Lorenzo Garcia Staff Writer [email protected]e voice of the UT System’s student communities is being threatened. According to Zack Dunn – President of the UTSA Student Government Association – the UT System Board of Regents will be holding a special meet- ing on Dec. 14 to discuss the revision of the Student Refer- endum Process (SRP). Dunn is part of the UT System Stu- dent Advisory Committee (UT- SSAC), an organization com- posed of high-ranking student leaders from each of the UT System’s nine universities and six medical centers. e council provides input to the UT System Board of Re- gents by working through and with the Chancellor and UT System Administration on is- sues of student concern. Last week during a conference call, UT System Chancellor Fran- cisco Cigarroa informed UT- SSAC of his intention to change the SRP. Under the current SRP, a Stu- dent Government Association (SGA) can propose a referen- Alejandra Barraza Staff Writer [email protected]With finals approaching, UT- SA’s Student Government As- sociation (SGA) has been for- mulating an event to help with the stress of finals week. One proposal offers students the opportunity to interact with puppies for up to 10 minutes in what is unofficially called the “Puppy Zone.” e stress-free zone will be located next to the UC Paseo stairs and in the grassy area between the H-E-B Univer- sity Center and McKinney Hu- manities Building. e idea is supported by research showing that interaction with pets de- creases the level of cortisal – a stress hormone – in people and increases endorphins, which lead to feelings of happiness. “Every semester we have fi- nals and students are always stressed….this type of zone would serve students who just want to go and de-stress for a while, get away from tests, get away from classes,” said SGA’s appointed University Advance- ment Committee Chair Alex Guajardo, who is in charge of the project. Proposed by UTSA’s stu- dent body through the means of suggestion slips on the Stu- dent Government Association booth, the “Puppy Zone” is also receiving outside support. e Protection of Animal Welfare and Safety (PAWS) has offered to provide small fences to keep the puppies in a secure and safe environment, and the Hu- mane Society will be providing puppies of less than a year old weighing one to three pounds. With research conducted by the Harvard Medical School showing pets improve people’s psychological well-being and self-esteem, this puppy-zone has proven worthy of numer- ous institutions. “A lot of universities have ac- tually already adopted this type of program, so in that sense we wanted to adopt it as well for the students,” stated Guajardo. Other schools in Texas who have adopted this “Puppy Zone” include Texas State University, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Rice University. Attention has been brought to the “Puppy Zone” initiative, but it likely won’t be imple- mented until finals week of Spring 2014. Sarah Gibbens News Editor [email protected]e University of Texas at Austin Young Conservatives made headlines recently for their controversial “Catch an Illegal Immigrant,” game. e premise of the game involved a group of students walking around the UT Campus wear- ing shirts that said “Illegal Im- migrant.” Students were then incentivized to “catch” one of the students wearing these shirts and turn them in for a gift card prize of $25. e event was cancelled after school administration threat- ened to take action. e game was organized by UT Young Conservative Chair- man Lorenzo Garcia. Garcia, however, has not always been known for his conservative val- ues. e former UTSA CAP student was a member of the Young Democrats at UTSA during his freshman year from fall 2011 to spring 2012. Matthew DeWall, junior po- litical science major at UTSA, was the secretary of the UTSA Young Democrats at the time that Garcia joined the group. “He was very active within the group and we (the Young Dem- ocrats) even endorsed him for the SGA Senate race,” said De- Wall. Garcia was also active in his role as a freshman senator in the Student Government As- sociation. Danny Khalil was president of the Young Democrats at UTSA at the time of Garcia’s membership. “When I first met him he told me he wanted to be a civil rights attorney,” said Khalil. “I think around 2012 he turned markedly more conser- vative. I believe he was disen- chanted with President Obama and became enamored with now Senator Ted Cruz’s Tea Party message.” Garcia spoke to online news source Buzzfeed about his rea- soning behind the “Catch an Illegal Immigrant” game. “I’d been thinking about the event for a while since President Obama said he wanted to pur- sue amnesty after healthcare. It made me think about illegal immigration in general,” said Garcia. “I thought it (the game) would be a good way to spark debate at UT.” Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio Volume 48 Issue 29 {WWW.PAISANO-ONLINE.COM} {SINCE 1981} } { UTSA e San Antonio Small Business De- velopment Center at UTSA will be host- ing free and low-cost training sessions for smalls business owners and entre- preneurs. Details at utsa.edu San Antonio Former San Antonio Mayor Phil Hard- berger, 79, is expect- ed to fully recover from a recent car- diovascular surgery to unclog an artery. Texas is past Saturday at San Antonio Col- lege, State Senator Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) announced plans to run for Lieutenant Governor in 2014. She will run against current Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Sen. Dan Patrick (R- Houston). U.S. is past Sunday, the Obama Administra- tion said it achieve its goal of making healthcare.gov work for a “vast majority” of users after two months of criticism over the site’s many flaws. World e U.S., Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China reached a deal with the Iranian Government to halt its nuclear weapons program over the weekend. Sports On ursday, Dec. 4 the UTSA Women’s volleyball team will open their NCAA Tournament run against the Texas A&M Aggies at 4:30 p.m. The women’s basketball team sweeps weekend games in UTSA Thanksgiving Classic page 8 Isis Project celebrates historical women and inspires young girls page 6 December 3, 2013 “I told the team that if you learned anything from this season — don’t let people label you. Go out and be the best you can be, I think if we learned anything — that was it. ” Larry Coker UTSA Head football Alejandra Barraza Staff Writer [email protected]Although UTSA is a smoke- free campus, students are still smoking in corners, on rooftops and along railways, prompting questions about the effectiveness of the policy. On June 1, 2013 UTSA be- gan a ‘transition phase’ for the smoking policy on campus. is transition period was supported by research from other universities showing that a transition phase facili- tates change in behavior and culture. During this transition pe- riod – which is currently in ef- fect – smoking is only permit- ted on certain surface parking Football defies odds to finish season 7-5 See OVERLOOKED, Page 3 The Raodrunners were picked to finish last in the C-USA West Division. But UTSA didn’t see things that way, winning five straight games to end the season and finish second in the division. Daryl Smith / The Paisano Smoking ban not working UTSA UTSA Garcia: Liberal to conservative Garcia received a certificate in the Fall of 2011 as an official UTSA Young Democrat member. Courtesy of Danny Khalil UTSA Puppy zone? Lindsay Smith / The Paisano Regents to stifle student involvement See DEFIANCE, Page 3 See UTSA, Page 8
The voice of the UT System’s student communities is being threatened.
