The Texas Tribune Festival was held at the University of Texas at Austin from September 19 - 21. A Texas-sized crowd flocked to the capital to hear the panel of over 200 speakers discuss state and national issues. Panelists of politicos addressed immigration, higher education, health care, transportation, energy and the future of Texas politics. Speakers included Gov. Rick Perry; U.S. Sens Ted Cruz and John Cornyn; state Sens Wendy Davis, Leticia Van de Putte and Dan Patrick; Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst; and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro. Coverage of the Texas Tribune Festival is available on The Paisano’s Facebook, Twitter, Storify and Instagram accounts. Since UTSA’s inception, the university has grown exponentially. e student population has increased; this means more cars trav- eling through campus. UTSA Boulevard has be- come a traffic-heavy area, which presents problems for local and student bikers. e fast-paced traffic cre- ates a hazard for students who cross the road and ride their bike. Fortunately, steps toward improving student safety are in prog- ress with the widening of UTSA Boulevard and new bike lanes. e estimated $19 mil- lion project that should take about 2 years is funded through TXDOT, the city of San Antonio and the NPO, a federal funding metropolitan organization that takes federal funds and allocates them to local proj- ects. e UTSA Boulevard project plans to widen the road to four lanes from I-10 to Babcock with additional new striping and added bike UTSA accepted the Tier One challenge in 2009 when the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board earmarked UTSA and six other institutions as viable for Tier One status. at same year, Dr. Krisellen Maloney, who previously served as an as- sociate university librarian for digital services and tech- nology planning at George- town University, became UTSA’s dean of libraries. In her first five years at UTSA, Dr. Maloney has pursued a tier-one agenda. UTSA’s new students may not know that the John Peace Library was a con- struction zone last year. Now that the last hard hat has left the building, stu- dents can enjoy the reno- vated second floor of the JPL. e pearl of the reno- vations is the GroupSpot study space, a state-of- the-art facility aimed to stimulate interactivity be- tween students. e space Launched in 2010, Rowdy- Link — also known as Col- legiateLink because of its domain name — was created to help the officers of UTSA’s student organizations man- age and grow their member- ship. However, three years after its implementation, student feedback about the usefulness of the site is luke- warm at best. “I’d compare it to a cult; you’ve got to be introduced to it. You can’t just figure it out on your own.” at’s how Andrew Sposato, president of the UTSA Green Society here, described RowdyLink. “I think it’s a great tool for new students if they can figure it out,” stated Sposa- to. “But it’s not very user- friendly, so it’s not as great for spreading the word as it could be.” He added that the Green Society rarely uses their RowdyLink page to contact its membership since most students prefer to use Facebook. Zack Dunn, president of the Student Government Association, had a similar experience. “In the begin- ning, I wasn’t the biggest fan. It’s a lot to take in at first, and there’s just so much there.” Dunn believes that al- though RowdyLink has a high learning curve, the time and effort he spent learning how to use the web- site have been worth it. “It’s Students for the Right to Life Goal: To defend life from conception to natural death. We believe that hu- man life begins at concep- tion. While our main ener- gies are toward the pro-life movement and end of abor- tion, we are also interested in discussing other life is- sues in our society: Our mission is to preserve the dignity of all human beings. Why: We believe there is a need to be vocal and ef- fective in spreading our message because the conse- quences of not doing so are literally life or death. Membership: Anyone who shares our view of life and is willing to join is welcome. At meetings, we typically discuss a specific life issue or discuss ways for us to get the word out for our cause. We also have a service event every month such as helping at pregnancy crisis centers or volunteering at homes for the elderly. How to contact: Message us at https://www.facebook. com/RightToLifeUTSA MOVE UTSA Goal: We want to change what democracy means to this generation by empow- ering individuals who have been silenced. We take a grassroots non-partisan ap- After receiving a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of De- fense, the Unmanned Sys- tems Laboratory (USL) of UTSA Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will begin its research of interactions between humans and ma- chines. e USL lab focuses on developing methods for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, to receive and act on com- mands given by human brain waves processed through an electroencepha- logram (EEG) cap. Project director and UTSA professor and de- partment chair of the Col- lege of Engineering Daniel Pack explained that the project encompasses the three areas of the USL’s re- search: enhancing human and machine interactiv- ity, improving the ability of UAV’s to coordinate with each other and develop- ing seamless connections among complex mechani- cal systems. e research initiative team is lead by Pack and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Yufei Huang, an expert in computational neurosci- ence. e team plans to The afternoon rush hour on UTSA Boulevard. A UTSA student browses the stacks of the John Peace Library. Marcus Connolly / The Paisano Marcus Connolly / The Paisano Daryl Smith / The Paisano See ROWDYLINK, page 2 See LIBRARY , page 3 See PROJECT , page 2 Highlighting UTSA’s student organizations: Activists U.S. Department of Defense grants $300,000 to UTSA for ‘mind controlled’ drone research UTSA UTSA UTSA UTSA UTSA Penny Blalack Intern [email protected]Rachel Browne Contributing Writer [email protected]Anthony Mendoza Staff Writer [email protected]Robert Avila Contributing Writer [email protected]Mariam Adamjee Contributing Writer [email protected]See ACTIVISTS, page 3 See DRONES, page 3 RowdyLink still cumbersome three years after premiere UTSA’s Dean of Libraries drives librarial innovation forward Texas politicians exchange blows and make promises in Austin UTSA Boulevard expansion project to reduce vehicle-cyclist accidents SPORTS - UTSA v. FAV UTSA football visits the Florida Atlantic Owls. Sept. 27 @ the FAV Stadium WEB - Rock Across the Pond Tired of hearing mainstream rock? Check out “Rock Across The Pond” and discover some great rock bands from the UK. Online @ paisano-online.com ARTS - The Hillel Organization Jewish student group Hillel is excited for the new semester. The organization’s officers have big plans for the fall. page 7 Don’t miss anything at UTSA, add us on social media today! /thepaisano @paisanomedia @thePAISANO Please recycle this newspaper! UTSA Gov. Rick Perry has announced an invest- ment of $9 million from the Texas Emerg- ing Technology Fund and the UT System for SpaceX, for a private space launch facility to be built in Brownsville. San Antonio e San Antonio Water System will pull more than 16 billion gallons of water from the Carrizo- Wilcox Aquifer and is set to vote on a $3.4 bil- lion pipeline to run from Burleson County. Texas A federal court is ex- pected to reach a deci- sion on a Texas Voter ID case that was filed aſter the state passed Senate Bill 14-a, a law that requires voters to show ID such as a driv- er’s license, passport or concealed handgun license U.S. Omar Jose Gonzales was arrested last Friday aſter scaling the White House fence and breaking in with more than 800 rounds of am- munition, two hatchets and a machete. World e U.S. and its allies struck ISIL targets in Syria early Tuesday morning, less than a week aſter President Obama authorized a military campaign against the terrorist group. Roadrunners host UTSA volleyball classic page 9 JazzAlive brings classic jazz to San Antonio page 7 Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio { SINCE 1981 } { WWW.PAISANO-ONLINE.COM } 2014 September 23 - September 30 Vol. 50, Iss. 5
Transcript
The Texas Tribune Festival was held at the University of Texas at Austin from September 19 - 21. A Texas-sized crowd flocked to the capital to hear the panel of over 200 speakers discuss state and national issues. Panelists of politicos addressed immigration, higher education, health care, transportation, energy and the future of Texas politics. Speakers included Gov. Rick Perry; U.S. Sens Ted Cruz and John Cornyn; state Sens Wendy Davis, Leticia Van de Putte and Dan Patrick; Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst; and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro. Coverage of the Texas Tribune Festival is available on The Paisano’s Facebook, Twitter, Storify and Instagram accounts.
