02 08 2006

FREEWAY FLIRTING

LETTING IT FLY

SEE TRENDS PAGE 5

SEE SPORTS PAGE 10

New Web site allows singles to meet behind the wheel

Stultz keeping it real on the field

TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS

www.UniversityStar.com

WEDNESDAY

FEBRUARY 8, 2006

Veteran, former professor emeritus passes away at 75

VOLUME 95, ISSUE 51

ONE OF OUR OWN THE YOUNGEST REGENT: Pubic administration junior Francis Bartley was recently appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the Texas State University System Board of Regents.

Although he will not hold voting privileges, Bartley can bring student views to the board for the first time.

By Magen Gray The University Star

Texas State University in 1953, he married his wife, Elida.

“We met at a dance in New Former Professor Emeritus Braunfels. My mother used to of Education Carlos Gonzalez take me to the dances, and that Rodriguez died on Jan. 28 sur- is where I met him,” Elida Rodrirounded by his family in his guez said. home.

In 1961, RoRodriguez, driguez was 75, served at called to active then-Southduty in the U.S. west Texas Air Force, takState Universiing him and his ty for 29 years family around as the director the country and of the Bilinto Okinawa, Jagual Bicultural pan.

— Gisela Greco-Llamas Education Rodriguez grant director of earned degrees Program. bilingual education in “He was the education, soul of the bijournalism and lingual educaeducational tion department,” said Gisela administration from Southwest Greco-Llamas, current grant Texas State University before redirector of bilingual education. ceiving his doctorate in curricu“He strongly supported the lum and instruction from the grant-scholarship program and University of Texas at Austin.

Bilingual Education Student OrRodriguez began teaching at ganization.”

Southwest Texas State UniverRodriguez was born in San sity in 1971 as the grant project Marcos and graduated from San coordinator for bilingual educaMarcos High School in 1948. tion.

After serving in the U.S. Army See PROFESSOR, page 4 and graduating from Southwest

e was “H the soul of the bilingual education department.”

Students have opportunity to travel United States with exchange program

By Leah Kirkwood The University Star A little-known Texas State program offers students a chance to attend one of 180 colleges and universities across the country with no tuition increase or change of enrollment status.

The National Student Exchange program has placed 150 Texas State students in host institutions across the United States and the U.S. territories since 1997.

“The only drawback to the program is not enough people know about it,” said Lisa Chrans, NSE assistant coordinator.

The program has two in-state tuition payment options. Students can choose to pay either Texas resident tuition while attending another university or pay their host school’s state tuition, which may be less expensive than what they pay to attend Texas State.

Shannon Wisner, digital and

photographic imaging senior, said she enjoyed the experience of spending the Fall 2005 semester at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.

“I loved the town,” Wisner said. “I felt like I knew everyone in the town even though I was only there a semester.”

Wisner spent a lot of time hiking and said the Grand Canyon was only an hour and a half away. She lived in a house off campus with some of her friends from other states.

Wisner originally planned to spend the full school year in Arizona while working on her digital and photographic imaging degree, but she decided to cut her trip short because of the school’s curriculum.

“It was kind of hard to get used to because the photo program was really communications-based and (at Texas State) it’s art-based, which is more

Stephanie Gage/Star photo Pianist Russel C. Riepe and clarinetist David Pino perform during Celebration of Courage: A Common Experience in the Arts on Sunday afternoon in the Evans Auditorium.

Today’s Weather

71˚/39˚

Texas State student joins university system board

By Ashley Richards The University Star A decades-long effort to place a student on each university system board of regents in Texas became an official reality last week when Gov. Rick Perry announced his picks, among them being Francis Bartley, public administration junior, who will serve on the Texas State University System Board of Regents until Feb. 2007.

Each of the 10 Texas boards of regents now has 10 regent positions. The newest addition was created with the passing of Senate Bill 934, authored by

Precipitation: 0% Humidity: 31% UV: 5 Moderate Wind: WNW 8 mph

Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, in the 79th Texas Legislative session. The students serving on their university’s board of regents do not hold voting power and they will not be counted to determine a quorum, the number of members needed to begin a meeting.

“I’m just grateful the process is working the way that the bill envisioned it to work,” Wentworth said.

Wentworth’s initial bill was written to replace one of the original nine regents with a student who would hold equal voting and quorum powers. A majority of the members on the Senate Subcommittee on Higher Educa-

tion opposed the original bill. Once it was rewritten, the student regent bill passed both the House and Senate with heavy support.

“I truly believe that the perspective of the students will be a genuine help to the regents,” Wentworth said.

Jordan Anderson, Associated Student Government president, said voting power for a student regent is not a forgotten goal. He is satisfied with the student regent position, considering it took many years of effort, but Anderson still believes a student with voting See REGENT, page 3

Police academy offers training courses for residents

See NSE, page 4

MAKING BEAUTIFUL MUSIC

Sunny

Monty Marion/Star feature photo

By Anna Heffley The University Star The Citizens’ Police Academy, a free 13-week training course, will begin its spring session Feb. 21.

The class is open to anyone who lives or works in San Marcos, is at least 18 years old and has no pending criminal court cases.

“The academy is a great (and free) way for the citizens to learn more about their local police department,” San Marcos Police Department Sgt. Bob Klett, supervisor of Community Services, said in an e-mail.

Klett said SMPD wants citizens to have a chance to gain a better understanding of the missions and operations of the department.

“This class is not only for our supporters, but those who may not be, as we hope to bridge the gaps of communication and

“I

t helps you understand why the police do the things they do and what’s going on in their heads..”

— Justin Hines physics junior

understanding,” Klett said. “We find that our instructors often learn as much about the citizens and their concerns as the citizens learn about us.”

Participants will be introduced to the basic skills officers are trained in such as patrol tactics, criminal and narcotics investigation, driving while intoxicated procedures and family violence.

The academy is also beneficial for residents, said Justin Hines,

Two-day Forecast Thursday Sunny Temp: 68°/ 44° Precipitation: 0%

Friday Few Showers Temp: 64°/ 43° Precipitation: 30%

a physics junior who completed the course last year.

“I would encourage college kids especially to take the class.

It helps you understand why the police do the things they do and what’s going on in their heads,” Hines said.

Hines said each night focuses on a different division of the police department, like the SWAT team, child abuse investigation and crash investigation.

Part of the academy training is a ride-along with a police officer. Hines said this was one of the most exciting nights of the academy.

“That’s the most scared I’ve ever been in my life, when a cop looks at me and says, ‘OK, it’s time to find a guy with a gun,’” Hines said.

Hines said students get to choose the times they go on the ride-along, and he chose the 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift for the excitement.

Inside

TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS

Classifieds ......... 9 Comics .............. 7 Crossword ......... 7 News ..............1-4

Opinions ............ 8 Sports .............. 10 Trends ............. 5,6

There are also two optional “hands-on” events on Saturdays.

One is a driving course and one is a shooting course. Hines said both are well worth the time.

Classes begin at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at SMPD Headquarters. Each class lasts about three hours, and a meal is provided.

To apply, pick up an application at the San Marcos Police Department or fill one out online at www.ci.san-marcos.tx.us/ departments/police/cpa.htm.

For more information, call SMPD at (512) 754-2270.

To Contact Trinity Building Phone: (512) 245-3487 Fax: (512) 245-3708 www.UniversityStar.com © 2006 The University Star

PAGE TWO The University Star

Wednesday in Brief

February 8, 2006

starsof texas state Sheila Hargett, head of costume in the department of theatre and dance for 35 years, was the featured designer at the Texas Educational Theatre Association Conference held Jan. 18-21 in Austin.

Hargett has designed costumes for more than 100 productions and has supervised more than 100 student designers. In addition to her work at Texas State, she has designed regionally for the Dallas Shakespeare Festival, Southern Methodist Universi-

ty, the Texas Playwrights Theatre Company, the Live Oak Theatre and Zilker Theatrical Productions.

She has also been recognized internationally, as her work was selected for display at the 2003 International Prague Quadrennial Exhibit and at the 2005 World Stage Design in Toronto, Canada. She is currently working on designs for the upcoming Texas State productions of The Rover and The Next Amendment.

News Contact — Kirsten Crow, starnews@txstate.edu

Calendar of

Free Swim

STARS OF TEXAS STATE POLICY Do you know someone at Texas State who has recently celebrated a great achievement? Nominate your choice to appear in The Star as a “Star of Texas State.” Write an e-mail to starletters@txstate.edu with the subject line “Stars of Texas State,” and include your nominee’s name, his/her relationship to the university, contact information for yourself and your nominee, and a brief description of the achievement. Also include a photo of your nominee if available. Accepted nominees will be featured at the top of Page Two.

EVENTS Clubs & Meetings Wednesday The Association of Information Technology Professionals will be holding its next chapter meeting at 5 p.m. in the LBJ Student Center, Room 3-3.1.

ACOA/Dysfunctional Families Group will meet from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Counseling Center. For more information, please call (512) 245-2208.

The Network, a peer education team at Texas State dedicated to promoting healthy attitudes and behavior among the student body, meets at 6 p.m. in the LBJSC, Room 3-10.1. For more information, contact the Alcohol and Drug Resource Center at (512) 245-3601 or je12@txstate. edu or hc1066@txstate.edu, or just come by the LBJSC, Suite 5-4.1 An agility dog show at the Hays County Civic Center, hosted by the 1989 Southwest Texas State University alumni, begins and will continue through Sunday. Parking and admission are free. For more information, please contact Karen Dahle at kdahle@scuc.txed.net or (210) 383-7811.

Thursday

Facing the Fear: An Anxiety/ Panic Group will meet from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Counseling Center. For more information, call the Counseling Center at (512) 245-2208.