According to Zack Dunn – President of the UTSA Student Government Association – the UT System Board of Regents will be holding a special meet-ing on Dec. 14 to discuss the revision of the Student Refer-endum Process (SRP). Dunn is part of the UT System Stu-dent Advisory Committee (UT-
SSAC), an organization com-posed of high-ranking student leaders from each of the UT System’s nine universities and six medical centers.
The council provides input to the UT System Board of Re-gents by working through and with the Chancellor and UT System Administration on is-
sues of student concern. Last week during a conference call, UT System Chancellor Fran-cisco Cigarroa informed UT-SSAC of his intention to change the SRP.
Under the current SRP, a Stu-dent Government Association (SGA) can propose a referen-
With finals approaching, UT-SA’s Student Government As-sociation (SGA) has been for-mulating an event to help with the stress of finals week.
One proposal offers students the opportunity to interact with puppies for up to 10 minutes in what is unofficially called the “Puppy Zone.”
The stress-free zone will be located next to the UC Paseo stairs and in the grassy area between the H-E-B Univer-sity Center and McKinney Hu-manities Building. The idea is supported by research showing that interaction with pets de-creases the level of cortisal – a stress hormone – in people and increases endorphins, which lead to feelings of happiness.
“Every semester we have fi-nals and students are always stressed….this type of zone would serve students who just want to go and de-stress for a while, get away from tests, get away from classes,” said SGA’s appointed University Advance-ment Committee Chair Alex Guajardo, who is in charge of the project.
Proposed by UTSA’s stu-dent body through the means of suggestion slips on the Stu-dent Government Association booth, the “Puppy Zone” is also receiving outside support. The Protection of Animal Welfare and Safety (PAWS) has offered to provide small fences to keep the puppies in a secure and safe environment, and the Hu-mane Society will be providing puppies of less than a year old weighing one to three pounds.
With research conducted by the Harvard Medical School showing pets improve people’s psychological well-being and self-esteem, this puppy-zone has proven worthy of numer-ous institutions.
“A lot of universities have ac-tually already adopted this type of program, so in that sense we wanted to adopt it as well for the students,” stated Guajardo.
Other schools in Texas who have adopted this “Puppy Zone” include Texas State University, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Rice University.
Attention has been brought to the “Puppy Zone” initiative, but it likely won’t be imple-mented until finals week of Spring 2014.
The University of Texas at Austin Young Conservatives made headlines recently for their controversial “Catch an Illegal Immigrant,” game. The
premise of the game involved a group of students walking around the UT Campus wear-ing shirts that said “Illegal Im-migrant.” Students were then incentivized to “catch” one of the students wearing these shirts and turn them in for a gift card prize of $25.
The event was cancelled after school administration threat-ened to take action.
The game was organized by UT Young Conservative Chair-man Lorenzo Garcia. Garcia, however, has not always been known for his conservative val-ues. The former UTSA CAP student was a member of the Young Democrats at UTSA during his freshman year from fall 2011 to spring 2012.
Matthew DeWall, junior po-litical science major at UTSA, was the secretary of the UTSA Young Democrats at the time that Garcia joined the group. “He was very active within the group and we (the Young Dem-ocrats) even endorsed him for the SGA Senate race,” said De-Wall.
Garcia was also active in his role as a freshman senator in the Student Government As-sociation.
Danny Khalil was president of the Young Democrats at UTSA at the time of Garcia’s membership. “When I first met him he told me he wanted to be a civil rights attorney,” said Khalil. “I think around 2012 he turned markedly more conser-vative. I believe he was disen-chanted with President Obama and became enamored with now Senator Ted Cruz’s Tea Party message.”
Garcia spoke to online news source Buzzfeed about his rea-soning behind the “Catch an Illegal Immigrant” game. “I’d been thinking about the event for a while since President Obama said he wanted to pur-sue amnesty after healthcare. It made me think about illegal immigration in general,” said Garcia. “I thought it (the game) would be a good way to spark debate at UT.”
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio
Small Business De-velopment Center at UTSA will be host-
ing free and low-cost training sessions
for smalls business owners and entre-
preneurs. Details at utsa.edu
San AntonioFormer San Antonio
Mayor Phil Hard-berger, 79, is expect-
ed to fully recover from a recent car-
diovascular surgery to unclog an artery.
TexasThis past Saturday at
San Antonio Col-lege, State Senator
Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio)
announced plans to run for Lieutenant Governor in 2014.
She will run against current Lt. Gov.
David Dewhurst and Sen. Dan Patrick (R-
Houston).
U.S.This past Sunday, the Obama Administra-tion said it achieve its goal of making
healthcare.gov work for a “vast majority”
of users after two months of criticism over the site’s many
flaws.
WorldThe U.S., Great Britain, France,
Germany, Russia and China reached a deal with the Iranian Government to halt its nuclear weapons
program over the weekend.
SportsOn Thursday, Dec. 4 the UTSA Women’s volleyball team will open their NCAA Tournament run against the Texas
A&M Aggies at 4:30 p.m.
The women’s basketball team sweeps weekend games in UTSA Thanksgiving Classicpage 8
Isis Project celebrates
historical women and inspires young girls
page 6
December 3, 2013
“I told the team that if you learned anything from this season — don’t let people label you. Go out and be the best you can be, I think if we learned anything — that was it.”Larry Coker UTSA Head football
Although UTSA is a smoke-free campus, students are still smoking in corners, on rooftops and along railways, prompting questions about the effectiveness of the policy.
On June 1, 2013 UTSA be-gan a ‘transition phase’ for the smoking policy on campus. This transition period was supported by research from other universities showing that a transition phase facili-tates change in behavior and culture.
During this transition pe-riod – which is currently in ef-fect – smoking is only permit-ted on certain surface parking
Football defies odds to finish season 7-5
See OVERLOOKED, Page 3
The Raodrunners were picked to finish last in the C-USA West Division. But UTSA didn’t see things that way, winning five straight games to end the season and finish second in the division. Da
ryl S
mith
/ T
he P
aisa
no
Smoking ban not working
UTSA
UTSA
Garcia: Liberal to conservative
Garcia received a certificate in the Fall of 2011 as an official UTSA Young Democrat member.