Since UTSA’s inception, the university has grown exponentially. The student population has increased; this means more cars trav-eling through campus. UTSA Boulevard has be-come a traffic-heavy area, which presents problems for local and student bikers. The fast-paced traffic cre-ates a hazard for students who cross the road and ride their bike. Fortunately,
steps toward improving student safety are in prog-ress with the widening of UTSA Boulevard and new bike lanes.
The estimated $19 mil-lion project that should take about 2 years is funded through TXDOT, the city of San Antonio and the NPO, a federal funding metropolitan organization that takes federal funds and allocates them to local proj-ects. The UTSA Boulevard project plans to widen the road to four lanes from I-10 to Babcock with additional new striping and added bike
UTSA accepted the Tier One challenge in 2009 when the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board earmarked UTSA and six other institutions as viable for Tier One status.
That same year, Dr. Krisellen Maloney, who previously served as an as-sociate university librarian for digital services and tech-nology planning at George-town University, became
UTSA’s dean of libraries. In her first five years at UTSA, Dr. Maloney has pursued a tier-one agenda.
UTSA’s new students may not know that the John Peace Library was a con-struction zone last year. Now that the last hard hat has left the building, stu-dents can enjoy the reno-vated second floor of the JPL.
The pearl of the reno-vations is the GroupSpot study space, a state-of-the-art facility aimed to stimulate interactivity be-tween students. The space
Launched in 2010, Rowdy-Link — also known as Col-legiateLink because of its domain name — was created to help the officers of UTSA’s student organizations man-age and grow their member-ship. However, three years after its implementation, student feedback about the usefulness of the site is luke-warm at best.
“I’d compare it to a cult; you’ve got to be introduced to it. You can’t just figure it out on your own.” That’s how Andrew Sposato, president of the UTSA Green Society here, described RowdyLink.
“I think it’s a great tool for new students if they can figure it out,” stated Sposa-to. “But it’s not very user-friendly, so it’s not as great for spreading the word as it could be.” He added that the Green Society rarely uses their RowdyLink page to contact its membership since most students prefer to use Facebook.
Zack Dunn, president of the Student Government Association, had a similar experience. “In the begin-ning, I wasn’t the biggest fan. It’s a lot to take in at first, and there’s just so much there.”
Dunn believes that al-though RowdyLink has a high learning curve, the time and effort he spent learning how to use the web-site have been worth it. “It’s
Students for the Right to Life
Goal: To defend life from conception to natural death. We believe that hu-man life begins at concep-
tion. While our main ener-gies are toward the pro-life movement and end of abor-tion, we are also interested in discussing other life is-sues in our society: Our mission is to preserve the dignity of all human beings.
Why: We believe there is a need to be vocal and ef-fective in spreading our message because the conse-quences of not doing so are literally life or death.
Membership: Anyone who shares our view of life and is willing to join is welcome. At meetings, we typically discuss a specific life issue or discuss ways for us to get the word out for our cause. We also have a service event every month such as helping at pregnancy crisis centers or volunteering at homes for the elderly.
How to contact: Message us at https://www.facebook.com/RightToLifeUTSA
MOVE UTSA
Goal: We want to change what democracy means to this generation by empow-ering individuals who have been silenced. We take a grassroots non-partisan ap-
After receiving a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of De-fense, the Unmanned Sys-tems Laboratory (USL) of UTSA Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will begin its research of interactions between humans and ma-chines.
The USL lab focuses on developing methods for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, to receive and act on com-mands given by human brain waves processed through an electroencepha-
logram (EEG) cap.Project director and
UTSA professor and de-partment chair of the Col-lege of Engineering Daniel Pack explained that the project encompasses the three areas of the USL’s re-search: enhancing human and machine interactiv-ity, improving the ability of UAV’s to coordinate with each other and develop-ing seamless connections among complex mechani-cal systems.
The research initiative team is lead by Pack and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Yufei Huang, an expert in computational neurosci-ence. The team plans to
The afternoon rush hour on UTSA Boulevard. A UTSA student browses the stacks of the John Peace Library.
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See ROWDYLINK, page 2See LIBRARY, page 3See PROJECT, page 2
Highlighting UTSA’s student organizations: Activists U.S. Department of Defense grants $300,000 to UTSA for ‘mind controlled’ drone research
RowdyLink still cumbersome three years after premiere
UTSA’s Dean of Libraries drives librarial innovation forward
Texas politicians exchange blows and make promises in Austin
UTSA Boulevard expansion project to reduce vehicle-cyclist accidents
SPORTS - UTSA v. FAVUTSA football visits the Florida Atlantic Owls. Sept. 27 @ the FAV Stadium
WEB - Rock Across the PondTired of hearing mainstream rock? Check out “Rock Across The Pond” and discover some great rock bands from the UK.Online @ paisano-online.com
ARTS - The Hillel OrganizationJewish student group Hillel is excited for the new semester. The organization’s officers have big plans for the fall.page 7
Don’t miss anything at UTSA, add us on social media today!
/thepaisano
@paisanomedia
@thePAISANOPlease recycle this newspaper!
UTSAGov. Rick Perry has announced an invest-ment of $9 million from the Texas Emerg-ing Technology Fund and the UT System for SpaceX, for a private space launch facility to be built in Brownsville.
San AntonioThe San Antonio Water System will pull more than 16 billion gallons of water from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer and is set to vote on a $3.4 bil-lion pipeline to run from
Burleson County.
TexasA federal court is ex-pected to reach a deci-sion on a Texas Voter ID case that was filed after the state passed Senate Bill 14-a, a law that requires voters to show ID such as a driv-er’s license, passport or concealed handgun
license
U.S.
Omar Jose Gonzales was arrested last Friday after scaling the White House fence and breaking in with more than 800 rounds of am-munition, two hatchets
and a machete.
WorldThe U.S. and its allies struck ISIL targets in Syria early Tuesday morning, less than a week after President Obama authorized a military campaign against the terrorist
group.
Roadrunners hostUTSA volleyball classicpage 9
JazzAlive brings classic jazz to San Antonio
page 7
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio
{SINCE 1981} {WWW.PAISANO-ONLINE.COM}2014September 23 - September 30Vol. 50, Iss. 5
lanes. Still, additional bike lanes do not necessarily en-sure safe conditions for lo-cal riders.
