Foto septiembre Page 6
Volleyball wins UTSA Classic Page 7
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio
September 4, 2012
Volume 47
Issue 16
FIRST ROAD WIN!
Rex Castillo Sports Editor
Bobby McDuffie/ South Alabama Athletics
sports@paisano-online.com
Quarterback Eric Soza throws for a school record of three touchdowns against the South Alabama jaguars this past Saturday, Sept. 1, in Mobile, Al.
The Roadrunners rallied for an exhilarating road victory, 33-31, against the University of South Alabama Jaguars with a 51-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Sean Ianno with 16 seconds to play. Players credit their maturity and experience from last year as key factors that helped them secure UTSA’s first road win in the program’s history. The UTSA players wore shirts that read, “Unfinished Business” to the game, a constant reminder of what happened to them last season against
the Jaguars. Last October, South Alabama defeated the Runners in the Alamodome with a game-winning overtime touchdown after blocking Ianno’s kick to secure the win. After the win, some of the Jaguars danced on the Roadrunner logo in the middle of the field. Some of the Roadrunners used that memory as motivation. However, the Roadrunners depended on their maturity and experience from last year to keep their heads level and ready to compete. See FOOTBALL, Page 7
Federal court rejects Texas ID law New law stops deportation Associated Press
news@paisano-online.com A Texas law requiring voters to show picture ID at the polls was struck down by a three-judge federal panel, who said the state failed to prove the legislation wouldn’t harm low-income and minority voters. Thursday’s unanimous ruling was the second legal defeat in three days for one of America’s most conservative states, which on Tuesday had a different Washington panel reject its new congressional and state Legislature district maps on the grounds that they discriminated against blacks and Hispanics. But while it has lost those battles, Texas vows it may yet win the war _ in the Supreme Court. The Republican-dominated state Legislature passed a voter ID law in 2011, a measure that had long been backed by conservatives statewide. Yet the court ruled Thursday that the law imposes ``strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor’’ and noted thatTexas minorities are more likely to live in poverty. State Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican widely rumored to be considering a run for governor in 2014, said it’s now too close to Election Day to salvage the law before November. But he said he’d appeal to the Supreme Court and prevail, pointing to past decisions upholding similar ``ballot integrity safeguards’’ in Georgia and Indiana. He is also appealing the redistricting ruling. ``The (Supreme Court) said that having to take the time to gather all your documents, travel down to the Department of Motor Vehicles and pose for a photograph simply is not an infringement on the right to vote,’’ Abbott said in an interview, citing previous voter ID cases. Texas’ fight is part of a widespread push, largely by Republican-controlled
legislatures and governors’ offices, to impose strict identification requirements on voters. Democrats say fraud at the polls is largely nonexistent and that Republicans are trying to disenfranchise minorities, poor people and college students _ all groups that tend to vote Democratic. Reacting to Thursday’s ruling, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Obama administration ``believes it should be easier for eligible citizens to vote, to register and vote. ``We should not be imposing unnecessary obstacles and barriers to voter participation,’’ Carney said. Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry, though, offered a harsh rebuke: ``Chalk up another victory for fraud.’’ He did not give specific examples of fraud, but when Texas presented its case before the federal panel in July, it called witnesses who testified that either they had heard about fraud or had spoken to constituents who were concerned about it. The Justice Department countered with witnesses who said that in-person voter fraud incidents were extremely rare.