Cour
tesy
of D
anny
Kha
lil
UTSA
Puppy zone?
Linds
ay S
mith
/ T
he P
aisa
no
Regents to stifle student involvement
See DEFIANCE, Page 3
See UTSA, Page 8
2 ADVERTISEMENTDecember 3, 2013
lots. The exceptions on the Main
Campus include the Ximenes Avenue Lot, Ford Avenue Lot, and Laurel Village lot. These temporary smoking areas will be eliminated on June 1, 2014 — exactly one year after the transi-tion period began — and thus UTSA will become a tobacco-free and smoke-free campus.
However, it appears that many students are either unclear about or indifferent to the cur-rent rules regarding smoking. One student, who was smok-ing along the rail between the McKinney Humanities Building and the Business Building, con-fessed to smoking between 4-6 cigarettes daily on campus when not in class.
“I just follow the people, if I see a crowd smoking then I know it’s okay to smoke,” said freshman Ahmed Albattah in between drags.
Ironically, in the area where Ahmed and several other stu-dents were smoking, a “Tobac-co-free” banner is draped over
the rail.According to the
UTSA Handbook of Operating Proce-dures, the smoking policy consists of a se-ries of exceptions and guidelines. It speci-fies the prohibition of smoking in university-owned buildings and vehicles, but allows it outside any non-CPRIT (Cancer Pre-vention and Research Institute of Texas) building as long as it is 20 feet or more from the entryway, door-way or common path of travel.
This set of guide-
lines, however, is no longer in ef-fect during the transition phase. This lack of updated informa-tion on the university’s website could be responsible for the frequent smoking behavior seen around campus.
“Maybe a pledge would be helpful or a letter of commit-ment when first enrolling in UTSA,” suggested Professor Rita Linard. An ensemble direc-tor and assistant professor of flute at UTSA, Linard has seen students smoking on numerous occasions right outside the Arts Building.
“Obviously what we are doing to enforce this is not working. As vocalists we are very concerned when we see our students smok-ing. It’s not good for their lungs.”
Linard is a cancer survivor and sensitive to second-hand smoke. She is one of the many faculty and staff members affected by this lack of compliance.
The journey to becoming a to-bacco-free and smoke-free cam-pus began with requests made to University President Ricardo Romo from staff and faculty members.
Enforcement of the policy has been designated as a shared re-sponsibility of the UTSA com-munity. According to the Hand-book of Operating Procedures, “It is the shared responsibility of all members of the campus community to respect and abide by this policy.” Enforcement by UTSAPD has not yet begun. This expected voluntary compli-ance has yielded low results.
NEWSDecember 3, 2013
3
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DEFIANCE: students and staff still smoke on campus
Overlooked: students taken out of equation
“I just follow the people, if I see a crowd smoking then I know it’s okay to smoke.” Ahmed Albattah Freshman
dum to its student body, which, if passed by a simple major-ity vote, is then brought to the university president by the ad-ministration of the SGA. If the university president supports the referendum, they can take the proposal to a meeting of the regents for approval.
Under the system proposed by Chancellor Cigarroa, the process would begin with a meeting of the SGA adminis-tration and the university presi-dent, rather than by a student body petition. A presentation would again have to be made by the university president to the regents. Finally, if the re-gents approved a referendum, it would then have to be passed through a vote from the origi-nating university’s student body.
According to Dunn, the in-tention of the Chancellor’s re-vision is to eliminate the ability of students to propose Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs) – projects that cost the UT
System more than $30 million. There are several examples of referendums passed by the UTSA student body that are in-dicators of what might be lost if this new SRP system is created.
In 2007 a CIP referendum to increase athletics fees – adver-tised as the first step towards the creation of the UTSA foot-ball team – was passed by a two-thirds margin from a vot-ing pool of 4,602 students. More recently, in 2010 a refer-endum to add a $5 green fee to fund sustainability initiatives on campus – known as the “Green Fund” – was passed by a narrow margin of 52 percent.
“UT-SSAC feels that the voice of the students is being stifled by the UT System Board of Regents with this proposed change,” said Dunn. One of the reasons the regents are able to quickly make such a bold change to their poli-cies is that they are not subject to scrutiny by voters. Rather, the Governor of Texas appoints each regent to the board.
The regents have been in the
midst of controversy this year. In August, a new chairman was appointed to the board with the hopes of restoring its reputation after the Texas legislature ac-cused the board of engaging in a “witch hunt” against Bill Pow-ers, the president of UT Austin.
Notably, Regent Wallace Hall – now under investigation for impeachment – has required Bill Power’s administrative staff to send him around 800,000 documents through open re-cords requests since he was ap-pointed in 2011.
“The frightening aspect of this change is that it would apply to all the UT System campuses... The only way to let the regents know we are against this form of censorship is to tell them,” ex-plained Dunn. “Emails, voice-mails, letters, whatever it takes. We need to show the Board of Regents that we are unified as a UTSA student body, and we want to ensure that our voice is not being diminished in any way.”
NASA has awarded $300,000 to Chemistry Professor Carlos Garcia, UTSA Physics Professor Arturo Ayon and HJ Science & Technology Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., to build a prototype of a lab-on-a-robot, or LOAR. The funding will be used on the fourth iteration of the LOAR.
The purpose of the LOAR is to perform an on site composition-al analysis of its environment without a human analyst con-taminating the environment. Consequently, it also protects against human injury. It is a Rover-like design, moving about
wirelessly via wheels and remote control.
“This “lab on a robot” could lay the groundwork for the next generation of NASA robotic missions by allowing for the analysis of air samples or bio-logical compounds without the threat of danger to a human op-erator,” said Garcia.
LOAR is sent to a certain global position, acquires sam-ples, analyzes the samples and then sends the data back to sci-entists. It is also equipped with a chemical sensor, which contains a microchip that can determine the composition of a sample in a few minutes.
Because LOAR has the abil-ity to go places that pose a dan-ger to humans, its uses seem endless, and could potentially save lives and money. It could be used on Earth to analyze or
monitor polluted areas, or on other planets to send immedi-ate data without the problems associated with sending a hu-man to distant planets. Since it can perform everything on site within minutes, it removes the need for a stationary lab and al-lows for real time chemical data collection.