“Drivers (need) to slow down and follow the safe passing laws that say drivers must keep a safe distance between the car and the bi-cycle,” advised Councilman Nirenberg. “There’s a lot of speeding on UTSA Boule-vard, there are congested parts, and people need to be real cautious because we know that UTSA is a grow-ing area and there are resi-dential communities in that area. We know the road will be under increasing de-mand, so share the road.”
In addition to the expan-sion of UTSA Boulevard, Nirenberg noted that new sidewalks around UTSA, safe roadway crossings and even better multimodal mobility is a foreseeable im-provements to UTSA infra-stucture in the future. Still, the university’s population will continue to grow, and Nirenberg has plans to cre-ate a thriving student-ori-ented community around each of UTSA’s campuses.
“I think everyone rec-ognizes that UTSA is on a steep upward trajectory to become a premier institu-tion, not only within the UT system but also nation-ally,” remarked Nirenberg on UTSA’s potential. “So I’m very interested in build-ing an ecosystem around the university that is con-ducive to it becoming a Tier One school, and being a Tier One school means
it must have great campus life for students, and great academic life for staff and faculty.”
Nirenberg plans to cre-ate an ecosystem around UTSA that will ultimately create a safer environment , which will allow students to not rely so heavily on auto-mobile transportation.
Building local coffee shops, retail centers, and restaurants will create an ecosystem where students can have available resourc-es within arm’s reach. Ni-renberg hopes the future development of UTSA will attract new students and families to establish roots and facilitate the develop-ment of the northwest cor-ridor.
Still, making UTSA more habitable and safer is done in small increments, and the UTSA Boulevard re-construction project seeks to achieve the goal of safety and mobility that is more efficient. One of the coun-cilman’s suggestions for achieving this is to create easily noticable, lime-green bike lanes for cyclists.
“We recognize that more and more people are choos-ing to use their bike to get to work, to get home, to get to class,” remarks Niren-berg on campus safety, “so it is vitally important, espe-cially around a university, to provide safe bike paths for people, to give people options to live a healthy life and to reduce congestion on roads.”
pretty easy to edit things, which saves us time. Updat-ing things, editing things, just the general interface re-ally. Once you get down into it, it’s very simple.”
The president of the Vietnamese Student As-sociation, John Nguyen, had a similar opinion to Dunn’s. “It’s pretty useful to be linked to the school website and have all of the organizations filed under it,” said Nguyen. “It’s just a little hard to use because nothing’s organized in a way you’re used to. But other than that, I think it’s still a good, useful tool.”
According to Lydia Bueno, associate director of student activities, a total of 311 ac-tive organizations use Row-dyLink. That number con-tinues to rise every semester as more students work to get involved in campus life.
To Sposato, the catalog of UTSA’s different student groups is one of Rowdy-Link’s best features. “It’s all in one place. And once you can navigate it, there’s
a lot there. And I mean a lot — constitutions, rosters, everything. It’s a good way to get a glimpse of (UTSA) culture in a way,” Sposato explained.
When RowdyLink’s func-tionality was compared to group pages on sites like Facebook or Twitter, the representatives had mixed opinions on how well Row-dyLink measured up – espe-cially when considering its ability to recruit new mem-bers.
“It’s definitely subpar be-cause other sites already have all the utilities Row-dylink’s trying to develop,” stated Nguyen. “But I think RowdyLink could be a po-
tential contender due to the fact that it’s linked into the school network. It’d be more official.”
Expressing a similar view, Dunn stated, “RowdyLink is more of that professional, university kind of co-facil-itated platform. Facebook, Twitter – those are more personal, and I don’t really think you can compare the two types fairly.”
For Sposato, RowdyLink’s
biggest drawback is its lack-luster notification system. He explained that the ability to create and invite people to events, one of the most important features for or-ganizations, is extremely easy to use in Facebook but tediously difficult to use on Rowdylink.
When asked what im-provements could be made to the site, all three repre-sentatives agreed that the main focus of Student Ac-tivities should be making the site more accessible to new users. A close second was providing an organized, single-page overview of up-coming events that wasn’t cumbersome to read or nav-igate.
“The information is very segregated,” said Sposato. “I think it’d be nice if there was some inclusion of all the events somehow. There are just so many, and it’d be helpful to have them all available on just one page.”
Nguyen’s solution to these problems would be restruc-turing the website’s inter-face and adding a suggestion box, as the latter would al-low students to contribute more personally to the de-velopment of the site. Sposa-to suggested the creation of a guidebook or a single cal-endar that would list all the events available for students to attend.
“It’s silly,” Sposato com-mented on RowdyLink’s usefulness to student or-ganizations, “but not com-pletely ineffective.”
NEWS2
Senator Wendy Davis and Attorney General Greg Ab-bott, two Texas guberna-torial candidates, met for a debate hosted by Univi-sion on Friday, Sept. 19. Al-though the politicians’ re-sponses may have sounded rehearsed – almost robotic – the debate highlighted the stark differences between the candidates.
However, Davis and Ab-bott do share some ideo-logical similarities: they both criticized the federal government for failing to keep the Texas border safe, and they support increased border protection, the death penalty, drug testing for people seeking state assis-tance and improving the public education system. Neither Davis nor Abbott addressed the rising costs of college tuition.
Davis began on the of-fensive, dubbing Abbott’s courtroom defense of 2011 education budget cuts as “just dumb.” Abbott avoided stating his personal opin-ions on the budget cuts. However, he argued for re-forming the education sys-tem to make Texas schools number one in the nation.
“I think it’d be nice if there was some inclusion of all the events somehow. There are so many, and it’d be helpful to have them all available on just one page”Andrew SposatoPresident of the UTSA Green Society
SEPTEMBER 23 - SEPTEMBER 30, 2014
complete its first phase by March 2016. The team in-cludes undergraduate, mas-ters and doctoral students.
The team is working on drone flight simulators which allow masters and doctoral candidates to see whether or not their con-trol algorithms will func-tion correctly when pro-grammed to hardware.
The team convenes ev-ery Wednesday to share findings and thoughts on research methods. Each week, one member of the research group creates a presentation, and the group provides feedback. Mas-ters’ student Prasanna Ko-lar said, “We are very open with our comments. We accept all comments, and then we implement them as needed in our research.”
Kolar is an unconvention-al student. After receiving an undergraduate degree from India and working as a software engineer for ap-proximately ten years, Ko-lar returned to school for a Master’s degree from UTSA because controls robotics piqued his interest.
Another member of the team, doctoral candidate in electrical engineering Negar Farmani, received her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Iran. With previous experience in bioelectrical engineer-ing, Farmani now focuses on control engineering because of her interest in mathematics.
“We have access to each other’s knowledge, so to speak, and then we help each other out. It is very co-operative, and that is some-thing that I like.” Kolar said,
when commenting on the dynamics of the group.
Farmani explained, “It seems that we work inde-pendently in our project, but [our work] is related to each other’s. Each of us working on one part and connecting all of them to-gether to form a big proj-ect.”
