Gas chambers still used in American system see page 6
UTSA rules I-35 rivalry see page 11
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio
January 24, 2012
Volume 47
Issue 2
Tuition costs increase again Richard Rowley Intern
UTSA is requesting a 3.1 percent tuition increase for fiscal year 2013 and a 2.9 percent increase for fiscal year 2014, according to the university’s Tuition and Fee Proposal. Students enrolled full-time (12 semester hours) at UTSA for the spring semester last year paid $3,521 in tuition and fees. They saw that number climb to $3,679 when they returned in the fall, an increase of 4.5 percent, or $158. The continual upward climb in tuition expenses has many students, and anyone responsible for paying the skyrocketing education costs, wondering when it will end, or even if it will end at all. The answer to these and other related questions may not be all that reassuring, but understanding why the problem exists can at least provide some perspective. UTSA is hardly alone. Public universities across the state, and across the nation, are experiencing similar problems. The reason for the increase, at least in the case of public universities in Texas is, to a large extent, deregulation. The state legislature began discussing the idea of deregulation in 1984, but did not take action on it until 2003, when the lawmakers found themselves staring at a $10 billion budget shortage in the face. According to Elizabeth Young of
Brianna Cristiano / The Paisano
news@paisano-online.com
UTSA students are paying up to $2000 more for their last semester before graduation than their first semester of their freshman year.
the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the legislature reacted to the budget shortfall by cutting spending rather than increasing taxes. One result of the budget cutting measures was the deregulation of tuition and fees at public universities statewide. The legislature was essentially faced with a losing proposition. Raising taxes would increase revenue, but it would also risk creating an angry backlash from millions of Texas voters. By choosing an option that included deregulating tuition at public universities, they risked angering only a relatively small percentage of that
population. Deregulation both reduced state funding for public universities and shifted tuition-setting authority to public university governing boards, according to a report by the University of Texas Board of Regents Office of Public Affairs. In other words, the state reduced spending on public higher education and allowed individual boards of regents to set their own tuition levels. Young also points out that even though tuition increased nearly 32 percent in the four years preceding deregulation, the rate of increase jumped
to a staggering 47 percent in the first four years after deregulation. Nationally, tuition costs have risen an average of eight percent per year since 1958, doubling every nine years, according to College Board statistics. The increase is referred to as “college inflation.” Compared to the rate of inflation for the economy as a whole during that same time period, college inflation has varied from less than the general rate of inflation for six of those years to more than six times the rate of inflation in 1959. Over all, college inflation during
Burk Frey
east campus. The construction will also include a new visitor information booth accessible from the roundabout, which will replace the booth situated along Peace Blvd. “We expect the visitor booth to be open on the Peace entrance in August 2012,” David Gabler, Associate Vice President of the Office of Communications said. As part of the project, Peace Lot will be converted into a green space intended to beautify the campus and serve as the center of a new multibuilding quadrangle. Current UTSA shuttle and VIA stops in the area will be moved to spots along the perimeter of the green space, while the lawn itself is slated to be used as a gathering and recreational area. The space was funded with unspent power plant monies.
Road improvement disrupts parking Web Editor
Brianna Cristiano / The Paisano
web@paisano-online.com
UTSA’s college of architecture helps students gain employment by providing opportunities to distinguish themselves.