Chi Alpha Christian Fellow-

Texas State opens its doors on Bobcat Day

Events Wednesday The Catholic Student Center will have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 6 to 8 p.m. in the CSC chapel.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Society will meet Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 8 p.m. Room 3-11.1 in the LBJSC. Thursday The Communications Club will give out coffee, doughnuts and good conversation from 9 to 11 a.m. at Centennial Hall in the second-floor lobby.

A summer job fair will take place in the LBJSC Ballroom. For more information, please contact Josi Garrott at (512) 245-2465.

The Rock, Praise & Worship will take place at the CSC at 7:30 p.m.

The American Marketing Assocation will host guest speaker Jay Mill, president and owner of Round Rock Express at 5:30 p.m. in the LBJSC, Room 3-14.1.

Campus Sports Wednesday 2-for-1 student green fees at the Texas State Golf Course.

Armando Sanchez/Star photo Sarah Garrison, university program analyst, takes a break from work to swim at the Aqua Sports Center Tuesday afternoon.

CRIME BL TTER San Marcos Police Department

Feb. 6, 10:07 a.m.

Possession of Controlled Substance/500 W. Hutchison St. A 9th grade student at Rebound Alternative Education Center distributed a prescription medication, Xanax, to two other Rebound students. All three students ingested the Xanax and became intoxicated.

University Police Department Feb. 4, 4:25 a.m.

Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Disorderly Conduct: Noise/San Marcos Hall — A police officer was dispatched to San Marcos Hall for a noise complaint. Upon further investigation, a student was issued a citation for disorderly conduct: noise and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Crime stoppers: UPD 245-7867 SMPD 353-TIPS

ASG Beat

Here is what is going on with the Associated Student Government this week: Prior to the weekly meeting on Monday, interested senators met with a Texas State Tram representative to discuss the upcoming tram contract. One of the main topics of discussion was the increase of the bus fee, which is a flat student fee. There was a goal of trying to find the right fee increase to fit the student body as a whole.

This goal factors into the university’s goal of creating a predictable tuition rate.

There was also discussion of finding ways to encourage students to use the buses, especially if they live in areas that are serviced by the Texas State Tram system.

ASG President Jordan Anderson also alluded to ending

the printed schedule of classes that are published each semester. He said that since so many students use CatsWeb to access course listings, the printing of these schedules is becoming unnecessary.

Anderson also informed ASG that the new student regent has been selected. The new regent is Francis Bartley, public administration junior..

Students are reminded that if they have any issues they would like to bring to the attention of ASG, they should attend the meetings on Monday nights in the LBJ Student Center. Also, they can come to the grievance booth in The Quad on Feb. 22 to speak to an ASG representative.

—Courtesy of Associated Student Government

The Office of Admissions will be hosting Bobcat Day on Saturday, Feb. 11, with check-in beginning at 9 a.m. on the third floor of the LBJ Student Center.

Bobcat Day is open to all students and parents who wish to learn more about Texas State and will last until 3 p.m. During the day, sessions will be conducted on admissions, financial aid and scholarships, residence life, transfer credit and multicultural student affairs. A browsing area called University Exchange allows guests to visit with faculty from all academic departments and staff from student service offices. Guests will also have an opportunity to take a campus tour, visit the residence halls and meet with current Texas State students.

There is no registration fee to attend Bobcat Day, and guests do not need to R.S.V.P. in advance. Guests may purchase a meal ticket to The Lair for lunch that day. Tickets are $5 each and may be purchased at check-in.

For more information, please contact Admissions at (512) 245-2340.

It’s delicious!

The Fine Art Student Association is having a meeting at 5 p.m. in the Joann Cole Mitte Building, Room 4112.

ship will hold its weekly meeting at 8:30 pm in Old Main, Room 320. Enjoy contemporary worship, relevant teaching, prayer and plenty of fun. Everyone is welcome. Contact the fellowship at (512) 557-7988 or mail@texasstatechialpha.com

NEWS

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

REGENT: Bartley ready for new challenges CONTINUED from page 1

privileges on the board is necessary.

“Everyone’s going to be hesitant to see how this first year works out,” Anderson said. “I’m confident our students are capable of making adequate and wise decisions.”

Bartley will go to work with the other regents immediately. He and the regents have plans to meet next week to update Bartley on the current issues.

Anderson said he is looking forward to the first board of regents meeting with a student serving.

“I think it is a step in the door. It’s something that students in the state have been pushing for. It’s about time, and it’s a great thing that its now here,” Anderson said. “This will help students have a closer relationship with the regents and a direct voice.”

The first official meeting of the TSUS Board of Regents that will include a student member is set to take place Feb. 16 and 17 in Huntsville, Bartley said.

“I think they’ll be very cooperative,” Bartley said. “I know they’re very excited about me being appointed and looking forward to what I have to say.”

Bartley said when he first heard of the senate bill suggesting a student regent position, he was hopeful it would pass.

“It’s important to have a student on there to bring a different perspective,” Bartley said. “I hope to bring a different undergraduate viewpoint. I know tuition is always a concern of students.

That’ll probably be my main focus.”

In a previous Texas Legislative session, tuition was deregulated, delegating the responsibility of setting tuition

“I

t’s important to have a student on there to bring a different perspective.”

—Francis Bartley public administration junior

rates to each university system board of regents, which Wentworth said gave him more reason to believe the student regent position was necessary.

Anderson said he thinks students across Texas have an eye on tuition rates because they have risen more than 40 percent during the last five years.

“I believe the regents have done a good job at asking questions when there are tuition increases and fee increases, especially the necessity for certain increases,” Anderson said.

“This student will be able to give a better feel on how the students have been affected.”

Wentworth remembers talking with fellow students about placing a student on the board of regents while he was at Texas A&M University from 1958 to 1962.

Wentworth served on the TSUS Board of Regents in the early 1980s where he noticed the need for input from someone who had not been separated from the college life for so long.

“We could sort of (think) back to the days we were in college, but in many cases that was decades ago,” Wentworth said. “Sometimes college hasn’t changed that much, but in other matters it has. I believe it will be very

helpful for a student to be in the room, sharing opinions and ideas that really are not available any other way.”

Bartley said eventually he would like to run for political office, but at the moment, he is ready to represent the students in the Texas State system.

“I’ve been looking forward to listening to what all the students of the system have to say and going to work for all the students,” Bartley said.

The regent position will require Bartley to travel several times a year to meet with the other regents, and while he said it will be challenging, it is something Bartley believes he can take on.

Bartley is involved with the Red Cross and serves as president of the Loud Crowd, an athletic support group that attends various sporting events to promote team spirit. He has also volunteered for Relay for Life and Bobcat Build. Bartley works at the Retama and Laurel residence halls’ desks, is shift manager at the Wimberley Pizza Hut and is a member of the American Society for Public Administration.

“I wanted become more involved with the school and represent the students of the system,” Bartley said about why he chose to apply for the position.

Wentworth said the student regent position is something that students have discussed implementing for more than 40 years, that he knows of, and he is happy to see it finally in place. “(Students) have a base of knowledge and life experience that is recent and directly related to the state university and colleges that they can share with the other regents,” Wentworth said.

Border violence strikes Mexican newspaper

By Alfredo Corchado The Dallas Morning News As bullets rang out in the Nuevo Laredo newsroom and a grenade exploded, reporters and editors fell to the floor.

One reporter saw a colleague being hit by stray bullets.

“I prayed and prayed,” he said Tuesday. “Praying calmed me.”

“I was afraid I would lose my life,” said another reporter. “I imagined the person walking in and shooting at everyone.”

At least two masked assailants stormed into the El Mañana del Nuevo Laredo newspaper Monday evening and opened fire, critically injuring one reporter.

The brazen attack was the first known episode in the escalating border violence that has penetrated the offices of a news organization.

The reporter, Jaime Orozco Tey, was wounded in the attack and was fighting for his life at a local hospital Tuesday.

Orozco was hit five times by stray bullets, police said. Other reporters and editors received minor wounds from flying glass and debris, he added.

“The assailants walked into the lobby of the newspaper and yelled, ‘You’re all going to hell,’ and ... started shooting up the place,” said Ramon Cantu Deandar, editor of El Mañana and an afternoon daily, La Tarde.

The gunmen ran out and left in different vehicles. No arrests were made Monday night.

Cantu said newspaper editors were investigating to determine a possible motive for the shooting.

“But even if we find out why, I’m not so sure we would print it,” Cantu said. “We live here under a code of selfcensorship, and even under those rules we’re vulnerable.”

“Nuevo Laredo continues to be the battleground for drug cartels,” said Cantu. “And reporters continue to get caught in the crossfire. The problem is you don’t know who these assailants are or why they retaliate against us.”

President Vicente Fox, traveling in

“T

he assailants walked into the lobby of the newspaper ...and started shooting up the place.”

—Ramon Cantu Deandar El Mañana and La Tarde editor

Rosario, called the attack “despicable” Tuesday afternoon and said the fight against criminal organizations would continue.

He said the attack was against all journalists and freedom of expression and that it was to be condemned all the more because it was an attempt to stop the paper from fulfilling its duty of informing people.

“To organized crime I only reiterate: You will not force the Mexican people to yield, nor the federal government nor the country’s security institutions.”

Mexico’s attorney general’s office and the military, which have had a large presence in the city since last summer, took over the investigation and offered protection for the newspaper staff, Cantu said.

Cantu said reporters returned to work Tuesday and went about their job “as normally as possible ... We’re a little quiet, somber, but with the same determination to do our work.”

Colleagues across the border condemned the incident.

Reporting the ongoing story is difficult, said Diana Fuentes, editor of the Laredo Morning Times in Texas.

“It can be terrifying,” Fuentes said.

“We have not been in their shoes directly. But we have had our people threatened. So we take the precautions that we would ask everyone to take ...

Be aware of your surroundings. Maintain the highest professional standards.

Don’t get carried away with what everybody has to say. And always let people know where you’re going.”