The team’s emphasis on learning, cooperation and versatility in the field of engineering is evident. The researchers hope that the novelty of their research will make great contribu-tions to society.
“We hope that the mili-tary uses what we are go-ing to be developing,” Kolar stated, mentioning that the quadcopters they are devel-oping can also be used for rescue operations, “not just wartime, but also everyday stuff.”
Established in 2012, the Unmanned Systems Labo-ratory will be one of the first institutions to dive into new research for Brain-Computer Interface (BCI).
Although the project is still in its very early stages, Pack declares that the re-sults of the first stage will determine the need for fol-low-up stages in research.
“In terms of schools who are studying the cognitive capability of humans and interfacing it for machines, in our case cooperative machines, we would be the first one who would be working on this,” says Pack.
NEWS 3
holds 20 tables, each table is equipped with five lap-tops and a 46-inch monitor — an ideal set-up for group collaboration. GroupSpot is a component of Dr. Malo-ney’s vision to shape the at-mosphere of UTSA’s librar-ies into a sociable, wired experience.
For example, the clusters of comfy chairs all over the JPL aren’t there by chance; they fit into Dr. Maloney’s design, which emphasizes communal space. The reno-vations in the library cor-respond to recent trends higher education that em-phasize student collabora-
tion to improve retention rates and critical thinking skills.
The Guardian news web-site summarizes an edu-cational study on group learning from the Institute of Education at London University saying that, “Pu-pils became more focused on their work, and the amount of thoughtful dis-cussion between children more than doubled in many classes.”
Keeping in line with the trend of socially focused li-braries, Dr. Maloney helped create the Blue Crew. “Ask us anything,” they say — but who is “they?”
The Blue Crew is a team
of UTSA librarians who are stationed throughout the JPL. The Blue Crew system allows students, both on and off campus, to ask the librarians questions with-out returning to the help desk. Since the program’s inception, there has been a 300 percent increase in in-quiries. Because of the suc-cess of the Blue Crew, the UTSA library system was awarded the John Cotton Dana Award, which rec-ognizes libraries for their superior public relations ef-forts.
In addition to Dr. Malo-ney’s initiative to create a more interactive learning environment, she has led
the university in its transi-tion from a book and print-focused library system to a technology-focused one. In fact, UTSA’s Applied En-gineering and Technology Library is the nation’s first bookless college library.
While shelves of the JPL can hold approximately 750,000 books, UTSA’s online library includes 3,008,140 e-books.
Dean Maloney has done more than bring national recognition to UTSA — she has served as one of the leaders of a fundamental shift in the management of collegiate libraries.
proach to politics, person-ally asking individuals to register to vote and make their own choices.
Why: So much individual struggle is connected to community challenges that begin with lack of represen-tation and accountability in government. Our genera-tion has been told that they don’t matter. We want to change that mindset.
Membership: Everyone is welcome to join. Currently, meetings are centered on voter registration and get-ting individuals empowered to vote; however, we discuss cultural competency, activ-ism and leadership. We are a group of young people who do serious work, but we also have fun.
How to contact: We meet at 6 p.m. every second and last Tuesday of the month in the Alamo Lounge. Or message [email protected]
Students United for Socioeconomic Justice (SUSJ)
Goal: We invite students to question social and eco-nomic norms. We help them take control of their education by asking ques-tions such as “why is stu-dent debt so high?” We encourage (the spread of) curiosity, critical investiga-tion and knowledge.
Why: Understaning our society can expose the root causes of injustices and inequalities. People need to be informed and able
to speak out against these things so that they can fight for a better system for fu-ture generations.
Membership: Anyone who is not happy with what they see in the world and wants to learn how to change it. At meetings, we discuss world events, the roots of world problems and who is affected and why. We also plan rallies, panel discus-sions and open discussions about our material.
How to contact: Find us on RowdyLink! utsa.collegiate-link.net/organization/susj
Feminist@s Unite
Goal: We are a new organi-zation on campus that seeks to contribute to the femi-nist discourse at UTSA.
Why: We want to comple-ment the already great women’s study program on campus. A big part of wom-en’s studies and feminist practice is organizing femi-nist communities so we can learn from one another. We also want to continue the traditions of past women’s organizations on campus.
Membership: We are a non-exclusive organiza-tion. At meetings, we dis-cuss feminist readings, its practices and practical applications. We hope to have feminist lectures at each meeting and organize tabling and future events. As a new organization on campus, we are looking for members who want to help us expand and grow.
How to contact us: https://www.facebook.com/FEMI-NISTASUNITE
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Activists: student orgs. lend a voice for causes Library: tracking the progress of UTSA’s Dean of Libraries over the years
Drones: a peek into the UTSA Unmanned Systems Laboratory
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SEPTEMBER 23 - SEPTEMBER 30, 2014
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The Paisano
{The Paisano}Editor-in-Chief: Sarah Gibbens
Managing Editor:Jakob Lopez
News Editor:Lorenzo Garcia
Arts Editor:Beth Marshall
Sports Editor:Jonathon Garza
Web Editor:Michael Turnini
Special Issues Editor:Jade Cuevas
Business Manager:Lizzette Rocha
Photo Editor:Marcus Connolly
Senior Copy Editor:Paul McIntier
External Affairs Manager:Hector Torres
Social Media Manager:Rebecca Conejo
{Staff Writers}Alejandra Barazza, Patrick Martinez, Rafael Mendoza, Paulina Rive-ro-Borrell, Mohamed Ahmed, Rohit Chandan, Mia Cabello, Anthony Mendoza, Megan Jenkins, Lonnie Har-ris, Kate Kramer, Penny Blalack, Madi Jones
{Contributing Writers}Christina Acosta, Mat-thew Tavares, Jane Pow-ers, Therese Quinto, Kate Kramer, Acacia Nawrocik-Madrid, Cameron King, Pavela Bambakova, Sebastian Oates, Robert Allen
The Paisano is published by the Paisano Educa-tional Trust, a non-profit, tax exempt, educational organization. The Paisano is operated by members of the Student 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 holi-days and exam periods. All revenues are gener-ated through advertising and donations. Advertising inquiries and donations should be directed to:
14526 Roadrunner WaySuite 101San Antonio, TX 78249Phone: (210)-690-9301{Letters to the Editor}Letters must be fewer than 400 words and in-clude the writer’s name, classification or title and telephone number. The Paisano reserves the right to edit all submissions.Send letters to:[email protected]
Last weekend, over 300,000 people took to the streets of New York City to call for greater action against cli-mate change. The march was prompted by the U.N. Climate Summit beginning Sept. 23.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked busi-ness, government, finance and civil leaders from around the world to present ideas to “reduce emissions, strength-en climate resilience and mo-bilize political will,” according to the U.N.’s website.
The New York City protest was one of the largest climate change protests to ever take place. Similar marches also took place in cities such as London and Paris and as far away as countries such as Papua New Guinea.
With such a diversity of
concerned activists flock-ing to the streets to demand change, it seems that we as a people have finally discov-ered a passion for the world in which we live.
