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A tribute to the pioneer of Texas Baseball
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS
www.UniversityStar.com
FEBRUARY 2, 2006
THURSDAY
VOLUME 95, ISSUE 49
Applications for Fall ’06 resident assistants due soon
A BURNING PASSION
PYNE’S ON FIRE: Fire expert Stephen J. Pyne spoke to an audience regarding fire’s effects on society at the Lovell Distinguished Lecture Series on Wednesday evening at Flowers Hall.
By Ashley Richards The University Star
keeping several returning RAs at each residence hall in order to balance the staffs. The application deadline is Bailey Brown, pre-mass comapproaching for students who munication freshman, applied want to be a resident assistant for a position as an RA for next next year. year and said she wants to reap Online apthe benefits of plication forms the job while and required she is required reference mato remain in the terial must be dormitories. completed and “My RAs got submitted to me interested in Residence Life applying. They by noon on are great people Feb. 6. and have really Students can made me feel find RA appliat home here,” cation forms at Brown said. “I the Residence hope that I can — Bailey Brown make other resLife Web site, pre-mass communication idents feel the which also has the reference freshman same way.” information On average, students must Ellison said turn in. there are two to three applicants “We need RAs with a variety for each vacant position, which of skills to suit the needs of our means not all students who apvarious communities and staffs,” ply will be offered an RA posisaid Lynn Ellison, assistant direc- tion. tor of staffing and leadership, in Ellison said an RA’s primaan e-mail. “However, most suc- ry duties include being a role cessful candidates have a strong model, providing customer desire to take on a significant service, enforcing policy, crises leadership role on campus, have management, helping build the a good understanding of the re- community and playing a role quirements of the position and in the academic success of the have good time management residents. skills.” “In order to perform these When considering an RA duties, the RA must develop a position, Ellison said students personal relationship with the should keep in mind their ability residents on his or her floor,” Elto successfully balance academ- lison said. ics and the RA job. Each year, A job as an RA is an opporEllison said, Residence Life hires See APPLICANTS, page 5 between 50 and 75 new RAs,
“M
y RAs got me interested in applying. They are great people and have really made me feel at home here.”
A.D. Brown/ Star photo
Lovell Lecture series promotes knowledge of geographical topics By Jacqueline Davis The University Star A self-described “pyromantic” brought the literal question “should we fight fire with fire?” to the forefront of a geography discussion Wednesday night. About 100 Texas State students, faculty and members of the surrounding community gathered in Flowers Hall to hear guest speaker, fire expert Stephen J. Pyne, lecture about fire’s significance in history and its present and future impacts on society. Pyne’s lecture was a part of the Eighth Annual Distinguished Lovell Lecture series. The goal of the annual lectures is to promote knowledge and interest in geographical subjects. The evening’s topic was “American history with fire in its eye: How we got
to a world with too much of the wrong fire and too little of the right.” Pyne took the group through society’s historical reactions and responses to fire on a grand scale. He focused on a longstanding debate carried by firefighters and geographers alike: should people attempt to completely contain fires, or should they reintroduce fire to the ecosystem in an attempt to control its likelihood to destroy again on a grand scale? Lovell Center Director Denise Blanchard said that Pyne, as a nongeographer, has better framed ideas of geography than actual geographers in regard to his persistent study of fire. Pyne delivered a PowerPoint presentation containing historical facts about fires, photographs and timelines that depicted repetitive responses of society to the destructiveness of fire. He sug-
gested that fire has had several stages throughout history—Aboriginal fire, agricultural fire, industrial fire, cooperative fire and friendly fire. People have handled fire by letting it roam free, by collectively fighting it, and by cultivating it as a preventative measure, Pyne said. “I thought it was pretty interesting the different steps they took throughout history to control fire,” said Melissa Levings, geography sophomore. Lauren Bilbe, geography senior, said the topics the lecture covered were not what she anticipated. “I didn’t realize that fire management is not a refined practice at this point and that there aren’t clear solutions to for fighting it,” Bilbe said. “It wasn’t what I expected. I thought the presentation would focus more on the present than the past history of fire.”
