this weekend will be Oregon State, who will battle the Birds Mon-day at noon. The home stand ends March 1 at 6p.m. when the Houston Cougars pay a visit to the Alamo City.

Get on out there and see the Birds in action.

It’s the most wonderful time

of the yearStephen [email protected]

The Roadrunners basketball team sits at 6-6 in the Southland confer-ence after a week in which they knocked off East Division leaders McNeese State and fell to Nicholls State.

UTSA 65 McNeese 61The Convocation Center was the

site, Wednesday, for a shootout un-like any since the siege of the Ala-mo. The combatants were the UTSA Roadrunners and the McNeese State Cowboys.

UTSA (13-11, 6-5 SLC) entered the game trying to shrug off a two game losing streak. The visiting Cowboys (15-9, 8-3 SLC) were riding high in first place in the Southland Confer-ence East Division. Something had to give.

The Cowboys won the opening tip but it would be the Roadrunners who fired the first shot of the night as they took an early 3-0 lead on a Devin Gibson three pointer. The Cowboys had the answer as guard Diego Kapelan knocked in a three at the other end to tie the game at 3 early.

Gibson then put in a layup and drew a foul to put the Roadrunners up 6-3. The Roadrunners would never relinquish the lead as they built it as big as 10.

The Roadrunners held off a Mc-Neese run near the end of the half, and went into the intermission ahead by eight, 31-23.

“I think we played pretty good defensively,” Head Coach Brooks Thompson said. “Offensively I think we shot ok.”

The Cowboys would get closer in the second half but the Roadrunners would respond each time by rebuild-ing the lead.

Men’s Basketball has

up and down week

Read the rest of the Men’s Hoops atpaisano-online.com

Thompson File:126-89 record as Head Coach71-75 record at UTSA33-43 conference recordBack-to-back 19-win seasons (2008-09 & 2009-10)All-Big Eight player at Oklahoma State27th overall pick in 1994 NBA draft by Orlando MagicMember of 1995 Orlando Magic team that won Eastern ConferencePlayed for five NBA teams in four year career.

File

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The Paisano February 22, 2011

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