In New York, a spokesman for the

It’s good medicine!

Committee for the Protection of Journalists said the attack underscores the degree to which “Mexico has become one of the most dangerous places in Latin America to work as a journalist ... worse than Colombia.”

“It’s incredible. We have condemned this despicable act and we hope the reporter makes a full recovery,” said Carlos Lauria, America’s program coordinator for the CPJ. “This is a newspaper that was already censoring some of its coverage because of attacks against it. Attacking a paper that was not doing aggressive coverage gives us a clear picture of the dangers that reporters confront in doing their job.”

The attack is part of a growing climate of fear and violence that has engulfed Nuevo Laredo and turned drug traffickers into the primary threat to Mexican journalists along the border, analysts said Tuesday.

“In the last 20 months, the number of violent attacks against journalists has been on the rise,” said Omar Raul Martinez, president of the Manuel Buendia Foundation for press freedom. Manuel Buendia was a newspaper columnist killed in 1984.

Suspected drug traffickers have been linked to two or three of the eight fatal attacks against journalists since 2003. Traditionally, it has been politicians who have used the courts and sometimes violence to silence reporters, Martinez said. But deaths were less common.

Attacks against journalists have happened before in Nuevo Laredo and at El Mañana. In January, two El Mañana reporters escaped injury when they were caught in a crossfire between rival gangs. In April 2005, radio reporter Guadalupe “Lupita” Garcia Escamilla died after she was shot nine times by an unidentified assailant as she arrived at work.

In March 2004, Roberto Javier Mora Garcia, El Mañana’s top editor, was stabbed to death. His killing remains under investigation. A suspected assailant, a U.S. citizen, was killed inside a Nuevo Laredo jail.

The University Star - Page 3

Four presidents join 10,000 mourners at Coretta King’s funeral

By Helen Kennedy New York Daily News LITHONIA, Ga. — Coretta Scott King was laid to rest Tuesday after a six-hour service attended by four presidents and 10,000 ordinary people who came to pay tribute to the first lady of the civil rights movement — and one of its last icons.

“Rarely has so much been asked of a pastor’s wife. And rarely has so much been taken away,” President Bush said.

“By going forward with a strong and forgiving heart, Coretta Scott King not only secured her husband’s legacy, she built her own.

“Having loved a leader, she became a leader.”

Over and over, eulogizers urged those listening to carry on her fight for equal rights, peace and justice for all.

“We owe something from this minute on, so that this gathering is not just another footnote on the pages of history,” said poet Maya Angelou.

There were tears when Attallah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X, talked of how her mom, Betty Shabazz, used to meet privately with King and Myrlie Evers, the widow of Medgar Evers, to share the bond of being young widows of martyrs.

But there were also lots of laughs.

Civil rights activist the Rev. Joseph Lowery painted an amusing picture of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. sitting down for a chinwag in heaven with the newly arrived Rosa Parks, only to abandon her to rush to the Pearly Gates to greet his wife.

“After 40 years, together at last!

Thank God almighty, together at last!” Lowery said.

Three of the four living ex-presi-

dents were on hand: George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, who have developed a close bond, and Jimmy Carter.

The elder Bush, teasing Lowery for delivering his remarks in rhyme, said, “Maya has nothing to worry about.

Don’t give up your day job.” Clinton praised his friend’s zinger, saying of his Episcopal predecessor, “That ain’t bad for one of the frozen chosen.”

The last time all four presidents sat together was at President Ronald Reagan’s funeral two years ago. The only other living ex-president, Gerald Ford, 93, is too frail to travel.

Their presence — Maya Angelou contributed to the powerful sense of poet and author history in the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, a sprawling modern megachurch.

Karen Dickerson, 34, a transplanted Long Islander, brought her three kids: “I wanted them to see this. This is something to remember all their lives.”

In the crowd were numerous black celebrities and half the Congress.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue also spoke — a far cry from the dismissive way segregationist Gov. Lester Maddox treated her husband’s death in 1968.

Another sign of how much things have changed: The funeral took place in affluent DeKalb County, a former Ku Klux Klan stronghold that is now one of the richest black suburbs.

Coretta Scott King, 78, died Jan. 30 of ovarian cancer. Her casket was placed on a horse-drawn carriage and taken to the King Center in Atlanta, where she was buried in a mausoleum of white Georgia marble near her husband’s tomb.

e owe “W something from this minute on, so that this gathering is not just another footnote on the pages of history..”

KING’S DAUGHTER: Bernice King delivers the eulogy at the funeral of her mother, Coretta Scott King, at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, onTuesday.

Renee Hannans Henry/ Atlanta JournalConstitution

NEWS

Page 4 - The University Star

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

PROFESSOR: Rodriguez remembered for advancing bilingual education CONTINUED from page 1

“Carlos liked teaching the students.

He loved his job, and it was very important to him,” Elida Rodriguez said.

Karen Fite, professor of curriculum and instruction, said it was an honor to work with Rodriguez.

“He was always interested in what you had to say and what was happening in your life. He was never too busy to take time to visit. He showed great respect to others, and in turn, received great respect,” Fite said.

According to a university press release, Rodriguez became editor in

chief of the Journal of the Texas Association for Bilingual Education in 1998.

His goal was to enlighten the public about bilingual education.

Texas State’s bilingual education program began in 1969. Rodriguez aided in expanding the program when Southwest Texas received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2000.

According to the press release, Rodriguez said the grant would help meet a growing need for bilingual teachers locally and nationally.

“He wanted to see students reach their potential, and was a true cham-

“C

arlos liked teaching the students. He loved his job, and it was very important to him.”

— Elida Rodriguez wife of Carlos Rodriguez

pion for students in the bilingual program,” Fite said. “He valued education and passed this belief on to others.”

Upon retiring in 2000, Rodriguez was honored with the title of distinguished professor emeritus. According to university standards, this award is only given to extraordinary faculty

members demonstrating service in professional organizations, scholarly work, program development and who have outstanding records of teaching, community and university service and fundraising.

A devoted Catholic, Rodriguez was a member of the Knights of Columbus.

He was in organizations including the Board of Directors of the Central Texas Medical Center, the San Marcos Rotary Club and Title VI Consortium.

Rodriguez served his country in the Air Force Reserves and Air National Guard, retiring as colonel in 1994.

Rodriguez is survived by his wife and three children: Carlos S. Rodriguez, Robert S. Rodriguez and Cathleen R. Avila.

Fite said Rodriguez was devoted to students and the community.

“He embodied the respected father, teacher, friend and leader.”

NSE: Program offers students travel CONTINUED from page 1

what I’m into,” Wisner said. “It taught me to look at photography in a different way.”

Wisner paid Arizona’s in-state tuition and had no complaints about the program except that she felt it needed to be promoted better.

Wisner said she plans to go visit Flagstaff during Spring Break.

Daniel Lupton is a research and environmental studies senior who went to the University of Hawaii, Hilo, through the NSE. He studied there for the Spring 2005 semester to complete his nature and heritage tourism minor and then landed an internship for the summer on the island of Kauai. Lupton paid Hawaii’s in-state tuition, and it was half the cost of a normal semester at Texas State.

Lupton said his experience with the NSE was “really an unexpected blessing.”

“When I got there I didn’t know what to expect,” Lupton said. “There were a lot of people in my situation, on exchange, and there were lots of locals.”

Lupton said he had no trouble assimilating in to his new surroundings.

“It felt like home really quick,” he said. “I made friends I’ll keep in contact with, I hope, for my whole life.”

Chrans said Hawaii is a popular destination.

“The number one site that Texas State students chose to go to is the University of Hawaii, Manoa,” Chrans said.

The Manoa and Hilo campuses of the University of Hawaii are

“T

he only drawback to the program is not enough people know about it.”

— Lisa Chrans National Student Exchange assistant coordinator

both on the big island and aren’t far from each other, but Manoa has a city atmosphere. With a volcano only a 30-minute drive away, Lupton suggested the Hilo campus for people who appreciate nature.

“Hilo is a lot more chill, a lot more environmental,” Lupton said.

Lupton had only one complaint about the NSE. He lived in the housing recommended by the program and said the accommodations were very poor.

“If I had to do it over again, I would search for a place to stay, like a roommate matching service or something,” Lupton said.

Lupton said he plans to return to Hawaii this summer to either start a career with the Kauaibased company that granted his internship or to attend graduate school on the big island.

Mary LeBlanc, business management senior, studied at the University of West Florida in Pensacola last fall.

“I loved it, I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” LeBlanc said.

“I felt like I was on vacation the whole time, and I was taking 15 hours and president of a Hur-

ricane Katrina relief organization, so it’s not like I was sitting around on my butt the whole time.”

LeBlanc lived in the school apartments, which were 20 minutes away from the beach.

“I didn’t have to worry about finding a lease that was four months long,” LeBlanc said, “and my neighbors became my best friends.”

LeBlanc said she paid the Texas State tuition for 15 hours, which allowed her to take as many hours as she wanted while remaining a full-time student.

“If you only take 12 (hours) you’re paying a little more, but if you take 18 (hours) you get a class for free,” LeBlanc said.

“It’s so affordable,” she said. “I would recommend it to anyone who is considering doing it. It’s a very underrated program.”

Credits earned at host schools may be transferred to Texas State.

There is no maximum number of students allowed in the NSE program per semester.

“As long as you fill the requirements of the program, you can go,” Chrans said.

The NSE requirements include a 2.5 GPA, a freshman, sophomore, or junior classification and a $150 admission fee.

Applications for the Fall 2006 and Spring 2007 semesters are due Feb. 24.

Applications are available at the NSE Web site, www. txstate.edu/ucollege/nse/.

TRENDS THE UNIVERSITY STAR

trendythoughts

What are your plans for Valentine’s Day?

“Getting drunk with all my single friends.”

“Delivering roses from the sales stand in The Quad.”

