Katherine Leidlein on how she landed a gig with NPR page 5
Football player Nate Leonard explains his love for writing page 9
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio
{SINCE 1981}
UTSA Thousands of UTSA alumni and students are expected to attend UTSA’s homecoming football game this Saturday, Oct. 11. UTSA spirit events will take place throughout the week.
Vol. 50, Iss. 7
October 7 - October 14
{ WWW.PAISANO-ONLINE.COM}
2014
THE GREEN FUND WITHERS
San Antonio Fredericksburg’s annual Oktoberfest was held last weekend to celebrate German heritage in Texas with authentic German beer, food and entertainment.
Megan Jenkins Intern
news@paisano-online.com Beginning with the Fall 2015 semester, students will no longer pay a green/environmental services fee. The $5 fee, which is collected from UTSA students each semester – and $2.50 fee for each summer session fewer than six weeks – is ending. All the monies collect-
Texas As the gubernatorial campaign enters its most critical month, Attorney General Greg Abbott reports more than $30 million in funds while Senator Wendy Davis reports only $5.7 million.
ed from the fee have been stored in the Green Fund. The Green Fund was put into motion by the Texas Legislature in House Bill 3353 as a five-year program to “provide environmental improvements” at state universities and medical schools whose students approved the fee with a majority vote. The fee, approved by UTSA students in Spring 2010, can no longer be collected after the fifth anniversary of its establishment.
Although the Green Fund will stop collecting the fees, the Green Fund committee, a group consisting of students, faculty and staff who review and vote on sustainability projects for the university, will continue to operate until all the money from the fund is spent. Currently, the fund contains over $600,000, with more than $100,000 to be added in the Spring of 2015. See GREEN, page 3
GREENFUND SPENDING OVER TIME
U.S. Early Monday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriage in at least five states after turning down state petitions to uphold same-sex marriage bans.
World An unidentified NBC News journalist returned to Nebraska early Monday morning after contracting Ebola while on assignment in Liberia. Europe reported its first case of Ebola after a Spanish nurse caught the virus.
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Is AIS a waste of time, or a valuable new asset? UTSA College of Sciences Research students with an under“It can be tough some- Conference draws record attendance UTSA
Lorenzo Garcia and Jorge Ibara News Editor and Writer news@paisano-online.com
Rarely when a student enters college do they possess the ability to become a scholar. Academic Inquiry and Scholarship (AIS), an addition to the core curriculum, is an organized effort by the UTSA faculty to teach incoming freshmen the skills required for scholarship. According to Tammy Wyatt, the associate dean of UTSA’s University College, the reason for this is because AIS is unlike any other course offered at the university in that is does not further a student’s progress towards their major. Wyatt explained that the goal of AIS is not to teach study skills but to provide
standing of academic inquiry, “the asking of questions and creation of knowledge,” from the three cultures of inquiry: the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Wyatt, along with much of UTSA’s faculty, hope the course will help freshmen not only quickly identify an area of study they are interested in, but also “develop a respect for other disciplines.” A notable, unique feature of AIS is its support team, which includes faculty, teaching assistants and peer mentors — specially trained upperclassmen that not only assist AIS students with course work, but also spend time with them outside of the class room. Freshman reactions to the course vary from critical acclaim to disdain for the course. Among the freshmen currently enrolled is business marketing major Krista Perez.
times, financially speaking,” said Perez. “I just don’t want to have to waste money on a class that isn’t as helpful as it could be. Unless it somehow incorporates my major in further detail, I don’t think this is a course a student should have to take.” Perez is also disappointed in the course since she was told it would teach her and her peers skills they need to know in order to thrive at UTSA, a promise she believes has not been fulfilled so far. “All I’ve learned about is eating healthy and why it’s bad to plagiarize, but that’s stuff that has been nailed into my head since high school. It hasn’t taught me anything significant I didn’t know,” she explained. While Perez had nothing positive to say about AIS, she claimed her professor and peer mentor should not
Web - Gear Head In this week’s episode of Gear Head, Jesus Garcia discusses the thrill of driving older, recklessly fast muscle cars. Online @ paisano-online.com
See AIS, page 3
UTSA Pavela Bambekova Staff Writer news@paisano-online.com
The 6th annual UTSA College of Sciences Research Conference more than doubled its attendance from last year, with 765 students registered. “Every year, it gets bigger and bigger — so big that we might have to find a larger venue for the next conference,” said Conference Chair and Associate Dean Dr. Floyd Wormley Jr. Dr. George Perry, dean of the College of the Sciences, explained that the purpose of the conference is to “bring exceptional science to our students in a place where they can learn.” This year’s theme was “Excellence in Basic and Translational Research.”
Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, an expert in the field of HIV research, was the keynote speaker for the event. Dr. Hildreth is the dean of the College of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Davis, and a recent recipient of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Director’s Pioneer Award. “It was hard getting a world-renowned speaker to attend, but people like UTSA — they like coming here,” said Cheryl Negrete, a member of the conference’s planning committee. “This is the first year in which we have had an outside keynote guest.” Several students who attended the keynote speech talked with Hildreth following his presentation. See CONFERENCE, page 2
ARTS - Get fit or diet trying
SPORTS - UTSA vs. FIU
Learn some healty eating tips that go hand-in-hand with fitness. page 6
The Roadrunners will host the FIU Panthers at home. Sat., Oct. 11 @ 6:00 p.m.
Please recycle this newspaper!