A comment on a New York Times article from a protest participant painted a differ-ent picture. “I’m both heart-ened and disheartened by what I saw. It was bolstering to see such a mass of people from all over the world come together and demand ac-tion. However, I would need more hands than I have to count how many people I saw clutching name-brand bot-tled water while participating in the march.”
Environmentalists have disparaged bottled water as a product that exploits both the consumer and the environ-ment.
It isn’t just bottled wa-ter that has slipped into the hands of those demanding change.
In the few short days fol-lowing its release, the iPhone 6 has already reached sales of 10 million. This is a new record for Apple, a tech com-pany that already dominates the market on smartphones.
While the new iPhone 6 has some minor upgrades, consumers need to ask them-selves if it’s really worth it to support a company that is infamous for poor working conditions and environmen-tal degradation. The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing released a 46-page document in 2011 accusing Apple of inappro-priately disposing of hazard-ous waste.
Of all the pictures taken
and shared on social media at this past weekend’s march on climate change, how many of those were done with an iPhone?
The failure to see a connec-tion between an iPhone and environmental degradation is just as dangerous as reckless environmental legislation.
The Environmental Pro-tection Agency estimates that the average U.S. citizen pro-duces more than four pounds of trash every day. That’s more than 1,400 pounds of trash annually for one person in a country with more than 313 million people.
To see real change, we must stop reckless consump-tion. Recycling may be a great way to slightly reduce waste, but recycling plants still pro-duce harmful, polluting by-products.
Not everyone may be able to travel to the Arctic to re-search conservation, but we can all make small, powerful differences in our lives.
The most influential and wealthy members of society may be the ones making the most crucial decisions dur-ing the U.N. Climate Summit, but we shouldn’t ignore our responsibility as consumers.
We simply have to be more conscious of our habits.
It’s not always easy to car-ry a reusable water bottle all day, and sometimes carpool-ing can be inconvenient. But these are the small sacrifices that need to be considered. The plan to save the Earth must start with the people, but as Ki-moon stated, there is no Planet B.
Commentary
Editorial
March i ng fo r c l imate change : I s i t enough?
Letters to the Editor We would love to hear your feedback!
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‘ I ’ l l j u s t s i t h e r e ’ b y C h r i s t o p h e r B r e a k e l l
T ired of s tanding wi th Wendy Davis Almost
a year ago, Sen. W e n d y Davis in-s p i r e d w o m e n a c r o s s Texas by
standing on her feet for 11 hours to filibuster a law that placed unnecessary control over a woman’s body.
The pink running shoes in which she stood became a symbol for standing up for one’s beliefs and her face be-came a recognizable image of hope for Texans who were tired of politics as usual.
Despite her efforts, the Texas Legislature eventually passed the law, but many still considered that night a victory for women. Fi-nally, it seemed, politics was changing for the better and women would have a say in the laws that directly affect them.
Unfortunately, this cel-ebration of women’s rights may have been premature. Since her famous filibuster, Davis’ appeal has been in decline.
During a debate held last Friday, Sept. 19, in the Rio Grande Valley, Davis went head-to-head with her gu-
bernatorial opponent Attor-ney General Greg Abbott.
Her responses can best be described as rehearsed, and neither candidate’s respons-es offered new, insightful in-formation about where they stand.
Both candidates did agree that however bipartisan sup-port is needed to better serve Texas. This statement might have been more believable had they stopped the debate to simply hug it out.
When President Barack Obama first announced his candidacy in 2008, politics and pop culture became one and the same. Whether you
supported him or not, you knew who he was and who you would be voting for. Obama had the unique abil-ity of energizing first time voters — voter turnout was at an all time high as a result.
Is Wendy Davis our Texas Barack Obama? She almost could have been.
A poll conducted by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune found that Abbott is almost 12 points ahead of Davis, a lead he has consistently held.
Not voting for a top two candidate is usually a vote wasted. While voting should be an ideological expression
of one’s democratic desires, real change can be better ef-fected by giving a candidate a marginal advantage.
This November, I’ll still be voting for Davis in the hopes that she might put her pink running shoes back on and really stand up for Texans, but until she becomes more personable and inspiring, she will lose the race to the governor’s mansion.
When UTSA alumnus Daniel McTyer, 24, first vis-ited Disney World in 2010, he expected long lines and high prices. Instead, he found himself on a fast-moving roller coaster of self-discovery.
“I figured it would be an average theme park experi-ence,” McTyer said, “but I was surprised at how much attention to detail there was to everything – how beauti-ful the experience was.”
Shortly after McTyer re-turned from his trip, he learned about the Disney College Program from a recruiting session at UTSA and was inspired to apply. After a web and phone in-terview, McTyer was one of about 4,000 college stu-dents chosen to intern for Disney during the Fall 2011 semester.
McTyer chose to attend the Disney World program in Orlando, Fla., rather than the Disneyland program in California, because it was cheaper and participants were not required to take classes.
However, McTyer, who took two classes, advised that everyone in the pro-gram take them all “because
you will end up learning a lot about yourself and the world around you.”
The classes met once a week and lasted three hours each. McTyer was enrolled in “Leadership and Innova-tion,” taught by an inspir-ing Air Force Academy instructor, and “Creativ-ity and Innovation,” where the students were “actu-ally encouraged to play with Legos.”
All of the Disney classes are ACE (American Coun-cil on Education) accred-ited, so with the help of an academic adviser, they can count toward a degree plan. While McTyer, a senior eco-nomics major, doesn’t know exactly how the courses he took are being used for his degree, he certainly doesn’t regret taking what he refers to as “two of the best classes I’ve ever taken.”
The Disney College Pro-gram does not focus on a specific person’s major, Mc-Tyer explained, but on work experience and enthusiasm for the company.
McTyer, who worked at Six Flags Fiesta Texas from 2007 to 2013 and at Sea-World San Antonio for the past two summers, had no problem meeting those two qualifications.
“I really like the whole environment,” McTyer said of working at theme parks. “Most of the people are re-ally happy and excited to be there, so you get a good opportunity to show off a more creative side of how to make the guests’ day even better.”
McTyer, who was as-signed to parking, loved
being able to brighten the guests’ days. “My favorite memories were doing re-ally crazy parody spiels on the trams,” he said. “I would sing a parody of ‘It’s a Small World’ that went, ‘It’s a short ride to your car. It’s a short ride to your car.’”
McTyer’s job, or ‘role’ as they call it at Disney, was one of 20 positions that are available for college stu-dents. The positions are divided into six categories: operations, lodging, food and beverage, retail/sales, recreation and entertain-ment. During the applica-tion process, applicants may express interest in a role, but the positions are not guaranteed.
“When they first told me what my exact role was go-ing to be, I was a bit nervous because now I’m responsi-ble for people’s 1,000-pound missiles,” McTyer said. “But, it actually ended up being more fun than I thought it would be.”
McTyer worked about 35-60 hours a week, but he explained that the hours depended on the role and whether it was a busy sea-son or not. However, he said his hours were always arranged so that he had enough money for rent and then some.