— Kim Lynch marketing sophomore

— Sam Keilberg economics senior

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - Page 5

“Depends on who calls me first.”

— Alison Davis pre-studio art sophomore

Compiled by Kyle Bradshaw

Trends Contact — Kyle Bradshaw, starentertainment@txstate.edu

Kelly Simmons/Star illustration

FLIRT ALERT

New way to woo on the Web

By Katie Reed The University Star On Jan. 1, a new online dating service called Flirting in Traffic hit the Web with a unique concept all its own.

At flirtingintraffic.com, you register for a “Flirting ID,” make a short profile describing your interests and upload pictures for display. Once this is done, you will be mailed a bumper sticker with your Flirting ID to put on your car. The idea is for singles to have a way to contact and meet people who have sparked their interest from the car right next to them in traffic.

Flirting in Traffic creator Ben Phillips came up with the concept simply because he wanted an easier way to meet and talk to women. Phillips said the new site is in a category all of its own and can’t really be compared to any other online dating service.

“It’s the others in reverse. This way you see the person up front and flirt with them and if you like

them, you can look them up by their ID on their sticker,” Phillips said.

“On all the other Web sites, people talk themselves up so you read their profiles and see their pictures, and they sound and look great. Then you meet them, and they look nothing like their pictures and are nothing like what you expected. This way you have already seen the person, and there are no surprises.”

Phillips, a former contract Web developer, got tired of the corporate life and decided to venture out and try something new. He developed the idea for the Web site in the Fall of 2005 and has been promoting the site with fliers, press releases and by word of mouth.

As of right now, membership for the site is free, but there is a chance that beginning March 31, there will be a small monthly fee.

“We’re still trying to get as much corporate sponsorship as possible in order to avoid having to charge a monthly fee. But if there is eventually a fee, it won’t be more than $5.99 a month,” Phil-

lips said.

Phillips is also looking into selling prepacked stickers at local convenience stores, grocery stores and Wal-Marts.

“This way you can just buy the package for about $9.99, and go online to register your Flirt ID and that would be it,” he continued.

Even though Flirting in Traffic is only just over a month old, the site has already had over 500,000 hits. Also, the site currently has more than 1,000 members and membership continues to grow at a rapid rate.

With the success that the site has had thus far, Phillips is excited to expand the concept. He has been developing ideas for others Web sites such as flirtingoncampus.com and flirtingatthebeach. com.

Both of these up-and-coming Web sites will be based on the same concept as Flirting in Traffic.

“Flirtingoncampus.com will be very similar to the original site, except the stickers will be about half the size and students can put them on their

book bags and purses,” Phillips said.

Phillips plans on launching Flirting on Campus on Valentine’s Day this year.

Flirting at the Beach will be up and running soon, too. This site will be slightly different from the others. Rather than having stickers with Flirt IDs, once they’re registered, members will receive temporary tattoos with their Flirt ID. Now, when you’re at the beach, and you spot a cute guy or girl with a “Flirt tattoo” you can look at their profile online and contact them if you like what you see.

Phillips will promote these new websites when he and his “Flirting in Traffic Road Team” travel through Daytona, Tampa, Orlando and Miami during Spring Break. Phillips and his team will be traveling in their Flirting in Traffic RV giving away memberships to the millions of Spring Break vacationers.

Flirting in Traffic has caught on quickly and will only continue to become more and more popular.

With the growing success of the site, Philips hopes that its sister Web sites will flourish, too.

Commercials entertaining despite football interruptions

By Maira Garcia The University Star

Unless you feigned an interest for football or the teams playing in this year’s Super Bowl, it was really about watching the ads.

Although they may not persuade us to buy or use any of their products — and we will surely see them a hundred times afterward — Super Bowl ads have become an American institution. For those of you

lost over the water cooler chat, here’s a recap of the best, worst, cute and just plain weird commercials from SuperBowl XL. Burger King, with their ultra creepy King of Burgers and Whopperettes, gets the award for weirdest commercial. Dancing pieces of meat, vegetables and buns singing themselves to form a burger was different, but the monoexpression king peering out in the corner of my eye was too much. They receive

extra points for being the most creative, but the king just gives me the creeps.

The cutest commercial was undoubtedly the Ford Hybrid Escape’s “It’s not easy being green” starring the love of my life, Kermit the Frog of the Muppets. Maybe it is the nostalgia that captured my heart since I grew up watching Muppet Babies, the Muppet Show and the Muppet movies. It could also be that Ford is making an effort to be more environmentally conscious. Either way, Kermie gets the job done.

records a song with Diet Pepsi, naturally with about five people doing cameos, calling it “Brown and Bubbly.” I just wonder if Diddy ever thinks about how he just sold the last of his soul.

Third place goes to Coca-Cola’s Full Throttle energy drink ad. This commercial managed to cram everything that men are stereotyped as liking such

as motorcycles, monster trucks and low-riders. Not to mention the ad was broken up into three See ADS, page 7

The Worst: The top two worst commercials go to Diet Pepsi. No. 2 is the ad with Jackie Chan and Diet Pepsi starring in an action sequence. My brain went dead for the last 15 seconds of this commercial. The number one worst ad was worse than an overproduced hip-hop video.

In the ad, Sean “Diddy” Combs Courtesy of PepsiCo, Inc. COOL CAN: A can of Diet Pepsi was turned into a rapper for its Super Bowl commercial.

Place and pay for your classified ad over the phone.

Call 245-3487 for details!

TRENDS

Page 6 - The University Star

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

Grammy Awards still not at peak plan

By David Bianculli New York Daily News

DEADLY DIAL: Camilla Belle plays Jill, a babysitter who gets one too many unwanted phone calls, in When a Stranger Calls.

Courtesy of Screen Gems

Audiences get to know Stranger through previews

By Angela Guempel The University Star

film review

victim out of her home The exotic house was complete in pieces, the story with impressive technological ✯✯✯ shifts 125 miles west to advances, such as motion deThe latest trend in When a Stranger Jill Johnson (Camilla tection lights all over the house. box-office flops and Calls Belle, The Quiet) as an As in the original, Jill comes to scarce successes has Dir.: Simon West average high school baby-sit the Mandrakis’ children another addition to it Stars: Camilla student that runs track, and is interrupted by phone calls with director Simon Belle, Derek de has menacing friends, of ominous heavy breathing, West’s (Lara Croft: Lint a cheating boyfriend causing tension and suspense Tomb Raider) remake Rated: PG-13 and gets in trouble for as they become more threatenof the 1979 cult classic spending too much ing as the obligatory murderer When a Stranger Calls. time on her cell phone. The resurfaces.

Following behind such re- background information seemed While parts of the film were makes as 2005’s The Fog and forced on the audience by first on the suspenseful side, it would 1998’s Psycho, When a Stranger time screenwriter Jake Wade have been more effective if the Calls stands out as the entire fea- Wall, and the dialogue between trailer had not given away evture length movie is based off of Jill and her friends Scarlet (Tessa ery crucial scene. Overall, the only the first twenty minutes of Thompson, Veronica Mars) and technical style of the movie was the original film.

Tiffany (Katie Cassidy, Seventh brilliant, and Belle was ultiThe movie starts with the Heaven) was unnatural and awk- mately convincing, considering obligatory opening murder in a ward in timing. The attempts to she mostly interacted only with suburban neighborhood where give depth to the minor charac- a phone and a house. When a a carnival is taking place. As we ters fell flat and were ultimately Stranger Calls is one of the betsee the ominous figure’s silhou- nothing more than stereotypes. ter movies in its genre, though it ette appear in the window of the The movie finally picks up fails to have the desired lingering victim’s house and hear the sub- once we meet Dr. Mandrakis effect. sequent screams drowned out (Derek de Lint, Into the West) and by the noise of the carnival, it his wife (Kate Jennings Grant, movies rating key all seems predictable and tired. Commander in Chief) who live The staple opening murder was a luxurious life of wealth and No stars – Must skip at least complimented by im- prosperity with a beautiful and ✯ – Bad, fails overall pressive cinematography and secluded lakeside home that was ✯✯ – Mediocre, wait for DVD editing, though it still seemed the highlight of the movie. The ✯✯✯ – Good, few flaws cliché. design was intricate and maze- ✯✯✯✯ – Outstanding, must see After the police investigate like with a gorgeous atrium in and carry the body of the first the center of the house of glass.

Even though the Grammy Awards take place Wednesday night, certain elements of the CBS telecast are still being shuffled and added, said executive producer Ken Ehrlich.

Among the latest additions are Jay-Z and Linkin Park, teaming on “Numb/Encore,” and perhaps two performances

by Paul McCartney — his firstever on the Grammys.

“You may see him in another part of the show,” Ehrlich said, “in addition to his performance” (the one keyed to his Grammynominated album, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard).

As reported earlier, Wednesday’s 48th annual Grammy Awards” will open with Madonna doing a duet with the animated characters who make up the music-video face of the group Gorillaz. It will be staged so that the interplay between Madonna and the Gorillaz characters can be seen not just by viewers at home but by those in attendance at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Ehrlich said.

“If you’re sitting in that house, you really believe that those animated characters are real,” Ehrlich insisted. “It’s based on a 150-year-old magic illusion, called Pepper’s ghost, that has

“W

e all want to be contemporary.

We all want to feel as current as we are timeless.”

— Ken Ehrlich Grammy Awards executive producer

to do with projection, reflection and a transparent kind of scrim material.”

It’s opening the show, Ehrlich explained, for the same reason Madonna’s song “Hung Up” is being paired with “Feel Good Inc.” by Gorillaz in the first place: “They were made for each other,” he said. “They’re both great dance records.”

That mixture of old and new guard, an Ehrlich trademark, has kept the audience for the CBS broadcast trending younger, even as the show itself has lost viewers overall. Ehrlich credits the revised nomination procedures with part of that, for making the nominees more vital overall but also with the Grammys’ reach and clout among several generations of artists.