University professor appointed The Exonerated gives insight into lives to state social work committee of those falsely accused of homicide By Jacqueline Davis The University Star One of Texas State’s own department directors will play a pivotal role in deciding how issues such as foster care, mental healthcare and other social services are regulated in the state of Texas. Gov. Rick Perry appointed Dorinda Noble, director of the School of Social Work, to the Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners at the end of last semester. The nine-member board is responsible for regulating all professions under the umbrella of social work in
Texas. The board is a state agency authorized by the Senate to create regulations and is associated with the Texas Department of State Health Services, according the board’s Web site. Noble said she is a part of a team that acts as a watchdog for more than 20,000 licensed social workers. She will assist in investigating situations where a social worker may not be properly doing their job. “What it does is protect the public. The state has a constitutional, guaranteed right to protect its citizens and to make sure its employees meet certain qualifications,” Noble said.
Noble, who has similar experience with social work regulation as the former chair of the Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners, will help to ensure that Texas social workers are qualified for their various positions. This helps citizens gain confidence that Texas physicians, psychologists, dieticians and others in health professions have taken nationally standardized tests, have clean criminal records, letters of reference and supervised work experience. Noble’s interest in social work stems from her childSee COMMITTEE, page 3
By Carl Norberg The University Star
“I
t’s about our court system, the greatest court system in the world, and that there are inherent flaws in it, and there are things that go wrong..”
The Texas State Department of Theatre and Dance will present its re-creation of Jessica Blank and Eric Jensen’s award-winning play, The Exonerated, beginning Feb. 8 at the Texas State Theatre Center. Directed by theatre and dance lecturer Paige Bishop, the play chronicles the lives of six death row inmates who were wrongfully accused, incarcerated and later exonerated. “It’s the characters telling their stories,” said Zach Stecklein, assistant to the director and
— Zach Stecklein assistant to play director Paige Bishop
theatre graduate student. The play is a reconstruction of actual courtroom scenes and interviews with more than 40 death row inmates who have been absolved of their crimes. Every line is taken directly from court transcripts or interviews from an individual who has
been exonerated to produce an accurate portrayal of their lives and the events that took place after they reclaimed what was left of them. The Exonerated was originally produced as a stage readSee EXONERATED, page 3
Rio Vista Dam improvements to attract public with recreational areas By Ashley Richards The University Star Major cracks and crumbles discovered in the Rio Vista Dam have triggered city, state and federal officials to begin planning a reconstruction of the area that will transform the 102-year-old dam into what they hope will be an inviting recreational area. A primary goal identified by Dan O’Leary, San Marcos city manager, was to maintain the water level because he said the existence of the dam affects the river level all the way to Joe’s Crab Shack restaurant. “The second goal was we wanted to maintain or enhance the tubing experience,” O’Leary
“I
t makes the whole area a lot safer — taking out the crumbling concrete, spreading out the drop off — all those things make a much more pleasant and safe area.”
—Melani Howard watershed protection manager
said. “The third goal was we wanted to try to have it completed by Memorial Day.” The City Council, engineers and contractors are still striving toward meeting the projected finish date, O’Leary said. Additionally, O’Leary said he asked that those working on the Rio Vista Dam project remain
Today’s Weather
Sunny 82˚/47˚
Precipitation: 0% Humidity: 37% UV: 5 Moderate Wind: WNW 10 mph
aware and cautious of the endangered species in the area. Melani Howard, watershed protection manager, said some construction on the riverbank near the dam is scheduled to begin within the next week. That work will include scaling down the steep, vertical drop of the steep west bank, How-
ard said. The initial demolition work on the riverbank will involve pulling out concrete and moving dirt, O’Leary said. Howard said boulders measuring three to nine feet in diameter are going to be brought in for construction of rapids at the dam. Currently, the rapid has a six-foot drop, Howard said, but the transformation of the dam will change it to a twofoot drop. “We’ll take the extra four feet to make additional rapids with about two feet drops as well,” Tiffany Searcy/Star Photo Howard said. “It’s like taking one dam and spreading it out DAMMED UP: The Rio Vista Dam, located near the River Pub and Grill, will undergo a $1 million transformation. Reconstruction will over a 200-foot area.” The new, shallower drops include stabilizing the existing structure with the addition of white
Two-day Forecast Friday Sunny Temp: 77°/ 45° Precipitation: 20%
Saturday Sunny Temp: 70°/ 20° Precipitation: 20%
water rapids and construction of a sunbathing area. Construction should be completed by Memorial Day.
See DAM, page 5
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