“The proposed strategy is to develop a mobile platform to perform remote chemical analy-sis of various compounds. In previous papers our lab has fo-cused on volatile compounds, which can be used as models for the detection of chemical war-fare agents. More recently, we developed a very simple strategy to assemble microfluidic devices to analyze soil samples.” says Garcia.
Professor Garcia and Profes-sor Arturo Ayon put together the initial LOAR in the Micro-Electromechanical Systems Laboratory, of which Ayon is the founding director, at UTSA’s West Campus. Garcia explains, “We really hope to include the participations of students in the project. We encourage all stu-dents interested in either the chemical or the engineering as-pects of the project to stop by the lab.”
The other two prototypes were built in collaboration with the University of Sao Paulo, Bra-zil, who will provide a member to the team, Eric Tavares da Costa, for this fourth prototype.
4 NEWSDecember 3, 2013
NASA research grant awarded to build mobile robot lab
UTSA
Cou
rtesy
pho
to
The invention involves a mobile platform that will analyze various compounds wirelessly.
{Staff Writers}Didi Adiakpan, Mohamed Ahmed, Chris Breakell, Jazzment Brown, Nick Castillo, Christina Coyne, Victor Gonzalez, Shelby Hodges, Randy Lopez, Patrick Martinez, Ra-fael Mendoza, Chaney Shadrock, Sara Flores, Lorenzo Garcia
{Staff Photographers}Alyssa Gonzales
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December 3, 2013
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UT Sys-tem Board of Regents will be h o l d i n g a special meeting on Dec. 14 to discuss the
revision of the Student Referendum Process (SRP).
The SRP is essentially the vehicle by which a university’s student body can connect with the Board of Re-gents and have issues voted upon to bring about change.
In 2007, a CIP referendum to in-crease athletics fees at UTSA was passed by a two-thirds margin from a voting pool of 4,602 students. This referendum was advertised as the first step in the creation of the UTSA football program.
UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa proposed the revision to be discussed. The proposal basically changes the process from a bot-tom up approach that begins with student input to a top down system where change can only begin at the convenience of the Board of Re-gents, effectively removing students and faculty from the equation.
While this move would un-doubtedly serve to save the UT System money, saving money at the expense of a process that gives the over 30,000 UTSA students an op-portunity to propel concerns to the Board of Regents is indefensible.
The regents have already seen their fair share of controversy this year. A new chairman was appoint-ed this past August aiming to re-store the board’s marred reputation after the Texas legislature accused them of engaging in a “witch hunt” against Bill Powers ¬— President of UT Austin.
Regent Wallace Hall is currently under investigation for impeach-ment. Hall has required Bill Power’s administrative staff to send him about 800,000 documents through open records requests since he was first appointed in 2011.
With the regents targeted for investigation due to the misappro-priation of state resources, it only serves to further weaken good faith when they make decisions that di-minish the voices of those they have been appointed to serve.
The regents are appointed by the Governor of Texas, and thus not directly accountable to Texas voters. The regents have used this unaccountability to further expand their authority over Texas higher education. The new chairman, Paul Foster, is a commanding choice that will no doubt further this pursuit of authority. Foster said in a statement to the Texas Tribune, “It’s not my role to second-guess. It’s not my role to criticize.”
Governor Rick Perry convened a conference in 2008 for Jeff Sandefer to push his “Seven Breakthrough Solutions” for higher education. These “solutions” are wrought with corporate diction that targets ef-ficiency and financial responsibil-ity. While there may be a place for some elements of business logic in higher education, these goals pull away from the primary responsibil-ity of any academic institution ¬¬— education.
The regents appointed by Perry seem to have these flawed ideals in mind as they further a tradition of micro-management. Boards of regents should create broad policy changes that allow the individual in-stitutions to dictate their own plans that are tailored for their unique needs.
The gross misappropriation of the state’s resources in the regents “witch hunt” against Bill Powers also leaves many of the aspiring Tier One schools and small regional universities out in the cold. These schools are the workhorses of the state’s higher education and gradu-ate more students than all the exist-ing tier one institutions combined. They deserve to have a voice in their own futures, and should not fall vic-tim to Perry and the regents’ goal of monetizing higher education.
Students, faculty and the univer-sity staff that work everyday in the trenches are the people that are most in tune with an institution’s needs, and to alter the SRP in a way that diminishes these voices is a step in the wrong direction. It only furthers disdain for a board that apparently does not trust students and faculty to know what’s best for themselves.
J. Corey FrancoManaging Editor
Commentary
Editorial
In a debate that has mani-fested in a matter of months, supermarket giant H-E-B is in negotiations to build a gro-cery store in the historic King William district. Residents opposed to the new addition contend that the popular retail store will inevitably lead to the gentrification of the area. They also worry construction will cause a portion of South Main Ave. to close to accommodate the expansion of the H-E-B headquarters.
The $100 million proposal would allow the construction of a new H-E-B store, along with a bigger headquarters located on Arsenal St. Currently, residents who enjoy biking and walking in the area are concerned over obstruction of property.
Urban development has stag-nated in downtown San Anto-nio. There are limited options for residents within this area for groceries and produce. Having
access to groceries might at-tract people to the downtown area. With the latest addition of lofts for rent downtown the only entity that is missing in this area is a grocery store. As a result of a new H-E-B, more people would be inclined to live downtown and would contrib-ute to the efforts to revitalize downtown.
San Antonio needs to con-sider the benefits of opening an H-E-B in a central part of its community. The store will not only increase residency within downtown but will also boost employment. It is projected to provide jobs to over 1,600 people by 2030. These are jobs that could be given to current UTSA students who attend the downtown campus.
In a meeting in October, the King William Association Board of Directors rejected the proposal in a 9-3 vote. There-fore, residents were shocked
when the board changed their vote 7-6 in favor of the new grocery store on Nov. 22. Since then, public outrage has ensued over the change of heart.
The board agreed to rethink their decision if H-E-B could provide substantial evidence that the store would not greatly affect traffic within the area. Af-ter an updated city-funded traf-fic study proved that the store would actually improve traf-fic conditions through South Main Ave., the board’s vote was swayed in favor of construction.
