01 25 2007

Page 1

THE WILD WEST

Texas State basketball plays pair of weekend games in tightly-contested division SEE SPORTS PAGE 14

SOUND SPACE, SOUND MIND Feng shui can help you organize your space and your life SEE TRENDS PAGE 6

DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911

WWW.UNIVERSITYSTAR.COM

JANUARY 25, 2007

THURSDAY

VOLUME 96, ISSUE 46

Grant could bring relief to Texas’ nursing shortage By Chelsea Juarez The University Star A grant from the Scott and White Health Care Systems has been awarded to Texas State, which will assist the establishment of a nursing program at the Round Rock Higher Education Center. “We are very fortunate and grateful for the donation,” President Denise Trauth said. “There is such a huge need for nurses in Central Texas.” The donation will be used exclusively to finance scholarships for students enrolled in the school of nursing when it opens. The target date for the St. David’s School of Nursing in Round Rock is fall 2010.

The is a large demand for registered nurses in the U.S., and in Texas, the need appears to be more significant. The national average is 825 registered nurses per 100,000 in a population, according to the St. David’s Community Health Foundation Web site. Texas lags behind with only 646 registered nurses per 100,000. Trauth said there were several reasons for the shortage of nurses. She said the lack of nursing institutions nourishes this extravagant deficiency, partly because such institutions are expensive to start. It is also estimated in five to 10 years that 40 percent of employed nurses and nursing educators will retire. Another major issue in the shortage

of nurses is the lack of spots for students in nursing schools. In 2004, nursing schools were forced to turn away 4,200 qualified applicants, because of inadequate space and resources to train the students, according to the University of Texas School of Nursing in Houston. “It is something the state has to address,” said Associated Student Government President Kyle Morris. “I’m glad to hear that someone else is jumping on board and helping our initiative. The student body is thankful.” However, the anticipated building’s fate relies on the Texas legislature’s decision to fund $2 million for the nursing school. The money will be an addition to the $6 million that was donated

last year via the St. David’s Foundation, which will help operate and house the school. Ruth Welborn, dean of the college of health professionals, said a request from the state legislature has been made but the verdict is still pending. “We are optimistic that we’ll receive it,” Welborn said. “It’s a very exciting time.” ASG is encouraging the Legislature to fund the program and is making it known that the lack of provincial nursing institutions is a necessity. “We (approached) the Legislature about President Trauth’s two initiatives of building a school of engineering and nursing,” Morris said. “We’re working hard to advance those issues.”

A lot of work lies ahead, if the Legislature funds the desired $2 million to establish the new nursing building. The work involves development of the curriculum, a hiring process of new faculty and the actual building of the school. “We have a very ambitious timeline to follow through with,” Welborn said. Trauth said once the nursing school is built and operating, Texas State will receive more funding from the state because there will be more students enrolled, If all goes well, construction will begin in 2008. The first class of juniorlevel students would be admitted in the proposed school of nursing in 2010, with the first graduating class scheduled for Spring 2012.

Swallows driven Researching biomechanics Professor steps down from chair to seek answers to balance, immobility issues from Alkek Parking Garage By Zach Halfin The University Star Texas State Parking Services officials installed highfrequency sound devices Jan. 10 to discourage birds from roosting in the Alkek Parking Garage. The Cave Swallow, Petrochelidon fulva, has been federally protected since the Migratory Bird Treaty of 1918, and they are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources threatened species list. These birds are drawn to the parking garage because of its cave-like structure and protection from the elements. A Parking Services campus-wide e-mail revealed that noise-making devices were installed to deter the birds from roosting in the garage. The e-mail explained that bird droppings “had become more than a mild aggravation.” The noisemaking devices, which cost $800 total, emit a sonic and ultrasonic screech at around 105 decibels, similar to the cry of a predator bird. These screeches are meant to spook the birds from roosting in the vicinity. Stephen Prentice, University Police program staff member, said in an e-mail correspondence provided to The University Star that there were serious health concerns involved with these bird droppings. “The problem is that cleaning the droppings off the ground on a weekend doesn’t stop it (from) ending up on lots of folks’ vehicles during the week, and even with continual cleaning it can become a health issue,” Prentice said. “Making a noise has no environmental effects. However, washing bird feces continually into the city’s ground water and sewage systems does.” Mark Brinkley, San Marcos environmental health director, said the birds pose no unique threat to the city’s groundwater. “A heavy concentration of bird droppings could affect the bacteria in the water, but everything on our streets is washed into the sewer in a good rain,” Brinkley said. Prentice said via an e-mail to The Star that health risks were one of the main concerns when deciding to install the sound devices. “One health professional also mentioned the problem with migratory birds and the concerns, regardless of how yet real, with the potential spread of bird flu,” Prentice said. Randy Simpson, assistant wildlife biology professor, said the birds pose no specific health risk to the public. “If you have really big buildup (of birds) like grackles in some places, it could possibly be a health risk, but none of these diseases have shown up in the United States,” Simpson said. “I would worry more about slipping in the

