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Campus News
     
Your faculty and staff news since 1965
Special Spotlight Issue:  April 22, 2002

Martinez' cartoon motivates addiction recovery

By Steve Carr

James MartinezWhen James Martinez sits down to draw a cartoon, it is usually thought provoked by a particular situation, issue or current event.

The former Daily Lobo editorial cartoonist, who still applies his penchant for drawing in his position as administrative assistant III at the Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions, has a special talent that can turn a statement into a humorous visual.

“When I was an editorial cartoonist, I was motivated by whatever ticked me off or whatever sparked my outrage,” Martinez said. “Something like a blatant abuse of power or a bald-faced lie coming out of the government. If it gets me going that way, it gets me rolling with an idea.”

Martinez picked up cartooning, along with short film-making, at an early age and it has been instrumental in his life.

“A neighbor got me interested in film-making at age 11,” Martinez said. “He showed us some home movies and we said ‘why don’t we make our own?’ The cartooning evolved about the same time. If I had an idea, I would draw it. It was pretty crude (drawing) at the time, but I enjoyed it enough to keep doing it.”

For 10 years Martinez toiled at the Daily Lobo where drawing cartoons helped him earn a bachelors degree in Political Science.

“Cartooning kept me in school,” Martinez said. “If I didn’t have that as an outlet, I wouldn’t have finished.”

As an administrative assistant, Martinez is coordinating a project for a program called “Evaluating Methods for Motivational Enhancement Education” or EMMEE at CASAA, and has been able to incorporate his cartooning skill and humor.

“I’m honored to be working with the people at CASAA in particular Dr. William Miller and Dr. Caroline Yahne, my director,” said Martinez. “It allows me to use some of my cartooning skills with the work we do. Dr. Miller is the founding father of the Motivational Interviewing (M.I.) tools and Dr. Yahne has expanded on his work while being Dr. Miller’s Co-Investigator for the past 20 years. She has trained people internationally in M.I. for the past eight years. It’s great working with them.”

As part of the EMMEE program, Martinez created a cartoon in Spanish that simulates a scene in Star Trek in outer space. A giant finger is pointing to the Starship Enterprise saying, “Tu debes de bla, bla, bla…meanwhile, the crew inside the Enterprise is saying “ ¡Escudo deflector activado a todo poder!”

Essentially the finger (CASAA) is saying “You should do this…” while the Enterprise (patients) is saying “Raise deflector shields. Full power ahead.”
The cartoon is designed to motivate potential participants to become a part of the program.

“James thought of the whole concept,” said Yahne. “It tailors the motivational technique to Hispanics. The method is designed to help people change their behavior. The shaking finger tells people that smoking is bad, but people tune out the message. They often put up deflector shields. It illustrates how the process doesn’t work. I’m really proud of James. It is an interesting and insightful concept.”