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McNay presents Nightmare Before Christmas Exhibit just in time for the holidays page 5
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UTSA Football playing on a whole new level of competition page 7
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio
{SINCE 1981}
Volume 48
Issue 19
September 17, 2013
{WWW.PAISANO-ONLINE.COM}
UTSA moms acquire rooms for nursing
UTSA UTSA Student Health Services will be hosting a discussion, “Sex in the Dark,” about sexual health myths on Sept. 17 at 3:30 p.m. in the Retama Auditorium.
San Antonio The Pearl Brewery area bridge will be altered to connect the riverfront ampitheater to the west bank of the San Antonio River in the hopes of making it more accessible to the rest of the neighnorhood.
UTSA Edidiong Adiakpan Contributing Writer news@paisano-online.com
Texas The Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations will begin a process to decide whether to impeach UT System Regent Wallace Hall.
Rafael Gutierrez and Lindsay Smith/ The Paisano
U.S. Monday, Sept. 16, gunman Aaron Alexis opened fire inside the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 and injuring four.
World Two tropical storms hit the east and west coasts of Mexico Sept. 16, killing at least 30, leaving thousands without power and blocking roads with massive landslides.
Going Greek? UTSA Destiny Young Gibson Hull Contributing Writers
news@paisano-online.com
Sports This Friday Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the AT&T Center, the Florida Panthers will play the Dallas Stars in an NHL preseason game.
As Rush Week comes to a close at UTSA, students will be receiving bids for the Greek organizations that could severely impact their college careers. Fraternities and sororities guarantee a network of friendship and connections– but at a potential cost to academic life and health. One aspect of joining a sorority or fraternity is the philanthropy that organizations are required to partake in. Community service is one of the most prominent aspects of Greek life. Greek organizations devote a portion of their time to help benefit their designated cause. In the past two years, Zeta Tau Alpha raised the most money nationally, donating more the six million to fight
breast cancer. According to USA Today, “college graduation rates are 20% higher among Greeks than non-Greeks.” Most sororities and fraternities have a minimum GPA requirement in order to join and maintain membership. The UTSA Student Organizations Handbook requires a 2.25 minimum GPA in order to be involved in a registered student organization. The most recent UTSA Greek life academic report shows that the average GPA for sororities was 2.8 and 2.7 for fraternities. One of the most prominent downsides to fraternities and sororities is hazing. Anti-hazing laws exist in 44 of the 50 states and anti-hazing policies have been established in many Greek chapters. Getting caught hazing can lead to the suspension or even expulsion of the chapter. Phi Gamma Delta in 2009, Sigma Phi Epsilon in 2011 and Kappa Alpha Psi also in 2011, were suspended from involve-
ment at UTSA for incidences relating to hazing. In the Spring 2013 semester, the University of Central Florida (UCF) banned all Greek activity after incidences of alcohol abuse and hazing. UCF Vice President Grant Heston claimed that, “It was the right time to do it before something serious happened.” Costs are another substantial factor of greek life. Students must pay an initial rush fee, followed by a recurring rush fee for the following semesters, ranging from hundreds to thousands. Eddy Zerbe, a member of Kappa Sigma, has embraced Greek life since coming to UTSA. “The choice to join Greek life has honestly been one that has completely changed my life for the better. I joined to get more involved with my school and community and ended up finding life long friendships through a truly maturing experience that helped me become a better man.”
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is taking the initiative to promote a nursing-friendly environment for mothers on campus with the allocation of lactation rooms. Lactation rooms are becoming a trend among college campuses and workplaces cater to the needs of nursing women who are trying to balance their work and education with motherhood. Some Texas colleges, such as the UT Health Science Center in Houston, The University of Houston and the University of North Texas, already have lactation rooms in place. UTSA has joined its sister colleges around Texas in creating lactation rooms on campus as an effort to make the campus a more friendly environment to nursing mothers. Before the creation of these rooms, lactating women were confined to pumping breast milk in public restrooms or breastfeeding at secluded locations on campus. The new rooms provide a more convenient and sanitary option for new mothers. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), there are many benefits to installing lactation rooms on campuses and in the workplace. Studies conducted by DHHS have shown that after women are allowed access to these private spaces, turnover rates and absenteeism decrease while productivity improves. One UTSA student, who wished to remain anonymous, has had to personally deal with the difficulty of being a new mom while trying to earn a degree. “Breast-feeding is really beneficial for infants, but it’s also pretty difficult to breast feed while doing anything other than being a stay-at-home mom,” said the anonymous mother. “It’s pretty inconvenient since there is currently nothing in place that accounts for those situations. Accommodations for new mothers would help mothers feel less pressure to decide between going to school and making a decision they feel would be more beneficial for their child.” According to Texas Health & Safety Code - Section 165.003, businesses may use the designated “mother-friendly” stations in their promotional materials if they develop a pol-
icy supporting the practice of worksite breast-feeding. “The rooms are not solely designated for lactation, they are [also] private room options for nursing mothers who are students. Over the years we have had a couple of inquiries from students who are nursing mothers that needed a private place that doesn’t impede that intimate choice they’ve made with their child to be able to provide that benefit to their child,” said Carol Gonzalez, student ombudsperson, who has been a coordinator of this project. The lactation rooms requiring prior reservation on the Main Campus are the University Center Wild Persimmon Room (UC 2.03.02) and the University Center Acacia Room (UC 2.03.04). The lactation rooms on the Main Campus that do not need reservations are the University Center Tejas Lounge Changing Rooms (UC 2.208A and UC 2.208B). The Downtown campus location is at the Child and Adolescent Policy Research Institute (CAPRI)/Mexico Center (MNTB 2.260). Some students believe they will be beneficial to new mothers on a personal level. “The rooms are a good idea because breastfeeding in public can make mothers self-conscious,” believes Lounetia Saintginat, a UTSA biology major. Carol Gonzalez also says these rooms at UTSA are still developing and do not have all the perks of more advanced lactation rooms, since the program recently began this school year. But with time and more student and faculty usage and input, there will be improvement with the program and rooms. For more information about the hours of operation and amenities each room has, visit http://utsa.edu/health/ resources/lactation-rooms. html. For further information, Barbara Reyes, the Assistant Director of Health Promotions and Marketing at Student Health Services, will work with students and staff members on a case-by-case basis. Reyes says that although the web resource page has been up for just two weeks, discussions about the website and implementation of the program have been ongoing since the summer, and there will be more amenities, more space and more resources as the program evolves. So far Reyes and Gonzalez have only reported positive feedback.