No car, no problem

Lack of a car won’t stop UTPA students

Note: This article originally appeared in the Sep. 11, 2014 issue of The Pan American. The Pan American was the student newspaper at my former university, The University of Texas - Pan American, where I got into writing. Ultimately, TPA was shut down as a result of a merger with neighboring university to make way for The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and the new student publication did not transfer anything from TPA. Here's one of my articles for them that was saved thanks to the miracle of Google Docs.

The usual amount of heavy traffic seen at UTPA suggests that most college students drive.

However, according to a 2012 study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, the percentage of teenage drivers has dropped in recent years.

The study states that in 2008, 75 percent of 19-year-olds had a driver’s license, but the number decreased by five percent in 2010. UTPA sophomore Rogelio Mar falls into that age group and explained he hasn’t had a reason to get a license.

“I just never imagined myself with a car. When I turned 18 and started living on campus I thought, ‘Do I really need (a car)?’” the physics major said. "The way I live, I can just walk wherever I go, whether it’s to campus or a nearby restaurant to eat and not worry about groceries since my apartment comes with a meal plan.”

The research collected driver's license records and general population data from the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Census Bureau to complete the study. Currently, six in 10 Americans ages 17-19 have a driver’s license. Thirty years ago, the numbers were closer to eight in 10.

PERSONAL TRANSPORTATION

Graduate student Lorena Garcia Ramon uses her bicycle for transportation. She has a Mexican driver’s license and can’t use it unless she’s driving a car with Mexican license plates, according to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. However, she doesn’t see getting either a Texas-issued license or a car as a priority since she lives within minutes of campus.

“I live in Schunior Village and I work on campus,” the 25-year-old graduate student said. “Walking or cycling to work or to Wal-Mart for groceries can take as much as 11 minutes. It’s all about being resourceful. Besides, I think it's great for me to not have a car anyway. If I did have one, I’d have no self-control and just want to drive anywhere, like an itch. I’d be spending more money.”

Ramon, who works as a graduate assistant at the UTPA Office of Graduate Studies, sees her boyfriend spending at least $60 per week on gas. She estimates that she saves at least $240 per month by not having a vehicle, not including insurance or maintenance.

She thinks public transportation is one factor causing a decrease in drivers. According to the American Public Transportation Association, Americans took nearly 11 billion trips on public transportation, the highest ridership number in nearly six decades. Ramon pointed out that McAllen’s Metro Connect not only offers discounts to students, but introduced several new service routes last year. Among them was one that connects UTPA to McAllen, making it easier for her to use the transportation system.

Since all of her classes are at the UTPA McAllen Teaching Site, located 13 miles from campus at 1800 S. Main Street, Ramon rides the shuttle from school and back home. She doesn’t rely on a car and recommends other students to do the same.

“You don’t have to be stuck just because you don’t have a car,” she said. “Try to be resourceful. Get a bicycle and ride, you’re exercising that way and it’s free.”

INDEPENDENCE

Ironically, the lack of access to the Metro Connect is the reason that Alton resident Joey Garza needs his car. The psychology graduate student lives approximately 25 minutes from campus, but neither Alton nor the neighboring city of Palmhurst has any form of public transportation. According to Garza, even if he could use the public transportation system that would mean he’d have to be driven either to campus or to McAllen.

“It’s the [Rio Grande] Valley, everyone needs a car to get around,” the 25-year-old explained. “There’s little here but everything’s so far apart that it’s hard to move without a car. It really comes in handy in helping you plan your day.”

According to Garza, he spends as much as $460 per month on gas, insurance and maintenance for his 2011 Nissan Sentra, but he believes it’s worth it to avoid what he’d have to repeatedly do in high school.

“(As a teen) If I ever needed to go somewhere, the movies, a friend’s house, I’d have to be dropped off at my aunt’s house so that she could drive since my parents were usually busy,” the financial aid assistant said. “A car is an extension of yourself that can give you more options and freedom. There’s a lot of responsibilities that come with it, but a car is the ultimate sign of being independent since you don’t have to rely on others.”

Despite being enamored with the idea of driving when she first received her license a decade ago, UTPA student Yarely Rodriguez no longer sees it as something that adds value. As a resident of the apartment complex Bronc Village, she uses Metro Connect to get around the city.

