VOLUME 102, ISSUE 48
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JANUARY 30, 2013
Ticket Sales Breakdown
Athletics revenue from ticket sales has been steadily increasing since 2008. Visit UniversityStar.com for an interactive breakdown of each sport’s revenue.
New manager hopes to improve dining services
SACRED SANDS
By Wil Slade News Reporter The new leader of Chartwells at Texas State has been named and is bringing years of similar job experience at other universities to the table. Chin-Hong Chua has been promoted to resident district manager of Chartwells. He said his main concern this year will be service and addressing the specific needs of different customers in the dining areas on campus. Chua said he will use the Chartwells survey students take to get some insight into how to provide customers with what they want in the campus dining halls and restaurants. “We want to enhance the customer service experience for all of our guests,” Chua said. “We want to bring our food service to the next level.” John Root, director of Auxiliary Services, oversees a number of the self-supporting areas on campus such as the bookstore, dining services and mail services. Root said he is confident in Chua’s ability to succeed in the new role. “I saw his ability grow over the years, coming to us from Florida Atlantic University,” Root said. “He already had a well-rounded background with Chartwells at that time, and he really was a big help.” Chua said he is originally from Malaysia and moved to the United States in 1996. He began a career at Chartwells 14 years ago as a student employee. “I started this career washing dishes in the dining hall at the University of Arkansas,” Chua said. Chua received his bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Arkansas and worked at the school for a few years before moving on to Florida Atlantic. Chua worked as the Chartwells director of retail operations at Florida Atlantic for three years before being promoted to director of operations. Chua then worked as the Chartwells director of operations at Texas State for four years. He left in the summer of 2012 to take the job of senior director of operations at Texas A&M University. Chua said he is excited to be back at Texas State and is eager to enhance the campus dining experience of all students and faculty. Chua said students are encouraged to talk with managers and chefs to make sure the dining halls can serve specific dietary needs. Diversity can be seen everywhere at Texas State, including the dietary needs and preferences of different students on campus. “You cannot just generalize our customers’ needs all over campus,” Chua said. “What works in The Lair doesn’t necessarily mean that a customer will like it in Commons Dining Hall.” The needs of every student cannot always be met, but Chua said he enjoys the challenge of making sure what is wanted in the dining halls and restaurants is what will be served. Abel Valencia, a recent Texas State graduate and marketing manager for Chartwells, works alongside Chua to find out what students and other customers are seeking in the dining establishments on
READ chartwells, PAGE 3
Kristen Lefebvre, Staff Photographer
Lobsang Kunga and Tenzin Nyema, Tibetan monks, create a mandala Jan. 28 in the LBJ Student Center. A mandala is a traditional Buddhist sand painting used to bless a region with compassion.
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-Lobsang Dhondup, Tibetan monk Some of the remains of the sand painting will be thrown into the San Marcos River as a blessing.
Future housing plans aim to consider residents’ convenience, environment
Map courtesy of City of San Marcos
In terms of the Buddha, it does not necessarily mean someone out there. The Buddha means enlightenment, totally enlightened.”
READ monks, PAGE 6
Research park fills empty spaces
By Minerva Hernandez-Garcia News Reporter
By Christina Cantu Special to the Star
Residents and community leaders have been working together to create the Comprehensive Master Plan, which will act as a roadmap to the locations of future housing developments in San Marcos. Bill Taylor, chair of the Steering Committee, said the process of putting together the Master Plan started more than a year ago. Since then city officials have held several workshops during which community members could weigh in on where they would like to see development in the future. A Preferred Growth Scenario Map was presented during the Jan. 23 Master Plan Open House, showing color-coded regions distinguishing the most- and least-dense areas of the city. The map depicts a guideline for zoning and placement of infrastructure. “We’ve had meeting after meeting where people were invited,” Taylor said. “We invited people to come out and said, ‘In 10 years we expect 30,000 more people. Where do you want to put them?’” The 30,000 additional people expected to come to San Marcos include new students. Consequently, one of the questions needing to be answered is where student housing should be built in the future. Kate McCarty, member of the Citizens Advisory Committee, said student housing should be concentrated close to the university.
Texas State’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research Park is has found companies with unique products to fill vacancies in its building. S.T.A.R. Park will house and assist startup companies in its McCarty Lane location, said Executive Director Stephen Frayser. Companies hoping to apply for a space had to satisfy two tests to be eligible. The companies must be creating a unique, new product working toward a significant impact. The startups must have an affiliation with the university, such as offering formal internship programs or licensing intellectual property. Frayser said the park is not only a real estate location, but an environment for beneficial interaction between the university and businesses. “It is a physical place that embodies experiment and (is) a bridge between the academic world and the business world,” Frayser said. “It is a technical research incubator that provides an environment to assist entrepreneurial, tech-based, scalable businesses to reach high probabilities of success.” The first company to officially be housed on the S.T.A.R. Park premises is MicroPower, which teamed up with Texas State in 2009 to develop energy-saving technology. MicroPower is working on developing a semi-conductor microchip that can turn heat directly into electricity, which saves energy,
READ HOUSING, PAGE 3
READ s.t.a.r., PAGE 3
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