“We all want to be contemporary,” he said. “We all want to

feel as current as we are timeless.”

That�s why, two years ago, Prince and Beyoncé stopped the show with their incendiary duet � a performance one of them was very reluctant to agree to. �I had to persuade (Beyoncé) to do that,� Ehrlich said. �It wasn�t that she didn�t like Prince. She just didn�t quite understand how important that would be, putting that in a musical and a historical context.� Last year, it was Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge saluting Janis Joplin. Wednesday night, Stone will perform again, along with John Legend, Will.I.Am and Maroon 5, on a salute to pioneering soul band Sly and the Family Stone. Reportedly, Stone will appear on the show, though Ehrlich is cagey.

Bruce Springsteen, U2, Mariah Carey, Kanye West and Jamie Foxx are performing as well — along with Herbie Hancock and Christina Aguilera, who’ll do Leon Russell’s “A Song for You” from Hancock’s Possibilities album of duets.

“I would suspect,” Ehrlich said, “that 95 percent of the people that are watching the Grammys have never heard this track. As happens with the Grammys, after they hear it, it wouldn’t surprise me to see this album get real big.”

George’s hosts local band Kaya, Smile and Nod

By William Rimmer The University Star

spot, and it ended up sounding like noise. At times, they would come Texas bands Kaya ✯✯✯ together and sound and Smile and Nod Kaya, Smile and as one, but there were each gave power- Nod still moments when the ful performances at George’s heavy sound was a litGeorge’s on Thursday Thursday, Feb. 2 tle too overwhelming. night.

During the show, I had Kaya’s Eric Anderstrouble hearing singer en’s heavy drums and Conrad Wright, but Ian Knox’s solid bass drove the Kaya is still a new band from band’s style, which was reminis- Austin that, with time, could cent of a 70s sound with a new- really kick it up a notch. metal twist. Logan McFee was Smile and Nod had a powon the keys and Darryl John- erful stage presence that really son played guitar. Kaya started showed throughout the band’s strong with a heavy sound that performance. The band’s songs was plenty loud. When focusing have influences of metal, funk on one element, I realized that and jazz, and reminded me of all of the band members were Rage Against the Machine and talented musicians. However, Incubus. Kicking off the night, they just never seemed to com- the band drew the crowd into plement each other well. Each its songs by asking them to artist kept battling for the top shout “Hey!” at key moments.

concert review

Confident lead vocals from Sean Maxey and amazing range by guitarist David Butler mixed with Ross Falcon’s funk-style bass really brought the band together. Falcon, Butler and Maxey truly knew how to complement each other’s abilities. The band had an interesting sound, but I thought it could have used more of a funk drumming style from drummer Matt Erickson, instead of his metal-punk style.

It would have been nice to hear Erickson take a leadership role and control the momentum of their unique sound.

Smile and Nod has been together for six years, and it shows. Their crisp vocals, clean rifts and funky bass really captured the crowd. Despite some problems with the performance, I was still smiling and nodding throughout the show.

TRENDS/DIVERSIONS

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

The University Star - Page 7

✯Star Comics

Courtesy of Careerbuilder.com OFFICE PRIMATES: Monkeys took over an office in a commercial for Careerbuilder.com.

ADS: Naked, funny animals win the hearts of Super Bowl audience CONTINUED from page 5

parts, making it all the more annoying.

In fourth place is Pizza Hut’s Cheesy Bites ad featuring Jessica Simpson. Her cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” is spoofed and used as the jingle. Not only is it the worst cover of any song ever, the spoof is purely annoying.

Toyota comes in fifth with one of the worst commercials.

Targeted toward Hispanic consumers, the ad features a father and a little boy talking about the Toyota Camry in English and snippets of Spanish. Sadly, neither sounded like they had spoken Spanish prior to the commercial taping.

The Best: My vote for the best Super Bowl commercial, hands down, goes to Hummer’s H3 “Little Monster” ad. Godzilla and a giant robot are destroying a city when they meet and fall in love.

Time elapses and Godzilla has a little monster growing in her belly. The little monster is born and out pops an H3, which the loving couple cradles and lets go to run on the roads. This ad was absolutely brilliant. It had the sci-fi monsters, love, laughter and little baby monsters. I give kudos to Hummer for making light of their smaller, yet considerably ferocious SUV. No. 2 also involves the death of a fly in the Ameriquest ad.

Using an electrical heart paddle, a doctor kills a fly buzzing on top of a patient and said “Well,

Courtesy of Anheuser-Busch, Inc. SHAKE THAT TAIL: Budweiser’s “Streaker” featured a hairless sheep breaking up a football game between horses.

that killed him,” much to the dismay of the man’s daughter who walks in and thinks her dad is dead. Once again, it is weird how we laugh at mortality.

Careerbuilder.com and its monkey ads make an appearance and capture number three on the best ads. Believing they have increased profits, the monkeys are partying in a conference room to hair metal hits of the 1980s. The human employee crashes the party by telling them profits are actually down. The monkeys don’t mind though. They just start dancing to “Cum on Feel the Noise” by Quiet Riot. Sometimes it can be fun to work for monkeys.

FedEx’s “Caveman” ad gets the number four spot. Although not entirely original, a caveman attempts to send a stick on the back of a pterodactyl, only for it to get eaten by another dinosaur midflight. The caveman returns to his boss, saying the delivery was unsuccessful. His boss fires him since he didn’t send it FedEx. Yet FedEx doesn’t exist yet, so the caveman walks out of the “office” and gets stomped by a giant dinosaur leg.

The No. 5 commercial is Budweiser’s “Streaker.” A little shaved sheep runs through a football game between horses with a few wild animals watching. It shakes its pink little butt at the horses and runs away.

Animals are cute, but naked little animals are even cuter and funnier.

Songwriter ‘owns the masters’ in new album

By Brad Barnes Knight Ridder Newspapers The way Malcolm Holcombe sees it, P.T. Barnum was dead wrong.

“We ain’t as dumb as we look,” he said at the start of a rant about radio waves and record racks filled with “cookie-cutter Triple-A radio jukebox clutter.”

Ahem.

“People are trying to spoonfeed you this garbage, but there’s some intelligent people out there,” said the songwriter. “I think it was P.T. Barnum that said, ‘There’s a sucker born every minute.’ But there’s fewer of them being born these days, so P.T. Barnum would be out of business.”

I don’t want to be accused of spoon-feeding you or anything, but I’ll go ahead and connect the dots. He’s calling the music busi-

ness a circus.

That’s part of what led the fellow to strip down his sound and release his latest record, “I Never Heard You Knockin’,” without a record label’s help.

“It’s more human-to-human,” said Holcombe. “I’ve got artistic control, which I never had in the past. I don’t have to keep up with all these stupid political favors in the music business. I own the masters, and I appreciate that.”

The previous three records, released on labels, brought him lots of critical acclaim, if not either artistic control or fame.

Rolling Stone Magazine has given him four-star reviews and glowing prose. The magazine’s David Fricke praised the “immediacy of his Appalachian-Tom Waits drawl, the dirt-road feel of his finger picking and the candid punch of his epigrammatic verse.”

At 50, Holcombe is a smalltown North Carolinian with stringy hair and muttonchops bigger than a frying pan, looking more than a bit like Neil Young.

Musically, he’s drawn more comparisons to the likes of John Prine and Waits, which is a nod to a sandspur-smooth voice, a small-town philosopher’s way with words, and a musical sensibility that stomps through blues, folk and country.

The blues influence comes through clearest on the strippeddown “Knockin’.”“That’s the nuts and bolts of it: an old flat-topped guitar and stringing some words together,” Holcombe said. “And I figure it’s at least a semblance of what you can expect live, without a lot of synthesizers and a lot of hoopla.

“With some music, you can’t see the forest for the trees.

There’s too much clutter.”

SU DO KU

Tuesday’s solutions:

Complete the grid so that every row, column, and 3-by-3 box contains every digit from one through nine inclusively.

Tuesday’s solutions:

Pappocom © 2006

Go to www.UniversityStar.com for today’s answers.

OPINIONS THE UNIVERSITY STAR

quoteof the day

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - Page 8

“I knew there would be a demand for the flags because of angry reaction of people over the offense to Prophet Muhammad.”

”

Ahmed Abu Dayya — a shop owner in Gaza City, who ordered 100 Danish and Norwegian flags to sell to protestors planning to burn the flags. (Source: Reuters)

Opinions Contact — Joe Ruiz, staropinion@txstate.edu

THE MAIN POINT

Muhammad cartoons call attention to worldwide hypocrisy

For people who have yet to see the depictions, we will provide an external link to the images at www.UniversityStar.com. We link to these images not to be offending to any particular person or faith, but for our readers to truly grasp all sides of the story as they form their own opinions.

The Main Point is the opinion of the newspaper’s editorial board. Columns are the opinions of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the full staff, Texas State University-San Marcos Student Media, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication or Texas State UniversitySan Marcos.

Jeffrey Cole/Star illustration

During the past few months, there has been a wave of Muslim outrage in Europe and the Middle East about a series of political cartoons called “The Face of Muhammad” originally printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September and repeatedly circulated in European newspapers since.

The dozen cartoons portray the Prophet Muhammad in various ways called offensive by protestors.

According to Islamic law, depictions of Muhammad are forbidden because they might incite idolatry.

The protests have become increasingly violent during the past week; the Danish embassy in Beirut has been torched, the 12 cartoonists are in hiding after receiving death threats and Iran has severed nearly all trade with Denmark.

Other reports state that 15 cartoons/pictures have been shown to Muslims, which have helped incite the violence. One of the pictures that claims to depict Muhammad in an offensive light — a man with a pig snout and a microphone in his face — is in fact a picture accompanying a story published by The Associated Press about a pig-squealing contest from France in August of 2005.