The newest addition will be built on the intersection of South Flores and César E. Chávez Blvd, which is only minutes away from the UTSA Downtown Campus. Currently, the closest grocery store near the downtown campus is on Nogalitos Street, heading away from the downtown area. Be-sides this location, residents must drive to either the North-
west side of town to the H-E-B store on Culebra Rd., or to the Southwest to reach the H-E-B Plus! on Zarzamora Rd. For those who are acclimated to or-ganic produce, the only H-E-B affiliated organic market is the H-E-B Central Market, which is in Alamo Heights.
By building a new store in the downtown area, residents will be able to buy their gro-ceries in an area close to them and from a store that they are familiar with. Proximity to local groceries is especially impor-tant for those who commute downtown using public trans-portation. Students who attend the downtown campus will also have the option of purchasing products on their way to class or as they depart on their way home. This might prove handy when students need to pick up last minute supplies for a presentation or when they are craving a snack that might not
be offered downtown. In the long run, the store will pro-vide benefits to other residents within its parameters as well as citizens who peruse the down-town area.
H-E-B has established itself as a positive force in the com-munity with charitable do-nations and sponsorships to organizations inside the King William area and elsewhere. This proposal is just another way that the supermarket chain will provide service to the com-munity while encouraging oth-ers to move closer to down-town. Plus as the company says in its commercials: “Here ev-erything’s better.”
On Dec. 5, the council will meet again to settle an agree-ment on the H-E-B proposal.
Food fight between residents and supermarket chain leaves locals splattered
Making friends is one of the most rewarding things about the college experience. While you can look back at school and think of the tasks you un-dertook and the accomplish-ments that came as a result, you can also relish in the fact that you experienced it with many other people.
Finding people to relate to is exciting, and finding one per-son that truly understands you during your time at a university can help ease the blow of fast-approaching deadlines and double-digit page papers.
As the fall semester winds down, many students are pre-paring for graduation. Getting ready for the ceremony can be hectic as it calls for meticu-
lous planning while remaining focused on the present. It can also be a reflective time as stu-dents graduating are thinking about what their time on cam-pus has meant to them.
This organized sense prepa-ration not only applies to the invitations and possible dinner reservations, but also to what is to come after graduating. Some students have to plan far ahead of their current schedules in order to feel confident in their departures.
Graduation is mostly a time of reflection for others. The sense of change that comes with this step in one’s life can be overwhelming, and it is not uncommon to look back on the small things that made school worthwhile, as well as the sig-nificant achievements that came with attending in the first place.
Though many students are graduating together, some have friends who will remain in school for a while longer. The pending idea of change that comes with this realization can be emotional for those who spend a lot of time with their friends at school. Some won-der about the future of mor-phing relationships and dif-fering schedules, but this does not mean that an important friendship has to dissolve.
When a friend graduates before you, it is completely natural to feel a sense of loss at the idea of their absence before they even leave school. Thoughts of the two of you possibly drifting apart can be mentally cumbersome, but it is important not to let the weight of these thoughts devour you.
Some think that a major change in the schedules of those in close relationships means less time seeing each other, and while this is a com-pletely valid worry, it does not have to ring true if both parties play an active role in keeping the friendship alive.
If anything, you’ll have a companion who experiences things before you do and can give you a new perspective on what life will be like after your own departure from col-lege. Turning to your friend for guidance can save you the trouble of going into situations without a sense of how to ap-proach them.
It is very easy to let the idea of change consume you. For
many, large life changes are difficult to get used to, and the idea of a staple in your life be-ing different for good can be looming. However, this does not mean that change has to be detrimental.
Friendships can become even stronger after a major transformation in scenery. People who are close often be-come much closer as they ex-
perience more together as time passes.
Considering the possibilities born from change is natural, but actually allowing it to al-ter your approach to certain things like important relation-ships is counterproductive. It is important to realize this differ-ence, as it is not always easy to detect.
Sometimes we become so
focused on what might hap-pen in the future that we forget about what is happening now. Approaching things as they come can not only bring a new freshness to a friendship that is important to you, but also turn the idea of change into some-thing positive and even excit-ing.
ARTS&LIFE6December 3, 2013
Synch ing Schedu les
John Flores / The Paisano
COLUMN
Tuesday, December 37:30 p.m. Live Music: The Leg-end of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses-Second Quest The acclaimed concert revisits the Majestic Theatre (224 E. Houston St.) to dazzle music lovers and Zelda enthusiasts. There will be new material exploring additional chapters from the Zelda franchise as well as the four-movement symphonic work from last season. Admission begins at $37.50. For more information, visit majesticem-pire.com.
Wednesday, December 49:45 a.m. Theater: The Best Christ-mas Pageant EverThe play, adapted from Barbra Robinson’s book of the same title, will be showing through Dec. 21 at The Magik Children’s Theatre (420 S. Alamo). The story con-cerns six bratty children who enter a church looking for snacks, but end up with roles in a Christmas play. Admission is $9. For more information, visit magiktheatre.org.
Thursday, December 55 p.m. Event: Whataburger “Oh What A Night”Whataburger customers can show their support for Highland Park Elementary (3500 S. New Braunfels) by enjoying their favorite menu items, and 20% of Whataburger’s sales will be donated to Highland Park Elemen-tary. Raffles, activities and the always popular Free Whataburg-er for a Year drawing will also be featured. Admission is free.
Friday, December 68 p.m. Theater: “Guys and Dolls”The Playhouse (800 W Ashby Place) will be presenting the 1950s classic Broadway produc-tion “Guys and Dolls.” Follow Sky Masterson and Nathan Detroit as they gamble and scheme their way to the top in this family friendly classic. Admission is $10-$25. For tickets, visit theplayhous-esa.org.
Saturday, December 72 p.m. Exhibit: “50 Artists/250 Works”French & Michigan Art Gallery (115 Michigan Ave) is hosting “50 Artists / 250 Works.” Fifty local artists will exhibit five pieces consisting of photography, mixed-media and ceramics.
Earlier this year, Kat Carey was browsing through her Up-worthy feed when she came across a post titled “Not Just A Girl…,” from the blog of Austin photographer Jaime Moore.
In the posting, Moore pro-fessed her concern about the lack of recognition for impor-tant women in American cul-ture–women who might serve as role models for her five-year-old daughter, Emma.
To teach her daughter about some of these significant wom-en, Moore dressed up and pho-tographed her daughter emu-lating famous photographs of feminist icons such as Susan B. Anthony, Coco Chanel, Amelia Earhart, Helen Keller and Jane Goodall.
