The Paisano Volume 53 Issue 3

Page 1

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

{SINCE 1981}

Volume 53 @ThePaisano

/thepaisano

UTSA On Feb. 3, the Secular Student Alliance will host a lecture by David Silverman, president of the national organization American Atheists. The event will be held in the University Room of the Business Building at 7 p.m. Silverman’s views are not representative of the Secular Student Alliance’s members or officers.

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Issue 3

January 26 - February 2, 2015

@paisanomedia

www.Paisano-Online.com

Smoke-free campus? Not so much.

S.A. Aramark is likely to lose its $105 million food contract with the Alamodome as the venue hopes to add more local selections to its concessions menu beginning in March.

U.S.

This semester, UTSA PD has issued 0 citations to students who violate the policy. Is a tobacco-free policy enforceable?

In Puerto Rico, the ongoing $9 billion debt crisis of the governmentowned utility company PREPA may leave the island’s 3 million residents without power. The blackouts are just one financial problem among many for the U.S. territory whose governemnt agencies have amassed a debt of $72 billion.

Ethan Pham

Contributing Writer

World According to President Enrique Pena Nieto, the Mexican government is expediting its efforts to extradite the notorious cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the U.S. after his recapture earlier this month. Guzman had spent the last six months on the run following an incredible prison break using a tunnel in his floor cell; his lawyers are trying to block his extradition.

Science While many U.S. researchers have posited that a child’s race and ethinicity alone can put him or her at greater risk of becoming obese, Kim Eagle, a professor of internal medicine and health management and policy at the University of Michigan published a study linking childhood obesity to poverty. Eagle and his colleagues looked at data collected on race and body mass index from 112,000 students and then compared that data to the students’ eligibility for free school lunch programs (an indicator of poverty). The researchers concluded that obesity in children is not determined by race, but by resources.

PIZZA COUPONS INSIDE !

@ThePaisano news@paisano-online.com

UTSA has been a tobacco-free campus since June 2014. While tobacco use is currently prohibited on campus, cigarette butts can be seen scattered on the ground directly outside the McKiney Humanities building and other spots on campus.

See Tobacco, page 2 Fabian De Soto, The Paisano

PIVOT program addresses low graduation rates for first-gen students Lyanne Rodriguez Staff Writer @ThePaisano

The U.S. Department of Education has recently awarded UTSA and Alamo Colleges a five-year $3.2 million grant to initiate PIVOT, an academic success program to increase student involvement, retention and graduation rates. The PIVOT program will focus primarily on low socioeconomic students, first-time, full-time Hispanic students and firstgeneration students. According to the UTSA Office of Institutional Research, which measured students’ six-year graduation rates, first- generation students

at UTSA make up 47 percent of the student body, yet only 32 percent graduate in six years. The Hispanic population at UTSA is 51 percent while only 36 percent graduate in six years and the economically disadvantaged population is 44 percent while 38 percent graduate in six years. The PIVOT program aims to boost UTSA’s low graduation rates by creating support communities that will improve students’ overall success through the following four sub-programs. The Alamo Runners program will help students enrolled in one of the Alamo colleges while they were admitted into UTSA. This program will appoint a peer mentor who will lead

students into a dual enrollment where 12 credit hours will be taken at an Alamo college and the other three credit hours taken at UTSA. Through this initiative, students will become accustomed to a four-year university and its resources. The goal for the Alamo Runners program is for students to first graduate from an Alamo College and then transfer and graduate from UTSA. The First to Go and Graduate program (F2G&G) aims to help first-generation students, which make up almost half of UTSA’s freshman class, by creating a coaching program made up of first-generation faculty and students. The program will have a

program manager as well as peer mentors. UTSA will also initiate F2G&G Council, which will propose solutions for any practices within the institution that may hinder students’ success. The Math Matters initiative will enable UTSA to redesign the pre-requisite algebra course for engineering and science majors, MAT 1073. The redesign of the course will use the National Center for Academic Transformation emporium model, which will promote an active use of mathematics within the classroom setting. The program intends to improve the passing rate of MAT 1073, which in turn will increase the retention rates of engineer and sci-

ence majors. Students who are dually enrolled at an Alamo College and UTSA will also able to take the course when it is in effect. The Roadrunner Transition Experience program (RTE) will appoint peer mentors and a program manager to provide help and support for UTSA transfer students. RTE also intends to create events, programs and additional resources to increase transfer student graduation and retention rates. The PIVOT program sees that the appointment of faculty that resonate with students is crucial to the success of the program. One of UTSA’s faculty members, See UTSA, Page 2

Police find body in nearby apartment Paisano News Team @ThePaisano news@paisano-online.com

According to a report released by the San Antonio Police Department, the body of a 21-year-old male was found in an apartment complex located on UTSA Blvd on Jan. 9, 2016. The man was discovered lying face up on his bed

showing signs he had been deceased for sometime. The report states there were “no obvious signs of trauma” and ruled the cause “apparent sudden death.” SAPD reported that the victim’s friend attempted to contact him for three days. When the friend received no response, he went to the victim’s apartment where he was found dead. Fabian De Soto, The Paisano The 21-year-old deceased person’s permanent address is listed in the Woodlands, a suburb of Houston.


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