Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio
UTSA
{SINCE 1981}
Volume 52
Issue 5
September 15 - September 22, 2015
While the necessary contracts and legal documents are still being processed, the proposal to sell alcohol at oncampus sporting events has been approved. The details have yet to be determined, but of-age students can expect the sale of alcohol at games in the next academic school year.
Texas The Lone Star State will soon become the home of resettled refugees as the U.S. prepares to take in 10,000 Syrians fleeing their warstricken country. Alhough the exact number of people is unclear, Texas has been the home of about 10 percent of the 70,000 refugees per year admitted by the U.S. So far, more Syrian refugees have resettled in Texas than any other state.
U.S.
Shabazz Dawkins, The Paisano
Rough start, Roadrunners Darryl Sherrod Staff Writer @paisanosports1
sports@paisano-online.com
The UTSA Football team held
ultimately they were handed their second loss in a row to start the season — this time crumbling at the hands of the Kan-
sas State Wildcats, by a score of 30-3. With the program now in its fifth season and expectations rising each season, the team
hoped for much better outcome. Head Coach Larry Coker, having over 40 years of coaching experience under his
belt, pinpointed exactly what led to the loss, saying, “We can’t beat ourselves. We had some drops, had way too
many penalties.” He continued by saying, “You have penalties like that, you’re not going to win. And then we missed some See Sports, page 7
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The Obama administration has announced plans to simplify the FAFSA application process. The new plan will release its forms in October rather than January and will include an IRSretrieval tool, which will let students and parents logging into FAFSA prepopulate much of the form. Starting Oct. 2016, the form will require parent’s information from the “prior-prior” year, allowing the IRS to fill out much of the form for the student.
its home opener this past Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Alamodome. The team came out strong and fought hard, but
Science Anthropologist Lee Berger and a team funded by the National Geographic Society discovered fossilized remains deep within the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave in South Africa. The remains of fifteen individuals of all ages were excavated, revealing a new species of pre- human beings now named Homo naledi. Naledi’s brain was no larger than an orange . The species stood at about 5 feet tall and had humanlike feet, suggesting their ability to walk long distances.
Fabian DeSoto , The Paisano
Quentin Hemphill Staff Writer @QuentinHemphill news@paisano-online.com
Texting while driving is an epidemic that is quickly becoming one of the country’s top killers. Drivers assume they can handle texting while driving and remain safe, but the numbers say otherwise. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), texting while driving is about six times more likely to cause an accident than driving while intoxicated. In 2012, 421,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver – a 9
Trending on campus:
percent increase from the 387,000 people injured in 2011, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). With the rise of social media on college campuses in conjunction with students’ decreasing attention spans, texting while driving, even for those individuals who believe they are skilled in the act, is extremely dangerous. UTSA senior Joseph Cortinas admits that he does text and drive, but only when he is at a red light. “I used to text while driving, even though I knew it was bad, but now I only do it when I’m stopped at a red light.” Even though Cortinas knows that it is against the law in San Antonio, he believes that red lights are the
safest places to text when he is on the road. “I feel like I can’t wait until I get home to text, so whenever I’m at a red light, I sneak and use my phone,” he explained. The CDC explains that there are three main types of distractions while operating a vehicle: visual, which involves taking your eyes off the road; manual, taking your hands off the wheel; and cognitive, your mental state or lack thereof while driving. Texting while driving incorporates all three types of distractions. It is already risky to briefly take your eyes off of the road, but to do so while also taking your hands off the wheel to type and taking your mind off of driving to compose your
message can lead to a disastrous incident. Many states and municipalities have begun to take action to prevent texting while driving. On Jan. 1 of this year, the San Antonio ordinance went into effect that prohibits drivers from hands-on cellphone use while behind the wheel. Originally, San Antonio police officers observed a grace period where they only gave violators of the new law a written warning. However, on Feb. 1, when the grace period ended, police officers began writing tickets that carried fines up to $200. According to the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), between the end of the grace period on Feb. 1 and Mar. 16, officers had issued about 1,609 tickets to violaSee Dangerous ,Page 2
“ I don’t want to say people fight for them, but there’s always a line. They say it’s more of a workout than the treadmill, so they’re always busy.” — Senior kinesiology major, Marlene Calderon on the two new Stairmasters at the Rec