USD Magazine, Spring 1995

ALCALA [gj LMANAC

T 17/WW,4 P,iwd ~"Hc4 WM- 11 By the time USD and Notre Dame ath– letes met on the hardwood floors of the San Diego Sports Arena in early December, the much-anticipated basket– ball game had grown to monstrous pro– portions. The so-called "Holy War" pitted the young Toreros against the seasoned Fighting Irish players, and USD quickly proved to be up to the challenge. At the halftime buzzer the crowd of more than 6,500 fans was elated to find its Toreros holding a 31-point lead. Despite a strong Notre Dame comeback in the second half, USD held on to win, 90-76, proving the non-conference match-up with an athletic powerhouse was not just for show. The surprising first-half dominance was not lost on Toreros Coach Brad Holland. "I was very nervous at halftime because we were at a point where now we should win the game, but I knew Notre Dame was going to fight to come back," he said. A few weeks earlier the Toreros had traveled to Kansas to play the Jayhawks in a game that Holland said primed the athletes for the tough game in a large arena. "After Kansas we realized if we're on all cylinders we can be really good," Holland said. Those cylinders were humming well into the second half when, after 13 min– utes of play, the Toreros were still lead– ing. The Irish came storming back but were answered by key shots from sopho– more Brian Bruso and senior Doug Harris that helped secure the win. "I'm really proud of our guys and the character they showed to stop the bleed– ing after the Notre Dame comeback," Holland said. "That's the kind of experi– ence we can draw from in future games." The Dec. 3 game, sponsored by the Greater San Diego Sports Association, was the first Torero Tipoff Classic and helped raise money for the USD athletic department. The 1995 tipoff will be a contest with Kansas, also at the Sports Arena. USD officials are hoping the pre– season games with big name schools will become an annual tradition.

University Launches Transbor

USD this year began developing a Transborder Institute (TBI) that will offer students and faculty unprecedented opportunities to study the political and social issues, economic climate and cul– ture associated with the United States/ Mexico border region. Plans are already under way for a number of educational and experiential programs. "Our mission has several components," says Daniel Wolf, the institute's direc– tor. "The staff will act as facilitators, introducing faculty and students to their counterparts in Mexico and helping to create quality research projects and opportunities in conjunction with Mexican universities. A number of pro– grams are planned, including a mediation center that might handle disputes involv– ing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and a risk assess– ment program that will give investors updates on economic and legal issues." While the two other major universities in San Diego also have centers that study Mexican/American affairs, USD's Transborder Institute will fill a niche by concentrating almost exclusively on the border region. Wolf, a Harvard law grad– uate who teaches Latin American studies at USD, has scheduled an April 7 con– sortium conference at Alcala Park that seeks to identify border issues on which educational, government and business groups might collaborate. He also plans a follow-up conference for members of the USD community to compare notes on the knowledge gained at the consortium. Other TBI possibilities include collab– oration with community organizations, a television program produced in concert with the communication studies depart– ment, and a frontier issues speakers forum, which would allow USD students to bring public figures to campus to address concerns relating to borders, diversity, and integration in a changing world. "We want students to have more opportunities to interact with Mexicans,

take courses at Mexican universities and benefit from the more cosmopolitan atmosphere TBI would bring to the cam– pus," Wolf says. "Students also would get practical experience through mediat– ing disputes, preparing analyses, learning new educational techniques and taking advantage of new internships." Students already have had the chance to hear experts debate one of the hottest border issues in recent memory. The first activity sponsored by TBI was a roundtable on Proposition 187, a ballot initiative passed last November that seeks to deny certain social services to illegal immigrants. Organized by Veronica Montali, a free-lance journalist working with TBI, the roundtable brought local experts together to perform a "post– mortem and what-next" on Prop 187. "TBI will be defining its role over the next year or so," Wolf says. "But the philosophy reflects the mission of USD: research, learning and community ser– vice." For more information on USD's Transborder Institute, contact Daniel Wolf at (619) 260-4090.

U 5 D