Also, according to a report published by Reuters, an Italian Catholic priest in Ankara, Turkey was murdered by a high school student, who has reportedly told police his motive was the publication of the cartoons.

In response to the Muhammad cartoons, the Iranian newspaper Hamshahri, a newspaper run by the city of Tehran, will seek editorial cartoons beginning next week that depict the Holocaust.

“Does the West extend freedom of expression to the crimes committed by the United States and Israel, or an event such as the Holocaust? Or is its freedom only for insulting religious sanctities?” said the newspaper on Tuesday.

What’s really interesting — and hypocritical — about the claims of freedom of the press being tossed around by the Muslim world is the very lack of those freedoms in Middle Eastern countries with a number of state-controlled media outlets.

While Muslims across the world have the right to be offended, boycott Danish and European products and peacefully protest, their causes lose momentum and support by inciting the numerous acts of violence that have been attributed to the cartoon’s detractors.

By removing the right of the various publications to publish the cartoons, any claims of freedom of speech are hypocritical.

In turn, what is also hypocritical — and many Muslims are attempting to find out if European governments as well as independent newspapers will provide are the same freedom of speech that the publishers are claiming.

In seven European countries, including Great Britain, people can be jailed and extradited for broadcasting xenophobic or racist thoughts. The same freedom of speech that is being claimed should be applied fairly across the board.

Now, The University Star is not denying the existence of the Holocaust or that the published images of Muhammad might have been in bad taste or even offensive to Muslims, but the hypocritical thinking of both sides in their other actions do not lend to a true belief of freedom of speech.

Take action to see it happen For those of costs, but since we you who don’t do not vote and the know, we are elderly do, their iscurrently in an sues are what Presielection year, and dent Bush addresses for some reason, in nearly every one 18- to 24-yearof his speeches. We olds don’t care have the numbers, enough about but we need to turn STEPHANIE SILVAS those numbers into what goes on in our government votes so that our Guest Columnist to do something issues will get the atto impact it. tention they deserve.

In the 2004 presidential When we turned 18, we election, the youth was supbought cigarettes, got tattoos posed to Rock the Vote, and and went clubbing. When we instead, they just talked the turned 21, we bought beer; talk and never showed up to yet for some reason, now that the polls. We had rallies, parwe are old enough to vote, ties and protests; yet only 42 less than half of us feel that it percent of 18- to 24-year-olds is our responsibility to do so. voted. If only 50 percent of us We have so many opinions would have voted, we could that need to be voiced in the have impacted the outcome voting booth on Election Day. of every race. If we show up We continually complain to the polls this election, our about tuition rates rising and issues will be important to financial aid decreasing. We every politician running in criticize Bush for giving tax the next one. breaks to the rich while he We have the power to make cuts funding for nearly everyour government work for us. thing else. We protest this war The issues facing 18- to in Iraq because we feel that 24-year-olds do not primarwe were mislead time and ily include Medicare, Social time again, and somehow, we Security and pharmaceutical continue to sit back, and let

everyone else make the decisions that affect our lives.

We are the ones who will carry the burden of this deficit. We are the ones who will be paying higher taxes in the future, and the programs that we value are the ones that get cut. We are the ones working the part-time jobs for six dollars an hour. We are the ones who are finding it hard to find decent paying jobs when we graduate. We are the ones who suffer from the decisions made to benefit everyone else.

As of Nov. 5, 1,065 soldiers under the age of 25 died in the war, and the numbers are climbing. More than half of the casualties coming from this war are our age. Our friends are fighting this war, and at what age will we grow up and start to care?

At what age will we understand that voting is the only way for us to control what politicians do with our money? Is it when we’re too old, and our deficit is so high, that our sovereignty is lost, or maybe when in five years, we’re still trying to get ourselves out the war

in Iraq. This year, you have the chance to make a difference. This year, you have the chance to vote to keep or kick out the governor, congressional representatives, senators, judges and several local officials. Figure out what your values are, and vote for someone who will fight for those values.

Find your own reason for voting, and make it count.

It’s time that we fight for the issues that concern us.

It’s time for us to start making a difference.

Early voting begins Feb. 21.

You can request an application to receive your ballot by mail up until Feb. 28 by visiting the Secretary of State’s Web site or you can download the form at http://www. sos.state.tx.us/elections/ forms/a5-14.pdf, and send it to your County Clerk. The list of each County Clerk’s address is listed on the Secretary of State Web site.

Technological advances do little to help mankind How do you feel about the Muhammad cartoon controversy?

“I think freedom of the press should stay out of religion. I don’t think they should go in that area.”

— DANIEL GOMEZ music freshman

“A lot of things need to be taken into account. For example, respect for a different culture or religion. Also, there’s freedom of speech. Where does freedom of speech end?”

— ASHLEY BROWN social work graduate student “You kind of had to see it coming. It’s not that big a surprise.

You had everyone in the West preaching our ideas. Of course, their reaction is going toward their religious icons.”

— KENNY PARK exercise and sports science freshman Compiled by Jason Buch

The University Star 601 University Drive Trinity Building San Marcos, TX 78666 Phone: (512) 245-3487 Fax: (512) 245-3708

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. was in the kitchen cooking, — I don’t believe in the myth our kids could spend quality of technology anytime learning about MACEO CARRILLO the world through more.

You know what the Internet.

MARTINET I mean – the myth If our ability The Daily Lobo that technology to communicate U. New Mexico will solve all of our is supposed to be problems, and that so advanced, then technology has contributed to why were we so quick to go to the well-being of this world. war in Iraq? We should never For too long, technology has forget that millions across the been guided by those seeking country and the world spoke to make a profit from people out against the war even and nature. For too long, while we heard government technology has been used to officials and their media petexploit the land and subdue poodles yapping at their feet people’s ability to think for about the threat of nuclear themselves. war on every television set, as I began having my doubts well as the outright lies from about technology when it the government about the was said it was going to make connection between Saddam us communicate better. and al-Qaida’s terrorism. The When televisions were first fact that so many came out introduced into our lives, against the war was a heartwe were told it was going to ening signal that those who be an education revolution. control technology do not The first commercials about have complete control over television showed how kids our ability to think critically could spend time learning in about this world. front of the television while If technology has helped dad caught up on reading his us communicate better, why newspaper and mom was in is domestic abuse so prevakitchen cooking. lent? Why are so many of When computers first our young men and women came out, they said computin incarcerated? Why are so ers would help revolutionize many of our youth born into humanity’s ability to commu- a life of incarceration, where nicate. While dad caught up their ability to grow as huon some yard work, and mom man beings is stunted and

abused because of their lack of money or because of the color of their skin?

Why are more and more young people finding friends and lovers through the Internet? Is this another reflection of how society is becoming disconnected from itself, or is it just becoming rewired?

I don’t believe in the myth of technology because it helps keep us in a state of fear. We continue to fear someone who looks a certain way.

We continue to fear that we smell bad or have too many pimples. We continue to fear having to talk honestly to one another for fear of being hurt.

We fear what we don’t know, and our advanced technology has done little to help reveal the beauty this world contains.

Technology will only solve our problems to the extent that we solve our own internal problems. The United Nations commissioned 1,360 scientists from 95 countries to assess how humans have changed the world’s air, landscape and waters. One of the key messages in their report released in January was that the future looks grim for our children unless human attitudes and actions change.

Changing our attitudes and

actions will not be solved through technology as it exists and operates today.

Until we change where we get and use energy and water, we will always be haunted with the myth that technology will solve our problems without effort on our part.

Until we change our relationship with the world from one that sees humans as superior to everything on Earth to one that is based on reciprocity and respect for nature, then we will continue to be haunted with the myth that we are making things better for our children.

We have to reweave our tangled connections. We have to reinvent the enemy’s language and recycle its technology. Let us not be shocked and awed by our technology just because of the amount of destruction we can cause with such a small device, or the amount of memory we can store in such a small package.

Let us be shocked and awed by technology that can sustain not only us but the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.

We do not have to believe in the myths anymore.

This column originally appeared in The Daily Lobo on Feb. 7.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS SEMESTER, YEAR, SUMMER PROGRAMS IN SPAIN AND COSTA RICA $1985 includes: Tuition (4-9 credits), airfare,board, excursions.mlsa@sprintmail.com www. mlsa.com Tel. (815)464-1800.

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FOR RENT $0 DEP. $0 APP. Large Condo 1 & 2 bdrms available. Some bills paid.

Call Apartment Experts (512)805-0123 or check out more apartment specials at www.sanmarcos-apartments.com

$0 DEP, $345 MOST BILLS PAID. Call Apartment Experts (512)805-0123.

1 BEDROOM 670 SQ FT $420.

2 bedroom 835 sq ft $495/ For more info call Apartment Experts 805-0123. $99 INCLUDES DEP. App. and 1st month rent. Beautiful property! 1, 2, 3 bedrooms. Call Apartment Experts (512)805-0123.

1/1.5 LOFT, 700 SQFT. Backyard and w/d included call Apartment Experts (512)805-0123

WALK TO CAMPUS. $99 total move-in 2-2 $599. 1-1 also available.

Call Apartment Experts 805-0123.

$149 TOTAL MOVE IN! $420, 2bdrm $525. On TX State shuttle. Call Apartment Experts (512)805-0123.

TOWNHOME 4-2.5, all bills paid, W/D included call Apartment Experts (512)805-0123

2 BEDROOM 2 BATH with w/d $550 per month. Park North Condos.

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Visit legacyrealestate.biz, and call Legacy Real Estate (512) 665-0305.

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NEED A SHORT-TERM LEASE? Advance Street duplexes available with complete appliance packages including full size W/D. 3 bedrooms, 3 baths for only $750/mo.

Visit legacy realestate.biz and call Legacy Real Estate at (512) 665-0305.