The dorm rooms were small, McTyer admitted. He had three roommates, one of whom he shared a bed-room and bathroom with.
The Disney interns are also expected to meet some strict requirements con-cerning image. All tattoos must be covered in a taste-ful manner, and only ear-
lobe piercings are allowed for female employees. No outside brands should be worn as part of the Disney uniform – this includes eye-glasses and sunglasses. In addition to these require-ments, males and females also have separate lists re-garding hair, fingernails and makeup. They get as specif-ic as appropriate fingernail length and types of facial hair that are permitted.
McTyer said that get-ting to work with people from all around the world was the biggest eye-opener. “What I’ve learned most is how to interact with people from all over—how, on the one hand, there are a lot of differences,” he said, “but at the same time, I’ve also real-ized how similar the human experience is.”
“The program gives you a sense of perspective,” he continued. “It’s the happi-est place on Earth but also one of the most demanding places because you’re serv-ing people from all across the world.”
The Disney College Pro-gram also helped McTyer decide on a career.
“Before, I was on the fence about what I wanted to do, but the Disney pro-gram gave me a clearer vi-sion,” he said. “It pushed me harder to do something in management and in theme parks full time, especially for Disney World.”
Currently, McTyer is ap-plying for the Disney Col-lege Program for the Spring 2015 semester, which he hopes will lead to a full-time position.
ARTS & LIFE6September 23-September 30, 2014
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Unlike the Greek masks that are often associated with “drama,” the mask that Michael Fassbender wears in the film “Frank” does not have a frown or a smile. It’s an oversized, peach-colored mask that wears a constant nondescript facial expres-sion.
The film mainly focuses on a mask-wearing musical genius and is told from the perspective of Jon, played by Domhnall Gleeson. He’s an ambitious but truly aw-ful songwriter who meets Frank after accidentally be-coming the keyboardist of the “Soronprfbs,” Frank’s loyal band. Jon leaves his day job to record an album with the band in the Irish countryside in hopes of finding musical popularity.
Social media plays a big role as Jon’s tweets pop up from time-to-time. The au-dience sees Jon’s Twitter followers rise from 20 to al-most 10,000 over the course of the film as he exploits Frank’s quirkiness and cre-ative spirit.
Not content using only musical instruments, the band goes outside to record incidental sounds – a tree branch breaking, a piece of metal clanging on the ground. The resident sound mixer, Clara (Maggie Gyl-lenhaal), shoots these into a soundboard as the band plays more conventional in-struments. Their creations aren’t what would be con-sidered mainstream or even likable. One of the film’s best jokes is when Frank
admits that he wants to be liked by others, and he plays what he considers his most likable song – an ill-advised, wonderfully dissonant piece of electronic pop.
The band’s sound is defined by dissonance – chords, sounds and beats meet each other to create melodies that defy any sort of classification. This disso-nance is ultimately the film’s most defining trait.
One character describes Frank as the “sanest person he ever met.” The audience later learns that the two met in a mental hospital. Clara and Jon consistently fight for Frank’s affection, but the two are eventually shown to be kindred spirits. There’s also an inherent irony when Frank decides someone is “weird” considering that he showers, sleeps and eats while wearing a giant pa-pier-mache mask.
“Frank” is undeniably weird. But this gives the film a comic edge that few can match. There’s an un-dercurrent of madness to all of “Frank” that allows it to go beyond the average in-die film. The humor comes from a place of great dis-comfort but also an amaz-ing sense of fascination. Fassbender is so good at playing this lovably insane musical genius that the au-dience stops wondering what lies beneath his mask.
The film’s most likable moments were saved for last in a scene that is tinged with darkness but also won-derful and poignant.
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1 NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES. Sweepstakes runs on wellsfargo. com/campuscountdownsweeps (“Website”) from 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time (“PT”) on 07/01/2014 to 11:59 p.m. PT on 09/30/2014. Open to full- or part-time students ages 17 to 24 who are in an accredited secondary or post-secondary educational institution or program and are legal residents of the U.S. To receive a prize, winner must have a valid U.S. tax ID# and meet all eligibility requirements. Wells Fargo employees and their immediate family members are not eligible. Prizes: (3) $5,000 cash prizes (one per month for 3 months) and (75) $250 prizes (25 per month for 3 months) will be awarded. Sweepstakes subject to full Official Rules. For full details, including how to enter by mail, see Website. Void where prohibited by law.
What would you do with an extra $5,000 cash this semester? Wells Fargo is offering you the chance to WIN one of three $5,000 cash prizes, or one of 75 prizes of $250.1
Here’s how to enterIf you are a student between 17 and 24 who is enrolled in an accredited educational institution or program, you will be automatically entered when you:
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3. Or, make a transfer to another person using our Wells Fargo SurePaySM service
You can also enter by mail.
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Visit wellsfargo.com/campuscountdownsweeps for Official Rules and details
UTSA Parkway • 13703 W Interstate 10 • 210-200-1160
The group leaders of Hillel are providing an on-campus space for Jewish students to feel a sense of belonging.
Hillel is an internationally recognized Jewish student organization that encourag-es its members to take pride in their Jewish heritage and connect to other people in the community who share their beliefs. UTSA Hillel Director Samantha Mazuz
and intern Natalie Steiner shared their semester goals.
“I’d like to see our mem-bership grow because I know there are more Jewish students here, and it would be nice to build that com-munity,” Steiner said.
“I’d like to see more in-volvement and the student body to grow,” Mazuz noted. “I’m build-ing a relationship with Hillel Inter-national and the professionals out in the field, so it’s really nice to get ideas.”
From weekly tabling on cam-pus to facilitating their first meeting of the semester, the team has been
working hard to reach all Jewish students on campus. The group also provides bi-monthly lunches on campus so Jewish students can get to know each other while enjoying a meal.
“We are planning some community-wide events at the JCC (Jewish Communi-ty Center) to bring students from all different schools together and working hard to put dates on the calen-dar,” Mazuz said.
This semester, the lead-ers at Hillel are planning for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the two holiest days associated with Juda-ism. The leaders will also be providing rides for students interested in attending ser-vice and sharing that time together as a unified group.
“As we grow in future
years, I’d like to see more events happen here at school for the holidays,” Mazuz said. “Just to know that we’re here and sup-portive as a resource is re-ally important.”
Mazuz recently moved to San Antonio from Linwood, N.J., where she and her hus-band were heavily involved in the Jewish community. Prior to her time in New Jersey, she spent a few years in Israel.
“I had the opportunity to teach at a college as a pro-fessor, I traveled with over 80 students to Israel (and) I spoke at the annual Birth-right Gala honoring the president of the Birthright Israel Foundation in New York City,” Mazuz said.
Mazuz’s passion for bringing students together
and strengthening the Jew-ish community wherever she goes is apparent. She is ready to engage the San An-tonio community.
“The chutzpah (bold-ness) of a true Israeli shines through when they say, ‘Our doors are always open, and we are family.’ I wish all American Jews felt this way, but they should know that the doors of our community are open, and we want them to feel a sense of home,” Ma-zuz said encouragingly.