Architects face high unemployment rate Erica Cavazos Intern
news@paisano-online.com According to a recent report from CNN, graduates with a major in architecture have an unemployment rate of 13.9 percent, the highest among recent college graduates. For more experienced architects above the age of 30, the unemployment rate dips to 9.2 percent. The study, conducted by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, suggests that the “collapse of the construction and home-building industries in
the recession is to blame.” The article implies that architecture is currently a poor choice of major, but how accurately is the industry portrayed in the study? “Architecture degree holders looking for work are a relatively small percentage of the overall college-educated job-seekers out there,” said architect and senior lecturer at UTSA’s college of architecture, Rick Lewis. “I would suggest that the CNN’s premise is not really an apples to apples portrayal of the ways the various disciplines of higher education were grouped for the article.” See ARCHITECTURE, Page 2
that period increased at a rate that tended to be 1.2 to 2.1 times the rate of inflation. This means a freshman starting school this spring and finishing four years from now can expect to pay $1,500 to $2,000 more for the last semester of full-time enrollment than he or she did for the first semester. In other words, as the cost of tuition increases, that same freshman can expect to pay four times as much to send each of his or her children to college. “The increases in the cost of tuition at UTSA have not resulted in a budget surplus for the school,” said UTSA Chief Communications Officer David Gabler. “There are a number of reasons [for the increases in operating expenses], but one of the main reasons is the cost of paying competitive salaries to attract qualified faculty.” Gabler continued by pointing out that by cutting state funding for public higher education, the legislature is effectively passing the cost of higher education to students and their families. This threatens the ease of access to education, especially for lower income students. Whatever the causes for tuition increase - austerity-driven deregulation by cash-strapped states across the country or increases in faculty salaries, or both - one thing seems certain: the upward shift in education costs is not showing signs of slowing down any time soon.
UTSA is starting a construction project that will improve the flow of campus traffic when finished, but create parking shortages until then. On Mar. 10, the university will close Peace Lot (formerly Lot 3) to reconstruct the campus entrance at 1604 and Peace Blvd. Upon completion in August, the entrance will feature a roundabout similar to the one on the south side of campus. The roundabout is designed to ease traffic congestion on Peace Blvd. by eliminating the four-way intersection and stop signs, and allowing quicker access to the nearby Bauerle Garage (also under construction) and
“During construction, shuttle routes that currently stop in (Peace Lot) will be modified. Some stops will be moved to the current shuttle stop area at Ford Lot (formerly Lot 7). The VIA stop will also be relocated during construction. Options are currently being reviewed,” Gabler said. The green space, scheduled to be completed in November, and Bauerle Garage are part of the UTSA Master Plan, approved in 2009, which calls for nearly all surface parking to be replaced with green spaces and parking garages. However, with Peace Lot’s permanent closure in March, and the Bauerle Garage not to be completed until August, current Peace Lot patrons must relocate to other parking areas such as the North Garage. See ROUNDABOUT, Page 2
Mexico and the American recoil Victor H. Hernandez Paseo Editor
paseo@paisano-online.com The value of a single human life is immeasurable. On the other hand, the cost of taking one is not. The price for killing someone depends on many factors. For example, is the target a journalist or a drug dealer? Is he or she a judge? What’s the price for a hit on a law enforcement agent? Does it matter if he or she is a corrupt one, or a law-abiding one? These questions were hypothetical some years ago, but now they are cold business inquiries, subjected to laws of the market such as the number of people willing to kill, but most
important, by how lucrative might the killing in question is. These are, of course, not common questions in the United States, but common a couple of hundreds miles south, in the Mexican side of the border. I know this because I’ve been there, and although I don’t have the bills, it is said that the overall cost is low. Drug cartels pay their members two thousand dollars to kill a police officer, a thousand dollars for a regular howdo-you-do neighbor, or local dealer— not that killers know the difference. This absurd price for taking a man’s or a woman’s life does not spring out of thin air. It is the result of poverty, a distressing lack of values, but most important, what seems to be unlimited amounts of money that come from
the United States. It is not only cocaine and meth addicts who fuel the cartel’s operations south of the border. A great percentage of the cartel’s income comes not from hard-drug users, but from people who buy marijuana, in places very similar to UTSA. The influence that societies hold within us, consumers, imposes a responsibility that has seldom been seen at another time. The free market allows our few dollars to weigh like millions, because after all, markets are hundreds-of-million-strong. Our purchasing power is the most direct tool to trigger change, and it should not only be used to foster development but first of all, to prevent suffering. See MARIJUANA, Page 5