2/1 NEW CARPET, fenced, appliance, fireplace, pets welcome 512392-2443 DUPLEX FOR LEASE for immediate move-in. 2/1 at 1107 Marlton for $650/mo. Easy terms. Call Legacy Real Estate (512) 665-0350, and visit legacyrealestate.biz.

DUPLEX READY FOR IMMEDIATE MOVE-IN. Newly remodeled. Only $450/mo. Water/waste water paid. Visit legacyrealestate.biz, and call Legacy Real Estate at (512) 665-0350

3/2, 907 ALLEN ST. Rent $925.00, Dep $925.00. C-21 512-787-2982.

SAGEWOOD DUPLEXES preleasing for 6/1 &8/1, bus route, 3/3.5 garage, W/D inc., Call 512-699-9759 DUPLEX READY for immediate move-in. 2/2 for $650. 519 Hutchison.

Easy bike ride to campus or just walk.

Visit legacyrealestate.biz, and call Legacy Real Estate at (512) 665-0350.

FOR RENT-HOUSES

in free cable, internet, and phone. W/D included. Call Apartment Experts 805-0123.

1120 ALAMO, 4/2/2, no pets, Rent $1350.00 dep. $1000.00. C-21 512-7872982.

ROOM FOR RENT.

3/2/1, 1104 GIRARD, pets OK. Rent $1150.00, Dep $1000.00. C-21 512-787-2982.

Outpost Apartments, fully furnished, on Texas State Tram Route. All utilities paid minus electric. Immediate move-in available. Poolside! 832-515-6533

$350 FULLY FURNISHED cable, internet, water paid, W/D included.

Call Apartment Experts 805-0123.

NEED LOW RENT? Roommate matching could be the answer. Call and we’ll set you up. Apartment Experts (512)805-0123.

BIG 2 BDROM 900 SQFT. $585! call Apartment Experts (512)805-0123.

$1-1 $375 500 SQFT! call Apartment Experts (512)805-0123

CHECK OUT OUR current apartment specials online at www.sanmarcos-apartments.com or call Apartment Experts (512)805-0123.

FOR RENT ROOMS NEXT TO CAMPUS free internet, cable, and other free utilities $325-$375 call 392-2700.

APARTMENTS NEXT TO TEXAS STATE now leasing for May and August. Beautiful wooden floors, no shuttle or parking worries.

Rooms, 1B, 2B, 3B and roommate matching. Free internet, cable and some utilities. $300 - $605 per person.

392-2700

SUBLEASE 2BD APT. $600/mo.

Begin Feb. w/Feb. paid by owner. Near School. Contact Wessam 878-6224.

APARTMENTS FROM $371/ MO. Near stadium. Gas, water paid.

353-5051.

3 BEDROOMS WITH 3 FULL PRIVATE BATHS.

Extra large kitchen, washer/dryer, fridge, dishwasher, 3 carports, storage building, and FREE phone-cable-high speed internet. $845. Agent, 512-289-4864.

FOR RENTCONDO/TOWNHOMES 2/2, 310 PAT GARRISON, Pets OK. Rent $625.00, dep $150.00.

C-21 512-787-2982.

$785 2/2.5 TOWNHOUSE.

3 blks from TXState. Preleasing for 5/20 and 8/20. Free HBO, Road Runner, full-size W/D. www.windmilltownhomes.com for floor plans & prices.

396-4181.

4/2, 1605 POST RD. Rent $1200.00, deposit $1000.00. C-21 512-787-2982.

NEW HOUSE FOR RENT. 3/2. 1900 sq. ft; W/D. Very good neighborhood. $1300/mo. Call (512) 554-5080 or (830) 257-4339.

3/2/2, 1109 PERKINS. Rent $1200.00, Dep $1000.00. C-21 512787-2982.

4B/2B HOUSE NEXT TO CAMPUS. Hardwood floors, 2 car garage converted to game room, large kitchen & dining room. Excellent condition. Free internet & cable. 392-2700.

HUGE 3/2, W/D, ETC. 1600 sq ft. $950 per mo. 713-774-5953.

3/2 HOUSE, close to campus and the San Marcos River, ceramic tile bathrooms, ch/ca, $980.00/mo. Call Maris 512-472-2123 SPECTACULAR & BARGAIN, 2br beautiful decor, all new, $12k renovation, 1 mi. from W. campus, 803A Hazelton, open house daily, 9-6. 20ft mirror wall, crown mold, tile, fans, W/D, microwave, lg fenced yard & more. February Free $585. No Dogs. 353-8384.

FOR RENT - 3/2 house, two rooms available. Close to campus. Call Kenneth at (210)825-1948.

FOR SALE FOUR ROCKFORD FOSGATE 10” HX2 SUBS, and Audiobahn A1500HCX 2000 watt RMS amp, all new $1200 obo. (830) 305-2268.

FOR SALE 3/2 MOBILE, Nice, extras, fenced rented lot, Hunter Rd. $29K 512-3962374

HELP WANTED TEKA MARKETING INC. is adding two new divisions. We are looking to fill several F/T and P/T positions.

Very flexible hours and casual work environment. For more information call 805-0020.

TEACHERS NEEDED:

PT immediate openings. Quality child development center in Kyle. Early Ed. Majors or experience a plus (not required). 2:30-6:30 Monday-Friday 512-405-3700 or 512-405-3701. www. rockinghorseacademy.com.

NOW HIRING SERVERS!!!

Rockfish Seafood Grill, Stassney Lane in South Austin exit 228 and take a left open interviews 2-4pm M-TH.

CHARTER AIRLINE seeking part-time flight attendants. Contact Chris at (512) 353-2379, or e-mail resume to chris@berryaviation.com.

TEXAS LIONS CAMP is looking for students to make a positive difference in the life of a child. No experience is required and training is provided. It is a paid job, including room, board, laundry services, and a scholarship program is available. Come to Summer Job Fair Feb. 9th in LBJ Student Center for an application or see website at www.lionscamp.com.

HEALTH CLUB open Monday thru Saturday. Part-time positions, front desk and training with athletic background required. must be working on a related degree. 512-560-6761. Email resume to fitnessdoctors@aol.com.

OUTGOING STUDENT NEEDED to distribute fliers on Feb. 13-14 flexible hours $10 per hour. 1800-927-9194.

THE TAP ROOM is now accepting applications for kitchen help. We offer a competitive salary, great perks, and a fun working environment. Interested parties should apply in person at the Tap Room after 3:00.

LOOKING FOR A FUN AND EXCITING JOB THAT IS FLEXIBLE? Well, check out Wonder World Park! Now hiring tour guides for spring and summer. Apply in person Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1000 Prospect St. or call 392-3760.

NOW HIRING experienced child care teachers M-F afternoons. 512-295-2329

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Age 18+ ok. 800-965-6520 x 157.

WAITPERSON NEEDED.

Fine dining restaurant (Little Texas Bistro) seeks back waiter to work Tuesday through Saturday evenings. Hourly plus great tips. Some restaurant experience preferred. Please contact Beth or Paul at (512) 312-5828.

STUDY BREAK MAGAZINE is now hiring account executives/advertising sales. Great pay flexible hours 512-480-0894.

RANCH HAND: a jack of all trades. Efficient and dependable. Apply online at www.texasarabianhorses.com.

THE SAN MARCOS PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT needs energetic individuals to work Spring Break Madness Camp (March 13-17, 2006). Hours are 7:30am-5:30pm. Call Lisanne Foster at 393-8283 for more information or to set up an interview. Application deadline is Feb. 15. E-mail: foster_lisanne@ci.sanmarcos.tx.us.

HELP WANTED CAMP COUNSELOR POSITIONS AVAILABLE at Camp Weequahic, a co-ed children’s sleepaway camp in northeastern PA, about 1/2 hours from New York City. We will be at the University on Thursday, February 9th, for the Summer Job Fair, and will be happy to meet with you there. Positions are available for all areas of sports, including tennis, gymnastics, baseball, softball, roller hockey, golf, basketball, soccer, lacrosse and others, as well as waterfront, including swimming, canoeing, sailing, windsurfing and waterskiing.

We will pay for training and certifications where required. Other positions may be available in hobby areas such as archery, dance, aerobics, theater, piano accompanist, rocketry, woodworking and ceramics. We also need a nurse (either LPN or RN) and will help you to obtain the PA license. Salaries start at $200 per week, plus room, board and travel expenses. Please visit our website at: www.weequahic.com for more information and to FILL OUT AN ONLINE APPLICATION. You may also contact us by e-mail at newsweeq@aol.com. Please be sure to leave a phone number, including area code, where we can reach you. We will contact you prior to the 9th to set up an appointment to meet with you at Camp Day.

MISCELLANEOUS ATHLETIC, OUTGOING MEN for calendars, greeting cards, etc $75200/hr, no exp. needed, (512)684-8296.

WE PAY UP TO $75 per online survey. www.cashtospend.com

SUMMER INTERNSHIP AVAILABLE: Summer Internships ($10.00/hr). Positions available in the Planning and Recreation departments of Community Associations of The Woodlands. Students should be working towards an undergraduate or graduate degree in the Recreation, Parks, and Tourism or related field.

Candidates must pass an extensive background check and pre-employed drug screen. Resumes may be mailed or applications may be submitted to: Community Associations of The Woodlands, 2201 Lake Woodlands Drive, The Woodlands, TX 77387, Attn: HR/SA. Fax 281-210-3970 or email hr@catw-tx.org. For more information, visit our web-site at www.thewoodlandsassociations.org.

ROOMMATES ROOMMATE WANTED 3/2 house, $300/mo plus utilities, call if interested 361-688-8629 SPACE FOR SALE!

CALL 2453487 OR EMAIL starclassifieds@txstate. edu

SUBLEASE TAKE OVER LEASE ASAP. 2/1 $520/mo. no deposit. Pets OK. Contact Stephanie (512) 963-4580.

