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The Paseo A Stroll Around Campus
Stolen Childhood
College of Public Policy students learned about the dark world of sex trafficking of minors.
Of Peacocks and Porsches
Researchers find that men who adorn themselves with bling aren't the most committed boyfriends.
Boom or Bust
Eagle Ford Shale communities facing unprecedented growth work to prevent a bust economy.
In Brief
Dig This
Imagine life on the shores of the San Antonio River 9,000 to 10,500 years ago.
At the Micro-Level
UTSA's South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases will receive $4.6 million over five years.
Commissioned
President Romo was appointed to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.
All Business
Students in the College of Business may now earn a degree in sport, event and tourism management.
Going Bookless
UTSA Libraries begin lending eReaders to students, faculty and staff.
Building Bone, Rebuilding Lives
Researchers create a scaffold that can be used to mend or regrow bone.
From B.S. to M.D.
Pilot program helps doctor of medicine students earn their degrees faster.
Special Collection
Donation makes new papers available to researchers.
Roadrunner Sports
Athlete Spotlight
Mark Waters is one of only two seniors on the UTSA football team.
Sports Briefs
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Community Uniting Our Alumni
Bullfrogs and Butterflies
A doctoral student takes her love of nature into the classroom and the lab.
Alumni Association News
And the Money Keeps Rolling in
Gala raises a record $150,000 for scholarships.
UTSA Diploma Dash
Join as a runner, walker, spectator or sponsor on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012, at the UTSA Main Campus.
Alumni Profiles
Master Multitasker
Helen Wolf M.Ed. '77
Nuevo Tejano
AJ Castillo B.B.A. '08
Mission to Serve
Steven Sano M.P.A. '11
Editor's Note
Thanks from a chicken
I’m afraid to fly. The thought of being so high up terrifies me so much that I do almost anything to avoid planes. Alumnus Marty Contreras also is afraid of heights, so when he joined the Army, he signed up for airborne school. His reasoning: if he’s scared of it, he’s going to make himself get over it—with a parachute.
I’m afraid of pain. If I hit my thumb with a hammer, you’d better believe I’m going to avoid all hammers for at least a year. Student Anna King knows pain. When a mortar hit her base in Iraq, it dislocated her jaw, broke her wrist and caused traumatic brain injury. She almost died from the swelling in her brain. She now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. But she’d give anything to go back and continue the fight.
When Tony Doyle’s Humvee hit an improvised explosive device in Iraq, he was flung from the vehicle and pinned under it. He lost his leg. His world changed in an instant. He came back home and rebuilt his life and now is an undergraduate student studying history. Unbelievably, he’d do it all again. Because, he says, his life now is richer than it was before.
This is courage. True courage.
What drives them? It may be honor, duty, a need to serve. But what makes them actually do the things they do and not just say they will? What is it that pushes them to move beyond fear, trauma, pain, stress, grief, and make their lives even better because of what they experienced?
They are made from a different cloth than me, and all I can do is thank them. I wish I was more like them. But because of them, we are here living comfortably and confidently. Our children, grandchildren and future generations will live with a greater sense of security because of what they’ve done. But it goes even beyond that. It’s the will, the determination to make their own lives a sacrifice to something they truly believe in that I admire the most.
Marty, Anna, Tony and all veterans and military personnel out there—you are heroes. Thank you for everything you do.
Saludos,
Lety Laurel