The Hillel team is work-ing hard to reach as many students as possible this semester and revamp the program.
“The new year falls when school starts, so, for me, the new year is like a new chap-ter,” Mazuz said. “We always say between New Year and Yom Kippur, you’re sealed in the book of life. So this year we are starting a new Hillel and a new page, and it’s exciting.”
To get more involved in the San Antonio Jew-ish community, like and join the page “REAL Hillel at UTSA” on Facebook, or contact Samantha Mazuz at [email protected].
Thursday 9/25Terror on the Plaza (329 Alamo Plaza), one of San Antonio’s newest haunted houses, will be opening its doors for the Halloween season starting Thursday, Sept. 25. The four-story build-ing has been completely renovated to highlight some of San Antonio’s biggest local legends, such as La Lorrena and the Donkey Lady. The event begins at 7:00 p.m., and ticket prices start at $24.99. More information is available at terrorontheplaza.com.Friday 9/26Starting Friday, Sept. 26, The Guadalupe Cul-tural Arts Center (GCAC) will be celebrating its 20th anniversary of Rio Bravo. The performance will feature the GCAC Dance Company, inter-national director Juan Carlos Gayton and San Antonio’s own film star Jesse Borrego. Ticket prices range from $15-$50, and more infor-mation on performance times and admission packages can be found at guadalupeculturalarts.org/rio-bravo-20th-anni-versary.Friday 9/26 – Sunday 9/28Head over to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center (200 E Market Street) to celebrate the comic arts in San Anto-nio. Comic book artists, writers and publishers, along with many movie and TV actors will be there to sign autograph and pose for pictures. You will also have the opportunity to purchase your favorite comics and collectibles. This 3-day event runs Friday 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. ($30), Sat-urday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. ($40), and Sunday 11
a.m. – 6 p.m. ($25). To purchase tickets, visit al-amocitycomiccon.com/tickets.Friday 9/26 – Sunday 9/28If you feel daring, head over to Seaworld (10500 Sea World Drive) for a trip through one of their many haunt-ed mazes, including their new maze ICU: Intensive Care Unit. Stay a bit later and enjoy a drink at the bar Blood Thirsty, or visit one of the new bars, Ports of Skull or Rehab. The park is open Friday noon. – 11 p.m., Saturday from noon – midnight, and Sunday from noon – 11 p.m. The frights start at 7 p.m. each night. For ticket pricing and more information, visit sea-worldparks.com/sea-world-sanantonio.Sunday 9/28National Drink a Beer Day CelebrationOn Sunday from 11 a.m. to Monday at 2 a.m., The Hangar (8203 Broadway Street) will be offering Happy Hour pricing all day long on alcoholic drinks. Stop by to unwind after a long week at school or work and celebrate National Drink a Beer Day. You can visit the-hangarsa.com for more information.Monday 9/29Do you love Queen Bey and her man Jay-Z? If so, stop by Alamo Drafthouse Stone Oak (22806 US Highway 281 N) to enjoy a night of singing along to your favorite tunes. “Beyonce & Jay-Z: The Bey-Z on the Run Sing Along” starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $14. Visit drafthouse.com/stoneoak for more information.
The 31st annual Jazz’SAlive festival was held in Travis Park (301 E Travis Street) on Saturday, Sept. 20 and Sunday, Sept. 21.
Local radio station Jazz 91.7 hosted the free, two-day jazz festival. Every patch of grass was covered with lawn chairs and blan-kets occupied by people enjoying the vivacious at-mosphere.
The festival lineup was one for jazz connoisseurs.
Acts started as early as 11 a.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday, but the perfor-mances continued well into the evening. The main acts (Marlena Shaw and Ed-die Palmieri on Saturday and Nicholas Payton and The Yellow Jackets on Sun-day) put on toe-tapping, hip-shaking performances. With more than 11 Gram-my Awards combined, the headliners have made his-tory in the jazz music in-dustry. Jazz lovers and non-jazz lovers alike were in for a treat.
Not into jazz? Don’t let the upbeat drums and wild
saxophone fool you. The Jazz’SAlive festival was de-signed with everyone in mind.
Over 30 tents were set up around the perimeter of the park. In the center of the park was the larger main stage. On one side of the park, food tents stretched as far as the nose could smell. On the opposite side, tents for homemade bags and different clothing items were set up. There were even activities for the kid-dos: a rock-climbing wall, carnival-style games (with prizes!), face painting and a caricaturist. The twinkling
lights of the tall buildings surrounding the park pro-vided a feeling of relaxation and bliss.
Even if jazz really isn’t your thing, any music lover would have had a blast. Sim-ply walking around the park at dusk with pretty lights all around is enough to make anyone want to check it out.
The bouncy and light-hearted music is sure to keep you entertained, even if it’s just background mu-sic while you get your face painted.
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Festival-goers enjoy the jazz music and pleasant weather on a relaxing Saturday afternoon.
Justin: 832-244-6502 www.Eckankar-Texas.org Sponsored by the Eckankar Student Organization - visit the bulletin board in MH2-5C for info. about ongoing activities.
Youth Ask a Modern Prophet about Life, Love, and God (by Harold Klemp)
This year’s UTSA Volleyball Classic featured some stiff com-petition. Houston, Louisiana State University and Baylor gave fans quite a show in the Convocation Center this past weekend.
After earning a huge upset vic-tory on the road earlier in the year against Texas A&M, the Roadrun-ners stumbled for five straight loss-es. Desperately seeking a spark to get them on top before conference play, a trip home is just what the defending Conference USA ham-
pions needed.“Coming back home is such
a relief,” explained UTSA Head Coach Laura Groff. “We set up our preseason to play some tough com-petition; unfortunately, it worked out that we didn’t have any home games until our tournament.”
The action kicked off Thursday evening as the Roadrunners took on the Houston Cougars. The first set was a back-and-forth battle be-tween the two teams, featuring 16 ties and eight different lead chang-es, but the Roadrunners managed to squeak by with a 30-28 victory.
Freshman outside hitter Mari-jeta Runjic and junior defensive
specialist Annie Kunes led the way with seven kills and eight digs, re-spectively. The Cougars started the second set off hot and didn’t look back, winning 25-19 in a set they never trailed. Houston’s Courtney Warren and Kadi Kullerkann led the Cougars with a combined 22 kills.
The Roadrunners grinded out another close victory in the third set, 25-21, and finished the Cou-gars off in the fourth set, 25-12.
Houston lost their freshman set-ter, Keandra McCardell, midway through the fourth set to a head in-jury and the team never seemed to recover. After five straight losses,
the Roadrunners finally found the victory they needed.
“It feels really good. They (Hous-ton) are a big, physical team,” ju-nior Annie Kunes said. “We had to match their intensity, and we knew if we came home and just played our game in front of our fans, we could win.”
UTSA’s winning ways came to an abrupt end Friday evening against LSU. In a close set resem-bling their first set against Hous-ton, the Runners found themselves on the short side of a 27-25 loss to the Tigers.