TRAVEL SPRING BREAK Mazatlan Party bus $399 with hotels and meals. http:// www.mazatlanexpress.com 1-800-366-4786.

WANTED WANTED: USED CARS, TRUCKS, VANS. Any condition.

Running or not. If you have something to sell please call Willis Mitchell. 512353-4511.

Let us know where you would like to see The Star on-campus and in San Marcos.

Email starad1@txstate.edu with your suggestions.

SPORTS THE UNIVERSITY STAR

sports snortsquotes from the sports world “Everyone in the world is innocent until proven guilty. He’s a great guy and a good friend.

He’s just going through a tough time right now, obviously, and we’ve got to let it run its course.”

—Wayne Gretzky, head coach for the Phoenix Coyotes, on allegations of a nationwide sports gambling ring financed by the Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet, and rumors implicating Gretzky’s wife and about a half-dozen NHL players for placing bets, but not on hockey. (Source: ESPN News)

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - Page 10

Sports Contact — Miguel Peña, starsports@txstate.edu

Texas State still strong from the field

By Carl Harper The University Star

at the Wes Kittley Invitational, freshman Robert Melin captured a third-place finish on Saturday with a throw of 17.93 meters.

“The weight is still new to him, but he is getting better every week,” assistant coach Blaine Wiley said. “He needs to stay healthy, and he’ll improve each meet.”

Also representing for the men, sophomore Jack Higginbotham finished the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.74 seconds and claimed sixth place.

Higginbotham, who struggled with injuries his freshman year, is aiming for a more productive season after finishing 20th in the Southland Conference indoor championships in the 200-meter dash and eighth in the Bobcat Open 200-meter dash last season.

In the 400-meter dash, Errol Harris, the transfer from Texas A&M-Kingsville, ended the race in eighth place with a time of 49.81.

For the women, it was senior Sarah Stultz, who continued her

success after sweeping the firstplace finishes at the Wes-Kittley Invitational.

In Houston, she finished in second place with a strong throw of 17.21 meters, maintaining her place as the record holder in the weight throw forTexas State and the SLC. Wiley commented on Stultz’s progress for the season, saying, “She’s doing really well as defending champ in the indoors.

Right now she needs to stay focused, and she’ll take care of business.”

In 2005, Rebekah Vickers won the Michael Johnson Invitational event in pole vault with a The Texas State track and jump of 11 feet 5 3/4 inches. On field team competed in its third Saturday, the junior finished in invitational of the season on fifth place with a mark of 11-11 Friday and Saturday. Galina 3/4.

Bukharina, who is in her third Vickers is looking to keep her year as the Bobcats’ head coach, head up in the indoor meets, as led the team into Houston with she also prepares for the outconfidence and excitement for door meets this season. Last the weekend that was ahead of year, she had a breakout season them. outdoors, claiming fourth at After placing fourth with a the Bobcat Open and the silver mark of 17.51 meters in the medal at the SLC championweight throw two weeks ago ships with a personal best jump of 11-11 3/4.

“She’s hitting that same mark every week, and is anxious to get over it,” Wiley said. “As of now she is ranked third in the SLC.” Texas State is also excited to bring in transfer student Britni Lawrence from Texas Tech to be part of the pole vault team. Last year at Tech, she set the indoor school record with a pole vault of 13-1 1/2 and placed fifth at the 2005 Indoor Big XII Championship. However, this coming weekend at the pole vaulters’ meet in Houston, she will be jumping for the first time in just under a year after struggling with injuries in Lubbock.

“She was cleared by her doctor last Friday and will jump unattached this weekend. She won’t jump with the team until March,” Wiley said.

On the track, senior Alicia Anthony ran the 60-meter dash with her second-best personal time of 7.71 seconds. She additionally had a mark of 19 feet 1/2 inch in the long jump to rank her fourth in the SLC. Last season in the SLC Indoor Conference championship, she placed first at 19-4 3/4.

Alongside Anthony was sophomore RaShandra Harris, who Armando Sanchez/Star photo equaled her best time of 7.68 seconds in the 60-meter dash.

PULLING HER WEIGHT: The Bobcat track and field team visited the University of Houston on Saturday to compete in the Indoor Invita- With this time, Harris is now tional at Yeoman Field House, with senior thrower Sarah Stultz, seen here practicing at home, placing second in the weight throw. ranked fifth all time at Texas

No argument: Big Ben should be face of the NFL He sat quietly JEMELE HILL influence in the league he in his chair. Eyes The Orlando did the coin toss at XL. I’m closed. Mumbling Sentinel sure the Steelers loved that. like he was saying a But Roethlisberger is goprayer. ing to be bigger than both It was moments after the PittsManning and Brady. Big Ben is burgh Steelers had beaten the about to be the next big thing.

Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl It’s already beginning. RoethlisXL, and quarterback Ben Roethberger was scheduled to appear on lisberger obviously needed a few the Late Show With David Letterminutes to comprehend what he man on Monday night. His agent, just had accomplished.

Leigh Steinberg, told the PittsOnly linebacker Larry Foote burgh Post-Gazette that he expects interrupted Roethlisberger’s quiet his client will earn about $20 miltime. Foote lifted Roethlisberger lion during the next few years for out of his chair and hugged him being the youngest quarterback hard. Then Foote said in his ear, ever to win a Super Bowl.

“You made it happen, baby. It’s Advertisers can’t wait to get time for you to get in that group.” their hands on the quarterback The Group? I asked Foote what with the four-syllable name. Soon, he was talking about and he said, you’ll see Roethlisberger shouting, “You know, the one with Tom “You’re my favorite accountant!”

Brady and Peyton Manning.”

Soon, you’ll see Roethlisberger’s Oh, that group. face on the covers of GQ and As you know, Manning and Men’s Health — just like Brady’s.

Brady are considered the gold Soon, you’ll see Roethlisberger standard in the NFL. Manning dancing alongside Diddy in Pepsi was given the NFL’s Walter Paycommercials. ton Man of the Year award at the Big Ben will be big time.

Super Bowl for his work with Roethlisberger is the second children. And Brady, a three-time coming of Brett Favre in terms of Super Bowl winner, wields such personality. He’s 23. He’s hand-

some. He’s gritty. He has the same down-home quality that made Favre a hero in the football world.

By the time Roethlisberger’s days in Pittsburgh are done, he will be as good or better than Terry Bradshaw.

There is no reason the Steelers can’t start another dynasty with Roethlisberger. Pittsburgh is a young team. The Steelers will lose a few players, but Coach Bill Cowher’s strength is evaluating talent.

“Ben is the future of the Steelers,” linebacker Kimo von Oelhoffen said. “They say that defense wins championships and the running game and all that. Defense keeps you from losing, but it’s quarterbacks that win championships.”

And now that Roethlisberger has a ring, why exactly should he be afraid of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots?

Sure, Roethlisberger didn’t have a stunning Super Bowl performance. He completed only nine passes, and his quarterback rating was the worst of any winning quarterback in a Super Bowl.

But he proved his greatness by

making things happen. That’s not something that shows up in a stat sheet, but it does show up in the win column.

Take my advice: Jump on the Big Ben Bandwagon now while there is still a little room.

Lionel Hahn/Abaca Press BIG MAN: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger trots off the field after a touchdown by Willie Parker against the Seattle Seahawks in the second half of Super Bowl XL on Sunday.

State and third in the SLC this season.

“She is a healthy but little runner, and needs to get stronger while working on her form to keep up with the bigger players,” Wiley said. “She is already running faster right now than when she was at this point last season.”

Harris also placed sixth in the 200-meter dash and now ranks first in the SLC for this event.

Harris is coming off an excellent freshman season, during which she placed in the Top 10 in all the major running events.

Topping off the runners in the 60-meter dash was junior Camilla Davis, who set her personal best time of 7.64. This puts her second in the SLC this season and fourth all-time at Texas State.

“Davis has improved so much from last season, it’s incredible,” Wiley said about her hard offseason work.

Sophomore Nicole Lawson finished sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.95, and senior Yuliya Stashkiv completed the 3,000-meter run in seventh place with a time of 10 minutes .06 seconds. Stashkiv, from the Ukraine, won three conference championships and a national championship at Abilene Christian University. She was also the conference champion at Texas State in the 5,000-meter at the SLC Indoor in 2004.

In the 4x400-meter relay, which was the last event on Saturday, the women finished in third place at their season’s best time of 3:50.13, while the men tagged fourth at their best time of the season 3:20.03.

Overall, Wiley said, “It was a good trip and the whole team got to go. Everyone was excited to compete.”

The Bobcats get back to action on Friday in New Mexico at the Albuquerque Invitational.

Bobcat mascot crowned USA national champion

By Bryan Miller Media Relations Texas State’s Boko the Bobcat beat out The Ducks from the University of Oregon, Joe Bruins from UCLA and Sammy & Airkat from Sam Houston State last weekend at the USA National Championship in Las Vegas.

Boko’s title is the second for the Bobcat spirit squads this year, after the Texas State all-girl cheer squad brought home a national title last month.

In addition, it was the first national championship for a Bobcat mascot, with the next best finish coming in 1997 at the Universal Cheerleading Assocation national competition.

The win will help Boko move closer to the goal of participating in the

Capital One Mascot Bowl, which is a high-level mascot competition held throughout the 2006 college football season.

Fans interested in congratulating Boko can do so at 7 p.m. Saturday at the men’s basketball game against McNeese State at Strahan Coliseum.

In addition, those interested in booking the 2006 USA national champion for special events, social mixers or company events can do so by calling (512) 245-2114 or filling out a request online at www.locoforboko.com.

Persons interested in trying out for the Texas State mascot program should contact Bryan Miller, director of marketing and promotions, at (512) 245-2114. Tryouts will be held April 28 through 30 in Jowers Gym.