A local photographer with a daughter of her own, Car-ey was inspired. She and her
friend, marketing professional Cassandra Yardeni, began the development of what would eventually become the “Isis Project.”
“We wanted to expand on (Moore’s) idea,” said Carey. “We eventually developed an endgame, but in the beginning we were just thinking ‘Wouldn’t it be great if our and other peo-ple’s daughters had an oppor-tunity not only to dress as these historical women, but to actu-ally learn how these women changed the world?’”
After some careful planning, they decided on the focus of the project, which — as defined in their motto — is “Empower-ing Girls through the Celebra-tion of Extraordinary Women.”
Yardeni explained that the “Isis Project” would allow any pair of volunteers to have the same experience with their daughter, niece or grandchild as Moore had with her daugh-ter. By paying a $20 fee to cover
photo shoot expenses and pro-vide parents’ their young rela-tive with a costume — usually of a woman important to the child’s race, family heritage or cultural upbringing — any child will be able to participate.
By taking the best photo-graph from each photo shoot and placing a short description of the female historical figure at the bottom, the “Isis Project” hopes to take the initiative of Moore’s blog post a step fur-ther by creating educational material to be displayed on city infrastructure.
According to the founders, early reception of the project has been promising. “We knew that before we did anything we needed images, so Cassie cre-ated a Facebook group for our first photo sessions in October. Within two hours, we had filled in the first session and we had to make another for Novem-ber,” explained Yardeni.
The two currently have full
sessions until January and a long waiting list for sessions af-ter. The pair answered that they believe women — and quite a few men — are fed up with the lack of recognition Ameri-can culture has for important women.
“I don’t want my daugh-ter growing up to know more about a pop star’s lunch than what Malala Yousafzai has done for women’s education,” said Carey.
Some of the incredible wom-en represented in the first ses-sion are Malala Yousafzai, a 16 year-old Pakistani girl who, af-ter surviving a Taliban gunshot to the head, has advocated for education and women’s rights; Sonia Sotomayor, the first His-panic and third female to serve as a US Supreme Court justice; and Frida Kahlo, a Mexican surrealist painter known for her unique style of folk art and her realistic depiction of an in-dependent female form.
Carey and Yardeni were sur-prised they knew so little about the women depicted in their first session.
“I felt like, how come I never learned about this? For ex-ample I had no idea Sonia So-tomayor held 10 honorary law degrees,” stated Carey.
The next big step for the program will be to present the project to the city. “We wanted to have a product to present for them before we approach them with our idea,” explained Carey. If they are able to get support, they hope to eventually create a non-profit organization to help spread the project to other metropolitan areas.
For information about up-coming sessions, a gallery of their work and links to their Facebook and Twitter pages visit the “Isis Project” at isis-projectsa.wordpress.com.
Alicia Segura as British actress and humanitarian Audrey Hepburn. Zahara Elizarrarz as self-taught Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.
“In life, you will realize there is a role for everyone you meet. Some will use you and some will teach you. But the ones who are truly important are the ones who bring out the best in you.” (Source unknown)
Have you ever come across a professor who genuinely wanted you to succeed in life? Dr. LaPetra Bowman, UTSA professor and advisor, enjoys bringing out the best in her students.
Born and raised in Nancy, France, Bowman and her grandmother moved to San Antonio when Bowman was 10-years-old. Her original plan was to become a medi-cal doctor. However, her plans changed when she was at a library and “The Collected Works of Lord Gordon Byron” fell off a bookcase.
She became interested in
reading literature and decided that she no longer wanted to pursue medicine, but English instead. She went on to gradu-ate from Health Careers High School and earned
her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in English at UTSA. The Paisano sat down with Bowman to talk to her about her time at UTSA.
What has made a deep impact on your life?
My grand-mère (grand-mother) has always instilled upon me to be the best person
I can be. She was a strong and independent woman (who em-ulated me) to have those strong characteristics.
I can recall when I was younger, I
painted a picture for her, and she hung it up on the wall, even though it wasn’t a great picture. She never pressured me into doing something that would make me unhappy.
At first, I was afraid that she was going to be disappointed in me when I told her I no longer wanted to pursue a degree in medicine after high school, but
she took it well and supported every decision I had made in my life.
What has been your most embarrassing moment as a
professor?This happens in all of my lec-
tures: There is always a student who makes a funny comment in class, and I do not get over it, and I continue thinking about it until I can’t keep up with my lecture notes.
What is your favorite part of UTSA?
I enjoy working with my stu-dents, especially the ones I keep track of during their college ca-reer. I enjoy the “off-subject” moments between student and a professor because each of my students have different walks in life.
I partner up with my stu-dents and encourage them to keep moving forward to fur-ther their education with grad-uate programs. I am only recip-rocating what my Grand-mere has done for me.
What do you like to do outside the classroom and
your office?I do enjoy spending time
with my boyfriend. I also enjoy watching movies and TV shows such as “The Golden Girls.” I enjoy taking care of the garden in my backyard and growing flowers and vegetables. In the kitchen, I enjoy baking as well as cooking recipes from French cookbooks and trying new recipes. I enjoy swimming and listening to music. My favorites are The Cure, The Smiths and French music.
Why do you feel English and Women’s Studies are
important subjects to study?Women’s Studies reflect
what’s happening to other peo-ple. Women are a part of each establishment. For us to under-stand what women have and are confronted with, we must focus because we are com-pletely unaware of a woman’s success and failure. Women matter politically, sociological-ly, physically and anthropologi-cally. When studying society,
who we are and where we have been, it’s always about coming into consciousness. We must turn that pain into purpose for writing. If women do not take into account who we are and who we want to be, then there would be no literature for me to lecture for my students.
ARTS&LIFE 7December 3, 2013
P r o f e s s o r Q & A : D r. L a P e t r aB o w m a n
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“Women matter politically, sociologi-cally, physically and anthropologically. When studying society, who we are and where we have been, it’s always about coming into consciousness.”Dr. LaPetra Bowman
The UTSA Roadrunners (7-5, 6-2 C-USA) put an end to their so-called underdog season with an emphatic 30-10 win against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (4-8, 3-5 C-USA) at the Alam-odome on Saturday, Nov. 30.
UTSA dominated most of the game, outgaining the Bulldogs 475 yards to 195, but Louisiana Tech had a chance to pull even after UTSA quarterback Eric Soza left the game in the sec-ond quarter with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder.