“As soon as I first got my license, I felt as if a whole new world was opening for me. I could literally drive anywhere,” the 26-year-old English student said. “Now, that excitement is gone. I’m over driving and anything car-related, like pumping gas or spending money on maintenance, (it) feels tiresome. Not having a car is more convenient.”

The Edinburg native previously owned a car, but sold it after moving to campus in fall 2013 because she didn’t feel that there would be a need for it. Her main motivation for selling the car came when she decided to ride a Metro Connect bus one day “for fun.” She had noticed several families and elderly people also using the bus and chatted with them.

“They explained to me that they don’t have a car and use [the bus] to go to their doctor’s appointments and other stuff,” she said. “I realized that there are people out there with no car and rely on public transportation to get around all the time. I thought to myself, ‘If they can do it, then so can I.’”

Rodriguez plans several of her trips along the bus routes, and if necessary, she gets lifts from friends and family then pays them gas money, something she doesn’t mind.

“I know it sounds silly, but I’m proud to be able to move myself around without a car,” she said. “It just feels a part of being an adult, I’m able to make my own decisions and be responsible for my own transportation, even without a car.”

Student spotlight

University theater technician discusses craft

Note: This article originally appeared Sept. 11, 2014 online at the website for The Pan American. The Pan American was the student newspaper at my former university, The University of Texas - Pan American, where I got into writing. Ultimately, TPA was shut down as a result of a merger with neighboring university to make way for The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and the new student publication did not transfer anything from TPA. Here's one of my articles for them that was saved thanks to the miracle of Google Docs.

The technical aspects of theater production range from scenery, visual effects and costumes are commonly known as design. Viewers watching a play are drawn to the action of the actors onstage so they may not immediately notice the effort by designers working behind the scenes of what they’re watching. Propmaster Giovanni Salinas is one of those technicians.

“Every little note I do reflects the world that is being built and I have to ask myself, ‘what do I need to help make this work as one cohesive piece?’” the 20-year-old said. “Props are small items that not many people will notice, but I can make them and add details that make it personal for the characters and I’ll be happy leaving them there for people to discover.”

The Edinburg resident is currently working as a technician for the upcoming University Theatre production of Richard III, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s more than 400-year-old play about the rise of power and reign of Richard III of England. The play, scheduled to run Oct. 8-12, is set in a post-apocalyptic future where society is trying to rebuild itself following a nuclear fallout. Salinas works with three other designers and focuses on creating the props to be used onstage from weapons to personal tokens each character carries.

To prepare for the props, the senior consults with the script to see what kind of items would be found in a post-nuclear world. He plans on travelling to a local junkyard to scavenge for items that fit the scenery as part of his research.

Aside from his stagecraft, Salinas works as a facility manager at the Wellness and Recreational Sports Complex and usually takes 18 hours a semester. His only source of personal time, he says, are the hours of midnight to 5 a.m. when he gets to sleep.

“Theater is practically my other job,” he said. “What I do as a designer is part of a jigsaw puzzle. Without us, there wouldn’t be a play, but we need the actors as much as they need us so that we can have something to revolve our work around. It all adds to one cohesive whole.”

Since he joined UTPA two years ago, the theatre major has been involved with the university theatre program and has worked in lighting design and as a stage manager. He held the position of stage manager when he worked for local theater group Thirteen O’Clock Theatre before stepping down this past summer. However, Salinas enjoys operating light design.

“Light affects the way we see things,” he explained. “Obviously the lighting can’t work without the set or costumes on display, but our job is to make those things shine. It’s fun seeing how we can experiment with it to see how we can accentuate those things and yet still make it our own.”

Over the summer Salinas won a scholarship to attend a nine-week-long class with the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas. At the institution, Salinas learned advance stagecraft techniques in several fields such as audio and visual effects. The class also held weekly trips to the Las Vegas Strip to see a show.

“I was exposed to a lot of very different shows and I was reminded of why I love working in theater,” he said. “It’s all about that little thing of my own that I put in (the play) that will make me happy. When I considered a career in high school, I knew I didn’t want something that would cause me to live the rest of my life waking up every day and saying ‘Ugh, I have to go to work.’ I’m not like that with theater because I love it.”

After Richard III, Salinas will work as the lighting designer for the University Theatre production of the musical Evita, based on the life of former Argentine First Lady Eva Perón. It is scheduled to premiere March 2015.