“Chalk up another victory for fraud.” Rick Perry
Governor of Texas Thursday’s judges were Rosemary Collyer, an appointee of former President George W. Bush; Robert Wilkins, an appointee of President Barack Obama; and David Tatel, an appeals court judge appointed by Bill Clinton, who wrote the decision for the panel. Tatel called the Texas law ``the most stringent in the nation’’ and noted that it would impose a heavier burden on voters than the Indiana law upheld by the Supreme Court and one in Georgia, which the Justice Department allowed to take effect without objection. ``Simply put, many Hispanics and
African-Americans who voted in the last election will, because of the burdens imposed by (the voter ID law), likely be unable to vote in the next election,’’ the opinion stated. ``This is retrogression.’’ Jon Greenbaum is chief counsel for the Washington-based Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which represented the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other parties in the suit. He said the judges were careful to spell out ways that Texas can soften the voter ID law to stand up to future legal scrutiny. ``The court let Texas know exactly what it had done wrong and what it could to do fix it,’’ Greenbaum said. ``They made absolutely sure that they weren’t overreaching’’ But Abbott’s vow to appeal means Texas may be looking for a larger Supreme Court battle regarding the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Under Section 5 of the act, Texas and all or parts of 15 other states must obtain clearance from the Justice Department’s civil rights division or a federal court before carrying out changes in elections. The states are mostly in the South and all have a history of discriminating against blacks, American Indians, Asian-Americans, Alaskan Natives or Hispanics. Abbott said the Texas voter ID law has but ``minor’’ differences to the one upheld in Indiana _ which, unlike Texas, does not have to seek preclearance to change voting laws. In Thursday’s opinion, the court appeared troubled by the fact that even though Texas would provide government-issued IDs for free, impoverished Texans would have to pay $22 for a copy of their birth certificate in order to obtain a voting ID. A birth certificate in Indiana, Abbott said, is $9. ``I don’t think a $13 difference is a constitutional difference,’’ Abbott said.
Valeria Rodriguez Staff Writer
new@paisano-online.com On Wednesday, Sept. 5, an estimated 1.7 million young undocumented immigrants may apply for the temporary right to live and work openly in the United States without fear of deportation. This new initiative by the Obama administration in immigraion policy is the first in decades The legislation, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, will allow for certain documents to be accepted as proof of continuous residency, including tax receipts, bank records, and church confirmation and other religious records. Although this is a stride in the positive direction for many immigrants to gain residency, it still does not provide citizenship. San Antonio Immigrant Youth Movement (SAIYM) treasurer and UTSA student, William Wise, states how important citizenship eligibility for immigrant youth really is. “I know many students that want to be in the military, and even though Deferred Action is great, it won’t allow them to be in the military. DREAM Act would fix that. It would allow Dreamers easier access to higher education, and that’s very important.” It’s been two months since Obama announced his support for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors or ‘DREAM’ act. This legislation has garnered some bipartisan support over the years. The program is open to immigrants, ages 15 to 31, and is designed to lift the cloud of deportation over children who were brought to the US before they were 16, have been in the country for five years, and have no criminal record. The DREAM Act has been debated 24 times since 2001 but has never passed Congress. Last Tuesday, Aug. 28, officials confirmed that those enrolled in GED programs and certain training programs will also qualify, broadening the program’s potential reach.
Earlier this year, President Obama declared in his executive order that his administration would take action on its own to implement the goals of the DREAM Act without relying on legislation from Congress. This has caused an upheaval in the political sphere. The Department of Homeland Security, under a directive from President Obama, has stopped deporting undocumented immigrants who would have qualified for the DREAM Act, but that policy does not provide a path to citizenship. The administration said the change in policy will affect as many as 800,000 immigrants. As a result, 10 federal immigration officials filed suit on Aug. 15, asking a US district judge in Dallas to block the Department of Homeland Security from implementing President Obama’s decision to give special immigration status to some 1.7 million children of illegal immigrants. The suit charges that the Dream Act is not constitutional because it was issued without congressional authorization. It says the agency action is forcing immigration agents in the field to either enforce federal law as passed by Congress or abide by the administration’s new immigration policies and priorities. “We need it; we haven’t found a true way to fix the problem. This is the only true way to find a solution for undocumented students” says Wise. Of the 10 agents who filed the lawsuit, seven are posted in Texas, one is in California, one in Delaware, and one in Utah. Two of the immigration agents are deportation officers and eight are enforcement officers. SAIYM will now become a student organization on campus for students who are eligible for Deferred Action to have easier access to the documents and support. “Having this organization on campus will have many benefits, one of them being that students are so busy with their schoolwork, an organization that is close by will allow students to be active in the larger movement,” says Wise.