The Roadrunners bounced back in the second set, earning a 25-21 victory. Senior middle hitter Dempsey Thornton recorded three digs, and sophomore outside hitter Dajana Boskovic added three kills. The third and fourth sets would ultimately belong to LSU as the Tigers fought their way to decisive 25-20 and 25-18 victories.
UTSA held the lead in both sets, but strong runs towards the end of the sets from the Tigers pushed them to a win in the Convocation Center.
“We’re really having to fight hard in every match,” said senior Dempsey Thornton following Friday’s loss. “With tough com-petition early on in the season, we learn the value of competing before conference play. Eventually we’ll learn how to finish, and we’ll be unstoppable.”
In the last day of the UTSA Classic, the Roadrunners faced off against the Baylor Bears and looked unstoppable.
With an LSU loss still fresh in their minds, the Runners entered the match with a chip on their shoulder. In front of a crowd of nearly a thousand fans, UTSA took the first set, 25-22. The set featured 14 ties and six lead changes.
Thornton racked up eight kills playing with an obvious intensity, high-fiving and cheering on her teammates throughout the set. The Roadrunners did not let their foot of the gas in the second set, cruis-
ing to a 25-18 win. With their backs against the
wall after intermission, the Bears responded in the third set, taking a 25-18 victory. Baylor started the match on a 5-1 run and UTSA was unable to catch up.
The Roadrunners came back in the fourth set to finish off the upset of the Bears in a strong way. Feeding off the energy of the crowd, UTSA started the set on fire, quickly storming to a 12-1 lead. Baylor called multiple time-outs throughout to recoup but to no avail.
The Roadrunners took the final set 25-9, posting an attack percent-age of .417 and holding Baylor to .037.
“I can’t tell you how much we needed this win for our confi-dence,” Groff. “We have come so close to beating so many good teams that are ‘better’ than us, so this is a good win for our program and our players going into confer-ence play.”
When asked about the advan-tage of the home crowd, Coach Groff said, “It really helps. I chal-lenge the students and fans to come out and see what we’ve got to offer. If you come once, you’ll come back again.”
The next match for the Road-runners at the Convocation Center will be Sept. 26 against Florida At-lantic at 7 p.m.
September 23 - September 30, 2014
SPORTS
Roadrunners make most of UTSA Vol leybal l Class icUTSA VOLLEYBALL
9
{Sports Events}
Tuesday, Sept. 23
All day, UTSA Womens GolfThe Roadrunners will travel to Walcott, Colo. to compete in the Golfweek Conference Challenge.
Wednesday, Sept. 24
All day, UTSA Women’s GolfThe Roadrunners will wrap uptheir Golfweek Conference Challenge.
Friday Sept. 26 7:00 pm, UTSA VolleyballThe Roadrunners host the Florida Atlantic Owls at the Convocation Center.
Friday, Sept. 26 7:00 pm, UTSA SoccerThe Roadrunners will take the pitch again against the UAB Blazers in Birmingham, Ala. at West Campus Field.
Saturday, Sept. 27 6:00 pm, UTSA FootballThe Roadrunners hit the field in Boca Raton, Fla. to face the Florida Atlantic Ows.
Sunday, Sept. 28 1:00 pm, UTSA VolleyballThe Roadrunners will take on the North Texas Eagles at the Convocation Center.
As basketball season draws near, The Paisano takes a minute to look at some inter-esting player movements dur-ing the Spur’s offseason.
On Sept. 17, Adrian Wojn-arowski of Yahoo Sports, re-ported that the Spurs will conduct workouts this week with free agent small forward Michael Beasley.
Beasley, who most recently played for the Miami Heat, witnessed first-hand the pow-er of the Spurs offense during last year’s NBA finals. The reigning NBA champions will look for Beasley to help them sustain the legendary level of offensive efficiency they dis-played in the finals into this upcoming season.
If signed to the Spurs, Bea-sley will be a solid back-up for emerging star Kawhi Leon-ard.
The back-up small forward position was a weak point for the Spurs last year who suffered when Leonard went down with a non-displaced fracture of his right hand during a Jan. 22 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. San Antonio struggled in the fourteen-game stretch when their starter was out, winning only eight games.
Although Beasley does not possess the defensive prow-
ess or overall skills of Leon-ard, the free agent has a wide variety of offensive skills that complement the Spurs’ sharpshooting offense.
In his lone college season, Beasley showed that he has the power to score inside and the skill to shoot from outside. His performance at Kansas State resulted in him being the second overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
Although he has yet to find a home in the NBA, in his last year with Miami, Beasley scored 7.9 points per game in only 15.1 minutes. In fact, per 36 minutes last year Beasley
averaged 18.9 points, over three points more than Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard.
Beasley, who has not been the most consistent player during his six-year career, will work out later this week with the Spurs, who have be-come the NBA’s model orga-nization.
San Antonio could be the place for Beasley to live up to the expectations that were placed on him when he first entered the league.
The Spurs will begin their preseason overseas as part of the NBA Global Games schedule in Berlin, Germany
on Oct. 8. After their seven-game
stint in Europe, the Spurs will host the Miami Heat on Oct. 18 in their preseason opener.
SAN ANTONIO SPURSSpurs working out former Heat player
UTSA Men’s TennisThe UTSA men’s tennis team
opened its 2014 fall season by winning three matches at the Marco & Co. Catering Islanders Open last Friday, Sept. 12.
In the main singles draw, ju-nior Jacob Rother battled back from a 2-6 setback in the opening set to beat Josip Smoljan of Incar-nate Word, 6-4, 6-3, in the final two panels of his opening match in the round of 32. Rother, a San Antonio native who transferred from Indiana, advanced to the round of 16 where he fell to Guil-laume Rauseo of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 6-0, 6-1.
The Roadrunners return to the court this weekend with a split squad competing at both the St. Mary’s Quad Invitational and the Rice Fall Invitational in Houston.
UTSA Women’s Cross CountryEmily Perez placed second
in her season debut and helped lead the Roadrunner’s women’s cross country team to a run-ner-up performance at Friday’s UTSA Ricardo Romo Classic.
The junior from Mission covered the 5,000-meter trail in 18:35.9 and was a little less than five seconds behind individual champion Sanie Raines of Texas, who won the meet in 18:31.2.
Stephanie Wangui was one spot behind her teammate with her time of 18:57.3 for her sec-ond consecutive top-three per-formance to open the season.
The Roadrunners will return to action next Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Ken Garland Invitational in Denton.
Roadrunners on the Road
The Roadrunners celebrate after taking the final set against the Baylor Bears, winning 25-9.
The San Antonio Spurs are looking to provide backup to star forward Kawhi Leonard. Leonard won the 2014 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award and looks set for another solid season.
Sophomore outside hitter Dajana Boskovic gets ready to spike the ball against the Houston cougars. Boskovic helped the Roadrunners secure their first homeopener win.
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10 September 23 - September 30, 2014 ADVERTISEMENTS