Closing the curtains

UTPA Theatre previews new fall season, final year

Note: This article originally appeared in the Sep. 4, 2014 issue of The Pan American. The Pan American was the student newspaper at my former university, The University of Texas - Pan American, where I got into writing. Ultimately, TPA was shut down as a result of a merger with neighboring university to make way for The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and the new student publication did not transfer anything from TPA. Here's one of my articles for them that was saved thanks to the miracle of Google Docs.

The University Theatre Productions is getting ready for its fall season that begins next month. Theater Director Thomas Grabowski discussed how the start of the 2014 fall semester marks the beginning of the end of the University Theatre Program. This is due to the upcoming merger with The University of Texas at Brownsville that will open The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley next fall.

“When we started picking performances for this school year, we didn’t even realize that it actually was our last year,” said the University of Illinois alum who has been at the University for 33 years. “We’re assuming that we’re going to continue doing the same thing we’ve been doing and prepare for our spring season. We haven’t heard anything saying otherwise.”

THE PRODUCTIONS

The season starts off with Richard III, a historical play by William Shakespeare that depicts the rise of King Richard III of England and his two-year reign from 1483 to 1485. In the play, the king is portrayed as a villainous hero who schemes his way to the top. It is set to run Oct. 8–12 at the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre.

Zebastian Duchene, a junior who has the role of Richard III’s co-conspirator, the Duke of Buckingham, noted the changes the adaptation makes from Shakespeare’s drama. According to the finance major, changes include the condensing of several storylines to focus exclusively on Richard III, as well as a completely different setting.

“The production is set in an post-apocalyptic world where society is trying to rebuild itself after an undisclosed fallout,” the McAllen native said. “Even though it’s a different place, the play manages to recreate the political climate of the story that personifies several human faults.”

UTPA Professor Brian Warren wrote the play and managed to slash as much as half of the original four-hour run-time to make Richard III accessible for students while ensuring the adaptation will satisfy Shakespeare purists. He noted that this is the first time that the theater department has performed one of Shakespeare’s historical plays, which covered English history from the 12th to the 16th centuries.

Despite the fact that the original play was written more than four centuries ago, the Iowa native believes that audiences would still be interested in the story due to the themes in Richard III he sees as “relevant,” and the popularity of the award-winning series House of Cards. The blockbuster series from Netflix depicts a congressman who schemes and backstabs his way to the top, much like Richard III.

“The play is a behind-the-scenes look at politically ambitious people who do things in the name of power,” Warren said. “Even though the events depicted took place in the 15th century, the behavior of these characters and the question the play asks, ‘how much power can these people have before they start to lose themselves?’ makes for a compelling drama.”

DRAMA

The second production from the theater department is the original drama Locked. It depicts an African-American family that discovers an ancestor of theirs was a slave - a realization that shocks them. Locked was inspired by a family heirloom that UTPA art professor Lorenzo Pace, a co-writer of the production, is in possession of: the metal lock that bound his great-grandfather in chains when the latter was a slave.

English professor Philip Zwerling, the other writer of the production, commented on the difficulty of casting the play, which featured a dominant African-American cast. This caused him and Pace to go out into the community into places such as Edinburg’s Rising Star Baptist Church to recruit actors.

“In the seven years I’ve been teaching here, I’ve never seen an African-American-themed production, this may be a first for the department,” the New York native said. “[Pace] and I were interested in seeing how a family would react to discover something as shocking as slavery about an ancestor. Even though the characters are fictional, it tells a story that is real and important.”

Locked is scheduled to run Oct. 23–26 in the UTPA Studio Theatre, adjacent to the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre in the Arts and Humanities Building.

COMEDY

Following a slave-themed drama, the tone for the department’s next play is wildly different. The Mystery of the Shady Palms RV Park, an original comedy by UTPA professor Eric Wiley follows the owner of a Winter Texan RV park who is desperately trying to sell it. THis biggest obstacle in getting rid of the park is the fact that visitors keep disappearing, turning off potential buyers.

“Part of the fun in watching the play is the performance of the students as they’ll all be acting as Winter Texans,” said Wiley, who received his doctorate in theatre from Louisiana State University in 1999. “They’ll be dressed in old-people makeup having fun, and that enthusiasm will hopefully translate in the audiences enjoying the play as much as the actors are enjoying acting in it.”