Soza, a senior playing his last game for the Roadrunners, re-fused to go out with an injury and instead chose to end his career on his own terms. The Beeville, Texas native displayed poise and grit, adding instant impact when he returned to the game.
The Roadrunners were ahead 17-10 heading into the third quarter when Soza returned. With a sense of pride and ener-
gy behind them, UTSA would score 13 unanswered points to end the game, eliminating any chance the Bulldogs had to come back. Soza would finish the game with 271 yards pass-ing with one touchdown.
“He’s a tremendous leader, and he just didn’t want to miss anything,” UTSA Head Coach Larry Coker reflected after the game. “It rubs off on the rest of these guys. They feed off that and they know that.”
“Soza’s presence is definitely important,” senior running back Evans Okotcha commented about his fellow teammate and classmate. “When he’s on the
field, he uplifts the whole team. As soon as he came back every-thing fell into place.”
Okotcha, also playing his fi-nal game, finished the season with back-to-back 100-yard games, ending his UTSA career on a high.
“I really can’t explain my emotions and what I was feel-ing,” said an emotional Okotcha after the game. “I’m just so hap-py to go out the way we did. It’s a true blessing. After struggling this year it was really nice to re-turn to what I knew I could do. It really was a collective effort; I
have to thank the offensive line and the coaching staff.”
In front of 26,549 fans that cheered on UTSA on Senior Day, the Roadrunners victory puts them at 6-2 in C-USA. UTSA needed the Rice Owls to lose to the Tulane Green Wave to get an opportunity to play in the C-USA Championship, but the Owls won 17-13 to improve to 9-3 and clinch first place in C-USA’s West Division.
With the odds of getting a bowl opportunity unlikely, Coker and Soza are still holding out hope that luck might fall
their way. “I don’t think we’re going to
spring practice yet, but I think hopefully sometimes there is bowl opportunities,” said Coker. “I think all we can do is win. But I will say this: people would love to have us in a bowl game.”
“We put our case out there; whatever happens, happens,” Soza said when asked about the possibility of a bowl game. “But if this was our last game then I think it ended pretty well.”
The win over Louisiana Tech puts an end to the Roadrunners improbable season. UTSA had the 11th toughest schedule in the FBS and were predicted to finish last in C-USA.
“It’s been a great run this sea-son. You never know, I read ear-lier that we had the 11th tough-est schedule in the FBS and that we’d be lucky to win four games,” said Coker. “I told the team that if you learned any-thing from this season — don’t let people label you. Go out and be the best you can be, I think if we learned anything - that was it.”
Soza leads Roadrunners to fifth consecutive win{Sports Events}
Monday, December 27:30 p.m. SpursThe Spurs host the Atlanta Hawks at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Wednesday, December 47 p.m. UTSA Men’s BasketballThe Roadrunners host the Huston-Tillotson Rams at the Convocation Center in San Antonio, Texas.
7 p.m. Rampage The Rampage host the Iowa Wild at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
7:30 p.m. SpursThe Spurs compete against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Mexico City Arena in Mexico City, Mexico.
Thursday, December 54:30 p.m. UTSA VolleyballThe Roadrunners compete against Texas A&M in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament through Saturday, Dec. 7.
7 p.m. UTSA Women’s BasketballThe Roadrunners compete against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi ,Texas.
Friday, December 67 p.m. Rampage The Rampage compete against the Abbotsford Heat at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Center in BC, Canada.
Saturday, December 7TBA UTSA Cross CountryThe Roadrunners compete in the Texas A&M Reveille Invitational in College Station, Texas.
7 p.m. UTSA Men’s BasketballThe Roadrunners compete against the Texas Pan-American Broncos at the UTPA Fieldhouse in Edinburg, Texas.
7 p.m. Rampage The Rampage compete against the Abbotsford Heat at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Center in BC, Canada.
7:30 p.m. SpursThe Spurs host the Indiana Pacers at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Sunday, December 87 p.m. UTSA Women’s BasketballThe Roadrunners host the Abilene Christian Wildcats at the Convocation Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Senior running back Evans Okotcha celebrates his touchdown run with teammates on the way to his second straight 100-yard game.
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Second place finish in C-USA West Division leaves UTSA short of bowl possibilities
Quarterback Eric Soza poses for a picture with his family on Senior Day at the Alamodome.
“I told the team that if you learned anything from this season — don’t let people label you.”Larry CokerUTSA Head Coach
W i t h their sea-son offi-cially over, the UTSA f o o t b a l l p r o g r a m has much to be proud of. For the
second consecutive year, the Roadrunners finished with a winning record, and it is be-coming clear that a winning foundation is being built.
Picked by many media outlets to win just four games and fin-ish last in the Conference USA (C-USA) West Division, the third year program defied odds and finished tied for second place with a 7-5 overall record and 6-2 C-USA record.
This marks the second con-secutive year that the team fin-ishes with a winning percent-age of over .500, something that many football programs around the country long for.
With 16 teams in C-USA — and several major football pro-grams among them — UTSA ranked fourth in total offense, third in time of possession, fourth in passing offense, fourth in run defense and seventh in total defense.
Those team statistics prove that not only can UTSA score against top quality FBS oppo-nents, but also that they can dictate the pace of the game and take away the run. That’s a win-ning formula rooted in football tradition.
The program also boasted a quality passing quarterback for three years. Senior Eric Soza ranked third in C-USA in completions and total offense while also being ranked fourth in passing yards. Soza was also ranked 29th in completions per game in the FBS over that span.
UTSA has the coaching staff to nurture top talent and build a winning foundation. They also have the ability to lure top re-cruits, such as Soza, which goes a long way for their future.
San Antonio undoubtedly makes for an attractive loca-tion for top tier talent with its culture-rich background.The Roadrunners also boast a world-class venue in the Alamodome, which has over 65,000 seats and expands for up to 72,000. If UTSA turns into the inevitable football powerhouse that it is slowly becoming, top prospects playing in San Antonio will be a regular occurrence.
There is much to look for-ward to for the UTSA football program. Fans, students and alumni should embrace the his-torical significance of having a program in just its third year making noise with winning re-cords.
In its first year in a major conference, UTSA nearly made a bowl game, catching fire and going on a five-game winning streak to end the season. Time can only help the Roadrunners grow and perfect their game plan. The future is bright for UTSA football, with many bowl games in sight.