Photo courtesy of Bob Pankey

REHABILITATING: Bob Pankey, professor and former chair of the health and recreation department, explains biomechanical processes in the human body. Pankey’s research has led to a developmental leave at the Gait Analysis and Innovative Technologies Laboratory in San Antonio. By Georgia Fisher The University Star With six years under his belt as department chair, Bob Pankey has changed pace this semester to research biomechanics at the Gait Analysis and Innovative Technologies Laboratory in San Antonio. Pankey, past chair of the health, physical education and recreation department, was moved from administration to research by means of a developmental leave. The GAIT lab, formed in collaboration with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio department

See GARAGE, page 4

of rehabilitation medicine, is located at the Audie L. Murphy Veterans Hospital. Lab patients include veterans and others suffering from balance and immobility issues, and the facilities, Pankey said, are state-of-the-art. Technology at the GAIT lab can produce three-dimensional, 360-degree images — allowing therapists and researchers to assess strength, mobility and balance in a given area and make an exact, customized plan for each patient. “Not only can we get 3-D images to analyze movement,” Pankey said, “but we can get what’s called force analysis. There’s a force plate in this lab, which

measures if (subjects) are walking in a balanced way.” Pankey said such facilities are a financial impossibility for many universities. He was drawn to the location because it allows area faculty to pool their efforts and bring hands-on research home. “I’m a biomechanics professor; I’d searched around for a biomechanics lab,” he said. “Now I can bring resources back to my own university in terms of developmental research, with our own faculty and our own staff … and they (at UTHSC) are excited Texas State is reaching out to See BIOMECHANICS, page 4

San Marcos begins two-year plan to make city WiFi By Ashley Gwilliam The University Star The City Council has recently begun a projected two-year plan that would make San Marcos one of few cities in the United States to install a municipal wireless network. “Many cities have been talking about it, but only a dozen, at the most, have done it,” City Manager Dan O’Leary said. Municipal wireless networks, often called “mesh networks,” provide Wi-Fi Internet access

utilizing a system of interconnected antennas strategically placed on city streetlights to create a web of connectivity. Installation is quick and is cheaper than digging up streets to install fiber optic cables. San Marcos is in the process of hiring a consultant to manage the citywide wireless network project. After a consultant is hired, requests for proposals will be sent out to the major wireless vendors. O’Leary said a number of competitive offers are expect-

Today’s Weather

Mostly Sunny 61˚/35˚

Precipitation: 10% Humidity: 55% UV: 5 Moderate Wind: NNE 8 mph

ed. The proposals will be evaluated based on the vendor’s assessment of the network’s implementation and its costs and benefits. The best offer will be recommended to the city council. Camille Phillips, president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, said one of the greatest benefits of having a citywide wireless network would be the affordability of it making the Internet accessible to a greater range of people.

Two-day Forecast Friday Partly Cloudy Temp: 58°/45° Precip: 10%

Saturday Light Rain Temp: 64°/ 39° Precip: 70%

Proponents of municipal wireless networks believe the low cost will help to close the technology gap between lower and higher income families. More than half of all households with an income of $75,000 or more have broadband, while half of all households with an income of less than $30,000 don’t have Internet access at all, according to a report by the Consumer’s Union. “Our hope is that the Internet access will be of little or no cost,” O’Leary said. “It depends

on the vendor. In some cities, the first 30 minutes of everyday are free and additional minutes used cost a small fee.” The city network is expected to improve the public works department with the cost and convenient benefits of automatic meter reading. Consumers would be able to go online and instantly check how much electricity they are using, O’Leary said. The benefits of the improved technology have been felt by police officers in cities already

implementing it. Police officers in San Mateo, Calif. now spend an additional 8,000 or more hours on their beats, because wireless networks allow them to do more work on the field, according to the Web site muniwireless.com. Although wireless is a fairly recent commodity, it has quickly become an expectation of living for many, O’Leary said. “Wireless is a big thing of the future,” he said. “I could see the future as a number of wireless networks across the city.”

Inside News ..............1-5 Trends ...........6-10 Crossword ....... 10 Sudoku ............ 10

Texas State University-San Marcos is a member of the Texas State University System

Comics ............ 10 Opinions .......... 11 Classifieds ....... 12 Sports ......... 13,14

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