The Mystery of the Shady Palms RV Park will run Nov. 19-23 in the UTPA Studio Theatre.

CHRISTMAS

The final production of the season will be Pastorela, otherwise known as A Shepherd's Play, which is part of the department’s Theatre for Young Audiences Program. The program produces plays aimed at young audiences and features child actors working with student actors.

Pastorela tells the story of a group of shepherds who follow the star of Bethlehem to meet the Christ Child. It is directed by University Theatre alumna Martha Angelica Chavez de Palmerin and will run Dec. 4-7.

LOOKING AHEAD

Gina Marie, a veteran student actress for the last two years, is unfazed by the coming changes to the programs. The 28-year-old Pharr native pointed out that more students will have a chance to major in theatre, as UTB never had a theater program nor did they offered a degree in that field. Because of this, she is looking forward to see what the UTRGV theater program will offer.

“It’s a bittersweet year, but it’s helping our new season stand out more, marking the beginning of great things for the community,” said Marie, a theatre performance major. “I see [UTRGV] as not only something that will unite the community, but the entire Rio Grande Valley.”

Professor Warren is also interested in what the new university will bring and hopes some of the accomplishments from UTPA’s theater program will transform to UTRGV’s program.

“Our purpose is to educate the community and our students through our productions,” he said. “We’re going to continue with that mission and keep the quality of our plays. We’ll see where this collaboration with UTRGV takes us.”

More information about the UTPA Theatre Productions, including their spring lineup, can be found at the website.

A growing minority

UTPA students discuss rising Hispanic moviegoers

Note: This article originally appeared in the July 23, 2014 issue of The Pan American. The Pan American was the student newspaper at my former university, The University of Texas - Pan American, where I got into writing. Ultimately, TPA was shut down as a result of a merger with neighboring university to make way for The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and the new student publication did not transfer anything from TPA. Here's one of my articles for them that was saved thanks to the miracle of Google Docs.

Hannah Jones, an accounting major at UTPA, loves attending the movie theater. The Harlingen native religious watches a new movie at least twice a week, a habit she picked up from her family which is Hispanic on her mother’s side.

“My family always sees going to the movies as a family affair. My aunt takes my cousins there every weekend,” the 23-year-old explained. “It’s a great way for all of us to get together and have fun for a few hours and relax.”

According to a July 7 report from pop culture magazine Entertainment Weekly, 2014 box office earnings are down 4 percent from this point last year.However, because of the spending habits of Jones’ family, and other Hispanics nationwide, attendance from Hispanic moviegoers is on the rise.

The Motion Picture Association of America, or the MPAA, released its annual Theatrical Market Statistics March 27. Among the numbers that were reported, it was revealed that Hispanic audiences are becoming big consumers.

Despite the fact that Whites account for 54 percent of total ticket sales in 2013, they only watch an average of three movies per year, the lowest attendance of any ethnicity. Hispanic audiences made up the highest attendance by watching an average of six while African Americans and other ethnicities marked as “other” watch four films.

Jones’ views on moviegoing and family entertainment for Hispanic audiences is reflected in a January 2013 report from Nielsen Holdings. Nielsen, a New York based group that monitors what consumers buy and watch on a daily basis, found that Hispanic audiences were 86 percent more likely to attend movies with friends and family, compared to any other demographic.

Even though UTPA senior Arnold Fonseca hasn’t had a chance to go to the movies since the start of the spring semester due to schoolwork, he believes these numbers are important and reflect the rise of the Hispanic population, which is expected to nearly triple by 2060 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hispanics are already the largest minority group in the country with 52 million people, or 17 percent of the American population.

“This culture isn’t going anywhere and we’re seeing how it’s affecting everything, even the movies,” the 25-year-old physics major said. “Attending the theaters is a form of escapism that’s perfect for hanging out with friends and family members, and now we know that other cultures enjoy it, especially since there’s a lot of deals going on to make going to the movies relatively cheaper than usual.”

The average price of a movie ticket is currently $7.96, down from $8.35 in the previous quarter, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In addition, all Rio Grande Valley theaters are currently participating in “Discount Tuesday,” where tickets are on sale at the discounted price of $5.25 all day every Tuesday at selected Carmike and Cinemark theaters nationwide.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

Despite representing 17 percent of the total American population, Hispanics made a huge contribution in total ticket sales last year, according to the MPAA. Of the 1.34 billion tickets sold in 2013, a full quarter were bought by Hispanic moviegoers alone.