On Friday, Nov. 29 the UTSA women’s basketball team scored a victory over the visit-ing Northern Iowa Panthers in the opening game of the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic.
The Roadrunners were able to grind out a 63-55 win, scor-ing the final nine points at the free throw line to clinch the vic-tory. Sophomore forward Man-nasha Bell led the team with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
“We came in knowing they were a good 3-point shooting team, and we wanted to take that away from them,” said UTSA Head Coach Lubomyr Lichonczak. “I think we did that well in the first half, but were too relaxed in the second half, our cushion we had though is why I think we came out with the win.”
The Roadrunners scored 28 points in the paint and out-re-bounded the Panthers, showing an aggressive nature near the
basket.“I am more proud of my 13
rebounds,” Bell said after the game. “That’s what I’ve been doing since I could remember; getting boards and helping my team out.”
It wasn’t just the play inside that was effective, as UTSA continued to run their full court 1-2-2 high-pressure defense they have utilized this season, making it uncomfortable for teams to handle the basketball.
The Roadrunners collected a total of eight steals and 11 points off of turnovers.
About half way through the second half, UTSA was ahead 45-30, when the aggression led to a flurry of foul calls. The Pan-thers would go on a 12-4 run to cut the lead down to seven points with four minutes left in the game.
But UTSA stood strong and got to the free throw line late to halt the Panthers’ run.
“These are the games you love to coach,” Lichonzczak said.
The Roadrunners ended the weekend with an 72-63 over-
time win over Norfolk State. UTSA senior guard Kamra King scored five of her team-high 23 points in the extra period and fellow guard Miki Turner added 16 points and three assists.
“I feel like when we come out with a lot of energy, while talk-ing and communicating, we’re a really good team, and things turn out good for us,” Bell said.
UTSA (4-4) will head to Cor-pus Christi to face the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Thursday, Dec. 5. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
UTSA BASKETBALL
Women’s basketball victorious in back-to-back games at home in UTSA Thanksgiving Classic
The Houston Rockets squan-dered a 23-point lead but still came out victorious against the San Antonio Spurs, handing San Antonio their first home loss of the season on Saturday, Nov. 30 at the AT&T Center.
Spurs guard Tony Parker scored a season high 27 points with eight assists, and Tim Duncan added 20 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
Rockets guard James Harden scored 31 points along with Chandler Parsons’ 25 points to
provide the difference Houston needed. The Rockets became only the second team to score over 100 points against the Spurs this season.
Marco Belinelli contributed 18 points for the Spurs, ten coming in the fourth quarter as part of the comeback.
“The last two games, he was incredible,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said.
“He (Belinelli) has given us a lot. He is playing very well and doing a good all-around job,” Spurs Head Coach Gregg Pop-ovich said. “He is fitting in more quickly than any new player I think we have ever had.”
Despite being down by 23, Parker started hitting an array of tear drops and reverse layups while also dishing out several assists to help the Spurs go on
a 14-2 run to cut the lead to 57-46 at the half.
“I would rather somebody else score,” said Rockets center Dwight Howard, who scored 13 points and grabbed 11 re-bounds. “When Tony (Parker) has it, he’s hitting the midrange shot; he’s getting to the basket, hitting floaters and making the right pass. He’s one hell of a guard.”
Belinelli gave the Spurs their first lead since early in the first quarter on a 3-pointer as the Spurs went on an 8-0 run. But that’s when James Harden start-ed to take over as he hit numer-ous jumpers and got to the free
throw line to give the Rockets back the lead.
“That’s what I have to do. I have to. If it’s not for myself, it’s for my teammates,” Harden said. “Just being in attack mode at all times, that’s what they’re looking for me to do. I just have to have confidence.”
Harden hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 106. That was fol-lowed by a tip in by Rocket Patrick Beverly to put Houston ahead by two points with 31 seconds left in the game.
A missed 3-pointer from Gi-nobili turned into a fast-break dunk by Houston’s Chandler Parsons to put the nail in the
coffin for the Spurs. The Spurs rebounded with
a 102-100 victory on Mon-day Dec. 2 against the Atlanta Hawks at the AT&T Center in a welcome return home for for-mer San Antonio assistant and current Atlanta Head Coach Mike Budenholzer.
Tim Duncan lead the charge with 21 points and 21 rebounds, while the Spurs’ bench added 46 points in the victory.
The Spurs will try to whip up another 11-game win streak as they face the Minnesota Tim-berwolves in Mexico City on Wednesday, Dec. 4th.
SAN ANTONIO SPURSSpurs comeback falls short in 112-106 loss to Rockets
Whether it was in the beautiful country of Bra-zil or on the UTSA tennis courts, sophomore Diogo Casa has always known that tennis is where his heart is. The Pelota, Bra-zil native found his calling thanks to his father Vladi-mir Roberto Casa.
“My dad used to play tennis back in Brazil,” Casa recalls. “He introduced me to the sport, and I liked it.”
Back in Brazil, Casa had the opportunity to
be exposed to agencies that helped student ath-letes come to the United States and play collegiate sports. From there, the UTSA men’s tennis coach Jeff Kader contacted Casa about joining the team.
Casa’s teammates and coaches have taken notice of his talent and passion for tennis during his time at UTSA.
“He can be down in a match — down big — and know he is not playing well, yet at some point he will find a way to get himself back into it,” Kader says. “I think that’s not something
that can be taught, just learned. He’s not afraid, it doesn’t have to look pretty or be the perfect shot ev-ery time.”
It is Casa’s dream to be a professional tennis player after graduating college. At the rate he is going that opportunity might present itself. For now, he plans on using his sophomore year to strengthen his skills.
Casa has a vivid memory of his time playing tennis in Brazil that still impacts his game today. There was one match in particular where Casa found himself as the underdog.
“I actually remember one game back in Brazil where the match took four and a half hours. I won against a guy who I can say is not my best friend,” Casa recalls. “During the game it was pretty intense. We were tired at the end, but luckily I won.”
But with every game that Casa plays, he continually finds a lesson and aims to be better.
“I definitely get my in-spiration from winning,” Casa explains. “Losses we learn from, but the inspira-tion comes from the times we win.”
UTSA TENNISCasa working his way to greatness on the tennis court