A recent film that succeeded due to its Hispanic audience was the Spanish-language comedy Instructions Not Included, starring Mexican comedian Eugenio Derbez. The film was a “sleeper hit” when it opened last summer, as box office analysts failed to predict the film’s final gross of nearly $45 million domestically - even though it opened in less than 350 theaters nationwide, according to Box Office Mojo. The movie ended up becoming both the highest-grossing Spanish film and the fourth highest-grossing foreign film in the U.S.

In an attempt to recapture the success of Instructions Not Included, Pantelion, the studio
that distributed the film, is releasing the Spanish-language drama Cantinflas during
next month’s Labor Day weekend, according to Variety. This is the same weekend Instructions was released in theaters last year. Cantinflas centers around Mario “Cantinflas” Moreno, the popular comedian who is often referred to as the “Mexican Charlie Chaplin.” The film depicts Cantinflas’
personal life as he films his American debut, the 1956 Academy Award winning
film Around the World in 80 Days.  

Seemingly, studios tried another method of luring Hispanic audiences to the theaters this past spring by releasing Spanish-dubbed versions of several movies. These included the religious dramas Son of God and Noah as well as the biopic Cesar Chavez.

According to an October 2012 article from The Hollywood Reporter, Hispanic audiences flock to movies with religious themes and films in the animated and horror genres.

The same article mentions that studios promote their movies to Hispanic audiences on Mexican radio channels and television stations such as Univision and Telemundo as well as in heavily populated Hispanic areas such as California, South Texas, and Miami.

AUDIENCE EXPECTATIONS

After hearing about these findings, UTPA student John Garza said the results were “eye-opening” and that he hoped it would lead to an increase in Hispanic actors. Nonetheless, he worried about what kind of message this could send studios, especially if they would decide to make more Hispanic-themed films.  

“Even though I’m Hispanic, even I wouldn’t want to see a movie that is minority-oriented because it would feel like pandering,” the 21-year-old senior said. “In most of the movies I’ve seen, Hispanics get the stereotyped roles like a cleaning person or the one who knows all about demons in horror movies. When are we going to get a movie franchise of our own?”

Garza believes that visibility is an issue for Hispanic actors, though recognition for the minority group in Hollywood. This past March, Mexican director became the first Latino to win a Best Director  Academy Award for his blockbuster film Gravity. Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro has a role in next month’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the latest superhero film from Marvel studios. Latina actress Michelle Rodriguez, meanwhile,  has appeared in several action films such as the Resident Evil and The Fast and the Furious  franchise as well as Avatar, the highest grossing film of all time, making her one of the most well-known female action stars.   

Despite the large attendance from Hispanics, Hispanic-themed films aren’t immediate successes. Cesar Chavez ultimately ended up grossing $5.5 million despite the legacy of the civil rights activist. The crime-horror film Deliver Us from Evil, which features a Spanish priest in a secondary role, was released July 3 and has so far accumulated $25 million. Last August saw the release of the Matt Damon sci-fi film Elysium, which was set in Los Angeles and featured a supporting cast of Hispanic actors. With a budget of $115 million, Elysium underwhelmed at the box office by grossing $93 million domestically.

Brian Warren, a UTPA professor in TV/film/theater, speculated that those films disappointed at the box office not because of the emphasis on Hispanic themes, but because of their quality.

“As a biopic, a horror film and a sci-fi film, all three of them don’t look anything different than what we usually get,” the University of Houston alumnus said. “Those films may have failed because of how oversaturated the marketplace is with films of the genres, and they didn’t look like they provided audiences with anything new. Despite the audiences it tries to reach, films need to be good, or at least look like they’re offering something different.”

While the Iowa native thinks the findings of the survey are vital and reflect what audiences want in their movies, he believes people respond to good stories, regardless of the race depicted onscreen.

“I still remember seeing the film Gandhi and being mesmerized by it despite the fact that the movie featured a lead character who was Indian. Story supersedes race,” he explained, “Movies tend to cross other barriers and can speak to anyone. They are a universal form of entertainment that people can enjoy despite who they see onscreen.”